Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps that it's a long time ago, right?

It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream van plays music when it's out of ice cream.

Listen to Evil Genius on BBC Sounds.

BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.

Hello, I'm Rana Mitter, and I'm delighted to be introducing this short talk, which is recorded at Radio 3's Free Thinking Festival, and we'll also go out as a BBC Arts and Ideas podcast.

Lisa Mullen is a research fellow in English literature at Oxford University, and she's a new generation thinker.

And George Orwell's Animal Farm is, of course, one of the most influential political novels of the 20th century.

But behind the tale of pigs and horses, creating their own miniature version of the Politburo,

lies a rather different story of a newly married couple in trouble.

Lisa, take us back to the Second World War.

Thank you.

It's 1944.

Mr and Mrs. Eric Blair, also known as George Orwell and his first wife, Eileen O'Shaughnessy, are in bed in their cosy flat in wartime London.

To the outside world, the Blairs look like a successful young couple on the brink of great things.

They've plugged themselves into the centre of a lively

social circle of leftist thinkers and activists and often host dinners which buzz with political

chat and gossip. But privately, their marriage is under pressure. They're on the brink of giving up

trying to conceive a child.

Orwell is convinced he's infertile.

Eileen has her own health problems too.

Eventually, they will decide to adopt a son, Richard.

But for now, instead of making babies, they're making a book.

...