Drew D. Gray is Head of Culture (Humanities, Media, Performance) at the Faculty of Arts, Science & Technology, University of Northampton. His publications include London’s Shadows: The Dark Side of the Victorian City (2010). He authors a blog, thepolicemagistrate.blog, and has made a number of appearances on TV, radio and podcasts.
Robert Sholl teaches at the Royal Academy of Music and the University of West London. His publications include Messiaen in Context (2023). He has performed all of Messiaen’s organ music, recorded improvisations to film on the organ and piano, and given recitals in London and Paris.
Jane Merrill has written for many national U.S. magazines and is the author of The Showgirl Costume (2018) and other cultural histories. She lives in Saint George, Maine.
Beth McKillop was Senior Research Fellow and former Deputy Director at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Her publications include North Korean Culture and Society (2004).
Michael Gilson is an award-winning editor and journalist, and Associate Fellow of the School of Media, Arts and Humanities, University of Sussex.
Mary Flannery is Swiss National Science Foundation Eccellenza Professorial Fellow in English at the University of Bern. She is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Society of Antiquaries, has published widely on medieval literature and culture, and writes regularly for the TLS. Her publications include Practising Shame: Female Honour in Later Medieval England (2019).
Chris Filstrup was Chief of the Oriental Division at the New York Public Library and Dean of Libraries at Stony Brook University. He is co-author with Jane Merrill of The Wedding Night (2011) among other titles. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
Thomas David DuBois is Professor in the Folk Culture Research Center of Beijing Normal University. He is the author of numerous books on China’s history and religion.
Frederik Cryns is Professor of Japanese History at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto. He is the author of In the Service of the Shogun (Reaktion, 2024) and served as historical consultant to the Emmy-winning television series Shōgun (2024).