# Pierre Novellie’s Big Book of Hands

An episode of [The Clearing with Katherine May](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1516642192), 21 Sep 2026, 1 h 08 min.

Audio: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/60059ad176b566154159c5d5/e/6ab0ff8ff3cf23076ae5d822/media.mp3

Comedian, podcaster, radio presenter and bona fide history nerd Pierre Novellie joins Katherine in The Clearing for this week’s episode. A geekfest of language and ideas, they launch straight into the etymology of the word ‘dork’, why you can’t choose your own clown as a stand-up, and the politics around the changing language of autism. Like Katherine, Pierre received a late neurodivergence diagnosis. Unlike Katherine, his came after a heckler suggested he might be autistic during a live stand-up show. A lovely, chewy episode for the brain, with Katherine bidding for them to be the hosts of ‘The Rest is Neurodivergence’ and Pierre sprinkling his imagined getaway with some Orkney magic. Katherine’s new book, Tending: How Care Binds the World is out in March and you can pre-order it here https://katherine-may.co.uk/tending Links from the episode: Pierre’s website https://www.pierrenovellie.com/ Pierre’s book Why Can't I Just Enjoy Things Pierre’s BBC Radio 4 show https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002pfbr Pierre’s gaming podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/button-boys/id1827054353 Baldur’s Gate 3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldur%27s_Gate_3 Kingdom Come: Deliverance II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_Come:_Deliverance_II Portugese writer Antonio Lobo Antunes Night Watch by Rembrandt at the Rijksmuseum Visit The Clearing website www.theclearingpod.com for a full transcript, to discover how to enjoy our bonus episodes, our ad free episodes and if you subscribe, how to submit your own idea for a dream retreat. Buy Katherine’s books: Enchantment | Wintering | The Electricity of Every Living Thing: UK / US Follow Katherine on Instagram Visit Katherine’s Website Production Credits Guest Booker and Admin Support - Meghan Hutchins Substack Manager - Rebecca Armstrong Producer - Alice Lloyd Music - The Leaf Library @theleaflibrary Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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