About Vaguely Interesting


2016-new-clio-person

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What is Vaguely Interesting? 

Vaguely Interesting is a blog and podcast series in which Ian Chapman-Curry roots around references, interrogates indexes and analyses asides to find fascinating stories that would otherwise languish in the footnotes.

With history, politics, geography, economics, psephology, statistics and etymology, you’re sure to find something that you find vaguely interesting too!

 

Why is it called Vaguely Interesting? 

This website started life as a little blog with a big name (A Vast Array of the Vaguely Interesting). To begin with, there wasn’t much content to back up the title. Week by week, the number and variety of articles grew and grew. Now it can truly claim to be a vaguely interesting collection.

 

What do you cover?

The website’s name, Vaguely Interesting, sums up the purpose of the site – it is intended to be the home of anything that the site’s writers have found, well, vaguely interesting. The site’s focus on history, politics, geography, statistics and etymology reflect the authors’ interests more than any intentional editorial agenda.

The site’s focus on history, politics, geography, statistics and etymology reflect the authors’ interests more than any intentional editorial agenda.

These are covered in articles and podcasts.

There is also a daily On This Day in History feature and regular reviews of cracking podcasts from around the world.

 

How do I get the latest updates?

If you would like to get more regular updates on posts to the Vaguely Interesting website, there are plenty of ways to keep in touch:

 
 

Or you can subscribe to the Vaguely Interesting email and podcast. Just click the box below.

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Who is the woman at the top the page?

That is Κλειώ, or Clio the Proclaimer, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne and the muse of history. She is, along with her eight sisters,  the source of divine creative inspiration Greek mythology.

You can call her Clio for short!

The site’s logo is based on a statue of Clio that is currently held in the Hall of the Muses in the Pio Clementino Museum, part of the Vatican Museums. There are some great photos of the Hall of the Muses in this photo collection.

clio

The statues were discovered at the site of the so-called Villa of Cassius near Tivoli in Italy. They are exquisite survivors of classical sculpture. In the Hall of the Muses, the statues are presented in front of a striking red backdrop. Living up to their mythological powers, that gave me the inspiration to base the site’s design and logo around this image and colour scheme.

 

Can I go now?

Just a few more seconds! Whilst I’ve got your attention, the site costs money to host and maintain. If you have found the articles interesting, entertaining or amusing please consider making a small donation towards these running costs. Think of it as buying me a drink – any amount, no matter how small, would be gratefully accepted.

If you want to know more, would like to contribute ideas or articles or want to contact me, please email me directly on <cuzglc at gmail dot com> or contact me through the subscription page.

Cheers!