Episodes

  • 6: Vintage Cartography: Mapping the World of Wine with Jane Anson

    6: Vintage Cartography: Mapping the World of Wine with Jane Anson
    Dec 4 2024
    Jerry is joined by self-confessed map geek and wine expert Jane Anson, to talk about the remarkable maps that she created for her book ‘Inside Bordeaux’.

    Jane travelled the world as a journalist before moving to Bordeaux over twenty years ago. A passionate connoisseur of French wines, she is a writer, critic, and tutor.

    In this episode, Jane unfurls a beautiful map of the chateaux and terroir of the Central Médoc region. Uniquely, it shows both what lies beneath and above the ground. She explains to Jerry the fascinating creative process behind the map, along with the secrets that it unlocks about the taste, history, and prices of local wines.

    To view the map as it is discussed, go to: https://oculi-mundi.com/podcast

    In What’s Your Map? we speak to people who live, love and work with maps - making, preserving, interpreting, and being inspired by them. In each episode, we ask our guests to unfold a map that is special to them and to tell us the story that lies behind it.

    Jerry Brotton is a British historian with a specialist interest in cartography. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and is a regular on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3.

    Jane is the author of the beautiful book Inside Bordeaux, where she draws on recent – ​​and groundbreaking – research carried out by experts at the University of Bordeaux to profile the terroir of key châteaux and appellations. To purchase a high-definition version of the map discussed today and her book, go to her website: https://janeanson.com/

    What’s Your Map? is a Whistledown Production and is produced by Emily Uchida Finch

    Instagram: @oculimundimaps
    Website: https://oculi-mundi.com/




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    32 mins
  • 5: Lost Treasures: Reconstructing Al-Idrisi with Adam Lowe

    5: Lost Treasures: Reconstructing Al-Idrisi with Adam Lowe
    Nov 20 2024
    In this episode, Jerry is joined by Adame Lowe, founder of Factum Arte and the Factum Foundation. Factum is a pioneering digital media studio, working to record, preserve, and restore cultural heritage - particularly where it is in a fragile state.

    Adam’s map is Factum’s re-creation of the world map produced by Muhammad Al-Idrisi for King Roger II of Sicily in the 12th century. The map is two metres wide, and made from pure silver.

    While this astonishing object was lost to history, Al-Idrisi also produced the famous Book of Roger: an atlas containing a circular world map. Using this precious document and other historical resources, Adam and his team crafted the full-size silver disc based on meticulous research, bringing us as close as possible to the legendary lost map.

    To see a high-definition image of the map as it is discussed, go to: https://oculi-mundi.com/podcast

    In What’s Your Map? we speak to people who live, love and work with maps - making, preserving, interpreting, and being inspired by them. In each episode, we ask our guests to unfold a map that is special to them and to tell us the story that lies behind it.

    Jerry Brotton is a British historian with a specialist interest in maps. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and is a regular on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3.

    What’s Your Map? is a Whistledown Production and is produced by Emily Uchida Finch

    Instagram: @oculimundimaps
    Website: https://oculi-mundi.com/



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    27 mins
  • 4: Tolkien's Pipe: Maps and Fantasy with Roz Kaveney

    4: Tolkien's Pipe: Maps and Fantasy with Roz Kaveney
    Nov 6 2024
    Content warning: this episode contains references to sexual assault


    In this episode, our host Jerry Brotton is joined by writer and pioneering LBGTQ+ rights activist Roz Kaveney. Roz is best known for her cultural critiques, poetry, fantasy writing, and editing.

    From Tolkien's draft map of Rohan from The Lord of the Rings, Jerry and Roz launch into a discussion about the importance of fantasy, adventure, and never giving up – no matter the odds and no matter the times that we live in.
    To read more information about the map as it is discussed, go to: https://oculi-mundi.com/podcast
    Roz is a regular contributor to the Guardian and The Times Literary Supplement and a core member of the Midnight Rose collective, which produced fantasy anthologies for Penguin Books. Among other works, she edited Tales from The Forbidden Planet and its sequel. Her novel Tiny Pieces of Skull won the 2016 Best Trans Fiction Lambda Literary Award. In 1972, as part of its TV/TS Drag Queen Group, Roz co-authored the ‘trans manifesto’ published by the UK Gay Liberation Front, and was part of the first London Pride march.
    In What’s Your Map? we speak to people who live, love and work with maps - making, preserving, interpreting, and being inspired by them. In each episode, we ask our guest to unfold a map that is special to them, and explore the stories attached to it.
    Jerry Brotton is a British historian with a specialist interest in maps. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and is a regular on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3.
    What’s Your Map? is an Oculi Mundi exploration, produced by Emily Uchida Finch of Whistledown Productions.
    Instagram: @oculimundimaps
    Website: https://oculi-mundi.com/
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    27 mins
  • 3: The Heart of Maps: Plotting Power with Peter Barber

    3: The Heart of Maps: Plotting Power with Peter Barber
    Oct 22 2024

    In this episode we are joined by Peter Barber, the former head of the British Library's map rooms, which hold more than 4.5 million maps! Peter is one of the world's foremost experts on European cartography. He has curated numerous exhibitions, and has written extensively on the history of maps.

    Exploring a heart-shaped world map created in 1544 by Gemma Frisius, Jerry and Peter unveil the hidden messages from the map maker, who lived at a time of huge upheaval and war. They also revisit Peter's personal history with the fascinating world of maps.

    To view the map while listening to this episode, please visit www.oculi-mundi.com/podcast.

    What's Your Map? is an Oculi Mundi Exploration. Oculi Mundi is the online home of The Sunderland Collection of antique maps and atlases.

    In this series, we speak to people who live, love and work with maps - making, preserving, interpreting, and being inspired by them. In each episode, we ask our guests to unfold a map that is special to them and to tell us the story that lies behind it.

    Jerry Brotton is a British historian with a specialist interest in maps. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and is a regular on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3.

    What’s Your Map? is a Whistledown Production and is produced by Emily Uchida Finch

    Instagram: @oculimundimaps
    Website: https://oculi-mundi.com/


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    28 mins
  • 2: A Journey to the Top of the World with Dwayne Fields

    2: A Journey to the Top of the World with Dwayne Fields
    Oct 9 2024
    In this second episode of What’s Your Map? host and map historian Jerry Brotton is joined by Dwayne Fields, the first Black Briton to reach the magnetic North Pole.

    Through a map printed in the Times of London in 1909, they recount another journey by African American explorer Matthew Henson, who reputedly was the first person to reach the North Pole back in 1909.

    To see a high-definition image of the map as it’s discussed, go to: https://oculi-mundi.com/podcast

    Dwayne Fields has many impressive titles: Arctic explorer, BBC presenter and now the UK's Chief Scout. As an adventurer, maps are vital to Dwayne, and so is the story of Matthew Henson, who was able to withstand harsh racism and Arctic winds to make it to the top of the world.

    What's Your Map? is an Oculi Mundi Exploration. Oculi Mundi is the online home of The Sunderland Collection of antique maps and atlases.

    In this series, we speak to people who live, love and work with maps - making, preserving, interpreting, and being inspired by them. In each episode, we ask our guests to unfold a map that is special to them and to tell us the story that lies behind it.

    Jerry Brotton is a British historian with a specialist interest in maps. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and is a regular on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3.

    What’s Your Map? is a Whistledown Production and is produced by Emily Uchida Finch

    Instagram: @oculimundimaps
    Website: https://oculi-mundi.com/



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    34 mins
  • 1: Do No Harm: Mapping the Jain Cosmos with William Dalrymple

    1: Do No Harm: Mapping the Jain Cosmos with William Dalrymple
    Sep 24 2024
    Welcome to the first episode of What’s Your Map? where host Jerry Brotton is joined by historian William Dalrymple, who unfurls a beautiful Jain cosmological map to explore the meaning and history of the ancient Indian religion.

    To see a high-definition image of the map as it’s discussed, please go to: https://oculi-mundi.com/podcast

    William untangles Jain beliefs through their cosmological map of the universe. He recounts his visit to a Jain temple where he bore witness to heartbreak and ritual death.

    What's Your Map? is an Oculi Mundi Exploration. Oculi Mundi is the online home of The Sunderland Collection of antique maps and atlases.

    In this series, we speak to people who live, love and work with maps - making, preserving, interpreting, and being inspired by them. In each episode, we ask our guests to unfold a map that is special to them and to tell us the story that lies behind it.

    Jerry Brotton is a British historian with a specialist interest in maps. He is Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London and is a regular on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 3.

    William Dalrymple’s new book The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World (Bloomsbury) is out now.

    What’s Your Map? is a Whistledown Production and is produced by Emily Uchida Finch

    Instagram: @oculimundimaps
    Website: https://oculi-mundi.com/
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    33 mins
  • What's Your Map? Coming September 25th

    What's Your Map? Coming September 25th
    Sep 3 2024
    We all want to make sense of this vast and messy world. From etchings on cave walls to sea charts, globes and atlases, humans have been making maps for thousands of years.

    Join historian Jerry Brotton as he explores the fascinating world of maps. In each episode, we ask our guests to unfold a map that is special to them and tell us the story behind it.

    Celebrated historian William Dalrymple will join Jerry for our first episode on September 25th to discuss a beautiful map from the ancient Indian religion of Jainism.

    What's Your Map? Is an Oculi Mundi exploration. To look at the maps as they are discussed, go to Oculi-Mundi.com

    Produced by Emily Uchida Finch at Whistledown Productions.
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    1 min