Griffin Dunne on a literary family’s legacy
He grew up in Hollywood in a well-known literary family, and built a career as an actor, producer, director and documentary filmmaker. Now, Griffin Dunne has written a family memoir…
David Macaulay, America’s “Explainer-in-chief”
Author David Macaulay has spent more than 50 years finding ways to explain things, via his humorous and intricately illustrated books featuring wooly mammoth guides – his attempt to hook…
Why Africa’s history is more than just the slave trade
Has our focus on the impact of the transatlantic slave trade blinded us to the diversity and complexity of Africa's past? That's one of the arguments at the heart of…
Written in the Waters
Tara Roberts
How the compass became a political weapon
Why did early Islamic cartographers place south at the top of their maps? Who invented the magnetic compass? And why has 'the west' become an intensely political term, as well…
Murder in WW2 London
In September 1940, the German Luftwaffe began raining bombs on British cities, causing death and destruction on a scale never before seen. But, in the capital, the Blitz wasn’t the…
How to be an Atheist in the Middle Ages
We tend to think that it was impossible not to subscribe to Christianity in the Middle Ages. But, as in any age, belief can wax and wane. But the chroniclers…
I Want You to Want Me
Charlotte Shane discusses desire, sex work, and writing
Sex and Christianity: 2,000 years of love and fury
What were Jesus's views on sex? Why did so many Christians choose a life of celibacy? Has the church ever been tolerant of homosexuality? These are some of the questions…