The unlimited benefits of being widely read & Kassia St Clair's "The Golden Thread"

Get a cuppa, get cosy, and join me for a chat about the best book I've read all year, maybe even the best book I've read EVER! Tell me in the comments if you're going to/have read this book, and if not, what book are you currently reading instead? **Disclaimer: in the final segment (at the 20 min mark) I accidentally conflated the literacy crisis and the literary crisis. I meant to discuss the literacy crisis, in that there are many people who are unable to read/write, not a literary crisis in which people are able to read/write but are not thinking critically about the books they are reading. Both are happening now in the UK/USA, but I spefically wanted to talk about the literacy crisis** Image Bibliography: Oldest ever fibre: https://www.newscientist.com/article/... Spider Silk Dress: https://www.yatzer.com/Golden-Spider-... Ancient Egyptian Linen: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collect... Silk thread: https://www.thoughtco.com/silkworms-b... Wool: https://www.britishwool.org.uk/corpor... Viking Wool Sail: https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/... Athletics wear: https://uk.fashionnetwork.com/news/Ke... Space suit: https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/... Mummy unwrapping: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles... American Slavery: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides... Present day Cotton: https://council.science/blog/the-envi... Bone Carver Fan Art: https://acourtofthornsandroses.fandom... Books Mentioned: The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History - Kassia St Clair The Secret Lives of Colour - Kassia St Clair The Race to the Future - Kassia St Clair The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins Faebound - Saara El-Arifi Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros Tess Gerritsen - The Bone Garden The End We Start From - Megan Hunter