Episodes
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Channel 4 are presnting an engrossing drama depicting the professional relationship that evolved between Mrs Thatcher the politician and Brian Walden the labour MP turned television interviewer.
The two lead actors Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter are excellent at showing the friendly dimension to the relationship that turned sour under media pressure.
David Freeman talked to the actress Harriet Walter when her autobiography 'Other People's Shoes' was published in 2003.
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Authors talking to David Freeman including Hugo Vickers discussing his biography of Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece mother of the Duke of Edinburgh:
Donna Leon tells the story of her novel “Wilful Behaviour “ set in Venice:
R.J.B. Bosworth recounts his research into the life of Mussolini and Gitta Sereny remembers Germany in the 1930s as told in her book “The German Trauma”
We have seen the power of the political rally to stir followers. Gitta Sereny actually attended a Hitler rally.
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Missing episodes?
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As the world remembers the inhuman brutality of Auschwitz this is an author who deserves to be heard.
The appalling inhumanity still happening in the world makes this conversation distressingly relevant. There is the thought that some people are less human then others. This has to be challenged.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on December 10th 1948.
We now live in a world where the rights agreed in that document are widely ignored and some politicians openly seek to remove the UK from enforcing them.
Plus racial intolerance is on the march . The horrible spectre of antisemitism is looming over the news as is denial of the rights of Palestinians.
As an American bishop recently said ..... immigrants and gay people are as valuable as everyone else.
A good time to listen to the words of the late Sir Martin Gilbert.
Sir Martin Gilbert is known as Churchill's biographer, but also as the historian of the Holocaust.
This conversation with David Freeman took place when his book Never Again was published. Sir Martin's thoughts on war are sadly relevant.
Sir Martin died in 2015.
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A Line in the Sand is a novel about two friends on an adventure in the Middle East based on an actual journey two real life friends took to Saudi Arabia and Damascus in 2006.
One of the inspirations for the trip was T.E Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia. The two authors Miles Spencer and Wells Jones had worked on a stage play based on the life of Lawrence and they decided to take a trip to see the landscape for themselves and meet the people Lawrence identified with.
This conversation with Wells Jones took place on 15th January 2025 when a cease fire had just been signed between Israel and Hamsas.
Line in the Sand explains some of the long history behind the conflict in the Middle East.
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There is a new BBC TV history series by Simon Schama, The Story of Us.
In the first programme Simon highlights the huge impact that Alan Sillitoe's novel 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' had when it was published in 1958.
Alan Sillitoe spoke to David Freeman when his novel Birthday was published in 2001.
Birthday is the sequel to Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
1958 to 2001 is a ling time to wait for a sequel.
So why did it take so long?
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This glorious popular science books tells the story of how black holes that were thought to be too ridiculous to exist in 1916 had by 1971 been proved to exist.
Einstein thought they were impossible but in 1971 Paul Murdin and Louise Webster discovered the very first black hole, Cygnus X-1
Marcus tells the story of these extraordinary people who discovered that black holes are centre stage in the cosmos. Indeed without black holes it is unlikely that we would exist.
Fasten your seat belts and prepare to be amazed.
A great book for the curious!!
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Nina Simone was born on February 21st 1933.
There has been news recently of a plan to buy Nina Simone's childhood home in Tryon North Carolina and make it into a museum celebrating the life and work of the girl who was born Eunice Waymon.
I interviewed Nina in December 1998 just before her last ever show at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
She was talking to me for a programme on the radio station Jazz fm, which would promote the concert.
Nina had a reputation for being a tricky interviewee but on the day she was delightful and during the conversation she was eager to give her views on sexism, racism and feminism.
After the interview I was asked to introduce Nina on stage at the Albert Hall. It was a memorable day.
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Bitter Crop is a superb biography of Billie Holiday who was probably the very best jazz singer there has ever been. The book title is takes from one of Billie's signature songs, 'Strange Fruit'.
There have been films and many books about Billie's career but not all of them came close to telling the whole truth of a remarkable life.
True there were drugs and alcohol but there was so mucah more than that. There was huge musical success and adulation - Billie considered her life to be a triumph.
The conversation took place in July 2024 ..... 65 years after Billie died.
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Terry Pratchett was a great supporter of the move to legalise assisted dying. This was partly due to his early onset Alzheimer's Disease which was diagnosed when he was in his 50s. He described the condition as as an embuggerance.
Terry Pratchett died in 2015.
This is a conversation from the archive recorded at his home office in Wiltshire.
Terry started life writing when he was just a boy and in adult life became press officer for the nuclear power stations of the Central Electricity Board.
When the Pratchett books became hugely successful he gave up the day job and by 1996 he was the bestselling author in the UK.
In public he always wore a big hat, and in his Wiltshire studio he was an early adopter of a robot vacuum cleaner. When he wrote he worked on four computer screens simultaneously.
Great guy!
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Joe Boyd is a man about music, record producer, a film producer and author.
He arrived in London in 1964 with Muddy Waters and a host of blues musicians who played to sold out UK audiences when they were unappreciated in their US homeland.
In this conversation he talks about Nick Drake, Paul Simon, The Incredible String Band, Paul Butterfield, MIke Bloomfield and the enduring power of real music.
A thought provoking podcast.
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The effect of the American reverberates around the globe. There seems to be perceived electoral advantage in fanning hate and intolerance.
The wars in the Middle East and Ukraine continue.
Why is this? Is there any cause for optimism? Where do non rational beliefs and convictions fit in the conflicts?
This conversation with the activist and thinker Tariq Ali was recorded soon after the outrage of 9/11.
There is a plan for the future in what Tariq was saying but I wonder if he is as optimistic today. Will rational thought and reasoned discussion bring peaceful coexistence?
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This new book is terrific - its a revelation.
Catherine has studied texts written around the same time as the writings we know as the gospels.
Some of these ancient documents tell the story of the bible characters we are familiar with in a totally different way.
Listen to Catherine talk about her research and you will be surprised ..... probably very surprised!!
My favourite book of the year. Every time I see a politician leaning in a faith direction I want to urge them to read this book!
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Sophie Kinsella has a brain tumour. She has written a book about it entitled 'What Does It Feel Like?'
This archive conversation was recorded at the Langham Hilton in London and I remember that Sophie turned up with lots and lots of shopping. That was to be expected because the conversation was to mark the publication of the third in the shopaholic series of stories.
She was great fun to talk to.
Her books are great escapist fiction ....We wish Sophie a speedy recovery from her health challenges.
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Jilly Cooper is back in the news and she has every reason to be jolly.
Her football novel is out and Disney have made a movie of one of her stories.
I met Jilly when her novel Pandora was first published. She was jolly then too!!
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Spike Milligan is a timeless national treasure.
In this episode Spike Milligan talks to David Freeman about his life in comedy, The Goons, and the mental health problems that dogged his life after he was blown up by a wartime bomb.
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This interview was recorded in 2001 and in the introduction recorded at the time I say that the story is no longer relevant as the Taliban are no longer in charge.
This was true at the time but sadly the Taliban are back and the the story of The Breadwinner is all too relevant again. Did the UK let these people down?
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Jeanette Winterson celebrated her 65th birthday on August 27th.
This interview was recorded when Jeanette was a 20 something brand new literary force.
I remember this converstaion with huge affection. Mostly I would talk to an author for 20 minutes or so but this conversation is twice that. It was recorded in the spring of 1984 when 'Oranges are Not the Only Fruit' was first published.
I was very fortunate because I was one of the very first broadcasters to interview Jeanette.
I had been reading the book in bed the night before and was buzzing with enthusiasm for it when I met her.
Hear the author talk about her life in religious Accrington and why she rejected the faith.
A superb book!
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Emeritus Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe is an academic archaeologist who writes enthusiastically and engagingly about his passions.
In this interview he talks to me about his book which tells the whole of African human history focussing on the Sahara.
Sir Barry takes the story of us from our evolution through to the present day. Is he optimistic about our survival?
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Steve Kershaw has two personas .... he is Steve the musician and Dr Stephen the classics tutor.
He is involved in two new projects.
One is a magnificent illustrated childrens encyclopedia of gods, monsters and mortals from ancient Greece.
The other is a jazz trio recording. Steve is the Oxfordshire based bass player. The pianist and saxophonist Leonid and Nick Vintskevich are Russian .
As Steve tells me the wide geographical distribution sometimes make rehearsal tricky!
The record is called 'I'll Show You a Beautiful Country.
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