Strong Recommend: Every Living Thing by Jason Roberts

This week, Helen picks a book she's enjoyed recently. Jason Roberts' book from this year, Every Living Thing, details Carl Linnaeus and Du Buffon's attempts at taxonomy.The naming conventions of various parts of our world have informed so much of our lives. From what we call different animals and plants, to how relatively arbitrary classification of human races may have helped justify the slave trade.Join Helen and Armando over the summer for more cultural recommendations, available weekly on BBC Sounds.Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls Executive Producer: Pete Strauss Sound Editing: Chris Maclean Recorded at The Sound CompanyStrong Message Here: Strong Recommend is produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies and is a BBC Studios production for Radio 4.

Om Podcasten

In this new series, Helen Lewis and Armando Iannucci investigate which political buzzwords are strong and stable and which are a crock of covfefe.Each week Helen and Armando will crack open the political phrasebook and attempt to decode the doublespeak. Why does everything now have to be 'turbo-charged'? What's the difference between a 'pledge' and a 'mission'? Why has my local MP been 'weaponised' and should I be worried?You'll be treated to a crash course in the dark arts of political language from two people both baffled and beguiled by it. They'll walk you through the various verbal fiascos of the modern political lexicon so that by the end you'll be oven-ready for an appearance on Newsnight.Warning: this podcast features strong political language that some listeners may find nonsensical.Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.