Why are people so defensive about the Flat Earth?
3rd July, 2023
There is often a sense of ridicule when people mention a belief in a flat Earth. But why is that? Where did it come from, why does it endure, and why is it so mocked? In this blog, James Hannam explores the Flat Earth phenomena. *** Writing to his Je…
On the History of the Gypsy
1st June, 2023
All it took was a look through some Georgian newspapers to inspire Jeremy Harte to write his new book, Travellers Through Time: A Gypsy History. In this blog, Jeremy talks about his research and discoveries as he wrote the book. *** A photograph of t…
The Warburg Institute investigates Renaissance Lives
24th May, 2023
Join the Warburg Institute podcast as they unearth the treasures of our Renaissance Lives series. Listen now: Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer Hieronymus Bosch: Visions and Nightmares Botticelli: Artist and Designer Erasmus of Rotterdam: The Spirit of…
Winters in the World at Topping & Co. Bath
24th May, 2023
Thursday 31 August 2023 7pm Join author Eleanor Parker as she discusses her book, Winters in the World: A Journey through the Anglo-Saxon Year with Topping & Co. Bath! Many of the festivals we celebrate in Britain today have their roots in the An…
Our Nomadic Future
3rd May, 2023
In this blog, author Eluned Summers-Bremner reflects on how our future looks nomadic, and how our lifestyle is changing even today. *** Not long after finishing Astray, I was researching how nomadic lifeways are threatened by human-introduced climati…
The History of the Swing
26th April, 2023
When writing Arc of Feeling, Javier Moscoso uncovered a world as yet unexplored; the history of the swing. In this blog, Javier considers what the swing has meant for us throughout the ages … *** Pintor de Penelope, Detalle The fact that, in very d…
Animal Architecture: Swallows
5th April, 2023
When Paul Dobraszczyk was a child, his mother nursed fledgling swallows. In this blog, Paul explores the many ways in which humans have interacted with, and affected, swallows … *** When I was a child, a pair of swallows (Hirundo rustica) chose to…
Curious and beautiful mushrooms
2nd March, 2023
Now in paperback, Nik Money’s Mushrooms: A Natural and Cultural History introduces the mythology and science of the spectacular array of fungi that produce mushrooms, the history of our interactions with these curious and beautiful organisms, and the…
The Medieval Ages of Woman
1st March, 2023
In this blog, author Gillian Adler describes the Ages of Woman … *** In Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Jacques delivers a soliloquy famed for its opening lines, ‘All the world’s a stage, / And all the men and women merely players’. Not only does the…
Thomas Nashe and Insults
5th January, 2023
It’s our first blog of the year, and this time we have Andrew Hadfield explaining how Thomas Nashe was the king of insults. So, if you want to discover more about Nashe, or even just to learn a new insult, read on … *** Has anyone ever been better…
Not just for Christmas
22nd December, 2022
It’s Christmas-time and inevitably our favourite festive feathered friend appears. But Helen F. Wilson explains that the humble robin is not just for Christmas in this new blog piece … *** Questions about robins inevitably surface around this time…
States of Incarceration
30th November, 2022
What provoked the Black Lives Matter movement, and how did it reflect what was going on (and still is going on) in America today? Jarrod Shanahan and Zhandarka Kurti explore in this new blog post … *** In the summer of 2020, amid the desperate and…