How To Academy Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Danielle Keats Citron - How to Protect Dignity and Identity in the Digital Age Nov 15, 2022

Show notes

Law Professor and MacArthur fellow Danielle Citron takes the conversation about technology and privacy out of the boardrooms and op-eds to reach readers where we are - in our bathrooms and bedrooms; with our families and our lovers; in all the parts of our lives we assume are untouchable - and shows us that privacy, as we think we know it, is largely already gone. In this episode of the podcast, she shows us the way to fight back and build a better protected future.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live Debate: "Now is the Time to Make Peace in Ukraine" Nov 11, 2022

Show notes

Support for the policy of arming Ukraine remains hugely popular. Zelensky is a hero to millions and has become an icon, while many of us in the UK wear the Ukrainian flag with pride. But dissenting voices from across the political spectrum question whether a Ukrainian victory is truly possible, or whether a compromise with Putin is the only way to end the multiple global crises, from surging inflation to the energy emergency, and to bring back the world from the brink of nuclear war.

Are they right to seek an end to the conflict? Or is the very idea a betrayal of the ideals of liberal democracy – a weakening of resolve that will serve the interests of dictators and tyrants, signalling a retreat of Western power with serious consequences from the Baltics to Taiwan?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joyce Tyldesley - The Life, Death, and Afterlife of Tutankhamun Nov 09, 2022

Show notes

The pharaohs ruled Egypt for two and a half thousand years but none continue to excite the world's imagination like Tutankhamun. Joyce Tyldesley is a leading Egyptologist whose career was directly inspired by an early encounter with the legacy of that famous teenager. Now she joins the podcast to share his story and explore his enduring legacy.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yuval Noah Harari Meets Katherine Rundell - Unstoppable Us Nov 01, 2022

Show notes

Have you ever wondered how we got here? From hunting mammoths, to flying to the moon?

Historian Yuval Noah Harari introduced millions of readers to the story of the human species with his global bestseller Sapiens. His new book Unstoppable Us is the first in a new four-book series telling that story to younger readers. Over the summer he joined children's author and essayist Katherine Rundell on stage to tell us more.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

George Saunders - Liberation Day Oct 28, 2022

Show notes

George Saunders' first new collection of stories in ten years is a powerful reminder of why he is widely considered to be the greatest short story writer in the English language. In Liberation Day, we meet the disillusioned employees of a Hell themed underground theme park, the philanthropists of a dystopian near-future America, and brainwashed political protesters for hire. Mixing satirical fantasies with razor-sharp observations of human nature, Saunders' new stories walk a fine line between comedy and pathos, realism and playfulness. He joins us on the podcast for a journey inside his creative process and dazzling imagination.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Geena Davis - Dying of Politeness Oct 25, 2022

Show notes

At the age of three Geena Davis announced to her parents she was going to be an actor. With a slew of iconic film and television roles now under her belt, as well as numerous awards including two Oscars, she has surpassed her childhood dreams in ways she never could have imagined. In this episode of the podcast, the actor and advocate offers a surprising and touching account of her journey to fight for herself and ultimately live a bolder, freer, more authentic life.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kate Summerscale - The History of Phobias and Manias Oct 23, 2022

Show notes

'Fascinating ... Phobias and manias create a magical space between us and the world' Malcolm Gaskill, author of the No 1 bestseller, The Ruin of All Witches

'A new book from Summerscale is always a treat ... Her sub-title might echo Neil MacGregor, but this reads more like a book by Oliver Sacks, with dashes of Roald Dahl' Spectator

Our phobias and manias are contradictory and multiple: deeply intimate, yet forged by the times we live in. Discover how our fixations have taken shape, from the Middle Ages to the present day, as bestselling author Kate Summerscale deftly traces the threads between the past and present, the psychological and social, the personal and the political.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kate Mosse - Warrior Queens and Quiet Revolutionaries Oct 20, 2022

Show notes

Kate Mosse has dedicated her life to promoting women’s stories – through her award-winning fiction, plays and essays, the creation and leadership of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and most recently, her phenomenally successful social media campaign, #WomanInHistory.

In conversation with the writer Erica Wagner, she joins the podcast to share the stories of women whose incredible achievements helped build the world, and yet have been routinely omitted from the history books.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amy Jeffs - Tales of the Medieval Wilderness Oct 14, 2022

Show notes

Amy Jeffs brings legends of the medieval world to life through art, music, and the written word. Her debut book Storyland retold Britain's myths of origin for modern audiences, captivating us with stories of heroes and adventure from the Middle Ages. The sequel, Wild, transports us into the wilderness, giving voice to marginalised and forgotten figures - women, outcasts, monsters - and reveals Amy's own journeys across the rugged landscapes of the British isles.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Irvine Welsh - Confessions of a Novelist Oct 11, 2022

Show notes

Junkie, DJ, punk, pill popper, petty criminal, binge drinker, screenwriter, TV repairman: Irvine Welsh has lived more lives than the average man of letters and survived to tell the tale. In his hallucinogenic fiction, God turns men into flies as punishment for wasting their lives, babies and ravers swap bodies, and tapeworms tell stories about the humans in whose guts they reside.

The most important Scottish novelist of his generation joins How To Academy to take us inside his life and world, and offer a preview of The Long Knives, the second in his hugely acclaimed CRIME trilogy.

This episode contains lots of swearing. If you would prefer a beeped version please visit our website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices