Oliver Arditi

Blog archive

  • Still hidden

    Still hidden

    Hidden Figures tells the long untold story of the black women who worked as mathematicians at NASA in the 1950s and 60s, and who played a vital role in the glory days of the American space programme. These women were subject to a perfect storm of intersectionality, beginning their time at NACA (NASA’s predecessor) in Read more

  • Culturing flavour

    Culturing flavour

    The world of ‘elite food’ raises certain questions. It would be easy to write off entirely, from a social justice point of view: good food is domestic food, and everyone should have access to it. Even in a world of perfect economic equality, there would be no way that we could afford to eat Michelin Read more

  • Speculative non-fiction

    Speculative non-fiction

    In the interests of easing myself gradually into research, I’ve continued my investigation of historical bread-baking with quite a modest volume, although not as tiny as the Shire Album with which I started. William Rubel’s Bread: A Global History is not a scholarly work (it lacks references), but some scholarship was clearly involved in its Read more

  • Root access

    Root access

    When I was young, reggae was a central part of pop-music—everyone had heard it, and although it wasn’t the most mainstream of musical interests, it was in the charts, and occasionally it produced a number one single in the UK. Then popular tastes changed, and reggae itself underwent some radical stylistic changes, morphing into dancehall Read more

  • In black and white

    In black and white

    Having dipped into Kim Stanley Robinson’s work at intervals during his career (whether retrospectively as here, or contemporaneously), I’m starting to get a handle on his M.O. The fact that he tends to do the same sort of thing doesn’t indicate that his books are repetitive however, although they are very recognisably the same writer Read more

  • Periodic themes

    Periodic themes

    My two main topics of research for my soon-to-be commenced fantasy novel are baking and medicine, since they’re the activities on which my narrator spends her time. In both areas I’m very fortunate to be related to someone (Parent) who is a bona fide expert on the field, so I’ve obtained a useful reading list Read more