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2 episodes with dame commander
10 episodes with dame commander
2 episodes with dame commander
2 episodes with dame commander
3 episodes with dame commander
2 episodes with dame commander
2 episodes with dame commander
2 episodes with dame commander
2 episodes with dame commander
Dame Arlene Phillips is a world-renowned, award-winning choreographer and theatre director. From creating the revolutionary dance group Hot Gossip in the 1970's to working with stars from film, TV and theatre, Arlene is a household name. Her work includes choreographing Hollywood films such as ‘Annie', ‘Legend' and ‘Monty Python's The Meaning of Life', West End and Broadway musicals such as ‘Starlight Express', ‘We Will Rock You' and ‘Grease', and iconic music videos including Duran Duran's ‘Wild Boys', Tina Turner's ‘Private Dancer', Whitney Houston's ‘How Will I Know' and Freddie Mercury's ‘The Great Pretender'.She was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2021 Birthday Honours for services to dance and charity.Arlene's website: https://www.arlenephillips.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arlenephillips/Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlene_PhillipsIMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0680219/Interview with Arlene in 1981 about Hot GossipA showreel of 1970s and 1980s commercials choreographed by ArleneA showreel of Arlene's work----------------------The Cluster F Theory Podcast is edited by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada https://www.yada-yada.net/Thanks for listening to The Cluster F Theory Podcast! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theclusterftheory.substack.com
En este episodio de Grandes Maricas de la Historia, exploramos la vida de Ethel Smyth, una figura revolucionaria del siglo XIX y principios del XX. Compositora brillante, sufragista radical y lesbiana visible en una época de rígidos códigos morales, Smyth desafió las normas de su tiempo con su música y su activismo. Nacida en 1858 en la Inglaterra victoriana, Smyth luchó contra los prejuicios de género para estudiar música en Leipzig, donde conoció a figuras como Brahms y Clara Schumann. Aunque su talento fue reconocido en Alemania, en su país natal enfrentó el escepticismo de una sociedad que no veía con buenos ojos a una mujer componiendo sinfonías y óperas. Smyth no solo destacó en la música, sino que también se unió al movimiento sufragista, componiendo el himno The March of the Women para la Unión Social y Política de Mujeres (WSPU). Su activismo la llevó a la prisión de Holloway, donde dirigió a sus compañeras sufragistas con un cepillo de dientes desde su celda, una imagen icónica de su valentía y creatividad. Además de su lucha política, Smyth vivió abiertamente su sexualidad, manteniendo relaciones con mujeres como Emmeline Pankhurst, líder sufragista, y Virginia Woolf, con quien compartió una profunda amistad en sus últimos años. A lo largo de su vida, Smyth compuso obras sinfónicas, óperas y música de cámara, enfrentándose a críticas machistas que cuestionaban su capacidad como compositora. A pesar de los obstáculos, recibió reconocimientos como el título de Dame Commander of the British Empire y doctorados honoris causa de universidades como Oxford. Su legado, olvidado durante décadas, ha sido recuperado por el feminismo y los movimientos LGTBQ+, que ven en ella una pionera en la lucha por la igualdad y la visibilidad lésbica. Ethel Smyth fue, sin duda, una mujer que derribó muros desde los pentagramas hasta las barricadas. Por cierto, toooodas las músicas de este episodio, y de la playlist, son de la propia Ethel Smyth: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2yWuiD7G0KmpZVA2FAxup4?si=f9b95cf5e463469d
Space scientist Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock joins Vick to delve into her favourite science fiction books, tells us why dyslexic kids shouldn't be pigeon-holed and explains why she encourages all children to reach for the stars. Maggie is a space scientist and pioneering figure in communicating science, having spoken directly to over half a million people globally, 350,000 of whom are children. She is committed to inspiring new generations of astronauts, engineers and scientists, and in 2009, was appointed an MBE for her services to science and education. She presents the new series of BBC's The Sky at Night and Mini Stargazing for CBeebies. In 2016, she was nominated for a Children's Presenter BAFTA and she recently won the Institute of Physics gold medal for ‘exceptional services to science education and physics communication'. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in March 2024, for her services to ‘science education and diversity'. She is the current President of the British Science Association. Maggie's new book, Webb's Universe: The Space Telescope Images that Reveal Our Cosmic History, is the definitive book on the James Webb Space Telescope, with a full array of stunning images. Maggie's book choices are: ** The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May ** The Moonlight Market by Joanne Harris ** Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman ** The Little Snake by A. L. Kennedy ** Letters to my Daughter by Dr Maya Angelou Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season seven of the Women's Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women's Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don't want to miss the rest of season seven? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media. Serious Readers are offering Bookshelfie listeners £100 off any HD light and free UK delivery. To take advantage of our Serious Readers discount code, please visit seriousreaders.com/bookshelfie and use the code SHELFIE. There's a 30 day risk-free trial to return the lamp for free if you're unhappy with it for whatever reason.
In this episode, we spoke with author Herbie J. Piato about his latest book "One Tough Dame: The Life and Times of Diana Rigg".One Tough Dame: The Life and Career of Diana Rigg offers a sweeping portrait of the revered performer's life and career. Deemed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1994, Diana Rigg (1938–2020) initially found fame as super sleuth Mrs. Emma Peel in the 1960s BBC/ABC-TV espionage series The Avengers.
On today's podcast, we have Dame Katherine Grainger. Katherine is a former Scottish rower and the current chair of UK sports. She's competed at a record five Olympic games. She won an incredible gold medal race in the London 2012 Olympic Games, and she's a four time Olympic silver medalist and six time world champion at the London Olympics in 2012. Katherine and her incredible teammate Anna Watkins, smashed the Olympic record as they qualified for the final, where they ultimately won gold for Team GB. Not just an incredible athlete, Katherine holds a Bachelor of Law from the University of Edinburgh, a Master of Philosophy in Medical Law and Medical Ethics from the University of Glasgow, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Law from King's College, London. In April, 2017 she was appointed Chair of UK's School of And then reappointed for a second term in July 2021. She's currently leading that charge for Team GB into the Paris Olympics. Katherine was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE, in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to sport and charity. In this episode, we discuss the magic that was the London Olympics, the journey from novice to expert, And the powerful role your teammates will play in your success. I hope you enjoy ---------------------------------------------------------------- Find Katherine: https://katherinegrainger.com/ https://www.britishrowing.org/athlete/katherine-grainger/ Find James: https://www.linkedin.com/in/acceleratingexcellence/ https://www.instagram.com/jamesaking_/ https://jamesaking.com/ The Mindset App: While the app is under development, we have decided to provide access to the full content for free on YouTube for a limited time. You can find the courses within our playlists or by the link below. I hope you enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/@AcceleratingExcellence/playlists
How can you make a difference in life, alongside other people? That is a question long pondered by Dame Commander Heather Rabbatts, who has a quite remarkable CV despite underachieving at school. She was the first woman to be appointed a director of the FA and she was also chief executive of Millwall football club, she's also been a barrister, a BBC governor, the youngest ever chief executive of both Merton and Lambeth councils, Head of Education at Channel 4, a director of the Bank of England and much more besides. And this from a woman who underachieved at school. Heather shares so many insights, quotes and life lessons in this episode, including about how to get a promotion at work, so you might want to grab a pen.Champion Thinking: How To Find Success Without Losing Yourself - is now on general release. Drawing on some of my favourite interviews over the last five years, I want to share some of my favourite Life Lessons, including around burnout, psychological flexibility, flow and success evangelism.'This book captures the magic of being in flow . . . Highly recommend' RONNIE O'SULLIVAN'Entertaining and enlightening' MATTHEW SYED'Using high achieving individuals, teams and sporting stories Simon has looked into something we actually all know or at least once did - the ability to live life more in the now' JASON FOX'The intention behind this book is beautiful, and I highly recommend it' RUPERT SPIRA'The best guide we have to what it means to be human' AMOL RAJANOrder here: https://www.simonmundie.com/bookAmazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Champion-Thinking-Success-Without-Yourself/dp/1526626497/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
There really ain't nothing like DAME MAUREEN LIPMAN CBE 1999 Dame Commander of the order of the British Empire in the 2020 birthday honours for services to charity, entertainment and the arts, Mo is a zionist, royalist, actress, writer, comedian who is never out of the headlines.
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, born on September 15, 1890, in Torquay, Devon, England, was a highly acclaimed British author known for her prolific contributions to the mystery genre. Often referred to as the "Queen of Crime," Christie created some of the most iconic fictional detectives in literature, including Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Christie's writing career took off with the publication of her first novel, "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," in 1920, introducing Hercule Poirot to the world. Over the course of her prolific career, she wrote 66 detective novels, 14 short story collections, and the world's longest-running play, "The Mousetrap." Her works have been translated into numerous languages, making her one of the best-selling authors in history. Notable novels include "Murder on the Orient Express," "Death on the Nile," and "And Then There Were None." Christie's storytelling prowess, clever plot twists, and keen understanding of human nature have secured her a lasting legacy in the realm of mystery literature. Agatha Christie received various accolades during her lifetime, including the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1971. She passed away on January 12, 1976, leaving behind a remarkable literary legacy that continues to captivate readers worldwide. "The Blue Geranium" is a short story written by Agatha Christie. It first came out in The Story-Teller magazine in the UK in December 1929 and later in Pictorial Review in the U.S. in January 1930. This story is the seventh one in a series called the Tuesday Night Club, following a break of eighteen months since the last story. In 1932, "The Blue Geranium" was included in the seventh collection of short stories titled "The Thirteen Problems." It comes after the story "The Thumb Mark of St. Peter" and before "The Companion." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
World famous classicist Prof Mary Beard covers ageism, feminism, university fees, the role of children's books, why men are obsessed with the roman empire and of course, her favourite books. She is also a television and radio presenter, trustee of the British Museum and the author of more than 20 books on classical history, feminism and academic life, including the bestsellers Pompeii, SPQR and Women & Power. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2018. In 2022 she retired from a 40-year academic career at the University of Cambridge. Her new book, Emperor of Rome, looks at the facts and fictions around the Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar to Alexander Severus and is out now. Mary's book choices are: ** Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit by Beatrix Potter ** The Emperor's Babe by Bernardine Evaristo ** Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer ** Purity and Danger by Mary Douglas ** Poems and Fragments of Sappho Vick Hope, multi-award winning TV and BBC Radio 1 presenter, author and journalist, is the host of season six of the Women's Prize for Fiction Podcast. Every week, Vick will be joined by another inspirational woman to discuss the work of incredible female authors. The Women's Prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world, and they continue to champion the very best books written by women. Don't want to miss the rest of season six? Listen and subscribe now! This podcast is sponsored by Baileys and produced by Bird Lime Media.
Shazre and Peter speak to Jo da Silva DBE about pragmatic optimism and the need to focus on solutions, not problems. Jo da Silva is the Global Director of Sustainable Development at Arup, leading the firm's activities to address the climate, biodiversity and equity crises through creating safe, inclusive and resilient communities whilst safeguarding the planet. Jo earned global recognition as an engineer who has applied knowledge and design expertise to improve safety, promote inclusivity, and enhance resilience of communities, cities and infrastructure globally. She has also worked extensively in crisis and disaster contexts for non-governmental, UN agencies and multi-laterals. In 2007 she founded Arup International Development to enable Arup to direct technical excellence and creativity to improving human development outcomes in the global south. She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2021 in recognition of her contribution to international development. Music by Francois le Roux (The HA!Man), Johannesburg Edited and produced by Roman Svidran, Bratislava
Dame Sara Thornton DBE QPM is a Professor of Modern Slavery Policy at the Rights Lab in the University of Nottingham where her focus is on research in the area of prevention, business responses, supply chains, and the role of the financial sector in tackling modern slavery. She is particularly focussed on the important role of investors and works as a modern slavery consultant for CCLA Investment Management.Dame Sara completed a three-year term as the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner in April 2022, a role in which she spearheaded the UK's fight against human trafficking and modern slavery. She joined the Metropolitan Police Service in 1986. During her 33-year career within policing she served as Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police from 2007 until 2015. She was the national lead on intelligence; Vice-Chair of ACPO Terrorism and Allied Matters; Director of the Police National Assessment Centre; and ACPO Vice-President. She was the first Chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council from 2015 to 2019. She was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 2006, made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2011 and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2019. She has been recognised with a Career Achievement Award from the Police Training Authority Trustees and the Sir Robert Peel Medal for Outstanding Leadership in Evidence-Based Policing. She is an Honorary Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force supporting the work of the auxiliary police squadron, Chair of the Government Skills and Curriculum Unit Leadership Advisory Board, and a trustee and board member of the Police Foundation.She is an Honorary Professor in Modern Slavery at the University of Liverpool and holds honorary doctorates from Durham University, Oxford Brookes and Buckinghamshire New University. Dame Sara's top tip is to eat the frog for breakfast - get the nasty things over and done with. It is always tempting to procrastinate, to delay tough decisions, but that only leads to worry. A leader needs to be thinking clearly and not weighed down by worrying about things that they should have done. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dame Monica Mason May you live in interesting times may be an ancient curse, but Monica Mason has voyaged through some very interesting times and places. She spent most of her career at The Royal Ballet, eventually as its artistic director – but was born in South Africa, moving to London in the 1950s to ignite her astonishing career. She later toured through segregated America, behind the Iron Curtain, and to Cuba and China. As a Vice-President at the RAD she was a key figure in realising its dream of a new home, so is perfectly placed to discuss what it means to a dancer to feel at home and far away. About Dame Monica Mason Dame Monica Mason is a Vice-President of the RAD. Born in Johannesburg, she came to England aged 14. She joined The Royal Ballet in 1958 and was promoted to Principal in 1968. She created the Chosen Maiden in Kenneth MacMillan's The Rite of Spring and many other roles in her wide repertoire. She later became Assistant Director, Acting Director and then Director of The Royal Ballet, from 2002–12, leaving the Royal Opera House after 54 years. She was made a Dame Commander for her services to dance and received the Queen Elizabeth II Award from the RAD in 2011. Find out more about the work of the RAD Follow the RAD on social media, and join the conversation with host David JaysInstagram @royalacademyofdanceFacebook @RoyalAcademyofDanceTwitter @RADheadquartersYouTube / royalacademydanceDavid Jays @mrdavidjays Sign up to our mailing listRAD is an independent educational charity and does not receive regular government funding. Every penny we make goes back into the work we do. You can support us by either naming a seat as part of our Name A Seat Campaign or make a donation Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode Host Helen Lee interviews Dame Doria Cordova, the CEO / Owner of Excellerated Business Schools and Money & You, global organisations operating since 1979 with over 200,000 graduates from over 85 countries. Her purpose in life is to uplift humanity's consciousness through socially-responsible businesses, to teach people to create economic engines around their life purpose. Doria's organisation has already created many entrepreneurs who have produced businesses using socially responsible methods, placing the Earth and its resources and humanity at their forefront. Helen and Doria discuss her organisation of experiential, transformational and entrepreneurial education, her early career and epiphany leading to her complete change of purpose, the key figures in her career and their influence on her, the nature of the transformational training industry, the eradication of hunger and her mission. These key figures included Buckminster Fuller and Marshall Thurber. The latter is said to have been named the godfather of business and has been responsible for teaching some of the world's greatest business minds including Tony Robbins, Robert Kiyosaki and Jack Canfield through the Money & You program he created together with Bobbi DePorter. And Doria then partnered Robert Kiyosaki for 9 years to bring the program to Asia Pacific. KEY TAKEAWAYS Originally a Court Reporter working in Los Angeles and Hawaii, Dame Doria had an epiphany in 1976 which set her on a very different path. Doria, after involvement in The Hunger Project realised that her life purpose was to work towards ending world hunger and poverty on a global scale. The transformational training industry is currently worth about 100 billion a year, including all of the different facets contained within, and Doria is a key representational figure for that industry. The core of what Excellerated Business Schools and Money & You teaches helps its graduates to create a supportive economic system around their life purpose. Doria was knighted as Dame of Honor by The Sovereign Order of the Orthodox Order of St. John – Russian Grand Priory for her lifelong service to humanity. She was later advanced to Dame Commander of Grace, and then to Chancellor of the California Priory of the Order for her contribution to the growth of the Order. BEST MOMENTS ‘I was very blessed. I attended the first business school for entrepreneurs of its kind in 1978, so the business school was created in 1978 and Money and You was launched in 1979, and that's the work that I originally inherited.' – Dame Doria ‘That was when I had this sense that I had a job to do in the world and not be a party girl. Not that I was that much of a party girl but, you know, I just thought I'd spend a lot of money travelling, having fun and being a 26 year old!' – Dame Doria ‘We have a tremendous history in the industry but ultimately Marshall and Bobbi were the people that created that industry.' – Dame Doria ‘He just takes me to the most beautiful divine life that I have had. I just keep going more internal, and focusing more on love, and love and light, and letting go of everything that's fear based and anything that creates fear in other human beings.' – Dame Doria ‘Why has your program influenced and impacted so many people who are well known like Tony Robbins and was it Jack Canfield as well?” – Helen. ‘And Mark Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for the Soul, yeah.' – Dame Doria ‘The way that I was placed in the Universe was for me to “support and lead an organisation that was going to churn out social entrepreneurs that were going to go and do good work in the world.”' – Dame Doria ‘Together, as we, ourselves, transform and thrive, we will make sure that all of humanity does so as well and we will co-create a whole new world.' – Helen ABOUT THE HOST HELEN LEE Founder & Principal Coach of Lee Heiss Coaching, Helen Lee coached thousands of clients worldwide and multinationals in Asia-Pacific in the last three decades. She created a powerful ontological coaching methodology that ignites the true greatness or invincibility in people. Thoroughly tested and honed over 20 years, this methodology consistently and rapidly produces desired results. Helen was also a journalist who later ran her own communications consultancies in Australia and Asia.The Business Times listed her in its “Who's Who of Women Shaping Singapore” while The Straits Times named her “The Leader Prodder” in a feature on Singapore's top coaches. VALUABLE RESOURCES To become a member of the Transform and Thrive Club and benefit from monthly powerful live sessions on Zoom video calls and multimedia coaching, check out and sign up here: www.transformandthrive.club CONTACT METHOD www.leeheiss.com www.facebook.com/leeheiss www.facebook.com/transformingpeopleworldwide www.instagram.com/helenleeheiss enquiries@leeheiss.com
There really ain't nothing like DAME MAUREEN LIPMAN CBE 1999 Dame Commander of the order of the British Empire in the 2020 birthday honours for services to charity, entertainment and the arts, Mo is a zionist, royalist, actress, writer, comedian who is never out of the headlines.
What is true resilience? Imagine being stripped away from your birth family due to the circumstances of war? Imagine being shipped off to a country with a completely different language and having to live with strangers. Okay, that's tough enough. Now imagine entering into what at the time is a fledgling industry that wants nothing to do with you because it's a men's club and you are a woman. As if all that's not enough, let's now imagine taking all that on the chin, and you go on to become a Technology Icon who started a software business employing only women in the 1960s. Stay tuned because, over the next two episodes, we sit down with a technology Icon and a true champion of women in technology and leadership since the 1960s, Dame Stephanie Shirley. In 1962 Dame Stephanie founded an all-woman software company that pioneered remote working and redefined the expectations and opportunities for working women at that time. Her company, Freelance Programmers, grew to 8,500 employees, was ultimately valued at almost $3 billion, and made 70 of her staff into millionaires. Since 'retiring,' her focus has been on philanthropy, especially on autism and IT. Over the last 30 years, Dame Stephanie has given away almost $100 million to good causes, primarily in the fields of autism and IT. Dame Shirley received her BSc in 1956 and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1980 Birthday Honours[15] for services to industry; Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to information technology.;[16] and Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to the IT industry and philanthropy.[17] The CH refers to her Companion of Honour – only 65 people in the world have one Dame Stephanie is a workplace revolutionary, and successful IT entrepreneur turned ardent venture philanthropist. She is the first person to drop off the Time's Rich List, having given away too much of her money, an achievement which gives her great pleasure! Website www.steveshirley.com Social Media https://www.facebook.com/DameStephanie https://twitter.com/DameStephanie_ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnhartuk https://www.instagram.com/damestephanie Part 2) Giving Away $100 Million and Becoming Wealthier Recruiting on Character and Values Recognizing the New Face of Leadership is Comedic From the Echoes of a Wailing "goodbye" to The Trauma of a Silent "Hello." Building a Company that would Create the Black Box for Concord Dropping off the "Time's Riches" list by giving away over $100 million! When a Workaholic Entrepreneur is Confronted with a Severely Autistic Child Looking the Black Dog of Depression in The Eye and Asking for Help Why the Most Rewarding Work has Nothing To do with Profit. Fighting for Those who are Disregarded.
What is true resilience? Imagine being stripped away from your birth family due to the circumstances of war? Imagine being shipped off to a country with a completely different language and having to live with strangers. Okay, that's tough enough. Now imagine entering into what at the time is a fledgling industry that wants nothing to do with you because it's a men's club and you are a woman. As if all that's not enough, let's now imagine taking all that on the chin, and you go on to become a Technology Icon who started a software business employing only women in the 1960s. Stay tuned because, over the next two episodes, we sit down with a technology Icon and a true champion of women in technology and leadership since the 1960s, Dame Stephanie Shirley. In 1962 Dame Stephanie founded an all-woman software company that pioneered remote working and redefined the expectations and opportunities for working women at that time. Her company, Freelance Programmers, grew to 8,500 employees, was ultimately valued at almost $3 billion, and made 70 of her staff into millionaires. Since 'retiring,' her focus has been on philanthropy, especially on autism and IT. Over the last 30 years, Dame Stephanie has given away almost $100 million to good causes, primarily in the fields of autism and IT. Dame Shirley received her BSc in 1956 and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1980 Birthday Honours[15] for services to industry; Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours for services to information technology.;[16] and Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to the IT industry and philanthropy.[17] The CH refers to her Companion of Honour – only 65 people in the world have one Dame Stephanie is a workplace revolutionary, and successful IT entrepreneur turned ardent venture philanthropist. She is the first person to drop off the Time's Rich List, having given away too much of her money, an achievement which gives her great pleasure! Website www.steveshirley.com Social Media https://www.facebook.com/DameStephanie https://twitter.com/DameStephanie_ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnhartuk https://www.instagram.com/damestephanie Part 2) Giving Away $100 Million and Becoming Wealthier Recruiting on Character and Values Recognizing the New Face of Leadership is Comedic From the Echoes of a Wailing "goodbye" to The Trauma of a Silent "Hello." Building a Company that would Create the Black Box for Concord Dropping off the "Time's Riches" list by giving away over $100 million! When a Workaholic Entrepreneur is Confronted with a Severely Autistic Child Looking the Black Dog of Depression in The Eye and Asking for Help Why the Most Rewarding Work has Nothing To do with Profit. Fighting for Those who are Disregarded.
In this episode of MECCA Talks, Kate and Zara are joined by Net-A-Porter founder, Imaginary Ventures founding partner and world-leading entrepreneur, Natalie Massenet.From honing her focus on the future (from her teens!) to building all-star teams, fostering unparalleled corporate culture and now, tapping into the ‘creator economy', this conversation gives insight into the intelligence and razor-sharp instincts that resulted in Natalie being appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her contributions to the fashion and retail industries.Listen as Natalie touches on her time at Net-A-Porter, Farfetch and the British Fashion Council, and shares how she's helping to amplify the next generation of household beauty, fashion and lifestyle brands (including the likes of SKIMS, Kosas, Nécessaire, Reformation, Everlane and Westman Atelier) through Imaginary Ventures, the venture capital firm she co-partners.If you're of entrepreneurial spirit, a brand devotee or a shopaholic, this is an episode not to be missed!Brands and products mentioned in this episode: Westman Atelier Bonne Brow Defining Pencil Kosas NécessaireHosts: Kate Blythe, Zara WongGuests: Natalie Massenet Producers: Kerri Gordon, Michael Liberale Loved the latest episode of MECCA Talks? Don't forget to follow, rate and review (and give us a shoutout in the group chat). If you've got any questions or suggestions, leave a review, send a DM our way via our Instagram, @meccabeauty, or spark a conversation in our official Facebook group, MECCA Chit Chat. MECCA Talks wishes to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we recorded this episode at our studio in Naarm: the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. We pay respect to Elders – past, present and emerging. We recognise their ongoing connection to this beautiful country, with knowledge and stories that have been handed down since time immemorial. Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ilham sits down with Dame Ellen MacArthur - one of the foremost leaders in the effort to enable the circular economy - to discuss her amazing life on the sea, what led her to turn her efforts to the circular economy, how we can change mindsets in corporations, the power of partnerships, and of course - how the circular economy and business growth go hand in hand.At the age of 24, Ellen MacArthur became the youngest person to sail around the world solo, coming in second in the Vendée Globe race. And in 2005, she broke the world record for the fastest solo sailing around the world. For her incredible achievement, she was named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. After breaking the world record, she retired from professional sailing to begin an even bigger race: she is now leading the charge to accelerate the transition to a circular economy through the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. For additional details about the podcast, show notes, and access to resources mentioned during the show, please visit https://www.solvay.com/podcast
Dame Marianne is one of the most influential and longest-serving senior leaders in the NHS, having served nearly 14 years as chief executive of UHSussex and its predecessor organisations, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (BSUH) and Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WSHT). Under her leadership, hospitals in West Sussex became the first to be rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission in all key inspection areas and hospitals in Brighton and Haywards Heath were recognised as the fastest improving in the country. In 2018 Marianne was named the top chief executive in the Health Service Journal's ranking of NHS bosses, a title she retained in 2019, having been made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the New Year Honours List for services to the NHS. In this episode we ask her about: Her career Western Sussex and Brighton What makes an outstanding hospital Her Patient First approach Leadership Advice for healthcare professionals Patient First approach: https://www.uhsussex.nhs.uk/about/patient-first/ For comments, collaboration or feedback, contact us via email or Twitter. Email: medspirepodcast@gmail.com Twitter: @medspirepodcast
This is episode of ReThinking Sport, our ongoing series created in collaboration with Portas, the global strategy consultancy dedicated to sport and physical activity. Today's topic is girls participation in sport and our special guest is Baroness Sue Campbell of Loughborough, one of the most influential sports administrators of the last thirty years. A former PE teacher, she was made chief executive of the Youth Sport Trust in 1995, having played a key role in setting it up. In 2003 Campbell was appointed as chair of UK Sport. She held this position for two terms until April 2013, presiding over Team GB and Paralympic GB's performance at the London 2012 games. Campbell was appointed Head of Women's Football at The FA in March 2016, and became Director of Women's Football in January 2018. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to sport.Sue is joined by Elena Portas and Elise Kossaifi. Elena leads Portas work and wider research on health and physical activity, and has advised governments, cities, and national and international federations on their role in improving the health and wellbeing of society. Elise Elise is a senior manager in Portas Middle East office, specialising in sports federation transformation, and diversity and inclusion in sports. If you like the podcast, you'll love the Unofficial Partner newsletter that goes to thousands of subscribers every Thursday, sign up via UnofficialPartner.com
The day before 80 countries meet in Palau to discuss ocean governance, Bertie talked to Dame Meg Taylor DBE about the changes the Pacific Elders' Voice are campaigning for, including pollution of plastics and nuclear waste, illegal and unsustainable fishing, and loss and damage. Pacific Elders' Voice is a group of diplomats, academics, and creatives who work together to platform issues important to the future of the Pacific Islands. Meg Taylor's distinguished career includes serving as the Ambassador of Papua New Guinea to the United States, Mexico and Canada (1989-1994), Vice President of the International Finance Corporation (1999-2014), and most recently, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum (2014-2021). She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2002.Further Reading: Read more about the Our Ocean Conference 2022Read the Pacific Elders' Voice Statement on Oceans 'UN ocean treaty summit collapses as states accused of dragging out talks', The Guardian, 21 Mar 2022'Nations commit to develop a legally binding agreement': press release announcing the proposed treaty on plastic pollution, with links to the full text. 'This dome in the Pacific houses tons of radioactive waste – and it's leaking', The Guardian, Fri 3 Jul 2015Follow Pacific Elders Voice here on Twitter, and here on Facebook.
Agatha Christie - The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd - Episode 1 - Meet The Author That Made The Whodunit What It Is Today! I'm Christy Shriver, and we're here to discuss books that have changed the world and have changed us. And I'm Garry Shriver and this is the How to Love Lit Podcast. For the next two episodes, we are going to discuss an author who for me flies under the radar when we think of literary icons. When you look at the lists of the world's greatest writers and/or novels, she's never on then. Yet, she has sold more books than any other novelist in the world- bar none. Her books collectively in terms of sales rank only after The Holy Bible and the works of William Shakespeare, totally over 2.3 billion copies sold. Those kinds of numbers we only talk about when we're talking about Amazon, Google or the National Debt of entire countries. HA! So true. She is also the author of the single longest running play ever to play in London's West End. The name of that play, The Mousetrap, opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when all stage performances were discontinued due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Performances of The Mousetrap restarted on March 17, 2021, as soon as state restrictions were lifted. In case, you haven't figured out who we're talking about yet, today we're discussing the Queen of Crime, Dame Agatha Christie. It really and truly is impressive how enormous of a body of work that Mrs. Christie has AND how influential her work has become. For clarification, why do we say Dame Agatha Christie. Of course, Dame is the feminine equivalent of Sir, it's a honorific title, in her case, she received an Order of Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1971 from Queen Elizabeth II. Oh wow, that sounds very impressive however, at the same time, people, far less successful- non-recipients of Commander titles from Queen Elizabeth I might add, scoff at her and her work. Many claim she's not to be taken seriously, her work isn't sophisticated, it's clichéd, yada-yada-yada…They say this in spite of all the big numbers. Garry, beyond the big 2.3 billion in sales, quantify for us in other ways what the data reveals about Dame Christie. Sure, first there's the amount of works she produced. She famously wrote 66 detective novels, 14 collections of short stories (that's 150 short stories) as well as over 30 plays. The most famous, we already mentioned, The Mousetrap. But there are other numbers to consider, beyond just how much she produced. Because of the long running status of The Mousetrap, her name has been in the newspapers of the West End every day without fail with the exception of 2020 since 1952 (btw, just in case you are doing the math on the performances, that number is over 25,000 of the Mousetrap- and that is just in London's West End). . She tried to retire at the age of 75, but her books were selling so well, she said she'd give it five more years. She actually wrote until one year before her death at age 86. Less famously she wrote six semi-autobiographical, bitter-sweet novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. Interestingly enough, it took 20 years for the world to uncover the identity of Mary Westmacott as being the detective icon Agatha Christie. That is a funny fact to me, I guess she thought it would ruin her reputation to write sappy books?. I haven't read them, but her daughter Rosalind Hicks had this to say about her mother's romantic books. "They are not ‘love stories' in the general sense of the term, and they certainly have no happy endings. They are, I believe, about love in some of its most powerful and destructive forms." They were moderately successful in their own right , even without her name of the cover, and Christie was said to be proud of that accomplishment, but obviously romance wasn't her forte. Beyond just the quantity of work she produced, the amount of it we've consumed as a planet is also incredible. Today her books are translated in over 100 languages, 48 million, at least have watched her movies, including I might add the one that is out right now, Death on the Nile Here's a. numbers fun-fact, in 1948 she became. the first crime writer to have 100,000 copies of ten of her titles published by Penguin on the same day in what is called - A Penguin Million Oh wow- I guess that's like going platinum of something in the music industry. I'd say that's a platinum in a day- usually the term going platinum refers to selling a million over the course of a life time- a single day is crazy.. In terms of dollars, I tried to find a good figure, but I don't really know. At the time of her death, it's estimated she was worth $600 million, but she had incorporated her work in a business, of course, which of course lives on chaired and managed by Agatha Christie's great grandson James Prichard. To me, it's an amazing resume, and I'm not a literary person, so obviously I'm looking at this differently, but I don't see how anyone could realistically contest that she's a good writer. It sounds laughable in the face of so much success- if that's not good writing, how could we possibly measure it? HA! It shows how much you know- you'd make a perfectly horrible literary snob. Everyone who's anyone knows, you can't go by the views of the lowly general population aka, the box-office!!! Oh, well there is that. But, just for those of us, who don't know, in all seriousness how can you explain her success away? Well, no one is going to do that. Obviously, but it does boil down to how you define your fiction. In one sense, we can divide fiction into two broad categories- there's literary fiction and commercial fiction. Obviously, commercial fiction is written to be sold. It's the reason there are more Marvel movies than I can count on both my hands and toes. They sell well and are enjoyable to consue. It's why there are multiple versions of basically the same Spiderman movie, or double-digit sequels to Star Wars. Now, there is nothing wrong with any of that that- we love it. Every bit of that is fun and defines the culture of the world in some sense. But there is a sense, and this is the English teacher nerd, that some of us find those pieces unsatisfying over the long term- and not worth teaching as a work of art in school. There are many books we just don't care to read more than once. There are many movies and songs we feel the same way about. They are good but not considered of literary merit because there is no enduring quality to them. On the flip side, there are other books that speak to man's condition., that expresses universal truths, that reflect something about the world that resonates inside of us- which is why we can read, watch or listen to them over and over again and still love it. I would suggest that The Scarlet Letter or Hamlet are examples of that. When we read them agin, we find something else that perhaps we didn't see before, of even if we did see it beflre, it satisfies something eternal inside of us to hear it once again. The knock on Agatha Christie is that they say she's full-on commercial fiction and there is just nothing universally true about what she has to say. The critique is that her characters are flat and underdeveloped, even the main ones. The main character in our book is Hercule Poirot but her other main reoccurring character is a woman named Miss Marple – both are sort of shallow, honestly, featureless except for maybe being kind of annoying. Christie investigates crime, but she doesn't really seem all that interested in any of the existential or moral questions surrounding crime- like what social causes lead people to these actions. She doesn't explore any social, psychological or moral issues of any kind in any real obvious way? And do you agree with that? Well, honestly, a little. You can't deny that the characters are flat, and, it's absolutely true, she doesn't get into any deep discussions about the nature of man. But having acknowledged that, I cannot discount the numbers, and so I feel compelled to think about it more deeply. Well, and just to add to the confusion, we've been poking fun at the hoi polloi here, but from what I read, Christie is popular primarily with higher educated audiences. She is a preferred writer of the world's academic elites. I know, and she has been since she started writing a far more accomplished litearary critic than myself was a ardent fan of Agatha Christie, the Nobel Prize winner, TS Eliot. Eliot actually loved all crime fiction, especially Agatha Christie. He even wrote about it from a critical standpoint. For TS Eliot, good crime fiction had to follow five basic rules. Let me read these to you: (1) The story must not rely upon elaborate and incredible disguises. (2) The character and motives of the criminal should be normal. In the ideal detective story we should feel that we have a sporting chance to solve the mystery ourselves; if the criminal is highly abnormal an irrational element is introduced which offends us. (3) The story must not rely either upon occult phenomena, or, what comes to the same thing, upon mysterious and preposterous discoveries made by lonely scientists. (4) Elaborate and bizarre machinery is an irrelevance. (5) The detective should be highly intelligent but not superhuman. We should be able to follow his inferences and almost, but not quite, make them with him. I think I must agree with the Nobel- prize winner. We do intuitively feel that way about a good crime novel. So, taking Elliot's list as the standard or rubric for crime novels, should that have different standards than other books or rather- No insight to life or theme necessary? Oh, I don't know about that. I think anything that lasts 100 years, as does the book we're going to discuss- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, it turns 100 in June of 2026, - anything people are reading for that long- must be saying something. So the mystery the mystery novel is what resonates with our souls in these works? HA! A little irony. Yes, but before we get into the nitty, gritty about what makes this book great, oh and make no mistake, it IS considered great. The 2013 The Crime Writers Association claimed The Murder of Roger Ackroyd to be the greatest crime novel of all times- so there you go for a shout out- I haven't read enough crime novels to contest them.- but before we talk about this particular book- let's talk about Christie' life, for just a bit, and bring us up to speed on how this book came about. She has a bit of a mystery embedded in her life story as well. Indeed- but I will say, one thing I do enjoy about the books is that, at least the ones I've read, are often set in this very English very Victorian setting. There's some fun in that. True, you can't say that Christie didn't write about what she knew. She was born in Torquay in 1890.. Torquay is a seaside town on the Southeastern side of the UIK. I saw one article that called it the. English Riviera. It's a resort town, and once even Elizabeth Barrett Browning was sent there to help recover her health. Her family was an upper-middle class family, In other words, they were financially well-enough but not limitlessly wealthy. One interesting to note is that that family did not approve of her learning and didn't want her to read until she was eight. It seems the general attitude of the time is that smart girls had trouble finding reliable husbands that wanted them (I'm not going to speak to that thought). Oh dear, I would like to say that I find smart women immeasurably attractive. Well, thank you, darling. In her case, there was no holding even little Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller (that's her maiden name), back. Apparently, she just picked it up on her own, and eventually her nurse had to confess that Agatha had taught herself to read. HA! Oh my, there's a rebel. Well, did they relinquish ahd let her go to school at that point. Well, it depends on what you mean by school. When she turned 15, they sent her to Paris to attend finishing school. I probably could have used that kind of support myself, honestly. At Mrs. Dryden's finishing school she studied singing and piano playing. This is what Christie herself said about it years later, “I am hazy now as to how long I remained at Miss Dryden's – a year, perhaps eighteen months, I do not think as long as two years.” So, not reading Voltaire or Flaubert. Well, maybe she did, but not because she was forced to. But, reading was not her only rebellious streak. In 1914, Agatha met, fell in love with and became engaged on Christmas Eve to the man of her dreams, A very handsome war pilot named Archie Christie. Unfortunately, this was not the match her mother had in mind for her. What was wrong with him? Well, not his looks or personality, He seemed to have that covered. His problem was that He had no money. But they married and a few months later Rosalind, her only daughter was born. During WW1 Archie went off to war. Agatha stayed home, trained and worked as a nurse at the local Red Cross hospital in Torquay- and let me add here, this is where she got her start learning so much about drugs- something she became very knowledgeable of and used successfully during her entire career. In 56 of her novels there are over 200 references to specific, individual drugs. So, can we expect that a large number of her characters will get poisoned? No, not necessarily,although that IS a thing. The most commonly dispensed drugs by Mrs. Christie were sedatives. As you might expect, if someone is always being murdered, you may need to have a supply on hand to calm down or even put to sleep your cast of suspects. But there are pain relievers, stimulants, blood pressure medicines, barbituates and even antidotes to other poisons. Of course, our book, The Murder of Roger Ackrod has three drugs: liniment for a knee problem, tonic as a stimulant and of course, veronal which is the cause of a lethal overdose early in the story. Yes, so after the war, In 1920, after six rejections, her first real novel finally got published for $25 (pounds),- not a big risk on the part of the publisher. The title of that book was The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and it introduced the world to a 5'4 Belgian refugee who would charm and annoy readers for over 100 years, Hercule Poirot. It did well, but her breakthrough novel would be her third novel. It came out in the summer of 1926. It became a best seller and launched her into a stardom from which she would never return, which is remarkable, but honestly, it's not the most interesting to happen to her that year. I'm not sure how you top becoming a best seller. I know, right, but it can be bested! So, the story goes that the year 1926, in general, starts out a little rough. Agatha's mother, who was very dependent on her daughter, died in April- and this was devastating for Agatha. But, while she was at her mother's estate with their seven year old daughter, Rosalind, Archie revealed that he had fallen in love with another woman by the name of Nancy Neele, and he wanted a divorce. Agatha said no. She was deeply in love with him, and she wasn't willing to give him up. Well on December 3 of that same year, Archie informed Agatha that he did not want to be married to her and he wasn't going to be married to her. To somewhat reinforce this idea, he told her he was going off for the weekend with Ms. Neele.- which he did. Apparently, Agatha did not receive this news well..and this is where the mystery begins…..and it does sound quite a bit like a story she would write. So at 9:45pm, we know that Agatha left the house in her car after having written three letters- one to her secretary Charlotte Fisher, one to Archie and one to Archie's brother Campbell. So far, I feel like I listening to an explanation by Piorot. Exactly, and here is where it gets very strange. Agatha does not return home. In fact, she will be missing for 11 days. The next day they find her car crashed in a tree above a local quarry with the head lights still on. Her fur coat was in the car as well as a small suitcase and an expired driver's license. There was no blood anywhere in the car. There were no skid marks on the road like you might have expected if she had been driving too fast and there had been an accident. Finally the gearshift was in neutral, the way it would be if you had been pushing the car and not driving it. It makes no sense, but Agatha was gone. Well, the world went nuts. Numbers very but possibly up to a 1000 police officers were dispatched on four countinents looking for her. 15,000 volunteers, fans, amateur detectives and so forth, joined the hunt. They used airplanes and diving equipment. Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle joined in- remember that's Sherlock Holmes. He took Christie's glove to his medium for a consultation to see if she could find her. I'm guessing no. No. She wasn't in the afterlife. Everyone around the world was looking for this mystery writer. When Archie got back from his weekend activity- which quite likely was an engagement party a friend threw for him and Nancy, he found a very different world- than just the unpleasantness of fighting again with Agatha; , now he was a potential murder suspect. He also found his letter, which curiously he and burned immediately- to this day, no one has any idea what she wrote in that letter. His brother, Campbell, got his later, and strangely again, his letter was postmarked on Saturday AFTER Agatha went missing, This does sound like Hercule Poirot and I'm starting to need to employ my little gray cells just to keep up. Exactly, what secret did Campbell carry that also caused him to dispose of his letter as well. Everything seemed to indicate that Archie had murdered her. The police dragged the ponds, searched everywhere, it was in every newspaper on earth… until on December 14th, two musicians report seeing Mrs. Christie at a luxury spa called the Harrogate Hydro. She had checked into the hotel days before under the name, get this- Mrs. Theresa Neele (Archie's girlfriend's last name). This honestly sounds exactly like something she would right. Was she play-acting?. We will never know, this mystery, I'm sorry to say, is unsolved. Christie had told the people at the spa that she had arrived from South Africa. She played pool, she danced, she read mystery novels in the hotel library. She seemed undisturbed. And here's an even stranger turn of events, Archie covered for his wife afer she was busted. She was immediately accused of abusing an entire country's police resources over a publicity stunt, but Archie helped dispel this criticism. He called in two doctors, they interview Agatha, and arrived at the conclusion that Agatha Christie suffered an episode of temporary amnesia. She stress of her mother's death, the success of new book and the divorce from her husband led to a nervous breakdown. The only thing she ever admitted to was havin been in a car crash, but even that is suspect since although she said she bruised her head, no one ever saw any bruises. Well, after the bitterness of paying all those police overtime, can we say, all's well that ends well.? For Agatha, yes, but not Archie. The scandal sold gobs of books, and basically cemented her celebrity, but it also portrayed Archie as a terrible person. How terrible for a man to do such a thing to his wife and cause the Queen of Crime to have a nervous breakdown. He got to be the world's biggest schmuck. Nancy Neele's family were so embarrassed they sent her on an around the world trip for ten months trying to get her away from Archie. It didn't work though. Archie and Nancy did get married two years later. But so did, Agatha. And her second marriage was to a man who adored her. They were amazingly compatible and had a wonderful marriage. He was an archeologist, and they spent time all over the world- hence the setting of several of her books including Murder on the Orient Express. So, do you buy Agatha had amnesia. Personally, not at all. I think she got angry, ran off and then things got crazy. I did read that she was shocked at how the story blew up. She never imagined that that many police would come looking for her. Do you think it was legit? It does seem a little far-fetched. And to be the world's most famous detective novelist- I'd say, there's room to doubt. But I'm keeping an open-mind- isn't that what Hercule Poirot would tell us to do. The question I have is what were in those letters she left Archie and Campbell. We need Hercule Poirot, as he would remind us, nothing is ever concealed to him.. He would have gotten to the bottom of it.. Oh, no doubt- so are we ready to meet Hercule Poirot and open the Murder of Roger Ackroyd?. I think so, so let me make an important disclaimer- we are NOT going to spoil the book this episode by telling you who the murderer is, but we will next episode. So, if you are starting the book now and are listening to this in real time, you have one week…. But you do have a week. This week we are going to look at the book from the perspective of understanding how Christie was adhering very cleverly to the conventions of what we call a “formal detective. Novel” - otherwise known as the “whodunit”. Edgar Alan Poe is credited of creating the detective story, but of course most of us think of Sir Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and his side-kick Watson as being kind of the iconic example of what this looks like. Agatha Christie basically follows their pattern but takes it from the short story to the longer novel form. As we might expert per the conventions of the trade, we are going to open up our story in an English country house- think of every clue like movie you have ever seen. But in this case, there has already been a murder, but not the one from the title. Let's read the opening couple of paragraphs. Page 1 We also meet the narrator who is going to walk us through the story, Dr. James Shepperd and his meddling sister Caroline (Caroline, by the way is going to by the prototype for Mrs. Marple, Christie's other detective.). But since the opening murder isn't the murder from the title of the book, so we know this isn't the right murder. I want to say that another characteristic of these formal detective stories is that we don't have emotional connections to any of the characters of the story. We are not made to feel upset in the least that there has been a murder. At no point in the story at all are we to feel sad about anything- not when victims die,or get falsely accused or anything. We don't feel angry either, in fact, there are no negative emotions at all. We aren't even led to find the perpetrator necessarily an evil person. You know, I think that may be one of the appeals. We feel enough anger, guilt or sadness in real life. These books may be relaxing BECAUSE we don't have to be emotionally stressed out about anything. We can just enjoy the process of the puzzle.. We know the murder will get solved, and all will be set aright in the world. So, it's just a matter of watching everything unfold. True, and although there is fun in trying to guess who did it and following the clues, but I'll be honest, I didn't figure out who the murderer was, and I basically never do when I read these thing. I barely even try. And I don't think most people do either, or even care to try. I know, kind of like when someone tells you a riddle, you're likely to give it about 30 seconds, then you want them to tell you what the riddle is. Exactly. Funny, by chapter 2, we meet the man who will be murdered, Roger Ackroyd. King's Abbot, which is the name of this village, apparently has several very wealthy people- one of which is already dead, Mrs. Ferrars; the other is getting ready to die, Roger Ackroyd- and the crime scene will be Mr. Ackroyd's house, Fernly Park, of course. For me, one of the hardest parts of this book is keeping straight in. my mind all of the characters that will necessarily become the suspects. That IS the hard part, but that's one of the most important elements of the entire game. We have to know who each of these suspects will be, so we can focus not only on whether they have opportunity and means, but if they also have motive. And we meet the cast of suspects here at the beginning. There's Mrs. Russell, the housekeeper. There's the two female relatives, a sister-in-law and her beautiful daughter, Mrs. Cecil Ackroyd and Flora. We don't meet but we find out about Ralph Paton, Mr. Ackroyd's adopted son who seems to have a reputation for being irresponsible with money and women but who will be the heir to the fortune. When our narrator, Dr. Shepperd, meets Roger Ackroyd on the road, Ackroyd is extremely upset. Let's read that encounter. Page 11 And that is an example of Christie's writing style that I find so charming. The narrator takes us into his confidences and these little aside comments to us, as readers, are charming and endearing. We find ourselves as we read the story trusting Dr. Shepperd's understanding of the murder, for one reason precisely because he takes us into his confidence True, although I will say, another reason we trust him is because the detective Hercule Poirot takes him so often into his confidence. Dr. Shepperd goes everywhere and helps with the investigation from start to finish. He's kind of like Watson to Sherlock Holmes. True, and we see that this cast of characters looks remarkably like a lot of them from this Golden Age and in fact, they are the stock characters from many a Clue game. We will have the damsel in distress, (who we have already met with Flora). We'll have the house staff who are always keeping secrets thus making them suspicious. Besides Miss Russell, who we've met there's also Geofrey Raymond, who is Roger Ackroyd's secretary, Ursula Bourne who is a house maid, and John Parker, the Butler. Of course- the Butler in the library with the Candle-sticks. HA!! To which we say, is that your guess. For those of you who don't know, that's how you play the game of Clue. So true. And so when we get to chapter five and Dr. Shepperd gets the call to come over to the house go inspect the body because there has been a murder, we already have all of suspects lined up and ready to go. Well, and although this next feature isn't in a game of Clue, We can't overlook the buffoon policemen who will be foils to our eccentric but brilliant detective. Inspector Davis who comes over initially and then later on Inspector Raglan our of members of the law enforcement community.. Oh, and let's not fail to mention the silent almost brooding Major Hector Blunt- our visiting military man, who although never is a suspect in this particular murder, has an important role in the story, none the less, because he's secretly in love with Flora, and this would not be a classic detective story without a romantic interest somewhere. You know, it's almost like we're not reading a drama at all. In some ways these books feel like sit-coms. That is it exactly. And I want to make this point, a formal detective novel of this tradition, is not a tragedy at all, but in fact, meets the criteria of what we would call a comedy. If you remember from our series on Romeo and Juliet, we talked about the difference between a comedy and a tragedy. A comedy ends in marriage and a tragedy in death. From a literary stand point, an Agatha Christie novel, and those that are modeled after hers, are popular precisely because they are comedies of manners cloaked as tragedies (it's a trick). The characters serve comedic purposes- not thematic ones. That's why it's okay that they are pretty much the same stock characters in every story. The story would be totally different and if fact would be a completely different genre, if we did not have every assurance, life would end well. Let me explain what I mean, Recently, Lizzy and I watched together the Netflix movie, The Woman in the. Window. Lizzy had just finished reading the book by AJ Finn and had really liked it. It's also a murder mystery, but totally different in purpose and genre. In The Woman in the Window,, the characters are serious, They struggle with anxiety and depression. The characters themselves are meant to be deeply analyzed- that's the entire point of it. Finn is commenting on issues regarding mental health. That is not Christie's purpose at all. It would take away from the fun really if she went that direction. In comedies, only the unlikeable characters ever really suffer anything terrible. And Roger Ackroyd,, although we don't get to know him very well, is not a likeable person. He's selfish, stingy and is forcing his son Ralph and Flora to get married against their wills (in fact, we find out towards the end, that Ralph is actually already secretly married to the parlormaid) and this makes Ackroyd lose his mind. In chapter six, Dr. Shepperd describes Ackroyd of having a “choleric temper”- and although it's never good to murder people because they are disagreeable, it's worth pointing out that Christie doesn't go to any trouble to make Ackroyd likeable in any way. The point being, we don't really care that Ackroyd's been murdered really. There's nothing tragic about it. And so the fun of every chapter is following Hercule Poirot around, interviewing all the witnesses and seeing if we can figure out before he does who the murderer is. Who has the most compelling reason to do it, and it will turn out that almost everyone stands to gain something from his death. Exactly, except we don't figure it out- and if Christie's success is any indication I don't think almost anyone in the last 100 years figured it out before Poirot. During my second reading of the book, the one where I read it after already knowing who killed Roger Ackrod, I realized that Poirot had the murder solved well before- well, at least before chapter 17. I want to revisit that, but before we do, let's flesh out a little our heroic detective. This isn't the first book where she introduces Poirot, but I was surprised to see that he was retired. I didn't expect that precisely because I knew she wrote 66 novels, and I had heard of this funny little man, as he is described. And he IS a funny little man- obnoxious and ridiculous. And the way Christie introduces him is funny too. Hercule moves into the house next door to Dr. Shepperd and his sister Caroline live. They are both unmarried. James is a doctor, and Caroline's main occupation is local purveyor of gossip- something she seems to conduct through a very sophisticated network of servants and friends. Dr. Shepperd acts annoyed by it, but he also seems very impressed with her mad-dog skills. Before we meet Poirot, we are led to believe by Dr. Shepperd that the mysterious neighbor next door must a hairdresser as evidenced by his perfectly groomed mustache. That mustache is what he is most famous for- that and his egg-shaped head- whatever that is. According to Christie, he was inspired by a Belgian refugee she saw coming off of a bus after the first World War. Of course, all of the inspiration was external, and she never met the gentleman personally, but she took that inspiration and created a short man, with a distinguished mustache, a solid head of black hair and an egg-shaped head. She wanted him to have as she called it a “grandiloquent name”- hence Hercule and she wanted him to be very orderly, brilliant but vain. After a while, she says she came to be resentful that she was stuck with him since she didn't like him very much. Well, and funny enough, at one point in her career, she killed him off, but her publishers didn't let her publish that book. What, she killed Hercule? Did it ever get published? Oh, it eventually did, of course, we'll save that story for next week. Oh okay, something to look forward to, but back to our book, if you are a Christie fan, you'll know immediately that the mysterious hairdresser is none other than our sleuth. If this is your first Christie book, you may not but it doesn't matter. By chapter 8, he's in the mix having been hired by Flora to figure out who killed her uncle. By chapter 6, we've also introduced a rogue stranger with a mysterious accent, who we know from years of experience with other detective novels and movies, cannot possibly be the murderer- he's too much of a ruffian. We all know that our criminal, although technically a criminal by virtue of having murdered someonw, will have no actual noticeable criminal behaviors. In fact, he likely will have impeccable manners, just like everyone else in the story.We won't experience any bloody murder scenes; there will no harsh language, the investigation will be polite and the world “unpleasantness” will be the euphemism of choice to describe anything from the dagger in the neck to the awkward questioning Well, speaking of the daggar to the neck, I'm assuming that a spectacular weapon of choice is also a characteristic of the formal detective story. OH, it absolutely is. And ours, does not disappoint- we have a Tunisian one of a kind dagger. Let's read about it. Page 64-65 And of course, the details are the glorious part. In fact, that's one reason I never even attempt to solve these murders. It tires me out to weed through all of the details. There is a diagram of the study, the specifics of when Dr. Shepperd left, when he was called back, when Flora last heard from her uncle, where everyone was at exactly the time of the murder, the phone call, the foot print, the in and out of the garden house over and over again- all of it laid out before us with consummate British precision. The pieces of the puzzle are completely spread on the table ready to be ordered again. The universe that Christie creates, some have called claustrophobic because it's small and contained, but that's what's great about it. It's knowable, ordered, and most importantly benevolent. These people are good- likely even the murderer. Of course, they are trying to get away with little lies and deceptions because Victorian society is very demanding, but even the murderer is not going to want to leave willingly. He or she will only leave as a final resort. This world is rational and sensible and one where even we as readers find comfort. Well, from a historical perspective, I find that extremely important. If you recall, England or rather Europe in general was nothing ljke what you described. It was not predictable or benevolent. People were being exiled; wars were raging, governments were in upheaval; poverty was rampant- what a wonderful escape and promise of possibility- a well ordered upper class environment where the rules apply and if you break them- you get exiled. I would say the rigid formality came across as comforting and peaceful- not boring and predictable. I guess you're right. The book is really best read twice, if you want my opinion. At least it was for me. It's a very carefully crafted puzzle, so when you read it the first time, you can enjoy it as a it's a straightforward whodunnit- but when you read it the second time knowing who the murderer is, it's even more interesting to watch how she deceived you. Nothing is every hidden, but her duplicitous way of writing deceives us from start to finish, and it's delightful to watch her do it. So, Christy, getting us back to the difference between commercial fiction versus literary fiction, you said you think there is a theme in her work? Without giving away the murderer can we speak to it this episode? Yeah, I think we can- there are several, but one I think does speak to this idea of finding value in a well-ordered world. One of the most memorable scenes in the entire book is chapter 16. When I read it the first time, I had no idea why it was included. For most of the book, we're following Poirot around, looking at clues, interrogating witnesses, but chapter 16 is different. Also, it's pretty much the center physically of the book. Sheppard and his sister Caroline and spend an evening playing Mah jong with local friends (a retired Army officer, Colonel Carter and a Mrs. Gannett)- neither of which have anything to do with anything, at least as far as I can tell. They enjoy coffee, cake, sandwiches and tea and then sit down to play. The main purpose of the evening really is to collect gossip, but sitting around and doing that would be vulgar. And no one in King's Abbot is vulgar, so an exotic game from the Far East is a wonderful excuse. As they go through the hand, we realize in some ways playing this game is a lot like living life. They talk about how each person expresses something about themselves by how they play. They can express weakness or strength, an ability to perceive, an ability to make decisions. Sometimes the hand you are giving is a wreck; sometimes you get a winning hand effortlessly. At one point, Caroline very astutely yet unconsciously comments that Miss Gannett isn't playing like she thinks she should. “ Garry, do you know how to play mah jong? NO, I really don't. It looks fascinating and of course I've seen it featured in several movies, just from looking at the external features it appears to be a little bit like rummy except with tiles. I don't know either. But at this point in the game, Caroline points out that Miss Gannett's hand wasn't worth going mah Jong over. Miss. Gannett responds to Caroline's criticism by saying, “Yes, dear, I know what you mean, but it rather depends on what kind of hand you have to start with, doesn't it? Caroline replies, “You'll never get the big hands if you don't go for them.” To which Miss Gannet replies, “Well, we must all play our own way, mustn't we? After all, I'm up so far.” This goes on and on for an entire chapter- the women gossiping, attention going in and out. Let's read the part where the finally get to the end of the game and someone wins. The situation became more strained. It was annoyance at Miss Gannett's going Mah Jong for the third time running which prompted Caroline to say to me as we built a fresh wall: ‘You are too tiresome, James. You sit there like a deadhead, and say nothing at all!' ‘But, my dear,' I protested, ‘I have really nothing to say that is, of the kind you mean.' ‘Nonsense,' said Caroline, as she sorted her hand. ‘You must know something interesting.' I did not answer for a moment. I was overwhelmed and intoxicated. I had read of there being such a thing as The Perfect Winning – going Mah Jong on one's original hand. I had never hoped to hold the hand myself. With suppressed triumph I laid my hand face upwards on the table. ‘As they say in the Shanghai Club,' I remarked – Tin-ho – the Perfect Winning!' The colonel's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. And so there you have it, Dr. Shepperd has been tight-lipped the entire book which for us as his partners sometimes can get frustrating. He always knows more than he says, but he's a medical man and feels compelled to keep people's confidences until this night. Right after his big win, he is so exhilarated, he blurts out to everyone everything Poirot had told him the previous day about the ring- a specific ring Poirot had kept entirely out of the sight but had revealed only to Dr. Sheppherd now Dr. Shepperd is getting the world's biggest gossips and the news will for sure spread all over town. And so, where's the theme? I don't see it. Well, I'm not English, so I'm going to make a disclaimer that this could be a very American interpretation, but it seems to me that Christie is making a commentary on how society functions best- Mah Jong is a communal game with strict rules- but it is indeed about community- very much like the society she has built for us her readers. Although Shepperd claims all they do in King's Abbot is gossip, we see through every chapter that that is not true. There is a very active local pub that everyone goes to. They garden; they visit. They have true community. And yet there are indeed winners and losers, Miss Gannett isn't good at mah jong because she's too independent or impulsive. Shepperd has a bit of good luck, but he also lets it get to his head and blurts things out at the end that he probably shouldn't have. At least he regrets it at the beginning of the next chapter. I don't know, I just think she may be advocating to the rest of us who may find rules stifling, the traditional ways boring, or the conventions cumbersome, that there just might be something of value in the vintage- something comforting and enjoyable in a well-ordered and fair universe. But like I said, that's just one thought. And it is most definitely arguable. Okay- thanks for listening…
On 8 December 2020, a 90-year-old grandmother became the first person in the world to be given the Covid jab as part of a mass vaccination programme. Within six months more than 30 million people in the UK had received at least one dose. Many people say that extraordinary achievement would not have been possible without Dame Kate Bingham. A venture capitalist with a first-class degree in biochemistry, in May 2020 she was asked by the Prime Minister to head a new Vaccine Taskforce, leading British efforts to find and manufacture a Covid-19 vaccine for the UK and abroad. Her appointment was not without controversy. But, in the words of Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, who invented the AstraZeneca vaccine, “her calm decisions in the uncertain early days of the pandemic saved countless lives”. Kate Bingham was appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire in the Queen's 2021 Birthday Honours List. In conversation with Michael Berkeley, Kate Bingham reveals what it was like to create the Taskforce, working remotely from home in Wales. It was her first encounter with the inner workings of government, a culture she describes as paralysed by “groupthink”, and “a massive aversion to risk”. She reveals the music that sustained her, and which she listened to at night when she ran. Kate is an oboist, and she begins her music selection with Alessandro Marcello's Oboe Concerto; other choices include Gustav Holst, Robert Schumann, Arturo Marquez, Guys and Dolls, and a song with lyrics by her son Sam. Produced by Elizabeth Burke A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 3
Ep. 71 Dame Elizabeth Anionwu DBE FRCN - Really Interesting Women podcastDame Elizabeth Anionwu's amazing career and life had as its foundation, very humble beginnings. A tough childhood in the 1940's and 1950's was marked by the stigma of illegitimacy and racism. Despite all this, it was the kindness of one particular nun at a children's home when she was a very young child that resonated so much with her that, even at that age, it would stay with her forever and eventually lead to her life's work. Dame Elizabeth spent 40 years in the nursing profession in the UK and has been named one of the most influential nurses in the 70-year history of the National Health Scheme.Back In 1979, she became the United Kingdom's first sickle cell and thalassaemia nurse specialist, helping establish the Brent Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia Counselling centre. There are now 30 such centres in the UK. In 1998, by then a professor of nursing, she created the Mary Seacole Centre for Nursing Practice at the University of West London where she is Emeritus Professor of Nursing, she holds a PhD, was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). But despite all this....as someone who never had a black role model until she met her father late in life...I would venture to guess that Dame Elizabeth Anionwu is most proud of being an inspiration and role model to her granddaughter. Head to my dedicated Really Interesting Women Instagram account:@richardinstagraham, to see some fabulous photos capturing part of Dame Elizabeth's journey. Dame Elizabeth's book Dreams From My Motherhttps://www.booktopia.com.au/dreams-from-my-mother-dame-elizabeth-anionwu/book/9781841885223.html)
On February 6, 2022, Her Majesty The Queen will become the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, marking 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth. Through her 70 years, she has bestowed the highest honor, knighthood or damehood, upon select Brits, some of who are your favorite athletes. 1. One would think one of the most famous British athletes, David Beckham, would be a shoo-in for the honor, but he has never been knighted. He was not on the Queen's annual New Years honours List despite being cleared of financial issues that threatened his chances. Although Mr. Posh Spice has not received the honor, his former coach Alex Ferguson was knighted in 1999. 2. In 2021, Formula One (F1) driver Lewis Hamilton became the first Grand Prix driver to be knighted while still competing. (He's the fourth driver overall to receive the honor). Hamilton, 36, had a stellar 2020 where he broke the all-time victory record and secured his seventh world title. No word if his famous pup, Roscoe, received a new title as well. 3. Whether you know tennis player Andy Murray for his on-court domination or his awkward social media posts, the Queen recognized his services to tennis and charity and knighted him in 2019. But this isn't the only royal award he's received. After winning his first Wimbledon in 2013, he was given the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) medal from Prince William. Murray is a three-time Grand Slam Champion and holds two Olympic gold medals and one silver. 4. Golfer Nick Faldo, who boasts a remarkable career in which he won six majors and captained Europe's Ryder Cup team, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 2009. Sir Nick Faldo is now a broadcaster for many of golf's biggest tournaments. 5. Ellen Macarthur is the youngest woman ever to be named a dame, the female equivalent of knighthood, at 28. She was honored for her nautical achievements, like sailing around the world in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds. If you're wondering, men who are knighted become Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) and shall be called Sir. In contrast, women become Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE) and get the title Dame.
Verbal arts, explains Karin Barber, emeritus professor of African cultural anthropology at the University of Birmingham, are “any form of words that have been composed in order to attract attention or invite interpretation which is intended to be repeatable in some way.” They are, she continues, central to all sorts of social processes, “just as much a part of people's lives as kinship or economic activities.” In this Social Science Bites podcast, Barber offers a specific case study of the application of the verbal arts by examining in depth some of the genres common in the Yoruba-speaking areas of Western Africa. Barber said there are more than 30 million people who speak Yoruba, with the largest number in southwestern Nigeria, where much of Barber's own scholarship has taken place. She describes the study of Yoruba as a large field in academe, with “hundreds and hundreds” of Yoruba scholars building it up. Barber herself grew up in Yorkshire and did her first degree, in English, at Cambridge University. She next studied social anthropology at University College London and after a stint in Uganda was told that if she really wanted to pursue her examination of African theater she should go to Nigeria. Her Ph.D. – based on 37 months of field work studying oral poetic performance in everyday life in a Yoruba town - came from Nigeria's University of Ifẹ (now Ọbafẹmi Awolọwọ University). Barber then spent the next seven years as a lecturer in the Department of African Languages and Literatures at the University of Ifẹ, where courses were taught in Yoruba. Barber's scholarship has resulted in several notable books and monographs. The 1991 monograph I Could Speak Until Tomorrow: Oriki, Women and the Past in a Yoruba Town won the Amaury Talbot Prize for African Anthropology; 2000's The Generation of Plays: Yoruba Popular Life in Theatre won the Herskovits Award of the African Studies Association; The Anthropology of Texts, Persons and Publics from 2007 won the Susanne K. Langer Award of the Media Ecology Association; and 2012's Print Culture and the First Yoruba Novel won the Paul Hair Prize of the African Studies Association and the Association for the Preservation and Publication of African Historical Sources. In this interview, she tells host David Edmonds about two particular genres of Yoruba verbal arts: ifa, or divination poetry, and oríkì, translated as praise poetry. “Divination is how people govern and manage their lives,” she explains, “so this poetry is really central to how people analyze what's happening to them and take steps to make sure that things work out as they wish.” Praise poetry, “strings and strings of epithets hailing the subject's qualities,” meanwhile, “celebrates and commemorates and highlights the essential characteristics of a person or god or a family or town or an animal. Somehow it evokes the inner essence, the inner properties, and activates them, galvanizes them.” This genre, she details, has changed over the years, emphasizing wealth in the 19th century but more personal qualities and achievements today. “Changing power dynamics are revealed, not necessarily in what the verbal arts specifically say, but in the way they are formed, in the way they are transmitted, who reads them or who listens to them.” And so verbal arts matter in a social science context. “All verbal arts are produced in an economic and institutional context. You could ask, why did this new genre appear in this context, this particular moment in history. What caused people to devise this way of commenting on society and formulating ides in this particular way? It's because of the prevailing interplay of social forces.” For her work, Barber has received a number of high honors, ranging from a Yoruba chieftaincy title - she is the Iyamoye (“mother who has insights”) of Okuku – to appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2012 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire earlier this year.
Dame Anne Richards is CEO of Fidelity International and has worked in the asset management industry since 1992, including over two decades as an analyst, portfolio manager and CIO. She is a strong proponent of ESG investing and diversity and inclusion. Her career path spans many blue-chip global companies including: Alliance Capital, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers and Aberdeen Asset Management. Previously, she served as chief investment officer of Aberdeen Asset Management and cCEO of M&G Investments. She was promoted Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2021. She is Vice-Convener of the Court of the University of Edinburgh and chairs the CERN and Society Foundation Board since 2015.
A very, very warm welcome to our 100th episode. Woo! A milestone for us having started the podcast just under 4 years ago. I truly hope you have enjoyed all the episodes. If you've listened to them all then kudos and thanks for being with us along the way. If you're new in, then hello and I kind of envy you as there is a back catalogue just waiting for you to tune into. When I look back now only a few sections of the conversations are specific to time, and so the discussions are pretty evergreen. It's been a pure joy to connect with so many great minds, thinkers, achievers, aspirers, supporters of others - I'm truly humbled and want to thank everyone who has been on the show. I want to say at this point a huge thank you to Rachel who caringly curates the podcast episodes, Rachel does this with a coach's eye for not only the dialogue but also for the deeper motivations, passions, concerns and insights that people share in the conversations. Share your thoughts about the podcast in this quick survey This week's guest is Baroness Dame Sue Campbell. Sue Campbell trained as a PE teacher, guiding inner city children in Moss side to embrace sport. From humble yet so powerfully formative beginnings Sue has become one of the most effective and infectious leaders in modern sport. Sue founded the National Coaching Foundation, the Youth Sport Trust and became Chair of UK Sport from its early beginnings to becoming a world superpower. Sue now leads the English women's FA, in pursuit of growing the game. Her achievements are profound and pioneering having led the development of support for coaches, children, whole system wide sports. Recognition for her work includes 11 honorary degrees, appointed Baroness Campbell of Loughborough and Dame Commander in 2020. Throughout her career Sue has infused teams, organisations and the people within them to become better, lift the standards all in service of celebrating the power of sport to affect lives, show us that things are possible and to do so with deep respect for each other. Notes The importance of sport, for us and specifically children Football and its ability to reach parts of society that traditional legislation can't The next challenge Designing a pathway for girls professional football. Creating the best professional league for women in the world Long termism Influencing Sue's greatest challenges Growing Women's Football in its own light Links Steve Ingham on Twitter www.twitter.com/ingham_steve Supporting Champions on; Twitter www.twitter.com/support_champs Linkedin, www.linkedin.com/company/supporting-champions Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/supportingchampions
Architecture of Opportunity We lose talent in our society when we overlook those from poor backgrounds or minority families. For example, Lost Einsteins are children who harness above-average skills, but don't have a chance to invent and create later in their lives because they lack access to opportunity. John Rawls' Veil of Ignorance provides the template for a just society where the luck of your birth need not be a factor in your life's outcomes. The Importance of Childcare Our social contract has widely depended on women to provide free labor to care for children and the household. Because of the imbalance in structures like maternity leave, the gender pay gap can largely be attributed to children. By investing in affordable and accessible quality childcare, our society will benefit from the productivity and talents of all the women who are now subject to this child penalty. The New Social Contract with Business Global corporate taxes have been lowering for decades as countries fight to attract major corporations. Using taxes to invest in our society is part of the social contract, and a minimum global corporate tax will ensure that large companies can no longer shirk this responsibility. In addition, the current economic model lacks any measurement of how we degrade our environment. If these costs were measured, a carbon tax can be designed to reflect them and incentivize sound choices about our environment. FIND OUT MORE: Baroness Minouche Shafik is the Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is a leading economist whose career has straddled public policy and academia. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, she received her MSc at the London School of Economics and her DPhil at the University of Oxford. By the age of 36, she had become the youngest ever Vice President of the World Bank. She's taught at Georgetown University and the Wharton Business School. She later served as the Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Development from 2008 to 2011, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 2011-2014, and as Deputy Governor of the Bank of England from 2014-2017. Baroness Shafik has served on and chaired numerous boards and currently serves as a Trustee of the British Museum, the Supervisory Board of Siemens, the Council of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and the Economy Honours Committee. She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 2015. In July 2020, she was made a crossbench peer in the House of Lords. Her new book is What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract.
Professor Dame Julia King (Baroness Brown of Cambridge) DBE, FRS, FREng is an engineer, crossbench member of the House of Lords and Chair of The Carbon Trust.Julia started her career in academia as a Rolls-Royce fellow at University of Cambridge and was involved in teaching and research for 16 years, before moving to business. Between 1994 and 2002 she held a number of managerial positions at Rolls-Royce. In 2002 she became the Chief Executive of the Institute of Physics. Between 2004 and 2006 Julia was the Principal of the Engineering Faculty at Imperial College London. After that, she was Vice-Chancellor of Aston University for a decade. Julia has worked closely with the government on a number of climate, technology and education issues. She led the King Review of low-carbon cars (published in 2008) and sat on numerous government bodies, such as Climate Change Committee's Adaptation Sub-Committee of which she is the chair. Julia was appointed a life peer in the House of Lords in 2015. In 1999 she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire and promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2012.
Theresa Marteau is a British health psychologist, professor, and director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at the University of Cambridge. Her initial research concerned communicating risk information and found out that people usually don't change their behaviours despite receiving any form of information about preventable diseases like type 2 diabetes or certain types of cancer. Hence, she decided to redirect her focus on the non-conscious rather than conscious processes that could improve people's health behaviours e.g. reducing glass size to reduce alcohol consumption. Through that research, she's demonstrated that it is the change in government policies or population-level interventions - putting nudge theory into practice - that present a potential for the improvement in our population's health. For these notable findings and contributions she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours List. Nudge theory Social psychology Milgram experiment Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View by Stanley Milgram Spatial, temporal, and demographic patterns in prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 Impact of bottle size on in-home consumption of wine: feasibility and acceptability randomised cross-over study Shopper lab Impact of minimum unit pricing on alcohol purchases in Scotland and Wales: controlled interrupted time series analyses ★ Support this podcast ★
Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships. Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother's maiden name, “Limpenny.” A brief synopsis of Lympany's life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes. Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth. Having performed around the world, Lympany's career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993. Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany's musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).
Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships. Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother's maiden name, “Limpenny.” A brief synopsis of Lympany's life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes. Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth. Having performed around the world, Lympany's career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993. Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany's musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).
Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships. Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother's maiden name, “Limpenny.” A brief synopsis of Lympany's life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes. Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth. Having performed around the world, Lympany's career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993. Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany's musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).
Professor Mar Hicks tells us the story of Stephanie Shirley, one of Britain's computer programming pioneers. Imagine starting your own company with just £6 (roughly $12) and building it into one of the most powerful programming companies in Europe. That was Stephanie Shirley did, starting in 1961. Later in life, she went on to become one of Britain's leading philanthropists and has donated most of her life to helping good causes, especially those close to her heart. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 for her work in information technology and for her extensive charity work. Listen and admire, Buzzkillers!
Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships. Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother's maiden name, “Limpenny.” A brief synopsis of Lympany's life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes. Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth. Having performed around the world, Lympany's career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993. Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany's musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).
Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships. Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother's maiden name, “Limpenny.” A brief synopsis of Lympany's life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes. Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth. Having performed around the world, Lympany's career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993. Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany's musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).
Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships. Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother's maiden name, “Limpenny.” A brief synopsis of Lympany's life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes. Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth. Having performed around the world, Lympany's career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993. Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany's musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).
Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships. Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother's maiden name, “Limpenny.” A brief synopsis of Lympany's life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes. Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth. Having performed around the world, Lympany's career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993. Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany's musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).
Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships. Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother's maiden name, “Limpenny.” A brief synopsis of Lympany's life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes. Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth. Having performed around the world, Lympany's career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993. Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany's musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).
Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships. Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother's maiden name, “Limpenny.” A brief synopsis of Lympany's life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes. Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth. Having performed around the world, Lympany's career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993. Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany's musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).
Moura: Her Autobiography tells the story of the English concert pianist, Moura Lympany (1916-2005). Written in partnership with her cousin, Margot Strickland, the book covers the career of a stylish and resilient artist who endured many personal hardships. Born Mary Johnstone, Moura Lympany changed her name at the suggestion of the conductor, Basil Cameron, with whom she made her debut at Harrogate in a performance of the Mendelssohn G-minor Piano Concerto in 1929. Cameron had thought that “Moura” (the Russian version of “Mary”) might lend itself well to a concert career, particularly when combined with an old spelling of her mother's maiden name, “Limpenny.” A brief synopsis of Lympany's life begins with her early piano studies given by her mother. Her father had served in the First World War. Having been sent to a convent school in Belgium, Lympany later went on to study with Paul Weingarten, Mathilde Verne (a pupil of Clara Schumann) and Tobias Matthay, whose spirit and teaching legacy live on in the book as witnessed by numerous stories and anecdotes. Having made her London debut at Wigmore Hall in 1935, Lympany placed second to Emil Gilels in the Ysaÿe Piano Competition of 1938. Married in 1944 to Colin Defries, a man thirty-two years older than Lympany, the two divorced in 1950, the marriage not having been without complications. A second marriage occurred in 1951 to the American television executive, Bennet Korn. The two divorced in 1961. Lympany had longed for children and speaks about this in her book. Unfortunately, she suffered two miscarriages, as well as a son who died shortly after birth. Having performed around the world, Lympany's career picked up considerable momentum after the Second World War. Of notable interest is the Steinway Centenary Concert that Lympany performed at, along with a host of other great pianists, including my piano teacher, Constance Keene. This concert took place in October of 1953 and was apparently broadcast on the television show, Toast of the Town. Diagnosed with breast cancer in 1969, Lympany had a mastectomy, followed later by a second one. In 1979, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Two years later, Lympany established the Rasiguères Festival of Music and Wine in France. From the mid-1980s and on, she was based in Monaco, having helped Prince Louis de Polignac to establish the Festival des Sept Chapelles in Brittany. Lympany was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1992 and served as a juror for the Ninth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1993. Throughout her autobiography, one gets a sense of the degree to which Lympany loved living the good life, both in terms of her flair for fine fashion, food, wine, as well as travel, parties and society. Her contacts included many notable individuals, including figures of royalty. The archive of Lympany's musical career is located at the International Piano Archive at the University of Maryland (IPAM).
How do you measure quality of life? As researchers across fields discover new drug therapies or disease prevention—in breast cancer as well as other fields—science finds innumerable ways to measure physical results. But what about the social, behavioral, and psychological aspects of cancer care? And how should medical providers discuss such realties with patients? This is just one area of extraordinary impact that Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield has made in medicine. Dame Lesley is professor of psycho-oncology at Brighton & Sussex Medical School at the University of Sussex where she is director of the Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer group. She has been a BCRF Investigator since 2016—the same year she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for services to psycho-oncology.
Professor Dame Kay Davies is the Dr. Lee's Professor of Anatomy in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics and Director of the MRC Functional Genomics Unit at the University of Oxford. She is also the Honorary Director of the MRC Functional Genomics Unit, a deputy chairman of the Wellcome Trust, and Executive Editor of the journal Human Molecular Genetics. Kay is also a co-founder of a biotechnology company and is a director of another. In her research, Kay uses genetics techniques to help find effective treatments for muscular dystrophy. Much of her work has focused on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a severe and progressive muscle wasting disease that primarily affects males. When she’s not working, Kay loves taking walks in the English countryside, listening to classical music, and playing the piano. She completed her undergraduate studies at Somerville College and served as a Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College in Oxford. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Saclay Nuclear Research Center, and went on to serve as a research fellow at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School and John Radcliffe Hospital and then as a faculty member at John Radcliffe Hospital and the University of London before joining the faculty at Oxford. Kay has received many awards and honors during her career, and to name just a few, she was elected as a founding Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society. She was also named Commander of the Order of the British Empire and then Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Kay is also an Honorary Fellow of Sommerville College, and had the honor of giving the inaugural Rose lecture at Kingston University in 2012 and the Harveian Oration at the Royal College of Physicians in 2013. In our interview, Kay tells us more about her journey through life and science.
Coming in 15th place for our review list, Opening Night at the Vulcan is most renowned among Dame Ngaio Marsh's works for revitalising the theatre scene in New Zealand, and this ultimately leading to Marsh being appointed Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1966. Why has the novel placed so low on our list then? Within, we lower the curtain on the answer to this question.
In this episode, we talk with Dame Wendy Hall, who was involved with creating the very field of web science. Wendy was a Founding Director of the Web Science Research Initiative, is the Managing director of the Web Science Trust, and became a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2009. She explains some of her contributions to the field, as well as offers a perspective of how web science is changing under geopolitical forces, the pandemic, and more. Going beyond all this, she also dives into many of the ethical questions and challenges that web science posits. Click here for the transcript and here to access the show notes for this episode.
The Reel Debaters are back. Brian K Vaughan wrote Roundtable, what many considered a perfect screenplay. Which current Knights and Dames of the realm will be cast in this modern retelling of the Knights of the Roundtable? In Part Two of the roundtable Versus game, The Debaters and the SeanGeek crew cast the current Knights and Dames in our version of the film. Based on the current Knights and Dames of the Realm, we cast the film for the new Knights (and Dames) of the Roundtable. Who do we cast as Merlin? (0:57) What About Morgana Le Fey (4:21)? Which musicians make the cut for the top role of Knight Commander (9:36)? Which actor makes it as Knight Commander (14:26)? Which makes it in the role of Dame Commander (22:18)? Who will be Commander in our film (33:48)? Who will be the Honorary Knight (41:54) At (43:57) we recap all of our choices. Through it all we get lost in the ranking and titles of the British Order. Yes, despite all of the research done, we still don't understand a thing about it… Have fun getting more confused with us. And we do way too much phrasing. James Beaver Promo Spot (33:17) Do you want more Reel Debaters? Listen to them here: Follow them on Social Media @reeldebaters #briankvaughan @reeldebaters @beaverdoes @manitobapodcast #roundtable #movies #scripts #knights #dames Website: [www.seanmcginity.ca](http://www.seanmcginity.ca)Meet The Geeks: @seangeekpodcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook@fastfretfingers on Instagram@ToddGeeks Tech Talk on Facebook @the_real_meet_the_geeks on Instagram Support this podcast
The Reel Debaters are back. Brian K Vaughan wrote Roundtable, what many considered a perfect screenplay. Which current Knights and Dames of the realm will be cast in this modern retelling of the Knights of the Roundtable? In Part Two of the roundtable Versus game, The Debaters and the SeanGeek crew cast the current Knights and Dames in our version of the film. Based on the current Knights and Dames of the Realm, we cast the film for the new Knights (and Dames) of the Roundtable. Who do we cast as Merlin? (0:57) What About Morgana Le Fey (4:21)? Which musicians make the cut for the top role of Knight Commander (9:36)? Which actor makes it as Knight Commander (14:26)? Which makes it in the role of Dame Commander (22:18)? Who will be Commander in our film (33:48)? Who will be the Honorary Knight (41:54) At (43:57) we recap all of our choices. Through it all we get lost in the ranking and titles of the British Order. Yes, despite all of the research done, we still don't understand a thing about it… Have fun getting more confused with us. And we do way too much phrasing. James Beaver Promo Spot (33:17) Do you want more Reel Debaters? Listen to them here: https://thereeldebaters.podbean.com/ Follow them on Social Media @reeldebaters #briankvaughan @reeldebaters @beaverdoes @manitobapodcast #roundtable #movies #scripts #knights #dames Website: www.seanmcginity.caMeet The Geeks: http://mtgcomic.thecomicseries.com/@seangeekpodcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook@fastfretfingers on Instagram@ToddGeeks Tech Talk on Facebook @the_real_meet_the_geeks on Instagram
The Reel Debaters are back. Brian K Vaughan wrote Roundtable, what many considered a perfect screenplay. Which current Knights and Dames of the realm will be cast in this modern retelling of the Knights of the Roundtable? In Part Two of the roundtable Versus game, The Debaters and the SeanGeek crew cast the current Knights and Dames in our version of the film. Based on the current Knights and Dames of the Realm, we cast the film for the new Knights (and Dames) of the Roundtable. Who do we cast as Merlin? (0:57) What About Morgana Le Fey (4:21)? Which musicians make the cut for the top role of Knight Commander (9:36)? Which actor makes it as Knight Commander (14:26)? Which makes it in the role of Dame Commander (22:18)? Who will be Commander in our film (33:48)? Who will be the Honorary Knight (41:54) At (43:57) we recap all of our choices. Through it all we get lost in the ranking and titles of the British Order. Yes, despite all of the research done, we still don't understand a thing about it… Have fun getting more confused with us. And we do way too much phrasing. James Beaver Promo Spot (33:17) Do you want more Reel Debaters? Listen to them here: https://thereeldebaters.podbean.com/ Follow them on Social Media @reeldebaters #briankvaughan @reeldebaters @beaverdoes @manitobapodcast #roundtable #movies #scripts #knights #dames Website: www.seanmcginity.caMeet The Geeks: http://mtgcomic.thecomicseries.com/@seangeekpodcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook@fastfretfingers on Instagram@ToddGeeks Tech Talk on Facebook @the_real_meet_the_geeks on Instagram
Antarctica is at the front line of the global climate crisis; in this episode Alok Jha talks to Professor Dame Jane Francis about the history of the continent, and the extraordinary climate research happening there.Professor Dame Jane Francis is a geologist by training, and a palaeobotanist at the British Antarctic Survey. Her research interests include ancient climates and fossil plants from the Arctic and Antarctic, which she uses to decipher ancient polar climates. She was awarded the Polar Medal for her contribution to British polar research and was appointed as Dame Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George for services to UK polar science and diplomacy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Proteins in a cell don't tend to practice social distancing. They have many associates but capturing all of the associates in one experiment is difficult. Dr. Carol Robinson and her team developed a way to be able to dissociate such complexes in a mass spectrometer and look at them in one experiment. It's a new kind of mass spectrometer and one she and her team co-developed with Thermo Fisher Scientific. Robinson is the first female professor of the University of Oxford, previously the first female professor of the University of Cambridge and she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. This is a story about her by Vivien Marx.
Dr. Jane Goodall — The Legend, The Lessons, The Hope | Brought to you by ExpressVPN and LinkedIn Marketing Solutions.“The greatest danger to our future is apathy.” — Dr. Jane GoodallDr. Jane Goodall (@JaneGoodallInst) was born on April 3rd, 1934, in London England. At the young age of 26, she followed her passion for animals and Africa to Gombe, Tanzania, where she began her landmark study of chimpanzees in the wild, immersing herself in their habitat as a neighbor rather than a distant observer. Her discovery in 1960 that chimpanzees make and use tools rocked the scientific world and redefined the relationship between humans and animals.In 1977, she established the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) to advance her work around the world and for generations to come. JGI continues the field research at Gombe and builds on Dr. Goodall’s innovative approach to conservation, which recognizes the central role that people play in the well-being of animals and the environment. In 1991, she founded Roots & Shoots, a global program that empowers young people in nearly 60 countries to act as the informed conservation leaders that the world so urgently needs.Today, Dr. Goodall travels the world, speaking about the threats facing chimpanzees, environmental crises, and her reasons for hope. In her books and speeches, she emphasizes the interconnectedness of all living things and the collective power of individual action. Dr. Goodall is a UN Messenger of Peace and Dame Commander of the British Empire.The next chapter of Dr. Jane Goodall’s life’s work unfolds in a brand-new documentary, Jane Goodall: The Hope, premiering on Earth Day, April 22nd, at 9E/8C on Nat Geo, Nat Geo WILD, and Nat Geo Mundo. The two-hour special takes viewers through the chapters of Dr. Goodall’s journey in the 60 years since her groundbreaking discoveries researching wild chimpanzees in Gombe, including her activism, creation of her non-profit organization the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), and Roots & Shoots youth program, along with her current efforts to inspire the next generation.Dr. Goodall’s work through the Jane Goodall Institute is advanced through the generous support of people like you and me. To show your support, visit janegoodall.org/tim. Please enjoy! This episode is brought to you by ExpressVPN. I’ve been using ExpressVPN since last summer, and I find it to be a reliable way to make sure that my data is secure and encrypted, without slowing my Internet speed. If you ever use public Wi-Fi at, say, a hotel or a coffee shop, where I often work and as many of my listeners do, you’re often sending data over an open network, meaning no encryption at all.One way to ensure that all of your data is encrypted and can’t be easily read by hackers is by using ExpressVPN. All you need to do is download the ExpressVPN app on your computer or smartphone and then use the Internet just as you normally would. You click one button in the ExpressVPN app to secure 100% of your network data. Use my link ExpressVPN.com/Tim today and get an extra three months free on a one-year package!This episode is also brought to you by LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, the go-to tool for B2B marketers and advertisers who want to drive brand awareness, generate leads, or build long-term relationships that result in real business impact.With a community of more than 660 million professionals, LinkedIn is gigantic, but it can be hyper-specific. You have access to a diverse group of people all searching for things they need to grow professionally. LinkedIn has the marketing tools to help you target your customers with precision, right down to job title, company name, industry, etc. To redeem your free $100 LinkedIn ad credit and launch your first campaign, go to LinkedIn.com/TFS!***If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests.For show notes and past guests, please visit tim.blog/podcast.Sign up for Tim’s email newsletter (“5-Bullet Friday”) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Please fill out the form at tim.blog/sponsor.Discover Tim’s books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss YouTube: youtube.com/timferriss
We hear a lot about the gender pay gap, but what about the gender pension gap? My guest on the show today is Dame Helena Morrissey, Head of Personal Investing at Legal & General Investment Management. Helena joined LGIM in 2017 from Newton where she held the title of CEO for fifteen years, before becoming non-executive Chairman. During her tenure, Newton’s assets under management grew from £20 billion to £50 billion, and under her leadership the firm developed a number of market-leading strategies in absolute return, equity income and global equities. Prior to becoming CEO she was a Head of Fixed Income at Newton. She started her career as a global fixed income analyst at Schroders in New York. Helena founded the 30% Club in 2010; a cross-business initiative aimed at achieving better gender balanced boards through voluntary, business-led change. She is also Chair of the Diversity Project. As you'll hear in this episode, the proportion of women on UK company boards more than doubled over the following five years and there are now fourteen 30% Clubs throughout the world. Helena was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2012 New Year’s Honours List and promoted Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to diversity in financial services. Here's my conversation with Helena Morrissey, in episode 458 of Informed Choice Radio.
This week’s guest is Dame Heather Rabbatts Heather began her career as a Barrister at Law, before becoming a government advisor and chief executive of Lambeth Council, making her the youngest local authority CEO in the UK. She was a Governor of the BBC followed by an appointment as a senior executive at Channel 4 She has held many senior roles in football including Executive Chair of Millwall Football Club and in 2012 was The FA’s first female non-executive Director and Board member where she chaired The FA Inclusion Advisory Board. She was previously a member of FIFA’s Anti-Discrimination Taskforce and has worked with UEFA on their women’s leadership initiatives. Rabbatts was appointed a (CBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to football and equality. In November 2016, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women. Today she is chair of Vero the marketing agency founded in 2006 by her husband Mike Lee OBE who led the business until his untimely death in September 2018. The interview was carried out at City & Islington College.
Dame Inga Beale is a British businesswoman and the former CEO of Lloyd’s of London. A leading figure in the global insurance and reinsurance market for five years, Inga announced her departure from the role in June 2018, after overseeing numerous important cultural changes in the company. In December 2013, Inga was announced as the new CEO of Lloyd’s of London, the first woman to be promoted to this position in over three centuries of the company’s history. Throughout her career, Inga has been a strong proponent of inclusion and equality in the workplace, which contributed to her particular success in addressing numerous problems within Lloyd’s of London regarding chauvinism. Inga was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for her services to the economy.
If anyone proves that you can have it all it's Helena Morrissey. Working mum to nine children, Helena is also the successful author of "a good time to be a girl". Having started her career at the New York and London bond desks at Schroders, finding her career path blocked went on to become Newton Investment Management as Chief Executive. Helena is now Head of Personal Investing at Legal & General Investment Management. Established the 30% club in 2010 to campaign for greater female representation on company boards and she is a trustee at the Eve Appeal, which raises money for gynaecological cancers. In 2010, Helena was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Cambridge and appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2012 for services to UK business and promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2017 for services to diversity in financial services. In this discussion which was recorded at the head offices of Legal & General, Helena shares some of her most shocking experiences in the early days when trying to raise a family whilst developing her career and shares her lessons learnt to anyone who is thinking of starting a family and worried about the impact this may have on their professional career. @morrisseyhelena
Vivienne Westwood has accumulated many different titles throughout her long and storied life: co-founder of the British Punk movement, mastermind designer behind a fashion empire, savvy business woman, impassioned activist, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, mother, and wife. In this conversation from 2007, Tania and Dame Vivienne delve into the difference between fashion and art, the origin of ideas, and what Dame Vivienne appreciates the most about herself.
Following her historic installation as the 133rd Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally will be in conversation with David Ison, Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, about her faith, her life, what matters to her most, and how she feels about being the first female Bishop of London. A Londoner for most of her adult life, she is passionate about how people live well in the city, about health, loneliness, the call to transformed lives, and what the church can offer people in a new century and a fast-changing city. The event is free and open to everyone, and there will be plenty of time for questions from the audience. Sarah Mullally is the Bishop of London. Installed on 12 May in St Paul’s Cathedral, she was previously Bishop of Crediton, has worked at Salisbury Cathedral and been a parish priest, and before had a career as a nurse, specialising in cancer care. Her very successful career in the NHS culminated in her appointment as the government’s Chief Nursing Officer for England at the age of 37, and she was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2005 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to nursing and midwifery. David Ison is the Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral. Previously Dean of Bradford in Yorkshire, he began as an inner city priest in Deptford, taught at a training college in Blackheath, worked on a housing estate in Coventry and with in-service training of clergy in Devon, and has a PhD in Early Church History. Recorded on Monday 4 June 2018.
It's our first Woman Crush Wednesday! Professor Marie Hicks tells us the story of Stephanie Shirley, one of Britain's computer programming pioneers. Imagine starting your own company with just £6 (roughly $12) and building it into one of the most powerful programming companies in Europe. That was Stephanie Shirley did, starting in 1961. Later in life, she went on to become one of Britain's leading philanthropists and has donated most of her life to helping good causes, especially those close to her heart. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000 for her work in information technology and for her extensive charity work. Listen and admire, Buzzkillers!
Under normal circumstances, if something was hurting you, you’d likely stop doing it. Except, well, as Theresa Marteau of Cambridge University’s Department of Public Health and Primary Care has explored deeply, in some key areas, you’re likely not stopping. In a conversation with Social Science Bites host David Edmonds, she notes that the majority of premature deaths are due to four non-communicable diseases – diabetes, cancer, cardio-vascular disease, and lung disease. In turn, there are four main causes of these diseases – smoking, overconsumption of food, alcohol, and not moving around enough. All those causes, you’ll notice, flow from behavior. And simply tapping someone on the shoulder and pointing out the connection has not been a particularly effective way to interrupt these pernicious behaviors. “It’s quite a common idea that if people only understood better how they might be damaging their health, then they would tackle it,” Marteau explains. “Governments and others invest an amount of money in trying to communicate the risks to you and your health of engaging in these behaviors ... and while it can raise awareness, it’s not that effective at changing your behavior.” That’s perplexing, Marteau admits, but undeterred she’s spent much of her career at the intersection of basic psychology, neuroscience and behavioral science looking for ways that do work to change behavior. And, as this podcast explores, she’s focused on the environment. Or rather, environments. As director of Studies for Psychological and Behavioural Sciences at Cambridge’s Christ’s College, her research group examines how environment – and that includes the cultural, built and financial environments --buttresses short term pleasures over long term benefits. Taking a cue from Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking Fast and Slow, Marteau finds that the ‘bad’ behaviors in question ultimately—despite any initial enthusiasm at some point to quit smoking or go to the gym – default to the so-called ‘fast‘ brain system that oversees routine behaviors. These routines in turn are shaped, or perhaps amplified, by those environments. Ultimately, Marteau focuses on addressing these harmful behaviors, work which this June saw her named Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her services to public health. That work has her collecting evidence for redesigning environments to promote healthy behavior, which touches on public and private industry issues like product pricing, availability (and proximity), portion size, excise taxes, and many others -- “conceptually simple but legally and culturally more complex,” she admits.
Professor Dame Kay Davies is the Dr. Lee's Professor of Anatomy at Oxford University and a fellow of Hertford College. She is also the Honorary Director of the MRC Functional Genomics Unit, a deputy chairman of the Wellcome Trust, and Executive Editor of the journal Human Molecular Genetics. Kay is also a co-founder of a biotechnology company and is a director of another. She completed her undergraduate studies at Somerville College and served as a Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College in Oxford. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Saclay Nuclear Research Center, and went on to serve as a research fellow at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School and John Radcliffe Hospital and then as a faculty member at John Radcliffe Hospital and the University of London before joining the faculty at Oxford. Kay has received many awards and honors during her career, and to name just a few, she was elected as a founding Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society. She was also named Commander of the Order of the British Empire and then Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Kay is also an Honorary Fellow of Sommerville College, and had the honor of giving the inaugural Rose lecture at Kingston University in 2012 and the Harveian Oration at the Royal College of Physicians in 2013. Kay is with us today to tell us all about her journey through life and science.
Evelyn Glennie lost her hearing by the age of 12, but that didn’t stop her from becoming a percussion virtuoso, a three-time Grammy winner, and a Dame Commander of the British Empire. In this Composer Quest interview, she shares some really interesting ideas about dynamics and writing for percussion. We also talk about her collaborations with Björk, composer John Corigliano, and guitarist and improviser Fred Frith.
Many selections sung by Clara Butt, a very great artist: 1.Softly and gently (Elgar:The Dream of Gerontius)2. Where corals lie (Elgar:Sea Pictures)3.The Enchantress (Hatton)4.The Leaves and the Wind (Cooper)5.The Sweetest flower that blows (Hawley)6. Barbara Allen (Traditional)7. Kathleen Mavourneen (Crouch)8. Ye Banks and braes (Scottish air)9.The Promise of life (Cowen)10.En priere (Faure)11.The Birth of the flowers(Lehmann)12. Lusinghe piu care (Handel:Alessandro)13. Rend'il sereno (Handel:Sosarme)14. Ombra mai fu (Handel:Serse)15, In questa tomba oscura (Bethoven)16.Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix (Samson et Delilah)17. Che faro senza Euridice (Orfeo)18. Brindisi from Lucrezia Borgia (Donizetti) ( 66 min.) Clara Butt was born in Southwick, Sussex. Her father was Henry Albert Butt who was a sea captain and who was born in 1848 in Saint Martin, Jersey, Channel Islands. He married Clara Hook in 1869, who was born in Shoreham, the daughter of Joseph Hook, mariner (1861 and 1871 census, in 1881 in New Shoreham workhouse). In 1880 the family moved to Bristol and Clara was educated at South Bristol High School, where her singing talent was recognised and encouraged. At the request of her headmistress, she was trained by the bass Daniel Rootham and joined the Bristol Festival Chorus, of which he was musical director. In January 1890 she won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. In her fourth year she spent three months studying in Paris at the expense of Queen Victoria. She also studied in Berlin and Italy. She made her professional début at the Royal Albert Hall in London in Sir Arthur Sullivan's The Golden Legend on 7 December 1892. Three days later she appeared as Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice at the Lyceum Theatre. Bernard Shaw wrote in The World that she ‘far surpassed the utmost expectations that could reasonably be entertained' (14 December 1892). She returned to Paris and made further studies with Jacques Bouhy (the teacher of Louise Homer and Louise Kirkby Lunn) and later with the soprano Etelka Gerster in Berlin. Camille Saint-Saëns wanted her to study Dalila, but due to laws then extant forbidding the representation of biblical subjects on the British stage, nothing came of it. Soon she had acquired an excellent reputation, aided by her physical presence - she was 6 feet 2 inches tall. She made many gramophone recordings, often accompanied by the (uncredited) pianist Miss Lillian Bryant. She was primarily a concert singer and only ever appeared in two opera productions, both of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, in 1892 and 1920. Edward Elgar composed his Sea Pictures for contralto and orchestra with Clara Butt in mind as the soloist, and she sang at the first performance at the Norwich Festival on 5 October 1899, with the composer conducting. In 1900 she married the baritone Kennerly Rumford, and thenceforth often appeared with him in concerts. The couple eventually had three children two sons and a daughter. Besides singing in many important festivals and concerts, she was honoured with royal commands from Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, and King George V. She made tours to Australia, Japan, Canada, the United States and to many European cities. During the First World War she organised and sang in many concerts for service charities, and for this she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1920 civilian war honours. That year she sang four performances of Gluck's Orphee at Covent Garden under the baton of Sir Thomas Beecham. According to The Times she 'played fast and loose with the time and spoilt the phrasing' and it appears not to have been a success. Butt's three sisters were also singers. One of them, Ethel Hook, became a famous artist in her own right and made some superb solo recordings. In later life Clara Butt was dogged by tragedies. Her elder son died of meningitis while still at school, and the younger committed suicide. During the 1920s she became seriously ill of cancer of the spine, but her faith gave her the strength to continue working. She made many of her later records seated in a wheelchair. She died in 1936 at the age of 63 at her home in North Stoke, Oxfordshire, as a result of an accident she suffered in 1931. Sir Thomas Beecham once said, jokingly, that "on a clear day, you could have heard her across the English Channel". Not all serious musicians admired her booming contralto, which can be mistaken for a man's voice on some recordings, or her rather 'populist' approach to her art.
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