Great Lives

Ekow Eshun on the first openly gay footballer, Justin Fashanu Sep 23, 2024

In 1981 Brian Clough paid £1 million pounds to bring Justin Fashanu to Nottingham Forest. It was the climax of a meteoric career, but within months the goals had dried up, he'd been going to gay nightclubs, and Fashanu had also become become a born again Christian. Four decades later Justin Fashanu remains top flight English football's only openly gay player. From his beginnings in care with brother John as Barnardo's boys, via adoption, boxing, football and failed pop star, this is an extraordinary life, beautifully highlighted by his nominator, Ekow Eshun.

"He was a pioneer - he broke ground. He was a prominent black footballer at a time when to be black and a footballer was fraught territory, when players were barracked from the terraces for no other reason than the colour of their skin." Ekow Eshun

Also in studio is Richard Williams of the Guardian, who saw Fashanu play on the way and on the way down. Plus there is moving archive of Fashanu himself, and also from his niece, Amal Fashanu, talking at the time of the release of her documentary, Britain's Gay Footballers.

The producer for BBC Studios Audio is Miles Warde

Anneka Rice picks the largely forgotten Jane Morris, muse to Rossetti and wife of William Morris Sep 16, 2024

The biography show where famous guests picks someone they admire or love. Jane Morris was the wife of William Morris and muse of Gabriel Dante Rossetti. Anneka Rice believes her contribution to 19th-Century art and culture has been largely overlooked.

"I'm not a big fan of needle point," she says, "but we cannot ignore what she brings to art history". Plus she comes from absolutely NOWHERE to marry Morris and have an affair with Rossetti. Joining Anneka in the discussion is Suzanne Fagence Cooper, the author of How We Might Live: At Home with Jane and William Morris. The presenter is Matthew Parris.

The surgeon Henry Marsh picks 'the saviour of mothers' Dr Semmelweis Sep 02, 2024

The biography show where famous guests pick someone from history they admire or they love. Our only rule is they must be dead. Today neurosurgeon Dr Henry Marsh chooses “the saviour of mothers” Dr Ignaz Semmelweis The Hungarian doctor discovered the link between childbirth and puerperal fever in 19th century Vienna but he was ridiculed, ignored and demoted as his discovery challenged the medical orthodoxy. Post-mortems at the time were carried out by doctors before they practised on wards, with no hygiene step between the two. Semmelweis recommended handwashing for doctors, and gathered statistics to prove his theory.

Despite the evidence, the medical establishment was resistant to change and Semmelweis became increasingly traumatised, frustrated and angry. In his final months, he seems to have also developed an organic brain disorder which led to his friends and wife having him restrained and sectioned in a mental asylum where he subsequently died from injuries. Nominator Dr Henry Marsh is the author of Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery. With the playwright Stephen Brown who cowrote Dr Semmelweis with Sir Mark Rylance. Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Studios Audio by Ellie Richold

The Roman Emperor Nero Aug 26, 2024

An unexpected choice for Great Lives, the Roman Emperor Nero has a reputation for debauchery and murder. He was also surprisingly popular, at least during the early years of his reign, and the writer Conn Iggulden argues he may be a victim of bad press. The Christians decided he was the anti-christ some three centuries after he died, and the three main sources are no more positive about his achievements and life. But a recent exhibition at the British Museum - entitled the man behind the myth - worked hard to soften Nero's terrible reputation. So is there more to Nero than we think?

Joining Conn Iggulden in studio is Dr Shushma Malik of Cambridge University. Matthew Parris presents. Conn Iggulden is co-author of The Dangerous Book for Boys and the best-selling historical fiction about Nero with the strapline, "Rome wasn't burned in a day."

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Film director Julien Temple on Elizabethan bad boy Christopher Marlowe Aug 19, 2024

Julien Temple, director of The Great Rock n Roll Swindle, Glastonbury and Absolute Beginners, chooses Christopher Marlowe, writer of brilliant plays including Doctor Faustus and Tamburlaine the Great. "I'm excited to talk about him," he says, "because I've known him for more than 50 years."

The link? An attempt as a student to summon up Marlowe in his old college cellar room.

Christopher Marlowe was born in 1564 - the same year as Shakespeare. He was a spy, a writer, a counterfeiter .. and he famously died in a bar room brawl in Deptford in 1593. Was it an accident, or was he killed deliberately? Helping us negotiate the mythic moments of Marlowe's life is Professor of Shakespeare studies Emma Smith.

Julien Temple's film credits include The Filth and the Fury, Pandaemonium, Earth Girls are Easy and Joe Strummer: The Futureis Unwritten

The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer in Bristol for BBC Studios is Miles Warde

Zing Tsjeng on Swedish painter Hilma af Klint Aug 13, 2024

Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was barely known during her lifetime but an exhibition of her work at the Guggenheim Museum in 2018 shattered attendance records. it was called Paintings for the Future, and the giant abstract work astounded visitors who had not heard of her before. Joining journalist Zing Tsjeng in the studio to discuss her life is Jennifer Higgie, who wrote in her book, The Other Side: A Journey into Women, Art and The Spirit World, "For Hilma af Klint, the very air throbbed with unseen energies. The question was - how to interpret them? How to give them shape?" The artist often used seances for inspiration. If curious about where creativity begins, this is a story you may want to hear.

Zing Tsjeng is a former editor-in-chief of Vice UK and presenter of Good Bad Billionaire. She is author of the Forgotten Women series of books.

The producer for BBC Studios Audio in Bristol is Miles Warde

Future programmes include Anneka Rice on Jane Morris, wife of William Morris; Jo Brand on blues singer, Bessie Smith; and Conn Iggulden on the emperor Nero.

Miriam Margolyes on Charles Dickens Aug 05, 2024

The great Miriam Margolyes chooses Charles Dickens, author of Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol.

"He's the man in my life. He's tugged me into his world and never let me go. He writes better prose than anyone who's ever lived. He's told the most interesting stories, invented 2000 of the best characters, and because he was a wicked man."

Miriam Margolyes is author of Oh Miriam! Helping the award-winning actor and chat show terror explore the wicked life of Charles Dickens is Professor Kathryn Hughes, author of Victorians Undone: Tales of the Flesh in the Age of Decorum. Programme includes archive of Simon Callow and Armando Iannucci.

Future episodes include Reginald D Hunter on Eugene V Debs, five times socialist candidate for the US presidency; Dr Hannah Critchlow on Colin Blakemore; director Julien Temple on Christopher Marlowe, and Zing Tsjeng on Hilma af Klint, a Swedish painter who was virtually unknown throughout the twentieth century. Her recent Paintings for the Future show at the Guggenheim was the most visited in their history. Also Conn Iggulden on the Emperor Nero, and comedian Jo Brand picks the American blues singer Bessie Smith.

PLUS!

AN Wilson on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; Anneka Rice on the largely forgotten wife of William Morris; and Ekow Eshun on Britain’s first openly gay footballer, Justin Fashanu

The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer for BBC studios is Miles Warde who launched the series over twenty years ago in Bristol.

Mary Portas on Anita Roddick May 27, 2024

Dame Anita Roddick started The Body Shop in Brighton as a way to earn a living while her husband was travelling the Americas by horseback. Her idea for ethically-sourced beauty products which were initially sold in urine sample bottles soon flew. The first shop that she began with a £4,000 loan and painted green to disguise the damp on the walls then developed into a global empire which was eventually sold to L'Oreal for £652m in 2006.

Retail consultant and broadcaster Mary Portas has chosen Anita Roddick as her Great Life for her extraordinary creativity, her playfulness and her innovation. She is joined by Anita Roddick's daughter Sam who now works with the Roddick Foundation which distributes some of her fortune to charitable causes. They reflect on how Anita Roddick put principles ahead of profit. She championed cruelty-free beauty and drew inspiration from her international travels to bring exotic-sounding products to the High Street. She pioneered the introduction of creches at work and used her shop windows to promote the environmental campaigns she believed in, leading her to be dubbed the "Queen of Green". They discuss her legacy and ask whether there is still a place for The Body Shop today.

Archive includes Anita Roddick talking on the Nine O' Clock News on 16th April 1984 and from the BBC Life And Times television programme from 2000. It also features Peter Kyle MP talking about his time working for Anita Roddick on the Political Thinking Podcast from 2003.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Robin Markwell for BBC Studios Audio in Bristol

Lady Rachel MacRobert, chosen by Hayaatun Sillem May 13, 2024

Lady Rachel MacRobert was born Rachel Workman in Massachusetts in 1884. She was sent to study in the UK where she developed a passion for geology, and attended the Annual General Meeting of the Royal Geological Society despite women not being allowed. She became Lady Rachel MacRobert through marriage to Alexander MacRobert in 1911. He was thirty years her senior and a successful businessman. When he was knighted Lady MacRobert refused to attend the ceremony saying "I will bow to no man." They had three sons who all died whilst flying, two of whom in active service. In response Lady MacRobert paid for a plane, 'MacRobert's Reply' to be commissioned in their memory. She ran her husband's businesses in India after his death and bred cattle on the family estate in Aberdeenshire.

Choosing Lady Rachel MacRobert is the Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Dr Hayaatun Sillem. When Hayaatun discovered that the MacRobert Award for engineering was named after a woman she began looking into her life and discovered an independent visionary who was once described as "charmingly volcanic." But it's her response to the loss of her three sons which Hayaatun admires most, praising its defiance and also how it seized agency from a situation that could have easily made her a victim. Gordon Masterton from Edinburgh University and Trustee of The MacRobert Trust joins the discussion and says after a recent speech to launch an AI version of Lady MacRobert young women came up to him and said "Who would have thought she was such a badass."

Presenter: Matthew Parris Produced by Toby Field for BBC Studios Audio

Queen Emma May 07, 2024

Professor Alice Roberts, best known as the presenter of Digging for Britain, picks the wife of two English kings and the mother of two English kings. Queen Emma was born in Normandy and came to England as a diplomatic peaceweaver when she married Aethelred in 1002. Somehow she survived the invasion of the Danes under Swein Forkbeard and married his son, King Canute after Aethelred's death. Together with help from Professor Janina Ramirez - author of Femina - and Patricia Bracewell who has written a trilogy of historical novels based on Emma's life, Alice pieces together an extraordinary life, the richest woman in England, aunt of William the Conqueror, mother of Edward the Confessor.

Alice Roberts is Professor of Public Engagement in Science at Birmingham University and the author of Crypt: Life, Death and Disease in the Middle Ages and Beyond Programme also includes recorded audio of Professor Pauline Stafford, author of Gendering the Middle Ages

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

James Dyson on Frank Whittle Apr 29, 2024

Frank Whittle’s fascination with aeroplanes started as a nine-year-old boy when he was nearly decapitated by one that was taking off from a local common in Coventry where he grew up. From that moment he set his sights on becoming a pilot, and joined the RAF in 1923. A few years later, aged just 21, he came up with an idea for powering aircraft so that they could fly much further and faster than the existing propeller planes. Despite a dearth of support from the Air Ministry, he doggedly pursued his vision of a turbojet engine and the RAF’s first fighter jet entered service towards the end of the Second World War, in 1944. His invention not only revolutionised air combat, but also international travel.

The inventor and entrepreneur James Dyson finds his story so inspiring that he has collected some of Whittle’s inventions, including an original working jet engine from 1943. He finds it amazing that Whittle got it right first time, which inventors almost never do. James Dyson is joined in the studio by Frank Whittle’s son, Ian Whittle, who is also a pilot.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Beth McLeod for BBC Studios Audio

Katherine Rundell on E Nesbit Apr 22, 2024

Bestselling children's author Katherine Rundell discusses the extraordinary life of E Nesbit who wrote The Railway Children and Five Children And It.

Katherine praises her “bold unwillingness to speak down to children” and reflects that “she never seemed to forget what it was like to be a child”. E, or Edith, Nesbit’s conjuring of mythical beasts like the Phoenix and the sand fairy the Psammead was a particular inspiration to Katherine Rundell who says "you can really believe they are flesh and blood”. Edith Nesbit has also influenced the work of Jacqueline Wilson and JK Rowling who have both praised this trailblazing writer.

She had a particularly colourful private life and a very open marriage. She flouted the social conventions of the time. She was married when seven months pregnant. Her husband had children outside of their relationship and Edith then raised them as her own. She was a feminist but didn't believe in Votes for Women. She co-founded the Fabian Society and kept company with the likes of George Bernard Shaw and Noel Coward.

Katherine Rundell is joined by Elisabeth Galvin who has written a biography of E Nesbit. The programme features an excerpt from The Phoenix And The Carpet by E Nesbit as well as clips from the 1970 film of The Railway Children distributed by EMI films and the 1991 BBC television adaptation of Five Children And It.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Robin Markwell

Antoni Gaudi Apr 15, 2024

Baroness Ros Altmann, a Conservative peer and former pensions minister, was “blown away” by the architecture of Antoni Gaudi on a trip to Barcelona in the 1990s. She’s been back several times and her wonder at Gaudi’s use of colour and natural shapes has not faded. She wants to find out more about the conservative, religious man who created such exuberant and flamboyant work. Gaudi biographer Gijs Van Hensbergen joins Ros and host Matthew Parris to explore Gaudi’s childhood, his personal life and how his Catholicism and love of Catalan nature informed his work. Producer: Paul Martin for BBC Studios Audio.

Sir Bruce Forsyth Apr 08, 2024

The political writer and broadcaster Steve Richards remembers the 1970s as a “dark decade.” But one shining light for the teenage Steve was Saturday evening telly, especially the Generation Game on BBC One. He was captivated by the performance of the show’s host, Bruce Forsyth. Brucie was in his pomp, with the programme getting audiences of up to 19 million. Steve thought his performances were comedic genius, especially his interaction with contestants. And he came to appreciate Sir Bruce’s other talents too, like his singing and dancing abilities. As well as the Generation Game, his seven-decade career took in Sunday Night at The London Palladium, one-man stage shows, Play Your Cards Right and Strictly Come Dancing. Indeed, it has been said that the story of Sir Bruce Forsyth is the story of modern entertainment television in Britain. That’s why Steve has nominated Sir Bruce as a Great Life. And joining him and host Matthew Parris to discuss Brucie’s life and career are his widow Lady Forsyth and his long-time manager Ian Wilson. Producer: Paul Martin for BBC Studios Audio

Harry Enfield on Gerard Hoffnung Apr 01, 2024

Gerard Hoffnung’s life was short. He died in 1959 at the age of 34, but this cartoonist, musician, broadcaster and raconteur achieved a lot in that time. Born in Berlin, he lived most of his life in London. His charming cartoons which often gently poked fun at musicians and conductors were printed in magazines and books. His wife Annetta said he was always on-show and even a trip to the bank could turn into an uproarious occasion. Having caught the attention of the BBC he recorded a series of interviews with Charles Richardson, and his delivery of 'The Bricklayer's Lament' to the Oxford Union in 1958 is considered a triumph of comedic story-telling. The Hoffnung concerts which combined music and comedy sold out quicker than Liberace.

Harry Enfield discovered Hoffnung when he was looking through the records in his local library. He knows it's boring for comedians to talk about timing but Hoffnung's was brilliant, and he finds it annoying that comedy wasn't even his main job. Harry got to know the family later on and his impersonation of Gerard became the inspiration for his own character 'Sir Henry'. Harry's joined in the studio by Gerard and Annetta's children, Emily and Benedict Hoffnung.

Future episodes in this series include Alice Roberts on Emma, Queen of England, Journalist Steve Richards on Bruce Forsyth and Baronness Ros Altman on Antoni Gaudi.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Toby Field for BBC Studios Audio

Alan Freeman picked by Simon Mayo Jan 23, 2024

In 1961 Alan 'Fluff' Freeman took over as the host of the BBC Radio's 'Pick of the Pops' and changed music broadcasting forever. From the opening "Greetings pop pickers" Alan would count down the hottest records of the week punctuating the end of each track with minimal detail before introducing the next. It was exhilarating radio and his staccato delivery and catchphrases of "Right, all right, stay bright" and "Not 'Arf" he influenced a generation of broadcasters.

Simon Mayo was a DJ at Radio 1 at the same time as 'Fluff' and says his broadcasting hero coming came into his studio and said "Simon, darling" before kissing the back of his own hand that he'd placed over Simon's mouth. Simon remembers the end of Fluff's time at Radio 1 and speaks openly about his own departure from the BBC in 2018. He tells Matthew Parris that it was Fluff's economy of words that impressed him when sometimes he'd simply say "and" to link two records, and how Freeman gave once gave him a notebook full of opera and classical music recommendations.

Behind-the-scenes Alan was generous, kind and encouraging, but he was also a deeply private man who few got to know well. But one person who did was producer Phil Swern who worked with Alan for many years.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Guest: Simon Mayo Guest: Phil Swern

Producer: Toby Field for BBC Audio Bristol

Actor Niamh Cusack on the life of poet Mary Oliver Jan 16, 2024

The Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mary Oliver died in 2019. She was best known for her poetry that reflected her love of the natural world and her famous poem 'Wild Geese' is said to have literally saved people's lives with its message of hope and redemption. An abusive childhood led the young Mary to escape into the woods near her home in Ohio where she discovered a love of nature that was to sustain her throughout her life. She found love with the photographer Molly Malone Cook and they lived happily for many years in Provincetown Massachusetts. Her life and work are greatly admired by many including this week's guest the actor Niamh Cusack and Mary's friend Baroness Helena Kennedy.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

Extracts of Mary Oliver from The Onbeing Project with Krista Tippett and from a conversation with Coleman Barks for the Lannan Foundation

Mr Motivator picks Harry Belafonte Jan 09, 2024

Harry Belafonte became the King of Calypso with hits like 'Day-O' and 'Jump in the Line' but he would later describe himself as an activist who became a musician and an actor.

Fitness guru Derrick Evans MBE AKA 'Mr Motivator' spent much of the 90s on TV wearing brightly-coloured spandex and encouraging people to be more active. He stresses the political messages that underpin Calypso music and celebrates the stand Belafonte took in the campaign for civil rights in America in the 1960s. Derrick moved from Jamaica to the UK when he was a boy and remembers the impact of the Belafonte film 'Carmen Jones'.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Guest: Derrick Evans AKA 'Mr Motivator' Producer: Toby Field for BBC Audio Bristol

Jimmy Wales on Thomas Jefferson Jan 02, 2024

In 1776 Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, kick-starting the movement against British rule and putting in place the foundations for democracy in what became the United States of America. But he was a man of contradictions. He argued passionately against slavery but was a slave-owner. He had a relationship with an enslaved woman, Sally Hemings which may have started in France when she was just fourteen. He became the third President of the United States, and he loved philosophy, nature and wine.

Jimmy Wales first-learned of Jefferson and the founding fathers when he was in school. The founder of Wikipedia fell in love with Encyclopaedias when his Mother bought a set from a travelling salesman. Jimmy's fascinated by Jefferson's political principles and intrigued by his many contradictions, and with the help of Kathleen Burk they discuss Jefferson's political legacy and how his attitudes to slavery are impacting on how he's seen today.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Guest: Jimmy Wales Guest expert: Kathleen Burk, Professor Emerita of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London Producer: Toby Field for BBC Audio Bristol

Eartha Kitt proposed by Faye Tozer Dec 26, 2023

Eartha Kitt was born in South Carolina in 1927. She had a tough upbringing but found her talent whilst in theatre school in New York. She became a star of stage and then screen, most notably as Catwoman in the series 'Batman'. She upset President Johnson's wife with her comments about the Vietnam War. Her sultry cabaret performances and trademark growl were celebrated. She would play-up to her image as a lover of men but lived much of her life alone, and she worked tirelessly until the end. Her best-known songs are 'Old Fashioned Girl', 'C'est si bon', 'Uska Dara' and the Christmas standard 'Santa Baby'.

Singer, dancer and actor Faye Tozer met Eartha Kitt on the set of a TV show. Kitt wrapped her leg around the door frame of the dressing room and purred "Hello darlings" to Faye and her Steps bandmates. It was Faye's Mum who introduced her to Eartha's music and together they listened to hits like 'Old Fashioned Girl' and 'The Day That the Circus Left Town' with Faye soon learning how to do Eartha's trademark growl.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Guest: Faye Tozer Expert: John L. Williams, author of 'America's Mistress: Eartha Kitt, Her Life and Times' Producer: Toby Field for BBC Audio in Bristol.

John Gray on JG Ballard Dec 19, 2023

Philosopher John Gray chooses as his great life the iconic British writer of dystopian and speculative fiction, J.G. Ballard, in conversation with the author's daughter Bea Ballard.

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced in Bristol by Beth Sagar-Fenton

Iszi Lawrence on Diana Barnato Walker Dec 14, 2023

Broadcaster and author Iszi Lawrence chooses the aviator Diana Barnato Walker. Coming from a privileged background, Diana used her pocket money to take flying lessons, flew bombers during World War II, and - aged 45 - became the first British woman to break the sound barrier. Iszi is joined by Giles Whittell, author of Spitfire Women of World War II, and Diana’s son Barney Walker.

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced in Bristol by Beth Sagar-Fenton

Mohammad Mossadegh, PM of Iran ousted in a coup Dec 05, 2023

Walter Murch picks Mohammad Mossadegh, prime minister following the nationalisation of the Anglo-Iranian oil company in 1951. Mossadegh was ousted in a coup in 1953.

Murch became fascinated in Mossadegh's life while working on a Sam Mendes film about the first Iraq War. Walter Murch is an editor best known for Apocalypse Now, The Godfather and The Constant Gardener. He also worked on a documentary called Coup 53. This is the first in a new series of Great Lives and includes archive of Kermit Roosevelt, a CIA operative. The British were also heavily involved in the coup. The expert is Professor Ali Ansari of St Andrews University, presenter on Radio 4 of Through Persian Eyes.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Future programme subjects include singer Eartha Kitt, author JG Ballard, and pioneering British aviator Diana Barnato-Walker who delivered Spitfires in World War Two.

Ludwig Koch Sep 29, 2023

The award-winning Sound Recordist and Musician, Chris Watson nominates his hero, Ludwig Koch.

In 1889, German-born Koch was the first person ever to record birdsong (at the age of 8) onto a wax cylinder recorder, given to him by his father as a toy. Despite a promising baritone voice and being a very good violinist, the first world war put paid to Ludwig Koch's career as a musician and he began working for the German branch of EMI recording cityscapes, before going on to invent the ‘sound book', a nascent sort of multimedia that became very popular in Germany before the second world war.

As a Jew and an outspoken critic of the Nazi regime, Koch fled Germany in 1936 for England, sadly leaving his many recordings behind. But his theatrical delivery, unique voice and the fact that, as Chris Watson notes, "He was not shy about his achievements", soon made him a household name in broadcasting here in the UK.

Chris Watson is joined by emeritus professor Sean Street. Together and with the aid of archive, they marvel over the great lengths Koch went to to capture his 'performers'.

Produced in Bristol by Ellie Richold

Lady Eve Balfour Sep 29, 2023

An aristocrat in an eye patch, a jazz saxophonist, a crime novelist and a pioneering organic farmer.

Lady Eve Balfour was born in 1898 into the political elite - her uncle was A J Balfour, who was Prime Minister from 1902-05. But from the age of 12 she wanted to be a farmer and, after studying at agricultural college, made her dream a reality.

She started experimenting with organic farming, and eventually published a book called The Living Soil, which lead to her founding the organic farming body, the Soil Association. Seen as somewhat of a crank, she faced opposition from fellow farmers and politicians alike.

Meanwhile, her personal life was as fascinating as her agricultural life. She lived in a run-down farmhouse with her female partner, played saxophone in a jazz band and co-authored a series of best-selling crime novels.

Presenter, Matthew Parris, is joined by former Director of the Soil Association, Patrick Holden, and Sarah Langford, a farmer and author who claims a "borderline obsession" with Lady Eve.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons

Ken Loach on Gerrard Winstanley Sep 29, 2023

Veteran British film director Ken Loach nominates the 17th century radical pamphleteer and and leader of the Diggers, Gerrard Winstanley.

Born in Wigan in 1609, Winstanley began writing religious pamphlets after his cloth selling business in London went bankrupt and he was forced to move to the country. There his 'heart was filled with sweet thoughts ... that the earth shall be made a common treasury of livelihood to all mankind', for 'the great Creator Reason, made the Earth to be a Common Treasury... for Man had Domination given to him, over the Beasts, Birds and Fishes; but not one word was spoken in the beginning, that one branch of mankind should rule over another."

Winstanley began to dig a nearby wasteland, calling on others - rich and poor -to join him in the digging, which he believed would start a revolution and feed the poor. His ideas were radical, communal, spiritual and deeply challenging. Within a year the Diggers had been aggressively expelled from their site of occupation.

The late Tony Benn called the Diggers, 'the first true socialists', but Winstanley has also been claimed by anarchists and environmentalists.

With Emeritus Professor of Early Modern history, Ann Hughes.

Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Ellie Richold

Chi-chi Nwanoku on Jessye Norman Sep 19, 2023

On the 11th June 1988 Jessye Norman performed a spine-tingling rendition of 'Amazing Grace' to a packed Wembley Stadium, bringing to a close a concert marking the seventieth birthday of Nelson Mandela. By this point her career Jessye Norman was a global icon of opera, best-known for her performances in works by Wagner, Verdi and Mozart. She refused to take the parts traditionally offered to Black singers and once said that pigeonholes were only for pigeons. She would sing, in fact, whatever she liked.

Double-bassist and founder of the Chineke! Orchestra Chi-chi Nwanoku was driving back from a concert when she first heard Jessye Norman singing on the radio. She remembers being so struck by her voice that she had to pull over and wait until the performance had finished before continuing her journey. Chi-chi and presenter Matthew Parris explore some of Jessye Norman's work and recordings, and her views on what it means to be a Black woman in classical music.

Chi-chi and Matthew are joined by Kira Thurman, Associate Professor of Musicology at the University of Michigan to help map out the key moments and decisions in Jessye Norman's extraordinary life.

Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Toby Field

Ninette de Valois Sep 05, 2023

The Godmother of English - and Irish - ballet, Dame Ninette De Valois or ‘Madam’ as she was known to those around her. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of ballet. She established the Royal Ballet School, the Royal Ballet and the UK’s premiere touring ballet company, which went on to become the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Under the guidance of ‘Madam’, these institutions grew and became celebrated around the world, with post WWII Ballet tours generating much needed funds for the British Treasury and company members, including Margot Fonteyn and Robert (Bobby) Helpmann, becoming international celebrities. Madam was also instrumental in the development of National Ballets in Turkey, Iran and Canada. She achieved all of this despite a childhood diagnosis of polio and was dedicated to ballet right up until her 102nd year. She is nominated by choreographer Sir David Bintley. He met Madam while studying at the Royal Ballet School in the mid 70’s. To David, who was originally from Huddersfield, ‘Madam’ was his ‘Southern Grandmother’. David is joined by Anna Meadmore – dance historian and curator of the Royal Ballet Schools Special Collections Archive. Together they reflect also on Madam's formidable character, her unprecedented contribution to English Ballet and her legacy as an adventurous traditionalist.

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced in Bristol by Nicola Humphries

Sophie Scott on Hattie Jacques Aug 15, 2023

Born in 1922, Hattie Jacques began her career in music hall before graduating onto the radio comedies of the 1950s such as Educating Archie', 'It's That Man Again' and 'Hancock's Half Hour' where she became a star. TV and films followed, most notably the role of Eric Sykes' twin sister in 'Sykes' and the stern but lovelorn matron, headmistress or housekeeper in the 'Carry On' films. Hattie was teased about her weight in school and she was often the person being laughed at in her work. She largely accepted this role but yearned to do more serious work. In contrast to many of the characters she played she was a vivacious person who loved men and liked a party.

Choosing Hattie is neuroscientist Sophie Scott who remembers Hattie as the first funny woman she heard or saw. Sophie studies why we laugh and says it was great how Hattie held her own with these men. Together with expert Andy Merriman they explore Hattie's life including how she did her own welding in a film, her marriage to John Le Mesurier and affair with John Schofield, and whether the typecasting she suffered was a hindrance or a benefit to her career. Presented by Matthew Parris who remembers Hattie uttering "But not with a daffodil!" in 'Carry On Nurse'. You'll have to listen to find out where exactly that daffodil was discovered.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field.

Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore and London Zoo Aug 08, 2023

It's a famous name - there's Raffles Hotel and Raffles Hospital, plus the rafflesia, the largest flowering plant in the world, an ant, a butterflyfish and a woodpecker, as well as the Raffles Cup, a horse race in Singapore. He was born in 1781 and as an agent of the East India Company, Thomas Stamford Raffles rose to become lieutenant governor of Java during the Napoleonic war. He's also often named as the founder of Singapore and also London Zoo. But how did he achieve so much so fast? Recorded on location at London zoo with Matthew Gould, CEO of the Zoological Society of London; plus Stephen Murphy of SOAS University of London and Natasha Wakely who talks about Matthew Gould's second choice, Joan Procter, first female curator of reptiles who famously used to take a Komodo dragon for walks on a leash.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Susie Dent on Thomas Mann Aug 01, 2023

Thomas Mann was a German writer whose books explored themes around family, beauty and the creeping threat of fascism in Europe. Mann's best-known 'Death in Venice' revealed the author's attraction to young boys and it was turned into a film in 1971 starring Dirk Bogarde. Mann moved to Switzerland before the outbreak of the Second World War and lived in exile in Europe and the USA for the rest of his life. From his home in California he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Einstein and Brecht, and he recorded broadcasts for the BBC urging the German people to rise up and over throw Hitler. He was married and had six children, two of whom took their own lives.

Lexicographer and word expert on 'Countdown' Susie Dent says German was her first love and she first-read Mann whilst studying at University. She loves the tension in his work between the pull of one's senses and the desire to stay aloof and detached. Susie and Matthew are joined by Karolina Watroba, Research fellow in German and Comparative Literature at the University of Oxford. Karolina was born in Poland where Mann is a huge cultural icon and she first read 'The Magic Mountain' in the summer before she went to University.

Future subjects in the series include Hattie Jacques and Stamford Raffles, founder of London Zoo and Singapore.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field

Tony Benn Jun 01, 2023

"It's the complicated ones I enjoy the most." Matthew Parris

Tony Benn, MP from 1950 to 2001, packed so much into a long career. He renounced the peerage inherited from his father, served in the Labour governments of both Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan, led the Stop the War Coalition from 2001 and became pretty much the country’s pre-eminent rock star politician in older age. Comedian Ellie Gibson says she was a Tony Benn groupie and saw him speak many times. A brilliant orator and prolific diarist, he was by the 1980s distrusted by many in his own party, and a bogey figure in the right wing press. Contributors include ex Labour MP, Chris Mullin, and his biographer, Jad Adams; plus rare early archive of Tony Benn himself talking about his constitutional fight to give up his inherited peerage.

Ellie Gibson is one half of the Scummy Mummies podcast duo.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Jon Ronson picks Terry Hall of The Specials May 16, 2023

When Jon Ronson was growing up, he went to see The Specials play in Cardiff. "I went on my own to Sophia Gardens," he says. "The crowd was fantastically wild. There’s a lot to not like about the feral nature of British street culture – i.e. getting beaten up - but out of turmoil can come great art, songs like Ghost Town and Concrete Jungle. Anyway, before The Specials came on, I made a decision: I would pretend to faint in the hope that I could watch the show from the side of the stage. It worked like a dream. I was carried by the bouncers to the wings, and left there. This was probably the most exciting moment of my life, and as I stood there, Terry Hall noticed me and came over to ask if I was okay. Terry Hall, the coolest man in Britain, being kind and showing concern."

Years later Terry Hall publicly announced that he'd been abducted by paedophiles as a boy. Jon Ronson immediately remembered the care and concern Terry had shown him and wondered if this was why.

Programme includes Terry's bandmate, Lynval Golding, giving his first interview since Terry died in December; plus two of his friends, Shaun O'Donnell and Gary Aspden, and the voice of Terry himself.

Jon Ronson is the author of Adventures with Extremists and presenter of Things Fell Apart, about the culture wars.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Sir Edward Coke, prosecutor of Guy Fawkes May 10, 2023

Edward Coke was born in Norfolk in 1552. He's best known as a judge and Parliamentarian, the link says Jesse Norman between Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights. He was also, the programme claims, an occasionally appalling human being who used his own daughter in a marriage deal to buy himself favour with the King. Joining Jesse Norman in studio, often backing up his claims for Coke's greatness, is Dr Alexandra Gajda of Oxford University.

Jesse Norman is a government minister, former paymaster general and one time financial secretary to the Treasury.

The presenter is Ian Hislop, the producer Miles Warde

Kofi Annan May 02, 2023

In 1997 Kofi Annan became the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations. The nineties were a turbulent period for the organisation and it had received criticism for a lack of action in both Rwanda and Bosnia leading to thousands of deaths. Kofi was born in Ghana and after a brief spell in the USA slowly worked his way up through the organisation and his appointment was seen by many as a return to a consensus and multi-lateral approach to diplomacy.

Choosing Kofi is the writer, biologist and presenter Gillian Burke. Gillian's Mum worked for the UN and Gillian describes herself as a "Child of the UN". For both Gillian and her Mum, Kofi Annan was a symbol of hope and an embodiment of the core principles of the UN, and she is keen to learn what qualities Kofi had that made him a good diplomat. To help answer that is former ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock. Sir Jeremy praises Kofi's ability to listen to all sides but says his eyes would harden when he disagreed with what was being said. Together with Matthew Parris, they chew over the successes and failures of Kofi Annan's career, the role of the UN, and what impact he might be having today if he were still alive.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Guests: Gillian Burke and Sir Jeremy Greenstock

Produced for BBC Audio, Bristol by Toby Field

Frank Zappa Apr 25, 2023

"The most important thing to do in your life is not to interfere with somebody else's life." Frank Zappa was born December 1940 in Baltimore, USA. Comedian John Robins - who is obsessed - reckons that it was his subsequently itinerant childhood that had much to do with what happened next. Frank's musical output was prodigious and varied, but John laughs out loud when pushed on whether he had any hits. That wasn't the point of Frank Zappa - the music was everything, creating it and performing it.

Joining the award winning comedian and broadcaster in studio is Deb Grant, who provides a steadying balance to John Robins' fan boy approval of all things Zappa. Programme includes multiple clips of Frank himself, including his most famous quote: "Most rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, for people who can't read."

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Frederick the Great of Prussia Apr 11, 2023

Frederick the Great had a brute of a father. When young Frederick was captured trying to run away, he was locked up and forced to watch his friend - possibly his lover - being beheaded in front of his eyes. King of Prussia from 1740, Frederick was also a musician, a composer, a writer and a chancer who took extraordinary military risks to secure his place in Europe. Adolf Hitler thought the world of Frederick the Great, but how do Germans view him today?

Joining Matthew Parris to discuss a really extraordinary great life is Christopher Clark, regius professor of history at Cambridge University and Frederick's nominator. He recalls crossing into East Berlin in the eighties and being thrilled to discover Frederick's cultural legacy was still largely intact. Also in studio is Katja Hoyer, author of Beyond the Wall who grew up with the spectre of Frederick looming large both at school and at home.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Arthur Ashe Apr 04, 2023

Broadcaster Qasa Alom chooses the first African American tennis player to win the US Open and Wimbledon, Arthur Ashe.

Arthur Ashe was born in Richmond, Virginia, a state in the US that in 1943 was still part of the segregated south. If Arthur wanted to compete with white players, he had to leave for St Louis and then California to play. His story is staggering, and not just his success in a notoriously elitist sport. His mother died when he was six, he had a heart attack when he was 36, and he died of AIDS when he was just 49, contracted from a tainted blood confusion.

Film maker and broadcaster Qasa Alom grew up loving Rafa Nadal. Then Ashe's story blew him away. "In a world where we have so many demonstrative heroes, in sport, in politics, the extrovert who is shouting the loudest often gets heard. There's a really good opportunity here to showcase other ways of being a champion, and Arthur Ashe for me is certainly that person."

Programme contains historic interviews, including Arthur Ashe talking to Anthony Clare for In The Psychiatrists Chair shortly after his first heart attack. Also includes a new interview with Raymond Arsenault, American author of Arthur Ashe: A Life.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2023.

Astrid Lindgren, creator of Pippi Longstocking Feb 20, 2023

The best-selling author of How to Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell, explains her love for the Swedish author, Astrid Lindgren. Born in 1907, Lindgren invented the Pippi Longstocking stories to tell to her children during the war years, only writing them down for a publisher years later.

Following the immense success of Pippi, Astrid Lindgren went on to write Emil of Lonneberga, Children of Noisy Village and the fantasy novels Mio, my son; Ronia the Robber's Daughter; and The Brother's Lionheart. But it was Pippi who brought her fame and fortune. She was a particular hit in post-war Germany, where it is claimed the stories helped de-nazify the Hitler youth.

In the 70s and 80s Lindgren began campaigning on child, environmental and animal rights, influencing Swedish government policy and becoming known as the 'Grandmother of all Sweden'. She is still very much adored there today.

Cressida Cowell is a recent children's laureate. Also joining the discussion is Johan Palmberg, Lindgren's great grandson, who recalls. "She had this understanding of what a child might be interested in ... she would be the first one to climb the trees and have the children follow her up"

Produced in Bristol by Ellie Richold

Image courtesy of Jacob Forsell

Adjoa Andoh on Zora Neale Hurston Jan 24, 2023

Actor Adjoa Andoh has a list of TV, theatre and film credits as long as your arm. She's best known worldwide as Bridgerton's Lady Danbury, and is due to direct - and star in the title role - in a new production of Richard III. Her great life is the 20th century American writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, author of "Their Eyes Were Watching God".

An iconic figure in the literature of the jazz age, her name was all but forgotten after her death in 1960, before being pulled back into public consciousness in the US by "The Color Purple" author Alice Walker, who famously wrote: "A people do not throw their geniuses away".

With the help of fellow enthusiast Dr Janine Bradbury, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Writing and Culture at the University of York, Adjoa makes the case that we should all know more about Zora, a trailblazer who - on top of her writing career - researched zombies in the Caribbean and helped collect the stories of slavery's last survivors.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton

Comedian Chris McCausland on Kurt Cobain Jan 17, 2023

"‘For me, it’s all about his authenticity’. Chris McCausland

Kurt Cobain, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the band Nirvana became the voice of a generation and is to this day considered one of the most influential musicians in the history of alternative rock.

His angst ridden, often politically driven lyrics challenged the conventions of the day and resonated with youth audiences around the world. He championed the underdog and stood up for all those who had ever felt excluded from the mainstream. Kurt’s message resonated with comedian, actor and writer Chris McCausland, but so did his music. With its raw energy and Kurt’s ‘take me as I am’ performances, Chris found a rock band that delivered the authenticity he’d been searching for.

Accompanied from New York by author, journalist and music specialist Laura Barton, Chris discusses the Great Life of Kurt Cobain, his music, his message, his sense of humour and why it’s never too late to jump in a mosh pit.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Nicola Humphries

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2023.

Roger Deakin, wild swimmer and author of Waterlogged Jan 09, 2023

Matthew Parris travels along the Thames to meet Nick Hayes - illustrator and author of The Book of Trespass - to discuss the life of Roger Deakin. They also enjoy a naked swim. Joining them, in his pants, is Patrick Barkham. His new biography of Roger Deakin is published this year.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Minette Batters on Henry Plumb Jan 03, 2023

"I was born an Englishman but I'll die a European." Those are the words of Henry Plumb, Lord Plumb, a farmer who was President of the National Farmers Union in the 1970s and who became the first British person to be elected President of the European Parliament.

Championing his life is the farmer and current President of the National Farmers Union, Minette Batters. She says that Henry supported her from the outset and that he would offer advice and support wherever it was needed. Minette is joined by Richard Inglewood, Lord Inglewood, who knew Lord Plumb well. They explore Lord Plumb's early life as a farmer in Coleshill, his views on membership of the European Union, and his electoral success as a Member and then President of the European Parliament, which included such perks as involvement in the European Song Contest. Matthew Parris asks Minette about the challenges of balancing her work with the day-to-day demands of farming and what impact Lord Plumb made on British life.

Produced in Bristol by Toby Field.

Image credit: John Cottle/NFU

Correction: Henry Plumb's opponent in the election to become President of the European Parliament in 1987 was Enrique Barón Crespo and not Egon Klepsch.

Bob Harris on Sir Matt Busby, Manchester United manager Dec 27, 2022

The voice behind The Old Grey Whistle Test and Radio 2’s country music show, Bob Harris, tells us why Manchester United Football Club manager Sir Matt Busby is his Great Life.

Bob and Matthew hear how Sir Matt led the club out of the ruins of World War Two, through the tragedy of the Munich Air Disaster and on to European glory in 1968. Joining them is genealogist, historian and lifelong Manchester United fan Dr Michala Hulme. And you’ll also hear legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson reflect on his own relationship with Sir Matt Busby in a specially recorded interview.

Produced by Caitlin Hobbs for BBC Audio, Bristol.

Noddy Holder on Chuck Berry Dec 20, 2022

In 1972 Chucky Berry was onstage in Coventry. Seeking some audience participation Chuck launched into a cover of an unusual novelty record called 'My Ding-a-Ling'.

One of the men who can be heard in the crowd singing about their "Ding-a-Ling' was Noddy Holder whose band Slade were supporting Berry on his UK tour. This track became Berry's only UK number one and by default, one of Noddy's seven. Paul Gambaccini also saw Berry live in the 1970s and remembers him playing hits like 'Johnny B. Goode' and 'Maybellene', but never performing for a minute longer than the agreed contracted length of his set.

Paul and Noddy join Matthew Parris to discuss the life of this influential pioneer who along with Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard is said to have invented rock n roll. They talk about Berry's musical influences, his rise to stardom, his shrewd approach to business and some of the darker moments that blight Berry's legacy.

Produced by Toby Field for BBC Audio, Bristol.

Olivia Laing on Christopher Lloyd, Gardener and Writer Dec 13, 2022

Known to his friends as Christo, Lloyd spent his whole life, from childhood until his death aged 85, at work in the same garden: Great Dixter in East Sussex. He wrote a weekly column for Country Life for 42 years and was the author of 25 books, including The Mixed Border in the Modern Garden (1957) and The Well Tempered Garden (1970).

Christo is the choice of the writer Olivia Laing, herself a passionate gardener. She and Matthew Parris go to Great Dixter to meet Head Gardener Fergus Garrett, who worked alongside Christo for many years and was one of his closest friends.

Olivia Laing is the author of five works of non-fiction and a novel. Her books include To the River (2011), The Trip to Echo Spring (2013) and The Lonely City (2016). Her books have been translated into 19 languages. She writes on art and culture for the Guardian, Financial Times and New York Times, among many other publications and a book of her collected essays on art, Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency, was published in 2020. Her most recent book is Everybody: A Book About Freedom (2021) and she is currently working on a book about gardens and paradise.

Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio

Photograph of Christopher Lloyd used by kind permission of Jonathan Buckley

Olia Hercules on Alla Horska, Ukrainian painter Dec 09, 2022

"Cooking is like therapy to us. I grew up where my big extended family would come together in summer under the walnut tree. The adults would drink and we’d eat, stories would be told and we'd break into song. It was a healing process."

In the first of a new series, the cookbook author Olia Hercules tells us why she's picked the Ukrainian artist and activist Alla Horska as her Great Life. A member of the Sixtiers, Alla was a part of the Ukrainian dissident movement of writers, artists and cultural figures who stood against the destruction of Ukrainian identity and rallied for greater freedoms.

Growing up in Ukraine, Olia says she was taught so much about Russian culture, and so little about Ukrainian culture, that she wanted to fix that. Now in a time of war, Olia discovers how parts of Alla's life mirror her own. Joining her in studio is Tetyana Filevska, creative director of the Ukrainian Institute. Tetyana moved to London to escape the war in Ukraine.

Future guests in the series include writer Olivia Laing on Christopher Lloyd, Bob Harris on Sir Matt Busby, and Noddy Holder on Chuck Berry.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Caitlin Hobbs

Bonnie Greer on the Women of the Morant Bay Rebellion Sep 28, 2022

Bonnie Greer OBE, playwright and critic, joins Matthew Parris to make a case for seven women from Jamaica who were hung or shot in 1865 after the Morant Bay Rebellion.

Bonnie makes a case that this peasants' uprising was a pivotal event not only in Jamaican history, but in the history of the entire Caribbean region; Britain and the world. In Victorian England, the uproar following it included prominent names like Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin, who were on opposite sides of the debate.

Bonnie wants to rectify the fact that the seven women who were killed in the aftermath have been largely forgotten, whilst their leaders - Paul Bogle and George William Gordon - are National Heroes of Jamaica.

Joining Matthew and Bonnie is expert witness is Gad Heuman, Emeritus Professor at the University of Warwick and author of Killing Time: Morant Bay Rebellion Jamaica and The Caribbean: A Brief History.

Producer: Eliza Lomas for BBC Audio, Bristol.

George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood nominated by Lesley Garrett Sep 13, 2022

As Grandson of George V, George Lascelles was a first cousin to Queen Elizabeth II and with his distinguished beard and Nero style jackets, he was the very image of aristocracy, moving in the highest of royal circles, yet it was in the Royal Circles of Britain's opera houses that he felt most at home.

It was at English National Opera North (now Opera North) that Lesley Garrett first met George. With their shared love of all things musical, and both proudly from Yorkshire, they developed a friendship that was to last a lifetime.

Having survived capture during the Second World War (deepening his knowledge of opera whilst interned as a prisoner of war), he dedicated much of his time to making opera accessible to all. He strove to deliver the best of opera for everyone, with a genuine passion and commitment that inspired all those he worked with.

During his career he served as Director of The Royal Opera House, Chairman of the Board of The English National Opera, Managing Director of the ENO, Managing Director of English National Opera North (now Opera North) and outside of opera he served as a Governor of the BBC and President of the British Board of Film Classification.

His other great passion was football. He served as President of Leeds United Football Club from 1961 until his death and was President of the Football Association from 1963 to 1972. As Lesley recalls, he believed that both music and sport were 'levelling', that in these worlds there were no kings or paupers. Throughout his life he supported both of these passions, opening doors for everyone, instilling values of accessibility that live on till this day. He died on 11th July 2011 aged 88.

Lesley is joined by Professor Alexandra Wilson, a musicologist, author and cultural historian, specialising in Italian opera and British operatic culture from the 1920's to the present day.

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced by Nicola Humphries for BBC Audio Bristol

Romy Gill on poet Amrita Pritam Sep 06, 2022

Chef Romy Gill remembers her Mother reading Amrita Pritam's poems to her when she was growing up. Romy was drawn to Amrita's fierce independent spirit and began to learn about her importance as a Panjabi writer whose work was heavily influenced by Partition, and in particular the experiences of women during this period.

Romy's joined by the poet Rupinder Kaur who performs extracts of Amrita's work and says her work and influence still resonates today.

Amrita Pritam's own voice is heard, speaking about the train journey she took after Partition when she and her family fled to safety in Delhi, inspiring her most famous work 'Ajj Akhan Waris Shah Nu'.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field

Rosalind Franklin picked by Kate Bingham, former head of the UK government's vaccine taskforce Aug 30, 2022

Rosalind Franklin was born in 1920 and studied Natural Sciences. After working in Paris at the Laboratoire Central - where she became an x-ray crystallographer - she moved to King's College London. Here she helped to take the famous Photograph 51 which led to the discovery of the double helix shape of DNA. Her contribution was famously and disgracefully downplayed by the men who won the Nobel Prize. Later at Birkbeck College she undertook pioneering work of the structure of viruses before dying of ovarian cancer, aged just 37.

Nominating Rosalind Franklin is Kate Bingham. She chaired the UK government's Vaccine Taskforce, and she also attended the same school as Rosalind Franklin - St Paul's Girls' School in London. Further contributions from Dr Patricia Fara of Clare College, Cambridge, and Howard Bailes, archivist of St Paul's School.

Archive contributors include Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins and Colin Franklin.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw, Educationalist Aug 23, 2022

Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw was born Kathleen Timpson in 1912. Deaf from an early age, she went on to have a brilliant career and is best known for her contribution to pandiagonal magic squares. She was also heavily involved in the establishment of the Royal Northern College of Music and was an advisor to Mrs Thatcher's government on education. She died aged 101.

Nominator Sir John Timpson is chairman of the high street shoe repair shop that bears his family name and knew Dame Kathleen extremely well. Her spirit and determination shine through. Also in studio is Dr Ems Lord, research fellow at Clare Hall and director of NRICH.

The producer in Bristol by Miles Warde

Ravi Shankar, India's famous sitar player Aug 16, 2022

Ravi Shankar was born in India in 1920 and came to prominence just as India gained independence from Britain in 1947. He was initially a dancer and then a virtuoso sitarist and composer, and became famous internationally because of his collaborations with Yehudi Menuhin and George Harrison and the Beatles.

Bobby Seagull's parents came from Kerala, and while Ravi Shankar's music came from the north, Bobby still remembers hearing him play growing up. There are early clips of Ravi Shankar explaining the sitar, plus George Harrison's account of their North American tour. Joining the conversation is biographer Oliver Craske, author of Indian Sun who knew Ravi well. He counts up in the programme how many relationships Ravi may have had.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Holly Walsh on BS Johnson Aug 10, 2022

BS Johnson was born in Hammersmith in 1933. A wartime evacuee, he never quite shook a sense of dislocation for the rest of his life. Holly's favourite book, she calls it the gateway drug to his work, is Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry. It's the tale of a disaffected accountant who applies the principles of double-entry book keeping to his own life; any perceived slight permits him to repay the same on somebody else. These stretch from minor acts of personal revenge to poisoning London's water and blowing up the House of Commons.

"The things I find attractive about him are the things I'm a little bit scared of. His work is so raw - it's so different to how I feel." Holly Walsh

Joining Holly and Matthew Parris is the novelist Jonathan Coe, author of The Rotter's Club and Like a Fiery Elephant, an award-winning biography of BS Johnson's life.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Pat Nevin on Johan Cruyff Aug 02, 2022

Pat Nevin chooses Johan Cruyff who was part of the Dutch revolution of the 1970s. He burst onto the international stage at the 1974 World Cup with an incredible piece of skill against Sweden later dubbed the 'Cruyff turn'. Cruyff went on to play for Barcelona before retiring young only to be forced to return after some poor business investments wiped out his fortune. He played in the States before returning to coach at his beloved Ajax and Barcelona where he amassed more trophies, steadfastly sticking to his brand of 'total football' and changing how the game was played.

Pat Nevin remembers the gasp of the crowd who witnessed the 'Cruyff turn', and still admires how this thin, intelligent footballer used speed and guile to outwit opponents. But the former Chelsea and Everton great says that it's Cruyff's imprint on the way that football is now played that impresses him most, an influence, Pat says, that can be seen at the top of the Premier League table today with Pep Guardiola's Manchester City playing a version of Dutch 'total football'.

As Pep himself said about his former Barcelona coach, "Johan Cruyff painted the chapel, and Barcelona coaches since merely restore or improve it."

The Dutch journalist and author of 'Johan Cruyff: Always on the Attack' Auke Kok, sheds light on Johan's childhood, his early years as an Ajax player, and how Cruyff's stubborn attitude was both a strength and a weakness throughout his life.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field

Other guests in the new series include the UK government vaccine taskforce head, Kate Bingham; chef Romy Gill; and BAFTA winner Holly Walsh who has picked the cult sixties writer, BS Johnson.

Judy Garland May 31, 2022

Susie Boyt picks Judy Garland, the child star who became one of the most famous entertainers of the twentieth century. June 2022 will be the centenary of her birth.

"All people ever said to me was, ‘You have got to toughen up,'" Susie told us. "You cannot go round nursing these wild cascades of feelings, or you’re never going to have a happy life. Then one day my mother took me to see The Wizard of Oz. It was the first film I ever saw at the cinema, and when I heard Dorothy singing Over the Rainbow, I thought, here is someone whose feelings seem to run as high as my own and she’s not hiding it, she’s not embarrassed by it, she’s not ashamed. She was leading with her feelings as though they were the best thing life contains."

Joining Susie Boyt is John Fricke, leading Judy Garland expert who put her ability to thrill her audiences far ahead of the many tabloid accounts of her life.

The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Joan Rhodes, strongest woman in the world May 24, 2022

Joan Rhodes picked by Anna Maxwell Martin, star of Line of Duty and Motherland. Her choice is a lovely surprise, a strongwoman who could rip up phone books and bend nails. There's archive of her holding up 14 stone cricket commentator Brian 'Johnners' Johnstone in 1949 as well as the voice of the woman who knew her well - Triona Holden, author of An Iron Girl in a Velvet Glove. Abandoned by both her parents as a child, Joan Rhodes is an inspiring character who utterly merits her selection here.

Anna Maxwell Martin is the double BAFTA winning actress who has starred in Bleak House, Poppy Shakespeare and Motherland.

The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Rob Newman on Franklin D Roosevelt May 17, 2022

Comedian and writer Rob Newman is a long-time fan of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who "saved the United States, just in time for the United States to save the world".

When FDR came into office in 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, unemployment stood at more than 25% and drought in the Dust Bowl had decimated American agriculture across the Great Plains. While known for his folksy charm, Roosevelt was a shrewd and determined politician, who transformed federal government, the US financial system and the relationship between the American people and their president forever. His raft of early interventions, known as the New Deal, have become the benchmark for US presidents' first 100 days in office ever since.

As 'Forester in Chief', FDR's administration initiated mass tree planting and soil conservation - all while providing employment for 3 million young men. Rob talks to Matthew Parris about how FDR's radical and ambitious environmentalism continues to inspire him, and how this man defied his sheltered upper class upbringing to reach out to working Americans and address their struggles directly.

They are joined by Professor David B. Woolner, Senior Fellow and Resident Historian of the Roosevelt Institute and author of The Last 100 Days: FDR at War and at Peace, to discuss FDR's personal triumphs, his hidden struggles and his international legacy. Could or should he have predicted the divided Europe that followed hot on the heels of a hard-fought peace?

With thanks to the archivists at the Franklin D Roosevelt Presidential Library.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Produced by Sarah Goodman for BBC Audio Bristol.

Mr Manchester Tony Wilson nominated by Terry Christian May 10, 2022

He was a broadcaster, music mogul, social activist, local celebrity, publicity seeker, loud mouth, surreal politician, showman and, according to Paul Morley, "a great resourceful man of the north." Now Terry Christian provides a passionate account of why he was also a great life. This was certainly an extraordinary life, and by the end even presenter Matthew Parris is won round.

Produced by Miles Warde

Gil Scott-Heron May 03, 2022

Described by those who knew him as a 'Revolutionary Man of Peace' Gil Scott-Heron transformed the musical landscape of the 1970's. In 2021 he was posthumously inaugurated into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, honoured with an Early Influencer Award. Today, Garden Designer Joe Swift - who witnessed Gil's legendary concerts - shares his passion for the artist who 'spoke truth' and educated a generation through his music. Joe is joined by Malik Al Nasir who worked with Gil and became his protégé, developing a life long friendship following a chance encounter at a concert. Malik is author of 'Letters To Gil' a memoir of his own life and the time he spent with Gil Scott-Heron.

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced by Nicola Humphries

Lolita Chakrabarti on actor Ira Aldridge Apr 26, 2022

Award-winning playwright and actor Lolita Chakrabarti celebrates the life of Ira Aldridge, an icon of theatre who rose to fame at the height of the movement to abolish slavery and brought Shakespeare to audiences across the world. He made his career on the London stage before touring Europe where, along with rapturous applause, he received top honours from heads of state. He is the only actor of African-American descent among the 33 actors of the English stage to be honoured with a Bronze Plaque at The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon and a Blue Plaque at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre - which he managed in 1828 - also celebrates his contribution to theatre. Lolita Chakrabarti shares her deep passion and knowledge of this fascinating actor alongside historian Stephen Bourne, author of 'Deep Are The Roots -Trailblazers Who Changed Black British Theatre'.

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced by Nicola Humphries

Janet Ellis on Puffin editor Kaye Webb Apr 19, 2022

Writer, broadcaster and Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis champions the life of Kaye Webb, who burst on to the children's publishing scene in 1961 and changed the industry forever.

With no publishing experience whatsoever, Kaye persuaded renowned authors like Roald Dahl and Nina Bawden to publish their hardback bestsellers as pocket-sized paperbacks that children could buy themselves. Hundreds of thousands flocked to join her Puffin Club with its riotous exhibitions, trips and competitions. Janet shares her memories of growing up abroad with her "portable kingdom" of Puffin books, and explains why Puffin and Blue Peter have a lot in common.

Janet is joined in the studio by Kaye's biographer, the writer Valerie Grove. They talk about Kaye's three marriages, especially the last, to cartoonist Ronald Searle, then one of the most famous men in the country. We also hear personal memories of Kaye from Clare Morpurgo, daughter of Penguin founder, Sir Allen Lane.

With thanks to Puffin Club expert Sherief Hassan, Philippa Dickinson and Emma Thompson. Photo courtesy of Seven Stories - The National Centre for Children's Books in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Presented by Matthew Parris. Produced by Sarah Goodman for BBC Audio Bristol.

Tom Hopkinson, editor of Picture Post Apr 12, 2022

What does it take to be a great news editor? Tom Hopkinson was sacked by the proprietor of Picture Post for trying to run a true story during the 1950 Korean War. Later he also sent a photographer - Ian Berry - to cover the Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa for Drum .... in time he fell out with the proprietor of that magazine as well. "To affect the world you've got to get into a position to affect it," he said, "and that means you've got to be very patient and fight your way in."

Nominating Tom Hopkinson is Donald Macintyre, former correspondent in the Middle East and one of the very first students on the Cardiff journalism course Tom Hopkinson set up. Also in studio is his daughter, Professor Amanda Hopkinson.

The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer is Miles Warde

Brian Cox on Lindsay Anderson Apr 08, 2022

Actor Brian Cox chooses his one-time mentor and fellow Scot, Lindsay Anderson. "His effect is still on me to this day, and I can't throw him off. He taught me how to think. He triggered something off in me that nobody else had previously done."

A critic, an outsider, a provocateur, Anderson founded the Free Cinema movement in the 1950s with fellow documentary makers Tony Richardson, Karel Reisz and Lorenza Mazzetti. His films include This Sporting Life and If… which won the Palm d’or in 1969 and helped launch the career of Malcolm MacDowell. Lindsay Anderson’s international reputation surpassed his fame in Britain, where his uncompromisingly anti-establishment stance failed to win him mainstream admirers, but he made several more provocative films and is remembered fondly by his friends and collaborators as an extremely funny, loyal and principled man.

Brian Cox, star of Rushmore, The Bourne Identity and Succession, is joined by Karl Magee from the Lindsay Anderson Archive at the University of Stirling. Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Ellie Richold.

Future programmes in this series include journalist Donald McIntyre on the editor of Picture Post, Tom Hopkinson; Janet Ellis on the founder of the Puffin Club, Kaye Webb; and Terry Christian on Mr Manchester, Tony Wilson, along with author Paul Morley who wrote From Manchester With Love.

Spike Milligan Jan 25, 2022

Henry Normal thinks Spike Milligan changed his life, in particular with his 1973 poetry collection, Small Dreams of a Scorpion.

Spike's other work - The Goon Show, the books about the war (Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall and Rommel? Gunner Who?) these were important, but it was the poetry that really made Henry Normal think again.

Spike was born Terence Alan Milligan in India in 1918. His family moved to Catford in south east London in 1931. "It was the first time in life I was deprived of everything in vision ... except the sky," he says. There's a lot of Spike in this episode. "I think I'm a good comedy writer - I think I'm the best."

He died in February 2002. His gravestone in Winchelsea - which Henry Normal has visited - reads 'Duirt me leat go raibh me breoite' which is Gaelic for I told you I was ill.

Henry Normal was born in Nottingham, published his first book of poetry aged 19, and co-wrote The Mrs Merton Show and the first series of The Royle Family before setting up Baby Cow with Steve Coogan. The company's productions include Gavin and Stacey, Alan Partridge and the Mighty Boosh.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Produced by Miles Warde for BBC Audio in Bristol

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2022.

Roma Agrawal on Mrinalini Sarabhai Jan 18, 2022

Mrinalini Sarabhai was an Indian classical dancer specialising in Bharatanatyam and becoming the first woman to perform Kathakali. She was very successful and performed around the world, with one reviewer in Paris calling her the 'Hindu atomic bomb'. She married prominent scientist and industrialist Vikram Sarabhai and together they would rub shoulders with ambassadors and Presidents. Men would see her dance and fall in love with her. She performed for The Queen in India. Later on, she used dance as a means of addressing social issues such as the 'dowry deaths' where brides were being set-alight and killed, and as a result of her work the governmental order the first ever inquiry into the issue.

The engineer and author Roma Agrawal is best-known for her work on The Shard in London. She trained in Indian classical dance and for her Mrinalini provides a continuous thread back to her own Indian heritage in Mumbai. She's joined by Indian classical dancer Santosh Nair, with contributions from Mrinalini's daughter Mallika Sarabhai.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field.

Lady Hale on Lady Rhondda Jan 11, 2022

Judge and former President of the Supreme Court, Lady Hale, chooses to nominate the suffragette, businesswoman, and founder of Time and Tide magazine, Margaret Haig Thomas, also known as Lady Rhondda.

Born in 1883, Lady Rhondda was brought up an only child, in South Wales, by her feminist parents. She survived the sinking of the Lusitania and sat on the board of 33 companies, becoming, in 1926, the first and to-date only female president of the Institute of Directors. In 1927, the New York Tribune called her ‘the foremost woman of business in the British Empire’.

She was also one of the most prominent British feminists of the inter-war years, marching with the Pankhursts and setting fire to a letterbox, for which she was briefly sent to Usk prison.

Lady Rhondda was also the founder and editor of the pioneering, hugely influential weekly paper Time and Tide, which featured women’s perspectives and essays by literary greats from Orwell to Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf.

The Former President of the Supreme Court, Brenda Hale, believes Lady Rhondda's most important lesson is "that there are always new battles to be fought...You must never give up. You must always go on."

With expert insight from Angela V. John, Honorary Professor of History.

Produced by Ellie Richold for BBC Audio in Bristol

William Lever, Lord Leverhulme, founder of Unilever Jan 10, 2022

William Lever was a grocer's son who went on to make a fortune selling soap. Lifebuoy, Lux ... and eventually Unilever are just some of his creations. Picking him for Great Lives is Richard Walker, managing director of Iceland. Joining him is Adam Macqueen, author of The King of Sunlight: How William Lever Cleaned up the The World.

The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer for BBC audio in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Noor-Un-Nissa Inayat Khan Dec 28, 2021

Noor-Un-Nissa Inayat Khan was an Indian muslim princess who became an under-cover agent for the ‘SOE’ – Churchill’s Special Operational Executive. She’s one of only a handful of women in the second world war awarded The George Cross, the highest civilian decoration in the UK.

Noor's story will take us from Moscow to London, then Paris. There will be Sufism interwoven with Indian classical music and tales of sultans and maharajas. Her life championed by actor, writer and director Priyanga Burford, known for roles in ‘Innocent’ and ‘Silent Witness’ and the comedy series ‘The Thick of It’. She’s also had a brush with espionage herself, appearing as a scientist in the James Bond blockbuster ‘No Time to Die’.

Having discovered Noor whilst searching for inspiration for her own writing, Priyanga became fascinated by a woman who defied expectations and demonstrated immense courage and bravery. Discussion features guest expert Sufiya Ahmed, author of 'My Story: Noor-Un-Nissa Inayat Khan'.

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced by Nicola Humphries

Jeanne Baret, first woman to sail round the globe Dec 21, 2021

It all began with a small portrait in the Greenwich museum - of a sexless looking character in wide stripey trousers. Actor Nina Sosanya says she was immediately intrigued. Who was this? Why was she here? And did she really sail round the world dressed as a man? She discovered that Jeanne Baret was a poor but ingenious French woman who joined Louis Antoine de Bougainville's circumnavigation in 1763. She was dressed as a man because women were not allowed on board. But this was only the beginning of a crazy, often terrifying ordeal. Joining Nina Sosanya is Glynis Ridley, author of the Discovery of Jeanne Baret. Together they piece together this adventurer's life, from her birth in rural France to her passage round the globe, abandoned on Mauritius and getting back home seven years after everyone else.

Nina Sosanya has starred in Staged, Killing Eve and W1A, often playing extremely likable characters who keep their head while everyone else goes down in flames.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Rory Sutherland on Johnny Ramone Dec 14, 2021

Johnny Ramone is a founding member of the seminal New York punk band, the Ramones. Famed for their blisteringly short songs played at breakneck speed, the Ramones burst onto the scene in 1976 with tracks like 'Blitzkrieg Bop', 'I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You' and 'Judy is a Punk'. When they played The Roundhouse in London journalist Chris Salewicz was there, and afterwards he said all the British punk bands started to play their songs twice as fast. But, as advertising expert Rory Sutherland reveals, it's Johnny Ramone's contradictions that really form the basis for his choosing him as a great life. Johnny was a staunch Republican at a time when punk was perceived as a largely left-wing movement. In fact, for Rory, anything that aims to disrupt the status quo can be punk - including Brexit! Johnny studied tapes of the Ramones performances to ensure that they looked, sounded and moved in what he felt was the right way, and his aim was to make a million dollars and retire early. Matthew Parris presents, ready to shout "1,2,3,4".

Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol: Toby Field

JRR Tolkien, creator of The Hobbit Dec 07, 2021

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein in 1892.

Orphaned before he was a teenager, he fought at the Somme in the First World War before going on to become one of the best-selling authors of all time.

Bilbo, Gandalf, Gollum, Frodo, Sauron - these are just a few of the famous characters he created for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Nominating Tolkien - an Oxford University professor - is the popular historian, Niall Ferguson. He aims to rescue Tolkien from the hippies, who, he says, claimed Tolkien as their own.

"The fascinating thing to me about Tolkien is that his sensibility is so profoundly conservative - with a small 'c'. ...when you look at the man's politics, he was such a reactionary!"

Presenter Matthew Parris, who doesn't believe in elves or dwarves, is not so sure that the fantasy author deserves to be rescued.

With additional help and guidance from Malcolm Guite.

Niall Ferguson is senior fellow of the Hoover Institution and author of Empire: How Britain made the Modern World.

Producer: Ellie Richold

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2021.

Ruth Rogers on James Baldwin Sep 28, 2021

The chef and co-founder of The River Cafe, Ruth Rogers, picks the life of the writer and activist James Baldwin.

A writer, poet, playwright and activist, Baldwin was known as a trailblazing explorer of race, class and sexuality in America and the “literary voice of the Civil Rights movement”.

Joining Ruth and Matthew is Professor Rich Blint from the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts in New York. He is director of the college’s race and ethnicity programme and is a contributing editor to the James Baldwin Review. Together they explore Baldwin's writing style, the turbulent times faced both politically and personally; and ask - were he alive today - whether he would feel the world had progressed in its attitude to race.

Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Caitlin Hobbs.

Yanis Varoufakis on Hypatia Sep 21, 2021

The Greek politician and economist takes us back to ancient Alexandria and the life of the first woman to make her name as a mathematician. But Hypatia is best known now for being brutally murdered. Yanis Varoufakis makes the case for her as a philosopher and mathematician, and explores how her story has been interpreted and misinterpreted in the centuries after her death. He's joined by the writer and broadcaster, Professor Edith Hall.

Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Chris Ledgard

Dorothy Byrne on Catherine of Siena Sep 14, 2021

The president of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge and former Channel 4 editor champions the life of a 14th-century mystic. Like Dorothy Byrne, famous for her scathing attacks on broadcasting executives in the 2019 MacTaggart Lecture, Catherine of Siena stood up to powerful men. She lobbied Popes, attacked corruption in the Catholic church, and played an active role in the troubled Italian politics of the late 14th century. Alongside Francis of Assisi, she is one of two patron saints of Italy. Carolyn Muessig, Chair of Christian Thought at the University of Calgary, provides the expert analysis.

Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Chris Ledgard

Peggy Seeger on her husband Ewan MacColl Sep 07, 2021

Ewan MacColl sang "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" to Peggy Seeger down the phone. When they met, Peggy says, he was in the grip of his midlife crisis. "I'm fond of saying the poor boy didn't stand a chance," she tells Matthew Parris. This programme is her attempt to set the record straight. "I'd like to do a bit of justice to him, because there's an awful lot of myths, an awful lot of bad talk, misunderstandings."

Ewan MacColl was born Jimmy Miller in Salford, which he wrote about in 1949 in his song, "Dirty Old Town." He made his name in theatre, was married to Joan Littlewood, and after the Second World War he was a powerful force behind the folk revival. He also with Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker created the famous Radio Ballads. Peggy is joined in discussion by Peter Cox, author of Set Into Song. The programme is heavily illustrated with MacColl's music and his voice.

The producer for BBC audio in Bristol is Miles Warde

Josiah Wedgwood, master potter Sep 01, 2021

When Josiah Wedgwood had part of an injured leg amputed, he encouraged his workers to celebrate the anniversary as St Amputation Day. This remarkable man from Stoke on Trent built a pottery empire that made him famous round the world. He's nominated here, on location, by the former MP for Stoke Central, Tristram Hunt, now head of the Victoria and Albert museum in London. The programme includes an interview with the head of Royal Staffordshire, Norman Tempest, plus readings from Brian Dolan's biography, The First Tycoon.

Tristram Hunt's latest book is called The Radical Potter.

The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer for BBC audio in Bristol is ex-Stoke resident Miles Warde

Frantz Fanon Aug 24, 2021

Born and raised in Martinique, Frantz Fanon fought for the Free French Forces against the Nazis, and then devoted his life to the liberation of Algeria from France. Fanon was a psychiatrist and author of two acclaimed anti-colonial works: Black Skin, White Masks, and The Wretched of the Earth. He is the choice of the writer and broadcaster Lindsay Johns, who explains why his connection to Fanon is not just intellectual and moral, but also personal. And from Paris, the Frantz Fanon expert, Françoise Vergès, offers her analysis of his life and work.

The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer for BBC Audio in Bristol is Chris Ledgard Image: Archives Frantz Fanon / IMEC

Althea Gibson Aug 17, 2021

Althea Gibson made sporting history in 1957 - the first black tennis player to win a Wimbledon title.

She also won the US Open and the French Open.

Raised on the streets of Harlem, her story is remarkable. And yet she is relatively unknown.

Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Health at Edinburgh University, champions Althea's life.

With writer Sally H Jacobs, who is writing a new biography of the tennis star.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Produced at BBC Audio in Bristol by Chris Ledgard.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2021.

Yehudi Menuhin Aug 10, 2021

Yehudi Menuhin was the original child prodigy. He was born in America in 1916, and was soon playing in concert halls round the world. He also played to the survivors of the German concentration camps, and waded into the fight against apartheid in South Africa too. Tasmin Little was a pupil at the Yehudi Menuhin school in Surrey, England, and knew her choice well. Not only was he a brilliant performer, she says, he was a crossover star who played with Ravi Shankar, Stephane Grappelli and Morecambe and Wise. You'll also hear from his biographer, Humphrey Burton, and from Yehudi Menuhin too.

Presented by Matthew Parris

Produced for BBC audio in Bristol by Miles Warde

Hans Christian Andersen Aug 03, 2021

Hans Christian Andersen was 'a very strange orchid,' says Michael Booth. He was born in 1806 in Denmark, and today is still famous for so many stories that every child knows, 156 in total. His own life is almost as odd as the tales he told. A neurotic hypochondriac, he escaped a terrible childhood and travelled to Copenhagen to make his name. Helping to tell the story of his life is Michael Rosen, the author of many books for children including 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'. Michael Booth is the author of The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia. And Hans Christian Andersen is the author of The Little Mermaid and The Emperor's New Clothes

The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer for BBC Audio in Bristol is Miles Warde

The Surprise Lives Jun 03, 2021

"Step one: invite notable guest. Step two: get them to talk about someone else."

After nearly 500 episodes, Great Lives feels like a stable series, but there have been surprises along the way. From Bernard Manning on Mother Theresa to Timmy Mallett on Richard the Lionheart, there's a tradition of guests picking unexpected people they admire. Cerys Matthews on Hildegard of Bingen, Diane Morgan on Air Chief Marshall Hugh Dowding, Iain Lee on Andy Kaufmann, and Lemn Sissay on Prince Alemayu of Ethiopia: "Maybe this is the first Great Life that is a life that hasn't happened," he says. Also features Josie Long on Kurt Vonnegut plus a host of other famous voices in the mix.

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced by Miles Warde

Rosie Millard on Edward III May 25, 2021

Edward III should be much better known, Rosie tells Matthew Parris. He not only won great battles like Crecy in 1346. He also championed the flourishing of Perpendicular architecture; he understood the "branding" of England, and introduced the flag of St George; and he was ahead of his time in other ways - he was the first king of England to own a mechanical clock and the first to have hot and cold running water in his bathroom! The expert is the medieval historian, Lord Sumption. He agrees Edward III deserves to be better known, but is less starry-eyed about his achievements. Edward, Lord Sumption says, was an incompetent diplomat, lived too long, and ended his reign a "heroic failure".

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced by Chris Ledgard

Ben Miller on William Hazlitt May 18, 2021

Actor, comedian and Author Ben Miller discusses the colourful, complicated and uncompromising life of William Hazlitt.

Born in 1778 William Hazlitt is considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English language, but for centuries, his life and works were lost in the shadows. He was an advocate of universal rights and civil liberties, and a fierce opponent of pomp and power. He railed against slavery, believed strongly in the power of the imagination, and said, 'The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves'. But he wasn't without his own demons and fell out of public favour. Rumours of gambling, sex addiction and adultery challenged his reputation. In recent years scholars have debated his life and works and a renewed interest in his essays has emerged.

Ben Miller plays Lord Featherington in Bridgerton, and he wrote and starred in The Armstrong and Miller Show on Channel Four. With expert contributions from Dr Uttara Nataragen, a founding organiser of The Hazlitt Society and editor of The Hazlitt Review.

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced by Nicola Humphries for BBC Bristol

Arlo Parks on Elliott Smith May 12, 2021

Singer-songwriter Arlo Parks has been nominated for three Brit Awards at just 20 years old. Her inspiration for her debut studio album is drawn from American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith.

Matthew Parris and Arlo Parks are joined by Elliott’s friend and former manager of his band Heatmiser, JJ Gonson. They also hear from writer and college professor William Todd Schultz, author of the biography ‘Torment Saint: The Life Of Elliott Smith’.

Together they explore Elliott’s life and musical achievements; from his unsettled childhood to performing at the 1998 Oscar awards ceremony. Although nominated for Best Original Song in the Hollywood film Good Will Hunting and deemed a cult icon in the Indie music scene after releasing an impressive six solo albums, Elliott rose to fame with reluctance and eventually committed suicide at just 34 years old.

Arlo contemplates the direction Elliott’s music might have taken were he still alive today, and how his work has influenced and inspired her own.

Produced in Bristol by Caitlin Hobbs.

Jonathan Dimbleby on Harry Hopkins May 06, 2021

On May 10 1940, the Germans invaded the Low Countries, Winston Churchill became prime minister, and Harry Hopkins moved in to the White House. This remarkable man was President Roosevelt's closest confidante until the end of the war. A principal architect of the New Deal, he was the president's first envoy to meet Churchill and was sent off to meet Stalin too. But what also impresses his nominator, Jonathan Dimbleby, is his courage - Harry Hopkins had stomach cancer and died in 1946. Features biographer David Roll, author of The Hopkins Touch, plus impressive archive of Hopkins on the BBC. Presented by Matthew Parris Produced in Bristol by Miles Warde

KT Tunstall on Ivor Cutler Apr 27, 2021

Ivor Cutler is hard to categorise. Whimsical and uncompromising, depressive yet joyful, childlike and curmudgeonly, an 'outsider', championed by insiders like Paul McCartney, he's perhaps best known for his collection 'Life in a Scotch Sitting Room Volume Two" (there is no volume one) or his much-covered 1983 indie hit 'Women of the World'.

Cutler often referred to himself as a 'humourist', though his work spans music, poetry, children's books, performative and visual art. A sensitive soul and keen member of the Noise Abatement Society, he loved the small, quiet things in life - bugs, flowers, birds, small kindnesses and cups of tea. He hated chemical smells, loud noises and cars and always rode his bicycle to get around - whether peddling his harmonium to a gig to support Soft Machine or heading to Hampstead Heath to sit quietly with his notebook under a tree.

The Scottish eccentric had a distinctive style - wearing plus fours and often with a flower adorning his hat. He would approach strangers offering small sticky labels with 'cutlerisms' on like "Never Knowingly Understood", "Illiterates Against the Nizis" or "Funny Smell". He was convinced that the world was absurd and met it with a unique blend of dark and daft humour, refusing to let it crush his child's eye view.

John Peel, who recorded many sessions with Ivor Cutler, once remarked that Cutler was probably the only performer whose work had been featured on Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4. He continues to inspire a cult following 15 years after his death.

Matthew Parris and nominator KT Tunstall are joined by Bruce Lindsay, currently at work on a biography of Ivor Cutler. We also hear excerpts from interviews with Ivor's partner Phyllis King and his son Jeremy Cutler, conducted by the producer, Ellie Richold.

Image: Courtesy of Jeremy Cutler

Black and British pioneer Kenny Lynch Apr 20, 2021

Kenny Lynch was born in Stepney, East London in 1938. He toured with the Beatles, wrote best-selling songs, was a champion boxer in the army, and a regular face on British TV. He was also - at the start of his career - one of the very few black and British singers in the UK, but he's not really remembered as a pioneer. Out to change that is his nominator, broadcaster and record producer Eddie Piller who first liked Kenny for his effortless style, but loves his records too. "Kenny Lynch was no victim," he says. Features extensive archive of Kenny talking about his East End childhood plus the music he sang and produced.

Presenter Matthew Parris Producer Miles Warde

Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist Apr 15, 2021

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown picks Nigerian novelist, Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart. With archive contributions from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Chinua Achebe himself. He was born in Nigeria in 1930 and Yasmin Alibhai Brown met him twice in Uganda in the 1960s and remains deeply impressed by both his books and his life.

The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer is Miles Warde

The Talented Mr Ripley author, Patricia Highsmith Apr 07, 2021

Director Jonathan Kent was friends with Patricia Highsmith. He'd been playing Tom Ripley for a tv show, and staying in the hotel suite next door to her. She took a shine to him. Now he repays the debt with this revealing and intriguing programme to celebrate a hundred years since her birth in 1921. Although best known for the Ripley books, she first broke through with Alfred Hitchcock's film adaptation of her novel, Strangers on a Train. She was, says Kent, not so interested in murder as in what happens to a character after the crime is done.

"I read sometimes how odd she was - I didn't find her odd at all. She was shy, very shy. She had a fringe, a sort of hank of hair that would fall over her eyes and I would catch her sneaking looks at me. But there was nothing odd about her. Perhaps my standards of oddness are different." Jonathan Kent

The programme features extensive archive of Highsmith, plus the film director Anthony Minghella; at least one other Tom Ripley actor; and her award winning biographer, Andrew Wilson, who has a few Highsmithian novels on the way.

This is the first in a new series which also features the African novelist, Chinua Achebe; the Plantagenet king Edward III; and the British entertainer Kenny Lynch.

The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer is Miles Warde.

Rights activist Cesar Chavez nominated by Cori Crider Jan 26, 2021

In 1960s California, Mexican-American Civil Rights Leader, Cesar Chavez led the United Farmworkers union in a series of strikes, boycotts and semi-religious processions, which inspired farmworkers, students and celebrities to join him in what he called 'La Causa'

'The Cause' was his struggle to force the landowners and growers - and the system in which they operated - to recognise farmworkers as human beings who deserved dignity, respect and basic rights.

Senator Robert F Kennedy was a fan, describing him as a "heroic figure". Joan Baez sang at his rallies. Years later, President Obama stole his slogan and opened a national monument to his memory. And yet he is little known internationally or even outside latino communities in the US.

The lawyer and founder of Foxglove, Cori Crider, tells Mathew Parris why she is inspired by his legacy and why the lessons from his life are needed now more than ever.

Matthew and Cori are joined by Miriam Pawel, the author of The Crusades of Cesar Chavez. Clips of Eliseo Medina were taken from an interview conducted by the producer.

Producer: Ellie Richold

Caroline Catz on Delia Derbyshire Jan 19, 2021

Actor Caroline Catz chooses Delia Derbyshire, the musician and composer best known for her work at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop where she realised the TV theme tune to Doctor Who.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

With Dr David Butler from the University of Manchester who looks after Delia's archive.

Delia was born in Coventry in 1937 and describes her earliest recollections of sound as the sound of the German blitz and the air-raid sirens. She studied music and maths at Cambridge and joined the BBC Radiophonic Workshop where she could create sounds that had never existed in the world before.

Her 'realisation' of Ron Grainer's theme tune to Doctor Who brought both her and the Workshop to greater prominence, but she later left the BBC and London and moved to Cumbria where she worked on a series of projects, as well as being briefly employed as a radio operator at the Gas Board.

She was a pioneer of sound and her work is celebrated each year by Delia Derbyshire Day.

Caroline was terrified by the Doctor Who theme tune as a child but fascinated by the woman, and later discovered tracks like 'Ziwzih Ziwzih OO-OO-OO' and 'Blue Veils and Golden Sands' from Radiophonic Workshop mix tapes.

The discovery of 267 tapes in Delia's attic provided another portal into the extraordinary sonic world of Psyche-Delia and the mystery surrounding both how she created her music and the choices she made in life provided the inspiration for Caroline's film 'Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes' in which she plays the lead.

Delia appears in archive recordings to give Matthew his first taste of a Wobbulator.

Producer: Toby Field

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2021.

David Jonsson on Jean Michel Basquiat Jan 12, 2021

Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat rose to fame in the 1980's Lower East Side New York arts scene.

Andy Warhol was his friend and collaborator, Madonna a one time girlfriend and David Bowie a huge admirer. But beyond this club scene personality raged a prolific artist, writer and musician. During his short career Basquiat created no less than 1000 drawings, 700 paintings and many sculpture and mixed media works. In 2017 he became one of a handful of artists whose work broke the $100 million mark. His life challenged the boundaries of ‘blackness’ but also the boundaries of American art.

He is championed by actor David Jonsson best known for his work on 'Deep State' and 'Industry'. He has described Basquiat's life as both an inspiration and a cautionary tale. He is joined by Jordana Moore Saggese, Associate Professor of American Art at the University of Maryland College Park and author of two scholarly books on Jean-Michel Basquiat. These include The Jean-Michel Basquiat Reader: Writings, Interviews and Critical Responses.

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced by Nicola Humphries for BBC Bristol

Featuring excerpts from Radio 4's 'I Was...Basquiat's Partner in Noise' presented by Andrew McGibbon and available on BBC Sounds.

Rob Rinder on Jessica Mitford Jan 05, 2021

Jessica Mitford was the fifth born of the notorious Mitford Sisters. Born into the aristocracy, as a child she had her own language, collected a running-away fund and fought to set herself apart from her fascist siblings. As an adult she was in turn a communist rebel, an investigative journalist, a civil rights activist and pop singer - opening a gig for Cyndi Lauper and recording an unlikely duet with her friend and fellow mischief maker Maya Angelou.

She’s championed by Robert Rinder, the criminal barrister and television personality known to many from the reality courtroom series ‘Judge Rinder’ and more recently, ‘My Family, The Holocaust and Me’ who reveals the impact her story has had on his own life. Robert Rinder is joined by guest expert Laura Thompson, author of the New York Times best seller, 'The Six: The Lives of the Mitford Sisters'.

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced By Nicola Humphries for BBC Bristol

Diane Morgan on Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding Dec 29, 2020

Comedian and actor Diane Morgan chooses the life of Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding.

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding is best known for his role in the Battle of Britain. He is widely regarded as the architect of Britain's unlikely victory, using an intelligence strategy known as the Dowding System. The Battle of Britain was at the very end of his military career - his nickname by then was "Stuffy" Dowding - and shortly after he was side-lined. But he cared deeply for every one of his pilots, and following his retirement he became focused on what had happened to all his "dear fighter boys" lost in the war. He wrote extensively on the after life and spiritualism - many bereaved families wrote to him seeking answers as a result. He met his second wife after a medium suggested he take her out for lunch having received a communication from her late first husband from beyond the grave. Together they were prominent advocates of spiritualism, and of animal rights, with Dowding giving his maiden speech in the Lords about the need for ethical standards in slaughterhouses.

Diane picked up Dowding's book by pure chance through her local book shop during the first lockdown, and has since become fascinated by the life of this man. Together with Dowding's stepson, David Whiting, and historian Victoria Taylor, Diane discusses Dowding's legacy. Is there a paradox between this great military figure's career, and subsequent fascination with spiritualism and ethics - or does it all make perfect sense?

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced by Polly Weston

David Spiegelhalter on Frank Ramsey Dec 17, 2020

Frank Plumpton Ramsey contributed original ideas to the fields of logic, mathematics, economics and philosophy. He was a friend and respected interlocutor of Keynes, Wittgenstein, Russell and Moore, who considered him to be one of the sharpest minds around. His contributions are all the more remarkable given that he only lived to be 26.

Matthew Parris and David Spiegelhalter are joined by Cheryl Misak, author of "Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers".

Producer: Ellie Richold

The Great Lives of Great Lives Dec 11, 2020

Back in the late summer of 2001, a new biography series aired on Radio 4. Matthew Parris was not the first presenter, but he has chaired more editions than anyone else. His very first episode was about Morecambe and Wise, since when he's listened to claims for Leon Trotsky, Donna Summer, Doris Day and Benito Mussolini. So what makes a great life, and can anyone join? Here, with some help from the first programme's producer, he starts to draw some conclusions of his own.

Extracts include Toni Morrison, Frank Sinatra, Muhammad Ali, Virginia Woolfe, Kenny Everett, and Clement Attlee, Nominators include Jessie Ware, Christopher Hitchens, Ken Dodd, Andi Oliver, Penelope Keith, David Attenborough, and Grace Dent.

The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer in Bristol Miles Warde

Katherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII Dec 08, 2020

In her book The Taming of the Queen, Philippa Gregory asks a simple question of her subject, Katherine Parr. Who would marry a serial killer?

Katherine Parr has been largely overlooked because she survived the monstrous Henry VIII, but she was a remarkable woman. She married four times, wrote books and successfully navigated the choppy waters of Henry's reign. In popular culture she's written off as matronly or nurselike. In fact she was younger than Anne Boleyn when she married the king, and died tragically in childbirth the year after he expired. She also may have inspired Elizabeth I.

Philippa Gregory is the author of the Taming of the Queen and the Other Boleyn Girl. Suzannah Lipscomb is the author of The King is Dead: The Last Will and Testament of Henry VIII.

Future guests in the series include David Spiegelhalter, Diane Morgan and Rob Rinder

The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer in Bristol Miles Warde

Xuanzang, Chinese monk and traveller Sep 29, 2020

It was an extraordinary journey, and a life that reads like a fairy tale. Xuanzang was born at the start of the seventh century in China. He studied as a monk and travelled for 16 years - first westwards, and then in a crescent back and down over the Himalayas to India . He returned a famous man, laden with Buddhists texts and artefacts. Historian Michael Wood has followed much of his route; he first discovered Xuanzang at university and became intrigued about his life. "I'm tempted to say this is one of the greatest lives in all the civilisations of the world," says Michael.

Joining him in discussion is Frances Wood and the presenter Matthew Parris.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

James Graham on John Maynard Keynes Sep 22, 2020

James Graham, the award-winning playwright whose work includes the TV dramas "Brexit: The Uncivil War" and "Quiz", tells Matthew Parris why he is inspired by the life and work of John Maynard Keynes. Keynes was not just the revolutionary economist who helped shape the course of post-war history. The programme explores his colourful love life and lifelong passion for the arts. Matthew and James are joined by Linda Yueh, economist and author of "The Great Economists: How Their Ideas Can Help Us Today". Producer: Chris Ledgard

Sir David Adjaye on Okwui Enwezor Sep 15, 2020

“I was astonished by the experience of standing there, where the two oceans met. I knew at that very moment this would be my concept: the meeting of worlds". Okwui Enwezor.

For centuries, the art establishment had been defined and dictated by predominantly white, wealthy, western critics and curators. Then in the early 90’s a young man who was born in Nigeria and studied Political Science in New York came onto the scene and said, ‘no more’.

With an eye for aesthetic and a burning fire of political concern, curator and educator Okwui Enwezor transformed the art world. He placed non-western art histories on an equal footing with the long-established narrative of European and North American art. He was a man with a mission, utterly confident and determined.

Sir David Adjaye, the architect perhaps best known for his largest project to date – the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of African American History and Culture - champions the ground-breaking life of Okwui Enwezor, who became both his friend and collaborator. He is joined by Chika Okeke-Agulu, one of the foremost scholars of African Art and Professor of African and African Diaspora Art at Princeton University.

Presented by Matthew Parris Produced in Bristol by Nicola Humphries

Tom Allen on Kenneth Williams Sep 08, 2020

Comedian and presenter Tom Allen first discovered Kenneth Williams as a young boy, watching the Carry On films and listening to Round the Horne with his mum.

He joins Matthew Parris and Kenneth's biographer, Christopher Stevens, to explore the life of the famous twentieth century entertainer.

Together, they discuss stealing the show, sexuality and living solo.

Featuring clips from Kenneth's performances from Parkinson to Just a Minute, as well as Desert Island Discs to Hancock's Half Hour.

The trio reflect on Kenneth's dexterity and complexity, as a performer and as a person.

Producer: Camellia Sinclair

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2020.

Ernie Bevin, forgotten political giant Sep 01, 2020

Ernie Bevin led an extraordinary life. Born in Somerset in 1881, his father is unknown and his mother died when he was eight. He left his job as a farm labourer age 11 and moved to Bristol, where he helped to found the Transport and General Worker's Union. He was Churchill's Labour minister in the wartime cabinet, and heavily involved in postwar reconstruction as Foreign secretary under Clement Attlee. He smoked too much and drank too much, and made a massive impression on everyone he met. So why is he not better known? Nominating him is Frances O'Grady, General Secretary of the TUC, Matthew Parris presents and also contributing is his biographer, Andrew Adonis, author of Ernest Bevin: Labour's Churchill.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Jessie Ware on Donna Summer Aug 25, 2020

Jessie Ware is a singer, songwriter and podcaster. Her latest, critically acclaimed, album, What's Your Pleasure?, draws inspiration from soul, funk, boogie, and disco - and, notably, the work of the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer. Jessie joins Matthew Parris and Pete Bellotte, co-producer and co-writer of many of Donna Summer's biggest hits - I Feel Love, Love to Love You Baby, and Hot Stuff, among others - to explore the life and work of her musical heroine. Jessie, Pete and Matthew discuss Donna's Protean vocal abilities, her eventful childhood and how post-war Munich provided the perfect environment to create some of disco's most momentous hits. Pete reveals how a three-minute demo of Love to Love You Baby became a seventeen-minute breakout hit and together they explore why disco has endured despite an early backlash. Jessie ponders whether life has changed for a woman in the music industry and reflects on Donna's personal legacy. With additional contributions from Danyel Smith, author of Shine Bright: A Personal History of Black Women in Pop (published Spring 2021). Produced in Bristol by Camellia Sinclair

Peter Frankopan on Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Aug 18, 2020

Bearded, profoundly deaf and somewhat eccentric, Tsiolkovsky's theoretical work means he is, for many, the "father of space travel". He died in 1935, and so never saw his research come to fruition. To discuss Tsiolkovsky's life and achievements, Matthew Parris is joined by Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford and author of the international best-seller, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World. Matthew's other guest is Doug Millard, Curator of Space Technology at the Science Museum. Producer: Chris Ledgard

Frida Kahlo nominated by author Jessie Burton Aug 12, 2020

“We’re talking here about a woman who was Mexican, dark skinned, disabled and queer, who produced art and didn’t allow her disabilities to define her. She defined who she was on her own terms,"

So says Circe Henestrosa, fashion curator, Frida Kahlo scholar and co curator of Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up.

Circe joins Jessie Burton, author of The Miniaturist in discussion about the Mexican artist known for her self-portraits and her distinctive look - the dresses and flowered hair, the monobrow, the piercing stare.

Born in 1907, Kahlo's life was a collage of strength, beauty and pain. She survived polio and a bus crash that should have killed her, as well as a complex, passionate marriage to fellow artist Diego Rivera.

Nominator Jessie Burton celebrates Frida Kahlo as a remarkable life who triumphed over adversity with true grit, glamour and great wit.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Nicola Humphries

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2020.

Mussolini Aug 04, 2020

September 1943, and German troops have just landed in gliders to rescue Benito Mussolini from the mountain resort where he was being held. “I knew my friend Adolf Hitler would not desert me,” he said later. But Mussolini died before the end of the war, shot and then strung up with his mistress in Milan.

Who was this man, and is he still relevant today? Nominating him is Professor Margaret MacMillan, not as her hero but as someone she says must not be dismissed as a buffoon. Mussolini founded and led the fascists in Italy, was a brilliant propagandist, and would have probably died in his bed but for the war. Winston Churchill, speaking in 1927, told him his fascist movement "has rendered a service to the entire world."

Only later did he dub him the Italian Miscalculator. Mussolini declared war on Britain just as France was poised to fall.

As well as archive of Mussolini, Churchill, and the Italian journalist Luigi Barzini, the programme features Professor John Foot of Bristol University. Margaret MacMillan is the author of Peacemakers and a former BBC Reith lecturer. The programme is presented by Matthew Parris.

Future great lives in this series include Frida Kahlo, Donna Summer, Hendrick Witbooi and Kenneth Williams of Carry On fame.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Dolly Alderton on Doris Day Jun 02, 2020

Dolly Alderton's love of Doris Day began when she watched Calamity Jane as a young child.

And for Dolly, the incandescent film star was as much of a poster girl as The Spice Girls. But Dolly's view of the legendary actress and singer has changed as she's matured.

Dolly joins Matthew Parris and Dr Tamar Jeffers McDonald, Reader in Film and Head of the School of Arts at the University of Kent, to discuss dancing, divorces and dogs.

Together they explore whether the image of Doris Day as a happy-go-lucky girl-next-door is a true reflection of the life and character of one of the 20th century's most famous stars.

Producer: Camellia Sinclair

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2020.

*** Credit: Love Me or Leave Me (dir. Charles Vidor, MGM); Pillow Talk (dir. Michael Gordon, Arwin Productions).

Sybille Bedford, author of Jigsaw and A Legacy May 26, 2020

Sara Wheeler first read Sybille Bedford in her early twenties, and discovered a dazzling writer. The book she read was called A Visit to Don Otavio. It's set in Mexico, a country Bedford wanted to visit because of its 'long nasty history in the past and as little present history as possible.' Born Sybille von Schoenebeck in 1911 in Germany, she lived in Italy, France, California and London, and her book Jigsaw was nominated for the Booker prize. But by her own admission she never sold many books. Sara Wheeler is the author of Terra Incognita - about her travels in Antarctica. Victoria Glendinning adds her thoughts and wit to the programme. There are archive contributions from Hilary Spurling, Sue McGregor and Sybille Bedford too. The presenter is Matthew Parris

Billy Bremner of Leeds United May 19, 2020

Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe, chooses the life of infamous Leeds United Captain, Billy Bremner.

Billy Bremner played for Leeds as a midfielder from 1959 until 1976. He scored 115 goals for the team and captained them for 11 years during the most successful period in their history. 5’5”, with a mop of red hair, he was known as “ten stone of barbed wire” "Wee Billy and “Midfield Terrier”.

He grew up near Stirling in a working class family, moving to Leeds at 16 to where he returned in the 80s as manager.

At the time, Anand was a schoolboy in Wakefield. Before he became a Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs, he was first and foremost a Leeds fan.

Anand was also at school with Telegraph journalist Rob Bagchi - author of the forthcoming biography of the club.

Growing up in West Yorkshire instilled a lifelong devotion to Billy and the club in both of them - in spite of their "Dirty Leeds" reputation and the ups and downs of a team often destined to narrowly miss out on chances. "If being a Leeds fan has taught me anything, it's that anything which can go wrong, will go wrong."

But there is another side to this story, both Anand and Rob are children of Indian parents. Elland Road was well known for the presence of the National Front on the terraces as they were growing up, and so Anand only saw Billy in the flesh a few times. But when Billy returned as manager in the 1980s, he went to great lengths to turn the culture of the terraces around.

Presented by Matthew Parris

Produced by Polly Weston

Sally Phillips on Hollywood star Myrna Loy May 13, 2020

When actress Sally Phillips first saw Myrna Loy, she burst into tears.

It was in a film called The Best Years of Our Lives, about three veterans returning to their wives after the Second World War.

Myrna Loy was most famous for the Thin Man series, and she also played voluptuous baddies in flicks like The Mask of Fun Manchu. But it's not just her screen career that inspires Sally, a star herself for work in Smack the Pony and Bridget Jones.

Myrna Loy was a hardworking and often fearless person, heavily involved with The Red Cross and UNESCO after the war.

The author of Fast Talking Dames, Maria di Battista, joins the discussion from Princeton.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2020.

Victoria Wood May 05, 2020

Actor and comedian Daniel Rigby chooses the creator of Acorn Antiques, As Seen on TV and Dinnerladies, Victoria Wood.

Victoria grew up in a bungalow high up on the moors in Lancashire. The rooms were partitioned off with plywood, and she loved to play the piano on her own.

She became the biggest comedy star in the UK, writing, directing, acting, and winning BAFTAS for being funny, and being serious too.

Nominating the star of Wood and Walters, Dinnerladies and Housewife, 49 is Daniel Rigby.

Daniel won a BAFTA playing Eric Morecambe in 2011, with Victoria Wood as his mum. She also became his landlady.

Joining the often joyful discussion is Jasper Rees - author of the authorised biography of Victoria Wood.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2020.

Maya Angelou Apr 29, 2020

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in 1928. She was a mother, writer, dancer, director, performer, friend of presidents, and author of seven volumes of memoir. The very first - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - returned to the top of the best-seller lists when she died in 2014. So why were people fascinated by her life? Nominating her is Bristol University's recently appointed professor of slavery, Olivette Otele. "I l love her, I really do." She's joined by Patricia Cumper who has adapted many of Maya Angelou's books for radio. The presenter is Matthew Parris. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Ursula Le Guin nominated by Kate Stables Apr 21, 2020

Ursula le Guin was born in California in 1929. Her books - including A Wizard of Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness - have been described as masterpieces but she battled prejudice all her life from the literary elite. Choosing her because she loves both Ursula's books and who she was is the British musician Kate Stables. She's speaking to Matthew Parris from Paris. On the line from San Francisco is Arwen Curry - she knew the author and made the film The Worlds of Ursula K Le Guin with the strapline, A Wizard's Work is Never Done.

The producers in Bristol are Toby Field and Miles Warde

Frank Cottrell Boyce on Tove Jansson Apr 14, 2020

"One of the best things a children's writer can do is to implant sign posts in childhood to things that are good, and to the small pleasures that will get you through life" Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki in 1914. An artist, illustrator and writer she became best known as the creator of The Moomins, the little white trolls who lived in Moominvalley with other fantastical creatures such as the Hattifatteners, Mymbles and Whompers.

Acclaimed screenwriter and children's author Frank Cottrell-Boyce has described Tove Jansson as his 'Guardian Angel' having first discovered Moominvalley one Saturday morning in his local library in Liverpool. He encountered Comets, Great Floods and a little Midsummer Madness all of which were met with the warmth and wisdom of Moomin-Mamma, the gentle observance of Snufkin and the inventiveness of Little My.

Fantastical in their adventures but rooted in reality and humanity, Frank Cottrell-Boyce champions the creator of Mooninvalley who poured her fascinating life into her books. Drawing inspiration from childhood disagreements about the philosopher Immanuel Kant, creative ways to survive a war and a forbidden - but wonderful - love story that lasted a life time.

Producer in Bristol is Nicola Humphries Presented by Matthew Parris Guest Expert Boel Westin Author of 'Tove Jansson: Life, Art, Words'

(Pre-recorded earlier this year)

Rick Stein on Jim Morrison Apr 10, 2020

Chef , writer and presenter Rick Stein chooses the lead singer of The Doors, Jim Morrison.

As a 21 year old man travelling the world, a young Rick Stein discovered The Doors and became fascinated by the band's lead singer, Jim Morrison.

Over the subsequent 50 years, the life and legend of one of rock and roll's brightest stars had a lasting impact on the restauranteur.

Joining Matthew Parris and Rick Stein to uncover the mysteries of Jim's life is the broadcaster Paul Gambaccini, who found The Doors when he was a student radio disc jockey at university.

With contributions from Frank Lisciandro, filmmaker and friend of Jim, and Kirsten Norrie, poet and singer.

Producer: Camellia Sinclair

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2020.

Andi Oliver on Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison Jan 21, 2020

When Andi Oliver first read Toni Morrison's 'The Bluest Eye' she felt as though someone climbed inside her head.

Morrison's books saved the chef and broadcaster's life - both emotionally and cerebrally.

The author, editor and college professor Toni Morrison chronicled the lives of African-Americans in novels such as 'Beloved', 'Sula' and 'Song of Solomon'.

She once said that what drove her to write was "the silence of so many stories untold and unexamined". Born in Ohio, she was granddaughter to a slave, and her work often drew on the legacies of slavery, how it's carried down the generations.

Awarded both the Pulitzer and the Nobel Prize for Literature, her work was internationally acclaimed.

Joining Matthew Parris and Andi Oliver is Morrison's close friend Fran Lebowitz, and Howard University professor Dana Williams.

Producer: Eliza Lomas

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2020.

Kurt Vonnegut Jan 10, 2020

"I am a German American, a pure one, dating back to when German Americans were still marrying each other." Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis in 1922, but the most important event in his life happened in Dresden in 1945. He was a POW and underground in a meat locker during the firebombing. When he emerged he found the city totally destroyed. It took him another two decades to work out how to write his book, Slaughterhouse-Five.

Nominating Vonnegut is the comedian Josie Long, who says that finding a writer you love is like finding a friend. Because no expert was available for this recording, Kurt Vonnegut will be taking on this role himself. Kurt died in April 2007.

The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Charlie Parker nominated by Ken Clarke Jan 03, 2020

From Kansas City to New York, young Charlie Parker conquered the world of jazz.. He was famous during his life, and even more famous after he died aged 34. He's nominated here by former health minister, home secretary and chancellor of the exchequer, Kenneth Clarke. Together with Richard Williams and Val Wilmer, Ken recounts what made Bird great, and why he died so very young.

"If you look at the street scenes of Harlem in 1940, it was a squalid place. Club life in New York was probably a smart escape." Ken Clarke

The programme also includes clips by Dizzy Gillespie and Annie Ross. and music such as Koko and Now's the Time. The presenter is Matthew Parris, and the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Bill Bailey on his hero Alfred Russel Wallace Dec 24, 2019

Bill Bailey has not just travelled in naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace's footsteps, he's crazy about him too. "I love him, I really do." Wallace is best known for what used to be known as the Wallace-Darwin theory of evolution. When he died in 1913, the New York Times called him the last of the 'giants belonging to that wonderful group of intellectuals ... whose daring investigations revolutionised and evolutionised the thought of the century." Born in 1823, Wallace was a collector, a writer, a keen conservationist, and Bill has been to Borneo to see Wallace's famous flying frog. With Sandy Knapp of the Natural History Museum, and presented by Matthew Parris. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Novelist Enid Blyton Dec 24, 2019

Janice Turner recently wrote a sweet, sensitive article about packing up the contents of her parent’s house. “The experience was almost unbearable,” she began. Among the items passed down from the attic, “my entire childhood,” were a heavy sledge, Twinkle and Jackie annuals, “and a heavy trunk of 60 Enid Blytons.”

60 Enid Blytons - imagine that!

Janice Turner aka @victoriapeckham and winner of press interviewer of the year, is nominating Enid Blyton in a programme filled scandal, racism and lovely archive. Blyton was rejected in 2019 from a commemorative coin because of the controversy that continues to swirl around her work .... which include The Famous Five, the Secret Seven, and 24 books about Noddy. The programme includes the biographer Nadia Cohen, the presenter Matthew Parris, and the producer Miles Warde.

Jeremy Paxman nominates Lord Shaftesbury Dec 17, 2019

What makes a brilliant politician? What should motivate them? Does having a faith help?

Broadcaster and writer Jeremy Paxman chooses the seventh earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley-Cooper. a Victorian politician whose numerous and wide-ranging social reforms transformed working and living conditions for impoverished children, miners and chimney-sweeps alike.

Joining Matthew Parris and Jeremy Paxman is Lord Shaftesbury's great-great-grandson, the twelfth earl, Nick Ashley-Cooper. The three discover more about the Ashley-Cooper dynasty, ponder what makes a good earl and explore how aristocratic life has changed between then and now.

Producer: Camellia Sinclair

Lee Miller, war photographer and model Dec 10, 2019

In the early summer of 1945, Lee Miller sent a telegram back to London about what she had seen in the Nazi death camps. “I implore you to believe this is true,” she wrote. Her employers were Vogue magazine. How did a famous beauty like Miller end up covering the war?

Her extraordinary life and the images she left, most famously posing in Hitler's bath, are explored here by Lindsey Hilsum of Channel 4 News. She is joined by Miller's son, Antony Penrose. Lee Miller was American, born in 1907, but lived in Paris and Cairo and then London during the blitz. Her lovers included Man Ray, she knew Cocteau and Picasso, and was an important surrealist. But it was her work in world war two that leads Lindsey Hilsum to claim her as Marie Colvin's spiritual ancestor. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Photo copyright www.leemiller.co.uk

Just William / Richmal Crompton proposed by Peter Oborne with Martin Jarvis Dec 03, 2019

"It's absolutely joyous, one of the highlights of my career!" Peter Oborne on being joined by Martin Jarvis, the man who brings Just William to life.

Journalist Oborne is nominating both William Brown and his creator, Richmal Crompton. She wrote 39 multi-million selling books, and her delight in William is clear to hear in the archive. Other contributors include her biographer, Mary Cadogan, and her niece, Richmal Ashbee. But it's the brilliance of Martin Jarvis's impersonations of William, Ginger and the gang that brings this programme to life. Plus the interplay between Peter Oborne and Matthew Parris.

"Do you think William would have been Brexit?" "I don't think there's any evidence."

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

Constance Agatha Cummings-John Oct 07, 2019

The author Chibundu Onuzo nominates the first elected female in Africa, Constance Agatha Cummings-John.

Chibundu discovered the remarkable story of Constance while studying for her PhD. Born into the Sierra Leonean Krios elite in 1918, Constance was brought up in colonial Freetown, with a lifestyle which most resembled English gentility.

But everything changed for her when she travelled to England and America as a teenager. She experienced racism and segregation for the first time, and returned to Sierra Leone determined to fight the colonial rule of the British.

At just 20 years old she became the first female elected councillor in Africa, and later the mayor of Freetown. But following independence, she would find herself in exile in London.

Matthew Parris is joined by Chibundu and Constance's grandson, Dennis Cummings-John, to discuss prejudice, class and colonialism, through the inspirational story of a woman ahead of her time.

Producer: Polly Weston

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2019.

Comedian Sindhu Vee on Prince Sep 17, 2019

Comedian Sindhu Vee has loved Prince ever since she was a young girl in India - when her sister gave her illicit cassettes recorded from US radio.

A pop polymath and global superstar, Prince was also a man of extreme contradictions and multiple personas.

Hearing his music changed Sindhu's life forever, and seeing him perform influenced her career as a comedian.

Sindhu is joined by BAFTA-winning investigative journalist Mobeen Azhar (who saw Prince live 54 times) and presenter Matthew Parris, to discuss the life of Prince Rogers Nelson.

Produced at BBC Bristol by Eliza Lomas.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2019.

Fiona Shaw nominates the actress Eleonora Duse Sep 12, 2019

Fiona Shaw - BAFTA award-winning star of BBC TV's Killing Eve - explores the life of one of history's most remarkable and forgotten actresses, Eleonora Duse.

The 19th-century performer inspired Stanislavski's 'method', changed Chekhov's mind about acting, and took Chaplin's breath away,

Kirsten Shepherd-Barr - professor of English and Theatre Studies at St Catherine's College, Oxford - helps Fiona and presenter Matthew Parris to uncover the drama of Duse's life, both on and off the stage.

Producer: Camellia Sinclair

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2019.

Philippa Perry on the Italian educator Maria Montessori Sep 03, 2019

Psychotherapist Philippa Perry nominates the Italian educator and doctor Maria Montessori, who revolutionised children's education.

Montessori schools exist today in over 170 countries. They are defined by a child-centred approach to learning, nurturing independence and individuality in children as young as three years old.

In Philippa Perry’s work as a psychotherapist, she finds deep connections with Montessori’s philosophy, which is about believing the person has the power to develop within them.

Philippa is joined by the executive director of Association Montessori International Lynne Lawrence.

Matthew Parris is the presenter.

Producer: Eliza Lomas

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2019.

First Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald Aug 27, 2019

Ramsay MacDonald, Labour's first Prime Minister, is chosen by Shaun Ley.

In 1931 Ramsay MacDonald went to see the king in order to resign. George V persuaded him to stay, and a story of party betrayal began.

Broadcaster Shaun Ley and journalist Anne Perkins pick through events that have a contemporary ring as the political class of the thirties struggled to cope with fast moving events.

MacDonald's own story and background is remarkable too - illegitimate son, born in Lossiemouth in Scotland, he is remembered as one of the early founding fathers of the Labour party, and a man who bravely spoke out against the First World War.

Presenter: Mathew Parris

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2019.

Caroline Quentin nominates Sir John Vanbrugh Aug 20, 2019

From acting in TV's Men Behaving Badly and Jonathan Creek to restoring dozens of period properties and touring India for TV, Caroline Quentin loves variety.

When she discovered the life of the playwright and architect Sir John Vanbrugh, she had found a kindred spirit.

Caroline appeared in an RSC production of The Provoked Wife by Vanbrugh - who also designed Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard.

Architectural critic and broadcaster, Jonathan Glancey, joins Caroline and presenter Matthew Parris, to explore the full and meandering life of this flamboyant figure, born over 350 years ago.

Producer Camellia Sinclair

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2019.

Laura Marling on Lou Andreas-Salome Aug 13, 2019

Laura Marling nominates the first female psychoanalyst, Lou Andreas-Salomé.

Folk singer-songwriter, Laura has been unravelling the mysteries of Russian-born Lou Andreas-Salomé ever since she came across her name in the biography of the poet, Rainer Maria Rilke. She'd never heard of Salomé's name but discovered she was Rilke's literary mentor for years.

As well as this, she was the only woman allowed in Sigmund Freud's Inner Psychoanalytic Circle, and was proposed to by Friedrich Nietzsche, who called her “the cleverest person I ever knew...” Yet today, she's been largely forgotten.

Laura makes the case for remembering this enigmatic woman who inspired some of the greatest minds of our time.

Laura Marling has been nominated for the Grammy Awards, the Mercury Prize and has won a Brit award for best British Female Solo Artist.

Presented by Matthew Parris

Producer: Eliza Lomas in Bristol

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2019.

Robinson Crusoe Aug 13, 2019

Was Robinson Crusoe real? According to the book it was 'written by himself'.

To establish the facts, Matthew Parris is joined by two notable desert island survivors to discuss Crusoe’s life and strange adventures, during 28 years on an uninhabited island near the mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque.

Crusoe's nominator is Lucy Irvine, who spent a year on Tuin Island with a man called Gerald. Her exploits resulted in a book and a film called ‘Castaway’. The second guest is journalist Martin Popplewell, who was inspired as a teenager to try desert island life by Brooke Shields in the film ‘The Blue Lagoon’.

As Martin points out, "There's no mention in the entire Crusoe book of coconuts" in this entertaining dissection of both Crusoe and his creator, Daniel Defoe.

Producer: Miles Warde

Produced in Bristol and first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2019.

Ed Balls nominates Herbert Howells Aug 12, 2019

Former Member of Parliament Ed Balls chooses the 20th-century English composer, organist and teacher, Herbert Howells.

With the biographer of Herbert Howells, Paul Spicer.

Presented by Matthew Parris

Producer: Polly Weston

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2019.

Kamila Shamsie chooses Asma Jahangir May 28, 2019

Kamila Shamsie champions the life of the Pakistani human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir.

Author of award-winning novel 'Home Fire', Kamila says she was only ten years old, growing up in Karachi, when Asma became her hero even before she really knew her name. She remembers her mother and her aunts all talking about this amazing woman lawyer and social activist who was standing up against many of the laws that Pakistan's President General Zia ul Haq had introduced in the 1980s.

Jahangir was always making the news headlines or giving radio interviews. Here was a woman who was determined to speak her mind and stand up for women and the human rights of all its citizens - it seemed she feared no-one, recalls Shamsie.

Kamila Shamsie is joined by Asma's daughter Sulema Jahangir, a lawyer working in London and Pakistan who shares some personal stories and anecdotes about her mother - and Saqlain Imam, BBC Urdu journalist and broadcaster - part of the BBC World Service.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2019.

Shirley Collins on Alan Lomax May 21, 2019

The prolific and most significant of American song-hunters - Alan Lomax - is the choice of English folk singer Shirley Collins.

She's joined by singer-songwriter and activist Billy Bragg.

Lomax did whatever was necessary to preserve traditional music and take it to a wider audience. He was the first to record towering figures like Lead Belly, Muddy Waters and Woody Guthrie. He was instrumental in the revival of U.S. and UK folk.

Shirley Collins met Lomax in 1954, after he'd moved to England to avoid the U.S. McCarthy witch-hunt. She tells the story of how they fell in love and describes their recording trips around Europe and in America's Deep South, on the cusp of the civil rights movement.

Lomax's ambition was to give a voice to the voiceless, and that took him from fisherman shacks to prisons, farmyards to cotton mills. His steadfast drive to capture cultures before they disappeared resulted in a staggering amount of recordings we can listen to today, from gospel choirs to Cajun fiddling, country blues to calypsos and Haitian voodoo rituals.

Presenter: Matthew Parris.

Producer: Eliza Lomas

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2019.

Jeremy Deller on The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein May 15, 2019

Turner Prize Winner Jeremy Deller believes the music entrepreneur and The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein, has never been properly credited for his role within popular culture.

He's arguing that if Brian hadn't have lived, The Beatles might never have left Liverpool.

Jeremy and presenter Matthew Parris are joined by The Beatles' historian Mark Lewisohn, author of 'Tune In’, to discuss the deeply turbulent - but highly successful life of Brian Epstein, who died aged just 32.

Producer: Eliza Lomas

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2019.

Caroline Criado-Perez on Jane Austen May 07, 2019

In 2013, Caroline Criado-Perez successfully campaigned for a woman to be featured on a banknote.

The Bank of England chose Jane Austen.

Caroline joins Matthew Parris and Dr Paula Byrne, author of three books about the novelist, to challenge some of the myths which surround the life of one of history's most famous writers.

Matthew discovers how Jane Austen's teenage writings shocked and entertained her family and learns about her grit and determination to be published.

He finds out whether there was ever a Mr Darcy in the author's real life and hears why Caroline thinks Austen might just be the Georgians' answer to Fleabag.

Producer: Camellia Sinclair

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2019.

Kirill Gerstein on Ferruccio Busoni May 01, 2019

Pianist Kirill Gerstein chooses the conductor and composer Ferruccio Busoni. Matthew Parris presents.

When Busoni died in Berlin in 1924, his pupil Kurt Weill said, "We did not lose a human being but a value."

Unravelling exactly what this means is the pianist Kirill Gerstein, a great admirer of Busoni and also a performer of his work. Busoni was a thinker as well as a composer. His book from 1907, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, has influenced generations of musicians.

With contributions from Erinn Knyt and Anthony Beaumont

Producer: Miles Warde.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

Malcolm Lowry, nominated by Ian McMillan Apr 23, 2019

Matthew Parris meets the poet Ian McMillan to find out about the life of his literary hero Malcolm Lowry.

Ian first discovered this 20th century writer's work as a young sixth former searching for literary inspiration. He stumbled by chance upon the writer's most famous novel, Under the Volcano, and Lowry's lyrical lines have remained with Ian ever since.

Joining Matthew and Ian to discuss the life of this Merseyside writer is the artistic director of Liverpool's Bluecoat Theatre, Bryan Biggs.

Together, they discuss the biography of this complex and intense man, a life that was full of sea-voyaging, shack-dwelling and heavy drinking.

Producer: Camellia Sinclair

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 April 2019.

Catherine de Medici nominated by Helen Lewis Apr 18, 2019

Journalist Helen Lewis rehabilitates the reputation of the ‘Black Queen’ of France, Catherine de Medici.

Helen and presenter Matthew Parris are joined by Dr Estelle Paranque, history lecturer at the New College of Humanities and author of a book on the relationship between Catherine and Elizabeth I.

Catherine’s life is a remarkable story of female resilience in the face of adversity. Born and immediately orphaned in Florence, Catherine’s Medici name meant she was married off to the French King’s second son. When she arrived in France, she was shunned. Her new husband was already completely in love with another far older, more beautiful woman and showed little interest in her.

No one expected her to come to the throne. But, following a series of unfortunate deaths, Catherine would go on to become one of the most powerful women in Europe – Queen regent, and mother to three kings across decades of a volatile period in French history.

Helen became fascinated by her aged 10 when she realised with a kind of horror that had she been a medieval princess she was the right age to be shipped off to a strange land to marry some duke she’d never met.

Helen Lewis - associate editor at the New Statesman - argues that Catherine was a savvy political operator, and that her reputation as ‘the serpent of Paris’ was largely due to the fact she was a female in power at a very difficult time. A fascinating insight into a major character little known in the UK.

Producer: Polly Weston

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2019.

Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, chosen by Tom Holland Apr 16, 2019

She's the most influential woman that English history forgot, says Tom Holland - Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, daughter of Alfred the Great.

Living and ruling at a time when the Anglo-Saxons were fighting back against the Vikings, Aethelflaed became a key figure in the construction of what we know today as England.

But how much do we actually know?

Joining Tom and Matthew Parris in the studio is Sarah Foot, the Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical history.

Together they pick though the life of an astonishing character recently recreated in Bernard Cornwell's series 'The Last Kingdom' and played by Millie Brady; and who also might have inspired Eowyn in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2019.

Shappi Khorsandi on Emma, Lady Hamilton Apr 02, 2019

Comedian and author Shappi Khorsandi has been desperate to tell the story of Emma, Lady Hamilton as she’s quite simply one of her greatest fans.

Everyone knows Emma Hamilton as simply the seducer of Admiral Horatio Nelson but according to Shappi she was more than that; history has simply palmed her off as a prostitute, a mistress, without looking at the deeper story of what she suffered and endured.

In this programme Shappi, with help from Professor Kate Williams, author of ‘England’s Mistress’, makes the case for how this woman born into poverty clawed her way up through London’s sordid underworld and became fantastically famous posing for artist George Romney. She also became an ambassador’s wife and mixed in diplomatic circles and became the confidante of both Marie Antoinette and the Queen of Naples.

Will presenter Matthew Parris be convinced and accept Emma, Lady Hamilton as a great life.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

Matt Lucas on Freddie Mercury Jan 22, 2019

Matt Lucas champions Freddie Mercury of the band, Queen.

To what extent can a troubled childhood contribute to an adult's need to perform?

Farrokh Bulsara was born in Zanzibar, sent to school in India, and fled revolution in Zanzibar to Feltham, Middlesex, aged 18. His family were Parsees and Freddie, as he became better known, was brought up as a Zoroastrian. He also became one of the greatest singer songwriters in British rock history.

Matt Lucas - of Little Britain, Shooting Stars and Doctor Who - was entranced by Freddie from an early age.

In this revealing, funny tribute, Matt explains how Freddie inspired him to perform, and unveils his Montserrat Caballe impression on the world. Lesley-Ann Jones knew the band as a 'young scumbag journalist' and provides an eyewitness account of watching Freddie from the wings.

Matt and presenter Matthew Parris are joined by the author of Bohemian Rhapsody, Lesley-Ann Jones, to dissect a legend.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.

Rohan Silva on Colin Chapman Jan 15, 2019

The arrival of Lotus shook up motor sport in 1960s and 70s. In Formula One, Colin Chapman made his cars lighter and quicker than anyone else, often challenging the rules.

But not everything he designed was safe. On the roads, Lotus sports cars are an icon of the era.

To discuss this colourful and controversial life, Matthew Parris is joined by the entrepreneur Rohan Silva and motor racing journalist, Maurice Hamilton.

Producer: Chris Ledgard

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.

Suzanne O'Sullivan on Oliver Sacks Jan 08, 2019

Matthew Parris meets Suzanne O'Sullivan to discuss her medical and literary hero, Oliver Sacks.

She first came across his work on a beach in Thailand, reading his famous collection of case studies, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Joining the discussion is Sacks' partner, the writer and photographer Bill Hayes. Together they discuss the career of a gifted medic and writer who also loved motorbikes and wild swimming. Sacks wrote another extraordinary book, Awakenings, which was made into a film starring Robin Williams and Robert de Niro.

Suzanne O'Sullivan is an Irish neurologist and award winning author.

Producer: Chris Ledgard

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

Nikesh Shukla on the Great Gama Jan 01, 2019

Ghulam Mohammad, or the Great Gama Pehlwan as he was more commonly known, was a Muslim wrestler born into a Kashmir family in India in 1878.

When writer Nikesh Shukla first came across him in a book at the airport, he thought he must be a fictional character- the stories seemed so far-fetched. Gama reportedly drank 10 litres of milk and ate six chickens every day. He also grappled with 40 wrestlers a day and did 5000 squats.

Surely this was an action hero figure and not a real man?

But Gama was real with a career spanning over 50 years, unbeaten not only in India, but also in England and Europe.

In 1910 he was dubbed the strongest man in the world. And the press feared his strength might inspire rebellion in India, then under British rule.

Joining Nikesh to tell the story of the Great Gama is Dr Majid Sheikh.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.

Sathnam Sanghera on Alexander Gardner Dec 28, 2018

Author and Journalist Sathnam Sanghera nominates a Great Life; a man dismissed as a fantasist and a liar in his own lifetime.

Alexander Gardner was a Scottish-American soldier, a traveller, an explorer and adventurer - a white man with a tartan turban, who ended up in India in a Maharaja's Sikh Army in the 19th Century, just before the British Raj took over.

Possibly a plagiarist and touted as a scoundrel, yet Sathnam claims he's worthy of a bigger place in history. If just a tiny portion of what we think we know about him is true, he is a genuinely remarkable figure.

Historian John Keay is the expert witness to Gardner's life.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2017.

Mark Steel on Charlie Chaplin Dec 25, 2018

Mark Steel makes the case for Charlie Chaplin being one of the most radical comedians of his time.

He reckons it's sad that most see Chaplin as that bloke who wore a bowler hat, had a funny walk, waved a cane around and wasn’t even that funny. Mark argues that Charlie Chaplin’s silent films and his "Tramp" character make sense if you look at the upheavals in society that were occurring alongside his career.

Mark is best known for the Mark Steel Lectures and Mark Steel's in Town. He says that while Chaplin was standing up for the working class, the irony was that he became the richest rebel.

Presenter Matthew Parris is also joined by Simon Louvish - author of ‘Chaplin: The Tramps Odyssey’.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Christmas Day 2018.

Tim Smit on Humphrey Jennings Dec 19, 2018

Tim Smit has admired Humphrey Jennings since seeing Danny Boyle’s Olympics Opening Ceremony in 2012.

Jennings was a film maker, artist, and co-founder of the Mass Observation Movement. Many of the scenes in that memorable Olympic ceremony were inspired by his work.

His films about ordinary British life during the Second World War are a poetic testament to the people of the British Isles.

Tim Smit wants to know why Jennings isn’t better known?

Tim Smit is founder of the Eden Project and talks to Matthew Parris.

They're joined by curator Ros Cranston from the British Film Institute, with contributions from Jennings' biographer Kevin Jackson

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2018.

Russell Kane on Evelyn Waugh Dec 11, 2018

Comedian Russell Kane nominates the novelist Evelyn Waugh.

One of the greatest prose stylists of 20th century literature, not to mention one of the funniest, novelist Waugh also has a reputation for being a snob, a bully, and a dyed-in-the-wool reactionary.

How much of this was a self-parodying pose, and how much the underlying truth?

Russell is supported by literary critic Ann Pasternak Slater. Both are unabashed Waugh fans.

Russell calls him "a ninja master of banter", but series presenter Matthew Parris says he can't stand him...

Producer: Jolyon Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2018.

Samira Ahmed on Laura Ingalls Wilder Dec 04, 2018

In the summer of 2018, the name of Laura Ingalls Wilder was erased from a children's literary medal set up in her honour six decades ago.

Readers of the 'Little House on the Prairie' series of books were widely perplexed, but the original American pioneer girl now finds herself at the centre of the culture wars in the US.

Nominating Laura is broadcaster and super-fan Samira Ahmed, who has been to Rocky Ridge Farm, now an historic museum in Missouri and Laura Ingalls Wilder's home.

Joining Samira in studio is novelist Tracy Chevalier, president of the Laura Ingalls Wilder club at the age of eight.

At the centre of the controversy - the depiction in these books of native Americans. “Her works reflect dated cultural attitudes toward indigenous people and people of colour that contradict modern acceptance, celebration, and understanding of diverse communities,” was the judgment of the ALSC.

Also featuring Laura Ingalls Wilder's biographer, Pamela Hill; plus the Commanche writer Paul Chaat Smith in an extract from The Invention of the USA. "I feel worried," says Samira Ahmed, "that we've lost the ability to have nuance. I cannot read these books without feeling aspects of racism, but why shouldn't we be able to read them and still see the beauty in them."

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2018.

Christina Lamb on Benazir Bhutto Sep 25, 2018

Benazir Bhutto made history when, aged 35, she became the first democratically elected female Prime Minister of a Muslim majority country.

Her family are one of world’s most famous political dynasties, but also one blighted by tragedy – murder, feud and assassinations.

Bhutto has been nominated by Christina Lamb, author and chief foreign correspondent with The Sunday Times. Bhutto was her friend and a huge influence on her life. She also expelled Christina Lamb from Pakistan.

Christina has a picture of Benazir Bhutto on her desk attending the rally in Pakistan before she was killed by a suicide bomber on the 27th December 2007. Christina was on a bus with her during a previous assassination attempt, and she recounts the horror of that day.

Her expert witness is Huma Yusuf, a journalist and columnist with Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper and a Global Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Centre.

Presented by Matthew Parris

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2018.

Helen Glover on Alison Hargreaves Sep 20, 2018

Olympic rower Helen Glover champions the life of mountaineer Alison Hargreaves.

Alison's short life was defined by her love of the mountains. She became interested in climbing as a teenager and devoted her life to pursuing ever greater challenges.

She was the first woman to climb Mount Everest without oxygen and unsupported - before losing her life on the infamous K2 mountain in Pakistan in 1995.

Presented by Matthew Parris - with the help of Alison's biographer, Ed Douglas.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.

Mark Carwardine on Douglas Adams Sep 18, 2018

"Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, this is an interesting world I find myself in - fits me rather neatly, don't you think?"

Douglas Noel Adams wasn't even 50 when he died in 2001, but his imagination had already roamed far.

He created The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Meaning of Liff and several episodes of Doctor Who, plus the Dirk Gently character and Last Chance to See.

Nominating him is his co-writer on Last Chance to See, the zoologist Mark Carwardine.

Mark's role, Adams said later, was to be the one who knew what he was talking about. "My role was to be an extremely ignorant non-zoologist to whom everything that happened would come as a complete surprise."

Joining Mark and Matthew Parris in the bar where this was recorded, is Douglas Adam's biographer, Jem Roberts.

With archive of Stephen Fry, John Lloyd, Naomi Alderman, Griff Rhys Jones and Geoffrey Perkins.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2018.

Cherie Blair on Dame Rose Heilbron Sep 11, 2018

For Cherie Blair, leading barrister and QC, picking her great life was simple – her role model is Rose Heilbron, England's first woman judge.

When Cherie was growing up in Liverpool, Rose Heilbron was always the name that excited her grandmother the most. Rose was a barrister and when she was arguing a case before a jury in her home city, Cherie Blair's grandmother would follow her cases avidly, sometimes from the public gallery. Then she would come back and tell young Cherie all about what had gone on.

And so Heilbron became a great example of what a Liverpool girl could achieve in the law. And she had a remarkable career - first woman in silk, first to lead in a murder case, first woman treasurer of Gray's Inn.

Cherie is joined in the studio by Hilary Heilbron QC, daughter and author of the biography: 'Rose Heilbron, Legal Pioneer of the 20th century'; plus Dr John Tribe – senior lecturer in law from the University of Liverpool.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2018.

Greg Jenner on Gene Kelly Sep 05, 2018

Public historian Greg Jenner has always loved Gene Kelly.

"So much better than he had any right to be."

Born in Pittsburgh in 1912, Gene Kelly was a broad-shouldered Irish American whose first love was ice hockey. But according to his biographer, Ruth Leon, he revolutionised movie-making by making the camera dance.

Kelly's great films are Singin in the Rain, On The Town and An American in Paris - with extracts and archive of Gene speaking, this is a joyful celebration of the great age of Hollywood musicals.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2018.

Patricia Greene on Bess of Hardwick Aug 21, 2018

Actress Patricia Greene (Jill Archer in BBC Radio 4's The Archers) makes the case for Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, or Bess of Hardwick as she's more commonly known.

Like her heroine, Patricia was born in Derby and was aware of the nearby grand stately home Hardwick Hall. 'More glass than wall' was the local saying; as the key feature of this 1590s house was the exuberant use of this rare material. Only recently did she discover that the initials 'ES', which are blatantly carved on the turrets, stood for a woman - Elizabeth Shrewsbury.

And so began Patricia Greene's admiration and obsession. Who was this woman born in Tudor times, when women had few if any rights at all? Bess ended up becoming the richest woman in the land after Queen Elizabeth I, but she was portrayed by some as a 'cold-hearted shrew' who only became rich by marrying four husbands, Patricia's job is to defend her hero.

The expert witness is Dr Nigel Wright, the House & Collections Manager with the National Trust at Hardwick Estate.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.

Simon Evans on JS Mill Aug 14, 2018

Towards the end of his comic rant about the descent of man, Simon Evans does something very dangerous.

He starts to read out to his audience an extract of John Stuart Mill. Potential comedy death?

He tells Matthew Parris why the famous Victorian philosopher with the squirly hair is his idea of genius.

As well as On Liberty, Mill wrote The Subjection of Women and was the first member of Parliament to call for women's right to vote.

The expert witness is Professor Anne Phillips of the London School of Economics.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.

Erica Wagner on Roald Amundsen Aug 08, 2018

"We are ready to take the Pole in any kind of weather on offer," wrote the Norwegian Roald Amundsen in December 1911. Born in 1872, Amundsen is part of a group of men - including the playwright Henrik Ibsen and the explorer Fridjtof Nansen - who gave shape to Norwegian identity just as the country broke free from Sweden and achieved independence. He is also remembered as the man who beat the British explorer Scott to the South Pole. The different cultures of their two countries come under scrutiny in this episode. The nominator is Erica Wagner, former literary editor of The Times and a writer who knows Norway well. There are two experts - Pieter van de Merwe from the National Maritime Museum; and Roland Huntford, whose book on Scott and Amundsen caused an angry fuss when first published in 1979.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Hanif Kureishi on David Bowie Jul 31, 2018

"Suddenly this light comes into your life" - says Hanif Kureishi, referring to his hero, his great life, David Bowie.

Hanif, an author, screenwriter and film maker, went on to become friends with Bowie in the 1990's after they worked together when Bowie wrote the soundtrack to Kureishi's TV adaptation 'The Buddha of Suburbia'.

For Hanif it was also Bowie who inspired him to become an author and filmmaker - he says for a "mixed race Pakistani kid living in a crummy terrace bored out of my mind, I wanted to get out - I wanted to explore, I wanted to express myself, I wanted to be free".

Hanif gives his personal insight into the life of David Bowie.

The expert witness is Dylan Jones - author of 'David Bowie A Life' and 'When Ziggy Played Guitar'.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2018.

Barbara Stocking on Catherine the Great May 29, 2018

Catherine the Great assumed power in a St Petersburg coup, extended the empire into Crimea, Ukraine and Alaska. is Russia's longest lasting female ruler, and wasn't even Russian herself. All of this intrigues Dame Barbara Stocking, former head of Oxfam, who admires Catherine's leadership style. Biographer Virginia Rounding provides the details of her background and her lovers, and Matthew Parris presents.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Suzy Klein on Hedy Lamarr May 22, 2018

Hedy Lamarr was described by her studio as the most beautiful woman in the world. A recent film, called Bombshell, argued that she was a brilliant inventor as well. But what was going on behind that wonderful face? Suzy Klein, host of the BBC Proms, tells Matthew Parris that this was an intriguing woman who continually reinvented herself. She left her native Austria before the Second World War but, despite a successful Hollywood career, what she really wanted was to be known for being clever. Recent newspaper headlines - including 'Sex Symbol by Day, Scientific Trailblazer by Night' - suggest her wishes may have finally come true. But Professor Hans-Joachim Braun isn't so sure. Film critic Antonia Quirke joins Matthew Parris in the studio to discuss a truly extraordinary life.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Mica Paris on Josephine Baker May 15, 2018

For soul singer Mica Paris, when she first dreamt of becoming a singer it was Josephine Baker who inspired her most.

Baker was a young black American dancer who became an overnight sensation in Paris in 1925 after performing wild, uninhibited routines in the skimpiest of costumes.

So can Mica Paris make the case for Baker who wore a string of bananas and little else while performing the 'banana dance?

Joining presenter Matthew Parris to help tell the story of Josephine Baker is author Andrea Stuart.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 May 2018.

Simon Callow on Orson Welles May 09, 2018

Actor Simon Callow nominates one of the giants of the golden age of Hollywood, Orson Welles.

He once said of himself he 'started at the top and worked his way down' never managing to recreate the film success he had aged 26 with Citizen Kane, which he wrote, directed and starred in.

Welles's friend and collaborator Henry Jaglom talks about knowing him for the last years of his life when the movie industry had turned its back on him and he was strapped for cash and looking for work.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2018.

Ayesha Hazarika on Jayaben Desai May 02, 2018

Stand up comedian and political commentator Ayesha Hazarika's hero is Jayaben Desai.

Jayaben led a two year strike at Grunwick Film processing factory in North London.

The majority of the workers were migrant women and they became known as the 'strikers in sarees'.

Matthew Parris remembers the strike in 1976 as he was working in Margaret Thatcher's office at the time, but only recalls the violence at the picket line and the fact that the strike failed.

Can Ayesha convince Matthew Parris that Jayaben Desai deserves the accolade of a great life?

With Dr Sundari Anitha, co- author of 'Striking Women'.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2018.

Tej Lalvani on Richard Feynman May 01, 2018

Richard Feynman was a physicist who helped design the atomic bomb and won the Nobel Prize.

He is the great life choice of businessman Tej Lalvani CEO of his family business Vitabiotics and the newest Dragon on the BBC show Dragon's Den.

Feynman was also regarded as something of an eccentric and a free spirit who had a passion for playing the bongos.

Helping to make the case for this great life Tej is joined by the expert witness David Berman, Professor of Theoretical Physics at Queen Mary University of London.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.

Laura Serrant on Audre Lorde Apr 26, 2018

Professor of Nursing, Laura Serrant, chooses the life of the black, gay poet and activist Audre Lorde who still inspires the women's movement today.

She tells Matthew Parris why Audre has meant so much to her both personally and professionally.

Professor Akwugo Emejulu of Warwick University is the expert witness.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2018.

Adrian Utley of Portishead on Miles Davis Apr 17, 2018

Miles Davis - trumpeter, composer, bandleader - is championed by Adrian Utley of Portishead.

"He's always been really important in my life, right from early on when my dad used to play him. It was part of the atmosphere of our house."

From the early years with Charlie Parker via Kind of Blue to playing in front of 600,000 hippies on the Isle of Wight, Miles Davis was a musician who never stood still. "Always listen for what you can leave out," he used to say.

Portishead's seminal 1990s album Dummy seems to have taken advice from the man. As Adrian Utley explains to presenter Matthew Parris:

"The darkness and the sense of space is the thing that I have assimilated from Miles ... he's in my DNA."

With Richard Williams, author of The Blue Moment: Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2018.

Jim Moir on Captain Beefheart Apr 03, 2018

Comedian, actor and artist Jim Moir aka Vic Reeves chooses the life of Don van Vliet - the Dadesque musician and painter Captain Beefheart who has influenced many musicians since the 1960s.

Jim joins Matthew Parris to discuss the bizarre and complex persona developed by the Californian eccentric who died from MS in 2010.

With Beefheart's biographer, Mike Barnes. Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.

Gisela Stuart on Joseph Chamberlain Jan 25, 2018

Gisela Stuart, former MP for Birmingham Edgbaston champions Joseph Chamberlain to be nominated as her great life.

But can she really make the case for this former industrialist who made it to the cabinet, but had a knack for splitting political parties and switching allegiances?

Jo Chamberlain was first a Liberal then a Liberal Unionist and finally formed an alliance with the Conservative party but fell out with them too.

Gisela argues he was a man who wasn't afraid to take action, a radical who shouldn't simply be remembered for his failures but as "the man who made the weather" and for making Birmingham the best governed city in the world.

The expert witness is Peter Marsh, Honorary Professor of History at the University of Birmingham and author of 'Joseph Chamberlain, Entrepreneur in Politics.'

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018.

Liza Tarbuck on Nikola Tesla Jan 23, 2018

Actor and broadcaster Liza Tarbuck chooses the extraordinary life of the Serbian-American scientist, Nikola Tesla.

Nikola founded the Tesla Electric Light Company and was responsible for the introduction of the AC current in America - seeing off competition from his rival and former hero, Thomas Edison.

Liza explains to Matthew Parris how his inventions were ahead of their time.

Despite the fortunes and misfortunes of this brilliant and eccentric man, he died virtually penniless in a hotel room in New York.

With the help of Professor Iwan Morus from Aberystwyth University.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018.

Justin Marozzi on Herodotus Jan 16, 2018

Herodotus - father of history or father of lies?

Matthew Parris introduces a sparky discussion about a writer whose achievements include a nine book account of a war between east and west - the Persian invasions of Greece.

Justin Marozzi proposes him not just as an historian, but as geographer, explorer, correspondent, the world's first travel writer, and an irrepressible story teller to boot.

Backing him up is Professor Edith Hall, who sees Herodotus as the author of a magnificent work of prose. But Matthew Parris wrestles with whether he was historian or hack.

* Justin Marozzi is the author of the award winning Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood. * Edith Hall is Professor in the Centre for Hellenic Studies at King's College London.

Herodotus of Halicarnassus - modern day Bodrum in Turkey - wrote about Croesus, Darius, Xerxes and Leonidas, plus the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae and Pl ataea. His books also embrace much of the rest of the known world.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018.

Hertha Ayrton Jan 02, 2018

Helen Arney is a self-confessed science nerd, stand-up entertainer, and once nicknamed a "geek songstress".

Matthew Parris discovers why she's chosen Hertha Ayrton (1854-1923), the pioneering Victorian physicist, inventor and suffragette, as her great life.

Ayrton was the first woman to be admitted into membership of what is today known as the IET, the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Their archivist Anne Locker knows Ayrton's life and works and fields questions from Matthew and Helen.

They discuss how Hertha overcame considerable obstacles to be the first woman who was proposed for the fellowship of the Royal Society. Her candidature was refused on the grounds that as a married woman she had no legal existence in British law.

This did not stop her from patenting over 20 of her inventions, which included a large electric fan designed to disperse mustard gas from the Trenches during the First World War. Fascinated by electricity, her achievements also ranged across mathematics and physics.

Hertha's father was a Jewish immigrant, a watchmaker from Poland, who hawked goods at markets. Nonetheless, Hertha was among the first generation of women to study at Girton College, Cambridge.

Helen Arney, who's one-third of the Festival of the Spoken Nerd, the comedy group that makes science entertaining for audiences, explains why she's championing Ayrton.

Producer: Mark Smalley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2018.

Nazir Afzal on Gandhi Jan 02, 2018

Former Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England Nazir Afzal was responsible for convicting the men who sexually abused young girls in Rochdale.

Matthew Parris invites him to nominate a great life.

He's chosen Mahatma Gandhi, also a lawyer, whom he says inspired him to speak out on behalf of those who were marginalised and ignored by the rest of society.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2017.

Louise Richardson on Daniel O'Connell Dec 19, 2017

On a field outside Dublin, Daniel O'Connell met and shot a former royal marine in a duel.

John d'Esterre had been outraged when O'Connell, the later hero of Catholic emancipation, described the mainly Protestant Dublin corporation as a 'beggarly corporation'. O'Connell later claimed that he had practised with two pistols every week, knowing that one day he would be challenged to a duel.

Nominating O'Connell is the vice chancellor of Oxford and terrorism expert Louise Richardson.

It's not the violence of the duel that appeals, but O'Connell's revolutionary way of marshalling huge support for his causes, which were always conducted in a remarkably non-violent way. "The altar of liberty totters when it is cemented only with blood," O'Connell said. He took his seat in Westminster in 1830 and thereafter fought for the abolition of slavery and the repeal of the union, a cause in which he failed.

Patrick Geoghegan, O'Connell's biographer and special advisor to the new Irish prime minister, adds the colour to a truly extraordinary and important life.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2017.

Cornelia Parker on Marcel Duchamp Dec 12, 2017

Marcel Duchamp - the father of conceptual art, and responsible for that famously provocative urinal signed 'R Mutt, 1917' - is the great life choice of fellow artist Cornelia Parker.

She explains to Matthew Parris why he's influenced not only her work but that of so many other artists since his death in 1968. As an art student in the 1970s she recalls the attraction of Duchamp's 'readymades', such as a bicycle wheel or suspended wine bottle rack - manufactured items that the artist selected and modified, antidotes to what he dismissed as conventional 'retinal art'.

They are joined by Dawn Ades, Professor of the History of Art at the Royal Academy. She recalls an occasion when she saw him completely absorbed in a game of chess in a café in the Spanish seaside town of Cadaqués, whilst visiting Salvador Dali. They also discuss Duchamp's intriguing female alter ego, Rrose Selavy (Eros, c'est la vie or "physical love is the life") Man Ray's photographs of whom featured in some Surrealist exhibitions.

We hear how Duchamp let the world know that he'd given up being in artist in favour of devoting himself to chess whilst still in his 30s. He played the game at a high level, representing France at international tournaments, whilst covertly continuing his art work.

Cornelia Parker explains that his works spoke not just to the Pop Art and Op Art movements of the 1960s, but more broadly to American artists like Bruce Nauman and the composer John Cage, and whose influence can be seen today in the work of, for example, fellow English artist, Rachel Whiteread.

Producer: Mark Smalley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2017.

Will Gregory on Flann O'Brien Dec 05, 2017

Goldfrapp's Will Gregory is centre-stage at the Colston Hall in Bristol to tell Matthew Parris why he feels a kinship with Flann O'Brien.

The Irish writer's books 'At Swim-Two-Birds' and 'The Third Policeman' are now hailed as literary masterpieces, but only came to prominence after the author's death.

Carol Taaffe, who has written about Flann, helps make sense of the man who wrote under three pseudonyms - Brian O'Nolan, Flann O'Brien, and Myles na gCopaleen. They look more closely at the novels and newspaper column he wrote alongside his job in the Civil Service, whilst maintaining a steady presence in Dublin's pubs.

Will reads extracts he believes illustrate the brilliance with which O'Brien slips between realism and surrealism, and Carol sheds light on who said that 'At Swim-Two-Birds' "....was just the book to give your Sister if she's a loud dirty boozy girl."

Producer: Toby Field

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2017.

Helena Morrissey on Rachael Heyhoe Flint Sep 26, 2017

City boss Dame Helena Morrissey champions the life of Rachael Heyhoe Flint, the pioneer of women's cricket.

Regarded as a ground breaker, Baroness Heyhoe Flint ruffled feathers and shook up a male dominated sport.

Helena Morrissey makes the case for why Heyhoe Flint is a great life.

With Matthew Parris and Dr Raf Nicholson who teaches history at Queen Mary University of London and is a writer on the women's game

Dame Helen has also made it to the top of her career in a male dominated word of the City. She is founder of the 30% Club, a campaign group whose aim is to get a minimum of 30% women on FTSE-100 boards. Now working as Head of Personal Investing with Legal and General Investment Management.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2017.

Andrea Catherwood on Constance Markievicz Sep 19, 2017

Constance Markievicz led an amazing life - a leading figure during the Easter Rising of 1916, she was the first woman elected to Parliament though she never took her seat.

Markievicz was born into a wealthy Anglo-Irish family and gained her exotic surname from marriage to a Polish count. She was adventurous, flamboyant, committed to woman's rights, court-martialled and nearly shot.

Nominating her is Andrea Catherwood, ex-ITN correspondent who made her first documentary for BBC Radio 4.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

With Lindie Naughton, author of Markievicz - A Most Outrageous Rebel.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2017.

Nicholas Stern on Muhammad Ali Sep 12, 2017

Nicholas Stern is IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the London School of Economics, among other positions, and former Chief Economist at the World Bank.

He is also a massive boxing fan and chooses the life of Muhammad Ali to explore with Matthew Parris and sports journalist and boxing commentator Ronald McIntosh.

Not only does Stern admire Ali's prowess in the ring, but more so his fearless stance against the Vietnam War which cost him dearly both personally and professionally.

Ali's humanitarian work in later life has also been a huge source of inspiration to him.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2017.

Helen Sharman on Elsie Widdowson Sep 05, 2017

How many people realise the impact Elsie Widdowson had on the way we view nutrition?

She was a food scientist who devoted her life to improving the diets of adults and children in Britain and abroad.

Matthew Parris hears why Helen Sharman, the first Briton to go into space, thinks Widdowson deserves her nomination.

They are joined by Elsie's friend and biographer Margaret Ashwell, President for the Association for Nutrition.

You can download the podcast to hear an extended version of the broadcast programme

Producer: Maggie Ayre.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2017.

Tracy Chevalier on Mary Anning Aug 29, 2017

Novelist Tracy Chevalier discusses the life of Mary Anning with Matthew Parris.

Mary was a working class woman from Lyme Regis who discovered full dinosaur skeletons on Dorset's Jurassic Coast and sold them to collectors in the early 1800s.

Her remarkable finds came before Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and she believed them at first to be giant crocodiles, but as scientists began flocking to Lyme Regis to buy her specimens, she started to educate herself in geology, becoming an authority on fossils.

However, as with many of the subjects of Great Lives, she was never fully credited for her efforts and faded from public consciousness after her death.

With Hugh Torrens, Emeritus Professor of History of Science and Technology at the University of Keele.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2017.

Don McCullin on Norman Lewis Aug 22, 2017

In 1968 Norman Lewis wrote an article called Genocide in Brazil. The photographs that accompanied it were by Don McCullin.

Lewis later said that this one piece of journalism was the great achievement of his life. It led directly to the creation of Survival International and a change in the law relating to the treatment of indigenous people in Brazil.

Lewis is known as a brilliant writer - one of our best, said Graham Greene, 'not of any particular decade of our century'. He's best remembered for A Dragon Apparent and Naples '44.

Don McCullin didn't travel with Norman Lewis to Brazil, but they struck up an unexpected friendship. He was like my father, the great photographer says.

And in Norman Lewis's later years they worked together in Venezuela, Papua New Guinea and elsewhere. But McCullin didn't read many of his books. "I struggled through Naples '44" he admits. Yet his admiration for the way Lewis opened his eyes to the world remains undimmed.

Recorded on location at McCullin's Somerset farmhouse with Norman Lewis's biographer Julian Evans.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Produced at BBC Bristol by Miles Warde.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2017.

Maxine Peake on Ellen Wilkinson Aug 09, 2017

Actress Maxine Peake nominates her working class hero, Ellen Wilkinson, as a great life.

Ellen is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of British radical left politics. She joined the Communist party, met Lenin and Trotsky in Moscow and then went on to become one of the Labour Party's youngest people entering parliament in 1924.

For Maxine, the tragedy is that Ellen Wilkinson is now virtually a forgotten figure despite her remarkable achievements.

With help from historian Helen Antrobus from the People's History Museum in Manchester, they make the case for Ellen Wilkinson meriting the description of a great life.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2017.

Stephen Fry on PG Wodehouse Aug 08, 2017

Stephen Fry nominates his hero PG Wodehouse, a writer who he says simply cheers him up like no one else.

Fry wrote to his hero when he was a schoolboy and his most treasured possession is a signed photograph which reads:

"To Stephen Fry, All the best, PG Wodehouse."

PG Wodehouse was a self-made man, he began as a bank clerk, married a chorus girl and was interned by the Nazis. He wrote some of the most entertaining novels, stories, plays and lyrics of the 20th century and created enduring characters; the most popular being Reginald Jeeves and Bertie Wooster.

Stephen makes the case for why PG Wodehouse is a great life.

To help him he is joined by Dr Sophie Ratcliffe Associate Professor in English, University of Oxford and author of 'PG Wodehouse - A life in Letters'.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2017.

Peter Williams of Jack Wills chooses Steve Jobs Jun 01, 2017

Peter Williams - founder of British retail chain, Jack Wills - nominates Steve Jobs as his great life.

For Williams, despite the fact that Steve Jobs was an abrasive and difficult person, it was his ability to predict what people wanted. It was his Apple products that have touched the lives of so many people world wide and for Peter it's his gadgets that have changed our attitudes to technology.

To help Peter Williams make his case, he is joined by Luke Dormehl, technology journalist and author of The Apple Revolution.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2017.

Iain Lee on Andy Kaufman May 30, 2017

There were so many hoaxes in Andy Kaufman's brief career that for years his fans believed that he wasn't really dead.

Kaufman's best known as Latka Gravas in the American TV sitcom Taxi, and his life was undoubtedly weird. Performance artist, Elvis impersonator, wrestler - he's difficult to pin down.

Nominator Iain Lee believes he was a genius, while Olly Double of the University of Kent school of arts reckons Kaufman didn't really care if his audience laughed or not.

Presenter Matthew Parris draws his own conclusions about Kaufman's extraordinary life, later turned into a film starring Jim Carrey called Man on the Moon.

Produced at BBC Bristol by Miles Warde.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2017.

Sue Cameron on Emma of Normandy May 16, 2017

Twice Queen of England and mother of two kings, but have you heard of Emma of Normandy?

Doyenne of Whitehall and Westminster journalists, Sue Cameron names William the Conqueror's aunt as her great life.

Matthew Parris explores the time 1,000 years ago when England was emerging as a new nation in the decades before the Norman invasion, when the country's Anglo Saxon rulers were beset with Viking invasions. Emma, herself of French Viking descent, was pitched into a maelstrom of war and politics, when she crossed the channel as a teenage bride in 1002.

Joined by medieval historian Vanessa King of Goldsmiths, University of London, Sue and Matthew conjure the fortunes of a woman who emerged as a key powerbroker and kingmaker. Emma bestrode early English court politics for half a century during her life, and for years afterwards. Married first to Aethelred, the Saxon king, she was promptly summoned to marry his successor after his death in 1016, the Danish king of England, Canute, who's alleged to have ordered the waves to cease.

Sue Cameron imagines what it must have been like for Emma in the midst of these turbulent times, trying to protect the sons she had with both kings, while advancing their position at court.

Producer: Mark Smalley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2017.

Steven Knight on Sitting Bull May 09, 2017

For Steven Knight, the screen writer and director of ‘Peaky Blinders’ and ‘Taboo’, it was easy to nominate his great life. For him there was just one choice, his all-time hero Sitting Bull.

As a young boy growing up in Birmingham in the 1970s, Steven was obsessed with stories and tales of Native Indians. At the age of thirteen, Steven searched for pen-pals and ended up exchanging letters with the great grand-children of Sitting Bull who lived in South Dakota. The correspondence and friendship he built up has continued into his adult life.

Steven, makes his case for why Sitting Bull is a great life and to help unravel this story he is joined by Jacqueline Fear-Segal, Professor of American and Indigenous Histories at the University of East Anglia.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2017.

Peaches Golding on Shirley Chisholm May 02, 2017

American-born Peaches Golding OBE - Bristol's former Lord Lieutenant and first black female High Sheriff - nominates African American politician Shirley Chisholm who ran unsuccessfully for US President in 1972.

Fellow guest Dr Kate Dossett, Professor of American History at Leeds University, describes Chisholm’s contribution to the cause of African Americans and to feminism.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2017.

Anton Du Beke on Arnold Palmer Apr 25, 2017

Strictly Come Dancing's Anton Du Beke chooses the golf legend Arnold Palmer as his great life. Along with the sports broadcaster John Inverdale, he sets out the reasons why Palmer left a legacy far beyond the sporting world and far beyond the golf course.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.

Ermonela Jaho on Mother Teresa Apr 20, 2017

Since her death in 1997, it's been fashionable in some quarters to decry the work of Mother Teresa among India's poor.

Fellow Albanian - opera singer, Ermonela Jaho, offers an alternative view of the nun who dedicated her life to running homes in Calcutta and later around the world, providing food, shelter and care for the poor and dispossessed.

Despite her hard-line views on abortion and despite criticism over her dealings with some of the most brutal regimes, Mother Teresa was purely a force for good, argues Ermonela Jaho.

Presented by Matthew Parris - with biographer, Anne Sebba.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2017.

Germaine Greer on Dame Elizabeth Frink Apr 11, 2017

Germaine Greer nominates sculptor Dame Elizabeth Frink

She was best known for striking sculptures ranging from horses and goats, to wild eagles and disembodied heads.

As a female sculptor working in a man's world, Elisabeth Frink found it hard to establish herself in the 1950s.

To help tell the story of her hero, Germaine Greer is joined by Frink's son, Lin Jammet, and the art critic Richard Cork.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2017.

Gary Kemp on EW Godwin Apr 04, 2017

Gary Kemp, songwriter and guitarist with hit 1980s band Spandau Ballet, chooses the architect and designer Edward William Godwin as his great life.

Gary began collecting pieces of Godwin's work as soon as he started making money from hit singles.

He's remained fascinated by the life and work of the man who formed part of the Aesthetic Movement in the 19th century, designed houses for Oscar Wilde and James Whistler, and influenced Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Presented by Matthew Parris with guest expert, Dr Aileen Reid.

Producer: Maggie Ayre.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2017.

Chris Patten on Pope John XXIII Jan 24, 2017

Chris Patten, Lord Patten of Barnes, nominates a great life who was born a peasant and became a Pope.

Pope John XXIII did well at school but was no star. He wasn't a striking figure of a man and struggled to keep his weight under control.

There was nothing about him that stood out and his election as Pope took many by surprise. But he was the man who began to push the Roman Catholic church into the modern world.

Presenter: Matthew Parris.

With Eamon Duffy, Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Cambridge.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2017.

Len Goodman on Lionel Bart Jan 17, 2017

Len Goodman's great life was one of the biggest figures in creating British musicals and pop music in the 1960's.

The writer and lyricist behind the hit musical Oliver, knew everybody who was anybody, made a fortune and partied with Royalty.

But like many who flourished in that era he also lost everything in a blitz of booze, drugs and bad behaviour.

Len Goodman makes a case for why he regards Bart as a genius.

With Matthew Parris.

Helping Len him to unravel the story of his hero the expert witness is broadcaster David Stafford who co-wrote a biography on Lionel Bart named after Bart's second most famous musical: Fings Aint Wot They Used T'Be .

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 January 2017.

Akram Khan on Srinivasa Ramanujan Jan 10, 2017

In 1914, a self-taught Mathematics student named Ramanujan left India for Trinity College Cambridge.

Here, alongside the celebrated English mathematician GH Hardy, he completed some extraordinary work on Pi and prime numbers.

What was even more extraordinary was that he couldn't prove a lot of his work, and attributed many of his theories to a higher power.

For the renowned UK choreographer Akram Khan, there is a beauty in patterns and maths, and he sees Ramanujan's genius as a clash between Eastern and Western cultures.

Together with presenter Matthew Parris, he explores the mathematician's life.

Guest Professor Robin Wilson, who once visited Ramanujan's home, takes them through some of the maths, and explains why you'll never look at the number 1729 in the same way again.

Producer: Toby Field.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2017.

Suzannah Lipscomb on CS Lewis Jan 03, 2017

Step though the wardrobe - as historian Suzannah Lipscomb selects the creator of the Narnia Chronicles, CS Lewis.

The writer was a fascinating and extremely complicated man. Born in Northern Ireland, his mother died when he was a child, and his university career was interrupted so he could fight in the Great War.

Suzannah views his writings as deeply moving, as they have influenced her faith.

Presenter Matthew Parris is less convinced by the religious influence in his work.

But contributor to the Cambridge Companion to CS Lewis, Malcolm Guite sits firmly on Suzannah Lipscomb's side.

Produced in Bristol by Miles Warde.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2017.

Ruth Holdaway on Helen Rollason Jan 03, 2017

Ruth Holdaway - the former Chief Executive of Women in Sport - picks pioneering sports broadcaster Helen Rollason.

Helen trained as a teacher, but after stints in community and local radio moved to the BBC to report for and later present the BBC’s 'Newsround' for children.

She kept her hand in with sport and made history in 1990 when she was appointed as the first female presenter of BBC TV’s flagship 'Grandstand'. Sport was largely a male-dominated world at the time and there were plenty both inside and outside the Corporation who would have happily have seen her fail.

Presented by Matthew Parris, with John Caunt who helped Helen write her autobiography.

Plus contributions from Clare Balding, James Pearce and Deb Crook.

Producer: Toby Field

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2016.

Orlando Murrin on Dinu Lipatti Dec 20, 2016

For many piano music lovers, Dinu Lipatti [1917-1950], the Romanian concert pianist, stands head and shoulders above others.

Dinu lived during a time of great turbulence, leaving his native Romania for Switzerland at the outbreak of the Second World War. He left behind a wealthy family but they subsequently lost everything under communism.

Food writer and former chef, Orlando Murrin explains his love for Lipatti's music and his fascination with his life. It has led him to spending time trying to save Lipatti's family home from demolition in Bucharest.

He joins Matthew Parris and the London based Romanian concert pianist Alexandra Dariescu to champion the life and work of one of classical music's greatest 20th century talents.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2016.

Sir Ben Kingsley on Elie Wiesel Dec 14, 2016

Actor Sir Ben Kingsley tells Matthew Parris why he regards Elie Wiesel as his great life.

A writer, a Nobel laureate, a holocaust survivor, Elie had to endure the worst horrors of mankind and survive the darkest of crimes.

In the Holocaust he lost his mother, his father and his youngest sister. He once said: “To forget the dead would be to akin to killing them again a second time”.

Sir Ben Kingsley regards Wiesel as was one the great voices of the holocaust and says he should never be forgotten. This was a promise he made to Wiesel.

To help tell Elie’s story, the expert witness is Robert Eaglestone, Professor of Contemporary Literature and Thought and an expert in Holocaust Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2016.

Cary Grant Dec 02, 2016

Comedian and writer Lucy Porter champions Cary Grant as her Great Life finding that, despite his troubled relationships with women off screen, his on screen charm and generosity towards his female co-stars redeems him.

With Grant's biographer, Geoffrey Wansell, who discusses the troubled screen icon's humble beginnings in Bristol and the following glamour and wealth of Los Angeles.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2016.

Cyrus Todiwala on Dadabhai Naoroji Sep 27, 2016

Chef Cyrus Todiwala chooses Dadabhai Naoroji, the 'Grand Old Man of India' who in 1892 became Britain's first Asian MP for Finsbury Central.

He later returned to India and petitioned for the country to be self-governing. Gandhi, who was Dadabhai's mentee, would later refer to him as the Father of the Nation.

Matthew Parris presents and Zerbanoo Gifford is the expert.

Producer: Toby Field

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2016.

AA Gill on Arthur Neville Chamberlain Sep 20, 2016

The writer and critic AA Gill nominates Neville Chamberlain as his great life.

But his choice is someone who is regarded as one of the worst Prime Ministers Britain has ever had. Chamberlain is someone entrenched in popular legend, as the man who failed to stand up to Hitler.

So will AA Gill’s choice stand up to the scrutiny and will he be able to convince presenter Matthew Parris that this was a great life?

To help tell the story of Arthur Neville Chamberlain they are joined by Stuart Ball, Professor of Modern British History at the University of Leicester.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2016.

Eliza Carthy on Caroline Norton Sep 13, 2016

Eliza Carthy chooses the life of 19th-century poet and campaigner Caroline Norton to discuss with Matthew Parris.

Following separation from her controlling husband, Norton fought to gain access to her three children. She campaigned for 30 years resulting in changes to English Law that gave women a separate legal identity for the first time.

Eliza first discovered Caroline Norton when she was researching broadside ballads and came across Norton's verse ' Love not! love not! ye hopeless sons of clay'. It stood out, becoming the inspiration for her track 'Fade and Fall' and sparking an interest in Norton and her extraordinary life.

The expert is Dr Diane Atkinson, author of 'The Criminal Conversation of Mrs Norton'.

Producer: Toby Field

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2016.

Maureen Lipman on Dame Cicely Saunders Sep 07, 2016

Actress and writer Maureen Lipman chooses the end-of-life care campaigner, Dame Cicely Saunders.

Dame Cicely Saunders was known as ‘the woman who changed the face of death’. At almost 6 foot tall, she could be intimidating, tiresome and relentless as she devoted her life to ensuring that terminally ill people could die with dignity and without pain.

Championing the life of Cicely Saunders as her great life is the actress and writer Maureen Lipman.

The expert witness is, Professor David Clark, from the University of Glasgow.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2016.

Tony Hawks on Marshall Rosenberg Aug 30, 2016

Marshall Rosenberg was the stern-faced creator of nonviolent communication, a man who spent his life finding ways to eradicate hate.

Often armed only with his trademark giraffe and jackal puppets, Rosenberg toured the world teaching a new way of speaking. Language was key, but to discover the meaning of the puppets you'll have to tune in.

Championing Marshall Rosenberg is comedian and author, Tony Hawks.

A sceptical Matthew Parris presents while David Baker of the London School of Life fills in the biographical gaps.

Produced at BBC Bristol by Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2016.

Dag Hammarskjold Aug 26, 2016

Sometime around midnight of September 17 1961, a plane approached an airstrip near Ndola in what was then northern Rhodesia.

The plane was a DC6, and on board the second ever secretary general of the United Nations, an aristocratic Swede called Dag Hammarskjold. He was on his way to try and mediate a war in the Congo, but the plane crashed and Hammarskjold was killed.

Was it an accident? The debate continues to this day.

Joining Matthew Parris to discuss the life and death of Hammarskjold are the journalist Georgina Godwin and the academic Susan Williams, author of Who Killed Hammarskjold? A dramatic and detailed discussion focuses on the events surrounding his death.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2016.

Sara Pascoe on Virginia Woolf Aug 16, 2016

Comedian Sara Pascoe champions the life of Virginia Woolf, author of 'Mrs Dalloway' and 'A Room of One's Own', describing her as a sensible feminist.

Sara explains why she thinks if she were alive today, Woolf would be a comedian, and how through her diaries and letters she's discovered the witty, manic and egotistical Virginia.

Presenter Matthew Parris confesses to struggling with her work.

Professor Alexandra Harris is the expert.

Producer: Toby Field

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2016.

Alex Salmond on Thomas Muir Aug 09, 2016

Alex Salmond chooses Thomas Muir for Great Lives, whom he describes as the Father of Scottish Democracy.

"I have devoted myself to the cause of The People. It is a good cause - it shall ultimately prevail - it shall finally triumph." (Thomas Muir)

Born in 1765, Thomas Muir trained as a lawyer and spent much of his early years advocating political reform and greater representation. These views brought him to the attention of the authorities who tried and convicted him of "unconscious sedition". Sentenced to fourteen years transportation to Australia, he eventually escaped and embarked on an epic voyage back to Europe during which he was almost killed.

Alex Salmond argues that it was his treatment by the state that turned Muir from reformer to radical and then revolutionary, and he believes the democratic reform he sought has still not occurred. He says the word to describe Muir is "thrawn", a Scottish word meaning beyond stubborn, as he came up against unreasonable opposition time and time again and shifted his position each time.

Debating the issues is Muir expert Murray Armstrong, author of 'The Liberty Tree'. Matthew Parris presents.

Producer: Toby Field.

Hilary Devey on Gracie Fields Aug 02, 2016

A singer, comedian, music hall and film star from Rochdale, Gracie Fields was the nation’s darling. But in the midst of World War II, and at the phenomenal peak of her career, our great life fell in love and married an Italian and had to flee to America. She was disowned by the British public who called her a deserter and she was slated in every newspaper.

Championing this week’s Great Life is businesswoman and TV personality Hilary Devey known to viewers of BBC 2's Dragons' Den and Channel 4's The Intern. Helping her to unravel the life of Gracie Fields is Sebastian Lassandro, President of the Dame Gracie Fields Appreciation Society.

Presenter Matthew Parris

Producer Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2016.

Frank Turner on Joseph Grimaldi May 31, 2016

Frank Turner chooses Joseph Grimaldi, the first celebrity of Pantomime who changed the face of Clowning forever. Matthew Parris presents, and Mattie Faint is the expert. Grimaldi was born into a theatrical family, making his stage debut aged two dressed as a monkey and being flung around the stage on the end of a chain by his tyrannical father. The chain snapped but Grimaldi survived, making the papers and turning Grimaldi into a little celebrity. His performances as 'Clown', combining acrobatics, satire and music, made him a big draw for the crowds, and his role in 'Mother Goose' turned him into a huge star. He developed the make-up we now associate with clowns but behind this iconic look was a man suffering from depression, extreme physical disintegration and a series of personal tragedies. Frank Turner, former punk and now folk singer-songwriter, sees himself primarily as an entertainer and has developed an interest in Pantomime and Music Hall. For him, Grimaldi gave everything to his audiences and physically destroyed himself in the process - something he sees as honourable. He describes Grimaldi's farewell speech as one of the most beautiful eulogies to the business of being a performer.

Producer: Toby Field

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

George Fox May 24, 2016

George Fox, born in 1624 in Leicestershire, is best known as the founder of the Quakers. In early life he was apprenticed to a shoemaker, and for a while he worked as a shepherd as well. But it was as a preacher travelling widely across the land that he made his name, and also received the most abuse. As he writes: "... the people fell upon me in great rage, struck me down and almost stifled and smothered me. And I was cruelly beaten and bruised by them with their hands, Bibles and sticks."

Nominating the dissenting George Fox is Ann Limb, chair of the Scout Association. Also in studio, Jonathan Fryer, editor of George Fox and the Children of the Light.

Matthew Parris presents, and the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

Charles Moore on Gordon Hamilton-Fairley May 17, 2016

Gordon Hamilton-Fairley was a brilliant cancer specialist, the father of oncology in the UK.

Then in 1975 he was killed by an IRA bomb intended for a politician who lived in his street. Former editor of the Daily Telegraph Charles Moore chooses a man cut down in his prime. Joining him in the studio are three members of the Hamilton-Fairley family; plus the cancer specialist Ray Powles, who provides a compelling picture of how basic treatment for cancer sufferers used to be.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

Richard the Lionheart May 16, 2016

Richard the Lionheart has been portrayed on screen by Sean Connery, Anthony Hopkins and Patrick Stewart, quite a starry list. But what is the reality behind the legend of this famous king?

Richard's nominator is Timmy Mallett, a legend of children's TV but also unexpectedly a history graduate. Great historical characters, he says, have great stories attached to them, and Richard's life was not short of adventure, particularly on the Third Crusade.

Applying a cool head to Richard's life is the historian and broadcaster Helen Castor. She concedes that much of Timmy's enthusiasm is probably deserved.

Presenter Matthew Parris attempts to discover the truth about whether the Lionheart was in fact gay.

Producer: Miles Warde.

Produced in BBC Bristol and first broadcast on Radio 4 in May 2016.

Graeme Lamb on Christine Granville May 03, 2016

Lt-Gen Sir Graeme Lamb, former head of British special forces, champions the life of wartime spy Christine Granville, assisted by her biographer Clare Mulley.

Christine, born Kristina Skarbek, was a glamorous swashbuckling heroine who skied into occupied Poland to distribute Allied propaganda, and parachuted into southern France to work with the Resistance after D Day. Murdered after the war by a jilted lover, she is little known today - thanks partly to the efforts of a group of men she had been close to, who formed a committee to "protect her reputation" from suggestions of sexual impropriety.

Matthew Parris chairs the discussion.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

Sudha Bhuchar chooses the life of Zohra Sehgal Apr 26, 2016

She was known as 'the grand old lady of Indian cinema' who starred in many Bollywood films famous in India, but not at first in Britain. We got to know her best in her later years when Zohra Sehgal starred in the TV series – 'The Jewel in The Crown' and films such as 'Bend it like Beckham'. When interviewed aged 101 and asked what she had enjoyed most in her life she said 'Sex, sex and more sex '.

Nominating this week's Great Life is actress and playwright Sudha Bhuchar who along with the expert witness, Film Historian Lalit Mohan Joshi, tell the presenter Matthew Parris, how Sehgal broke boundaries to become the first Indian actor to have an international career.

The producer is Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

Ray Peacock chooses the life of Lenny Bruce Apr 21, 2016

To his followers Lenny Bruce was a genius and a free speech hero. To his detractors he was labelled sick and dirty. Bruce shocked his audiences intentionally. In his uncompromisingly frank humour he took on organized religion, government, jingoism, capitalism, the death penalty, war, and sexual mores.

But he was eventually destroyed by the battle he fought with the US justice system.

The comedian, Ray Peacock nominates Lenny Bruce as his great life as he regards him as a pioneer in stand-up. Along with expert Dr Oliver Double and presenter Matthew Parris they uncover a controversial life.

To illustrate the life of Lenny Bruce this programme does play some audio which some listeners may find offensive.

The producer is Perminder Khatkar.

Nancy Dell'Olio chooses the life of Lucrezia Borgia Apr 21, 2016

Nancy Dell'Olio champions Lucrezia Borgia, a Renaissance woman who was much maligned.

Lucrezia Borgia was the Pope's daughter and, over the centuries, her name has been a byword for poison, incest and intrigue. Novels, television series, plays and an opera have been written about her. But was she just a victim of malicious gossip that vastly exaggerated her actual misdeeds?

Nancy Dell'Olio explains why she identifies with Lucrezia Borgia and with the help of historian Sarah Dunant attempts to debunk some of the myths.

Produced by Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

Alfred Hitchcock Apr 07, 2016

Anthony Horowitz regards Alfred Hitchcock as a genius who changed the language of cinema and made some of the most memorable films of the 20th century.

However, the film director is also seen as a troubled man who was at times abusive towards some of his leading ladies.

The expert witness is Nathalie Morris; Senior Curator at the BFI, National Archive.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2016.

Eliza Manningham-Buller chooses Abraham Lincoln Jan 26, 2016

Former director of MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller, tells Matthew Parris why she regards Abraham Lincoln as a great life.

But will her hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life? The expert is Dr Tony Hutchison, from the American Studies Department at the University of Nottingham.

The producer is Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

Nitin Sawhney on Jeff Buckley Jan 20, 2016

Musician and performer Nitin Sawhney champions the life of Jeff Buckley who he regards as a genius singer, songwriter. The expert is Steve Abbott who was a friend of Buckley's and released his debut record.

Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

Susan Calman on Molly Weir Jan 13, 2016

Biographical series in which guests select someone who has inspired their lives.

Comedian Susan Calman chooses the Scottish actress Molly Weir.

Molly began her long career on BBC radio before moving into TV and becoming one of the first Scottish female voices on national media in the 1950s.

She memorably mopped floors for many years in a long-running series of TV commercials.

Presented by Matthew Parris. Producers: Maggie Ayre & Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2016.

Martin Jennings on Charles Sargeant Jagger Jan 05, 2016

In this episode, you might not know the name of the Great Life but you have probably walked past his work. At London's Hyde Park Corner - the 'Royal Artillery Memorial' stands – a huge stone monument. Charles Sargeant Jagger was arguably the first British sculptor to try to capture the horror of war. A full-sized gun – a 9.2 howitzer protrudes from the top; four masculine soldiers surround the base – one a corpse. Martin Jennings also a British sculptor, nominates Jagger as his Great Life. Along with the expert, art historian Ann Compton, they tell Matthew Parris how the First World War shaped and made Jagger. The producer is Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.

Precious Lunga chooses Wangari Maathai Jan 04, 2016

Matthew Parris's guest this week is the epidemiologst Precious Lunga, who nominates for Great Life status that of the Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Muta Maathai.

In the course of her life, Professor Maathai made a huge contribution to re-establishing environmental integrity to Kenya by working with the women who lived there. She founded the Green Belt Movement and became a politician. In 2004 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The expert witness is Maggie Baxter from the Green Belt Movement. Producer Christine Hall

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Alvin Hall chooses James Baldwin Dec 22, 2015

Alvin Hall is the friendly face of financial reality, lecturing, writing and broadcasting on the subject of managing money.

But he is also passionately interested in fine art, music and literature, and his nomination for a Great Life is that of writer and Civil Rights activist, James Baldwin.

Baldwin was born in 1924 in Harlem and his achievements in overcoming a difficult start in life were prodigious. For much of his life he lived outside the United States, returning in the late 1950s to support the nascent Civil Rights movement, though the Movement itself had some problems with his homosexuality.

Throughout his life he continued to write about the experiences of being black in 20th century America and is now widely regarded as the pre-eminent African-American writer of the century. Dr Douglas Field of the University of Manchester, who has written several books on James Baldwin, discusses Baldwin's life and achievements with Alvin and with Matthew Parris.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Christine Hall

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2015.

Roger Saul chooses Gertrude Jekyll Dec 16, 2015

Matthew Parris invites fashion designer Roger Saul, who created the Mulberry brand, to nominate a great life. He has chosen the early 20th century garden designer Gertrude Jekyll whose beautiful gardens instilled in him a love of plants and landscaping. Inspired by William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement, together with architect Edward Lutyens, Gertrude Jekyll designed many great gardens including Hestercombe in Somerset and at her home in Surrey. Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Dickie Bird on the life of Sir Leonard Hutton Dec 08, 2015

Harold 'Dickie' Bird, now retired but one of our best known cricket umpires champions the life of Sir Leonard Hutton.

According to Dickie, this Yorkshireman is one of the greatest opening batsmen of all time, who made history by becoming the first professional England captain. Joining him, the Sunday Times cricket correspondent and author Simon Wilde.

Matthew Parris is the presenter.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Toyah Willcox on Katharine Hepburn Sep 29, 2015

Toyah Willcox chooses the actress and Hollywood legend, Katharine Hepburn.

Dubbed an 'oddity' and 'box office poison', Hepburn liked to goad the press and public with her eccentric behaviour and unconventional love life.

Her Hollywood career spanned six decades, during which she starred alongside other Hollywood greats, including James Stewart, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart and Spencer Tracy.

The four time Oscar award-winning actress is championed by singer and actress Toyah Willcox - who met and worked with her.

The expert is Dr Mark Glancy – Reader in Film History, at Queen Mary, University of London.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.

Nick Stadlen on Bram Fischer Sep 22, 2015

This week's Great Life might have become an Afrikaner Nationalist Prime Minister of apartheid South Africa, but instead became its most prominent white opponent. A formidable advocate, he led the defence of Nelson Mandela in the Rivonia Trial. It is no exaggeration to say Bram Fischer saved Mandela's life, and it is said Mandela would have made him his vice-president, had he lived to see Mandela's release. He's nominated by former English High Court Judge Sir Nick Stadlen along with Lord Joffe.

Presenter Matthew Parris.

Producer Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.

Hannah Rothschild on Thelonious Monk Sep 15, 2015

Hannah Rothschild champions the life of the jazz musician Thelonious Monk.

Brilliant, eccentric and one of the true giants of jazz, Monk was an incredible pianist, the composer of jazz standards such as 'Round Midnight', the co-creator of bebop and a close friend of Hannah's great-aunt, the Jazz Baroness Nica Rothschild. Matthew Parris chairs as Hannah and music writer Richard Williams chart Monk's progress through the jazz clubs and recording studios of mid-twentieth century New York.

Producer: Julia Johnson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Monica Ali chooses Richard Francis Burton Sep 01, 2015

Sir Richard Francis Burton was an explorer, adventurer, soldier, author, poet, sexologist and translator. He brought us the Kama Sutra and spoke 29 languages. The author Monica Ali champions this racy character and tells Matthew Parris why this 19th-century explorer is a Great Life. They are also joined by historian and broadcaster Matthew Ward.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

George Washington Williams Aug 25, 2015

George Washington Williams was an incredibly early, mould-breaking, self-made black intellectual who fought in the American civil war and went on to write the first history of African Americans. He met King Leopold of Belgium and exposed that country's treatment of Africans under Belgian colonial rule.

Nominating the life of George Washington Williams is television presenter, and former Paralympic medallist, Ade Adepitan. The expert witness is Dr David Brown, Senior Lecturer in American Studies at the University of Manchester. The presenter is Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Michael Howard on Elizabeth I Aug 19, 2015

Matthew Parris meets the former leader of the Conservative Party Michael Howard to discuss the life of Elizabeth I of England. They're joined by Professor Paulina Kewes of Jesus College Oxford. Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Vicky Pryce on Melina Mercouri Aug 11, 2015

Matthew Parris's guest is Vicky Pryce, the Greek born economist, who attracted media headlines on her conviction over speeding points incurred by her former husband, Chris Huhne. Vicky has chosen the film star turned politician, Melina Mercouri who believed culture to be as important as money or power - if not more so. As Minister for Culture, she promoted Greece's cultural heritage and fought for the return of the Elgin Marbles. Some consider one her greatest achievements to be the founding of the European Capital of Culture.

Expert witness is Adrian Wootton OBE, Chief Executive of Film London and Victoria Solomonidis contributes

Producer Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Ian McKellen on Edmund Hillary Aug 04, 2015

On May 29 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest.

Both men immediately became famous worldwide.

Actor Sir Ian McKellen, then a young teenager in Burnley, was clearly struck by the achievement. In later life he met Hillary in New Zealand and has strong memories of a modest man whose first job was beekeeping.

Hillary also took a tractor to the South Pole in 1958 and became High Commissioner to India in 1985

"I did a good job on Everest," Hillary once said, "but have always known my limitations and I found being classified as a hero slightly embarrassing."

Joining Sir Ian McKellen, is the author of Everest 1953, Mick Conefrey. He reveals the epic story of the first ascent, plus discusses Hillary's work with the Himalayan Trust.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2015.

Val McDermid on PD James Jun 02, 2015

Val McDermid thinks crime writing is most definitely a suitable job for a woman.

She believes women are good at observing the minutiae of life and incorporating them into clue development.

Despite writing a book entitled 'An Unsuitable Job For A Woman', PD James evidently thought the same.

Val McDermid discusses her grea life with the help of James's friend, the literary critic Peter Kemp.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2015.

David Blunkett on Louis Braille May 28, 2015

Matthew Parris hears why David Blunkett has chosen Louis Braille, the 18th century French boy who blinded himself in his father's workshop, as his great life - with the help of guest expert the RNIB's Kevin Carey. Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2015.

US Ambassador Matthew Barzun on JG Winant May 19, 2015

Matthew Parris meets the American Ambassador Matthew Barzun whose choice of great life is his wartime predecessor, John Gil Winant - the man widely held to have helped seal the special relationship between Britain and America and to have brought the US into the war effort.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Antonia Quirke on Marlon Brando May 12, 2015

Marlon Brando - greatest actor of the 20th century?

Film critic Antonia Quirke definitely thinks he is.

But the star of the Godfather, On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire divides opinion in this lively assessment of his life.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

With contributions from writer Robyn Karney and Joe Queenan in the USA.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2015.

Wendy Cope on John Clare May 05, 2015

"John Clare, I cried last night for you" wrote Wendy Cope in a poem dedicated to the earlier poet, who overcame monumental setbacks such as a poverty-stricken upbringing and a long struggle with mental illness. However, Clare managed to write some of the most sensitive poetry in the English language. At one point he was known as "the English Robert Burns" but then his fame dropped away and many people now remember him solely for his cri de coeur, "I Am."

Expert witness is John Clare's biographer, Sir Jonathan Bate.

Producer Christine Hall

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2015

Dame Helen Ghosh on James Lees-Milne Apr 28, 2015

Matthew Parris's guest is Dame Helen Ghosh, Director General of the National Trust, who chooses as her Great Life James Lees-Milne who worked for the Trust between 1936 and 1966. He was responsible for acquiring many of the Trust's most iconic properties and his particular talent was his ability to persuade the aristocratic owners of the houses into handing them over to the Trust for protection. His other talent was in writing, and it is his deliciously indiscreet diaries for which many people know him.

Merlin Waterson, who was a friend of Lees-Milne's, is the expert witness.

Producer Christine Hall.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Kulvinder Ghir on Zoran Music Apr 21, 2015

Comedian and actor Kulvinder Ghir nominates the life of the artist Zoran Music. Matthew Parris finds out about Music who sketched corpses during and after he survived the horrors of being held at Dachau- a concentration camp in 1944.

They are also joined by art critic, curator Michael Peppiatt who was a friend and an admirer of Zoran Music in this week's Great Life.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Rachel Johnson on Ottoline Morrell Apr 14, 2015

Rachel Johnson author and journalist champions the life of Ottoline Morrell. The Bloomsbury hostess, a mistress, a dominant figure in the arts without being an artist herself was often mocked and ridiculed. Rachel tells Matthew Parris why her extraordinary life was a great life. They are also joined by author and one of Lady Ottoline's biographers Miranda Seymour. Producer : Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Sir Trevor McDonald on Learie Constantine Apr 07, 2015

The veteran broadcaster Sir Trevor McDonald chooses the life of Learie Constantine, the Trinidadian cricketer, politician and broadcaster who championed the rights of West Indians in Britain during the war years and afterwards. Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Mervyn King on Risto Ryti Jan 27, 2015

Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England tells Matthew Parris why the life of the Prime Minister of Finland Risto Ryti was so remarkable. They are also joined by expert and biographer Martti Turtola. Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Eve Pollard on Nora Ephron Jan 26, 2015

Former newspaper editor and writer Eve Pollard tells Matthew Parris why Nora Ephron, the screenwriter of hit films such as 'When Harry Met Sally', 'Heartburn', and 'Sleepless in Seattle', is a Great Life.

They are joined by Dr Jennifer Smyth, an historian whose teaching includes women in Hollywood at the University of Warwick. Producer: Perminder Khatkar

Michael Dobbs on Guy Burgess Jan 13, 2015

Michael Dobbs champions the life of Guy Burgess - journalist, diplomat and spy. Between 1935 and 1951, Guy Burgess worked for a Conservative MP, the BBC, MI6 and the Foreign Office. Brilliant, flamboyant and apparently shambolic, he also shot like an arrow to the heart of the Establishment and secretly and systematically betrayed its secrets to the KGB. Matthew Parris chairs as Michael explains why he believes that Guy Burgess was a Great Life. Burgess’s biographer Stewart Purvis, who uncovered the only known audio recording of Guy Burgess, is the expert witness. Producer: Julia Johnson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Philippa Langley on Richard III Jan 06, 2015

When Philippa Langley and other members of the Richard III Society helped to discover the body of the king in a Leicester car park, Richard's life once again became a hotly contested debating point. Philippa joins Matthew Parris to defend Richard III as a Great Life, with expert witness and Richard biographer Annette Carson. Can the man who may have been responsible for the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower really be described as "great"? Or was he the victim of Tudor propaganda and Shakespearian slander? Producer Christine Hall

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Tom Solomon on Roald Dahl Dec 30, 2014

Writer Roald Dahl is well known as the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox and The BFG, but he was also fascinated by medical science. Professor Tom Solomon, who looked after him during his last illness, spent hours discussing medicine with Dahl.

Tom talks to Matthew Parris about Dahl's life and work, through the prism of his forensic interest in the workings of the human body. With them is Donald Sturrock, Dahl's biographer.

Producer Christine Hall.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Brian Eno on Lord Young of Dartington Dec 23, 2014

Brian Eno has worked with David Bowie, David Byrne and U2 but his choice of Great Life is not a rock star but the sociologist Lord Young of Dartington. Michael Young wrote the Labour Party's 1945 election manifesto, researched slum clearance in the East End of London, set up the Consumers' Association, coined the word "meritocracy", co-founded the Open University and planned the colonisation of Mars. With the help of Michael's son Toby, Brian considers the life and work of one of the architects of post-war Britain. Producer: Julia Johnson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Laura Bates on Louisa May Alcott Dec 16, 2014

Laura Bates, journalist and curator of the Everyday Sexism Project, explains to Matthew Parris why the 19th century children's author Louisa May Alcott has her vote for a Great Life. They are joined by Sarah Churchwell, Professor of American Literature at the University of East Anglia. Louisa May Alcott is best known as the writer of "Little Women", the story of four sisters growing up during the Civil War in America. Generations of girls have read the book, which at first sight seems to be an improving tract on growing up and becoming a good Christian wife.

Both Laura and Sarah have a very different reading of the book and believe Louisa May Alcott to have been a remarkable woman and a dedicated feminist. Producer Christine Hall

First heard on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Arthur Smith on Emil Zátopek Dec 09, 2014

Matthew Parris – himself current holder of the House of Commons marathon record time – meets comedian Arthur Smith, who also turns out to have been a runner when he was younger.

His choice for a Great Life is an athlete whom he has admired since his childhood.

Emil Zátopek emerged onto the international stage in 1948 when he became a sensation at the Olympics in London, but it was his performance in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics which put him in the record books. Already an established distance runner, he bagged gold in the 5000 and 10000 metres and then, having previously given no hint that he would be a champion marathon runner, he also won that race.

The expert witness is Pat Butcher, writer and ex-runner, who is working on a biography of Zátopek, and he argues that no-one is likely ever to equal Zátopek's achievement in winning gold in three different distance events.

Zátopek retired from competitive running in 1957 and later fell heavily out of favour with the post- Dubcek regime in Czechoslovakia.

But he was rehabilitated after 1989 and remains a much-cherished hero in Czech Republic and among the running community.

Producer Christine Hall.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2014.

Professor Edith Hall on Lucille Ball Oct 02, 2014

Matthew Parris discovers that Edith Hall, Professor of Classics at King’s College, London, has a surprising nomination for a Great Life.

She's chosen Lucille Ball, the vivacious redhead, who in the 1950s and 1960s was one of the best-known and best-loved actresses on TV, both in the United States and here.

What makes a professor of Greek and Roman writing such a great fan of a zany American actress?

What was Lucy like behind the TV persona?

Matthew finds out in the company of Carole Cook, Lucy’s long-time friend and protégée. Producer: Christine Hall

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.

Andrew Adonis on Joseph Bazalgette Oct 02, 2014

Matthew Parris hears from Labour peer Lord Adonis why Joseph Bazalgette, the Victorian engineer, has his nomination as a Great Life. Bazalgette, the grandson of a French immigrant who made a fortune lending money to the Hanoverian royal family, is one of the most important of the great Victorian engineers. He not only built a sewage system for London which wiped out cholera in the city, he also built the famous Embankments, laid out several of the main thoroughfares and built or improved many of the city's landmark bridges. Yet he is far less well-known than his flamboyant contemporary Brunel and less celebrated than the creators of the railways. With the help of Joseph Bazalgette's great-great-grandson Sir Peter Bazalgette, the man responsible for Ready Steady Cook and Big Brother and now Chairman of the Arts Council, Matthew pieces together the story of Sir Joseph Bazalgette, "The Sewer King." Producer Christine Hall

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Stella Rimington on Dorothy L Sayers Sep 10, 2014

Dame Stella Rimington, former director of MI5 and a celebrated crime writer herself, nominates for a Great Life that of Dorothy L Sayers.

Sayers' first Lord Peter Wimsey novel was published in the 1920s, the Golden Age of crime fiction, and he is still very much with us, appearing often on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

She went on to enjoy a huge popularity with her crime novels and then turned to writing Christian essays and plays, most notably the series for the BBC on the life of Christ – which stirred up a great controversy as no-one had before impersonated Jesus on the radio.

Dame Stella tells Matthew Parris why the paradoxes and contradictions in Dorothy Sayers' life fascinate her, and explains how Sayers' writing influences her own. With Seona Ford, chairman of the Dorothy L Sayers Society.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Labi Siffre on Arthur Ransome Sep 09, 2014

Singer-songwriter Labi Siffre discusses the life and work of Arthur Ransome.

Siffre says that the Swallows and Amazons books taught him responsibility for his own actions and also a morality that has influenced and shaped him throughout his life.

Series in which Matthew Parris invites his guests to nominate the person who they feel is a great life. Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.

Tom Shakespeare on Gramsci Sep 02, 2014

Dr Tom Shakespeare is a lecturer at the Medical School in the University of East Anglia and prominent campaigner for the rights of the disabled.

He explains to Matthew Parris why the life and work of the Italian left-wing revolutionary Antonio Gramsci means a great deal to him personally.

They're joined in the studio by Professor Anne Sassoon. Producer: Christine Hal

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2014.l

Ray Mears on Rommel Aug 26, 2014

The life of Erwin Rommel, for a time Hitler's favourite general is nominated by Ray Mears. Matthew Parris hears why this German soldier was a "great life". They are also joined by Dr Niall Barr, Reader in Military History, Defence Studies Department at Kings College, London. Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Baroness Oona King on Ida B Wells Aug 19, 2014

Matthew Parris leads a discussion on Ida B. Wells the African American civil rights and women's rights activist who was a political trailblazer. She is the great life chosen by Baroness Oona King.

Throughout her life, Wells was militant in her demands for equality and justice for black Americans and she encouraged the African American community to fight for positive change through their own efforts. She was an investigative journalist who highlighted the practice of lynching in the United States, showing how it was used as a way to control or punish blacks , often under the guise of trumped up rape charges. Ida was also active in women's rights and the women's suffrage movement, establishing several notable women's organizations. She was a skilled and inspiring rhetorician, and travelled internationally on lecture tours.

With Madge Dresser.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Jazzie B on James Brown Aug 12, 2014

Soul II Soul’s Jazzie B tells Matthew Parris why he nominates James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul”, for this series.

Jazzie B, who was awarded a CBE for services to black British music, spent time latterly with James Brown and he became “like a big brother.” He shares personal reflections on Mr Brown’s life and legacy, with help from the music journalist Charles Shaar Murray.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2014.

Jonathan Meades on Edward Burra Aug 05, 2014

Writer Jonathan Meades nominates the English artist Edward Burra, who died in 1976, for "great life" status, arguing that he deserves to be better known. Burra painted sailors, drinkers and prostitutes in Toulon; jazz musicians in Harlem; surreal wartime pictures of soldiers in terrifying bird masks; and, in his later years, landscapes in which anthropomorphic and malevolent machines bite chunks out of the countryside. Disabled with rheumatoid arthritis from an early age, Burra barely went to school and so escaped the Edwardian upper class upbringing that would otherwise have been his destiny. At once camp yet apparently celibate, Burra was intensely private and disliked talking about either himself or art - or, as he called it, "fart". Matthew Parris chairs the discussion, and is joined by Burra's biographer Jane Stevenson. Producer: Jolyon Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Ernest Hemingway May 27, 2014

Michael Palin first came across his Great Life when he was studying for school exams, and his love of Ernest Hemingway has never gone away. He, along with expert Naomi Wood, tells Matthew Parris why this twentieth century legend is a Great Life.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

John Craven on Brunel May 13, 2014

Countryfile presenter John Craven proposes Victorian Engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, as a great life. He's joined by engineering historian Julia Elton and presenter Matthew Parris.

And where better to discuss Brunel's achievements than by the harbour in Bristol in the shadow of his magnificent steam ship the SS Great Britain. But should his creator of great machines himself be considered a great man or is finest achievement the engineering of his own reputation?

Recorded at the Food Connections Festival in Bristol.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Isy Suttie on Jake Thackray May 06, 2014

Jake Thackray hated being known as the north country Noel Coward, but at the height of his fame the description stuck. His songs are very British, but his influences were European - Georges Brassens and Jacques Brel. Nominating Jake Thackray is Isy Suttie, Dobby from Peep Show and star of the A-Z of Mrs P. The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer Miles Warde.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Emma Kirkby on Henry Purcell May 06, 2014

Soprano Emma Kirkby discusses the life of English composer Henry Purcell with Matthew Parris.

Despite dying at the age of 36, Purcell was arguably the first composer to become a national figure, as shown by his funeral at Westminster Abbey. Living through turbulent times, and through the reign of three monarchs, Purcell had to cope with shifting Catholic and Protestant regimes while producing a steady output of religious music. But he also did some of his most memorable and enduring work for the commercial theatre. Few composers have set the English language to music so felicitously.

After his death, Britain produced few world class composers for 200 years. To discuss his legacy, Emma and Matthew are joined by Purcell scholar Michael Burden

Producer: Jolyon Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Deborah Moggach on Arnold Bennett Apr 29, 2014

Novelist and screenwriter, Deborah Moggach, nominates the Potteries writer Arnold Bennett, whose work she thinks has been wrongly overlooked, as he was considered as being too popular.

Moggach believes that because he was a working writer who earned his living writing both serious and light fiction, he was not taken seriously until after his death in 1931, despite his books being hugely popular during his lifetime. Bennett wrote many novels including ‘Anna of the Five Towns’ and ‘The Old Wives Tale’.

As a journalist, Bennett also wrote self-help and lifestyle articles for magazines including 'How to Bathe a Baby Part One' and 'Do Rich Women Quarrel More Frequently Than Poor?'

Gyles Brandreth has been a lifelong Bennett fan and believes him to be one of the greatest writers of the 20th century who deserves to be rediscovered.

Presenter: Matthew Parris.

Producer: Maggie Ayre.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Marcus du Sautoy on Jorge Luis Borges Apr 22, 2014

Mathematician Marcus de Sautoy champions the blind Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. He is fascinated by the connection between the creator of 'The Library of Babel' and science - did Borges really understand notions of infinity and space?

Biographer Jason Wilson adds colourful detail to the life of a great writer whom he insists was just being impish when it came to the weighty matters that have excited more than one mathematician over the years.

The programme includes beautiful recordings of Borges in conversation in 1971. Marcus du Sautoy is the Charles Simonyi Professor for the Understanding of Science.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Produced by Miles Warde.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2014.

Sir Mark Walport on Sir Hans Sloane Apr 15, 2014

Sir Mark Walport, the government's Chief Scientific Advisor champions the life of Sir Hans Sloane, founder of the British Museum. Along with expert Marjorie Caygill they tell Matthew Parris why they think Sloane is the mother and father of all collectors.

Producer : Perminder Khatkar.

Ian Curtis Apr 09, 2014

Series of biographical discussions with Matthew Parris.

Poet Simon Armitage nominates Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, who took his own life in 1980 at the age of 23. Curtis's fellow band member Peter Hook remembers his friend.

Sarah Vine on Dante Apr 08, 2014

"Whenever I have too much to drink, I bang on about Dante ...." Sarah Vine makes a choice from the heart - the great Italian writer Dante Alighieri, father of the Italian language and author of the Divine Comedy. "I'm not an expert," she says, "mine is more of a romantic infatuation." As well as the outspoken Daily Mail columnist, Matthew Parris is joined by Claire Honess, professor of Italian studies at Leeds University.

Together they piece together an extraordinary life. Includes extracts from Radio 4's production of the Divine Comedy starring John Hurt Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2014.

Evelyn Glennie on Jacqueline Du Pre Apr 01, 2014

Evelyn Glennie, solo percussionist talks about her admiration for the cellist Jacqueline Du Pre with presenter Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2014.

DJ Sara Cox nominates singer Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes Jan 28, 2014

The DJ Sara Cox nominates Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes, a hip hop artist and rapper who performed with the band TLC. She burned her lover's house down and TLC went bankrupt. Lisa died in a car accident aged 30, during a documentary shoot. The expert witness is music journalist Jacqueline Springer and the presenter is Matthew Parris.

Assistant Producer: Milly Chowles

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.

Mark Constantine on Kahlil Gibran Jan 23, 2014

Businessman Mark Constantine chooses Lebanese-American author of ‘The Prophet’, Khalil Gibran. With Matthew Parris.

Snubbed and practically ignored by the literary establishment in the West, but regarded by millions as a world-class poet his work, The Prophet, published in 1923, has never been out of print and next to the bible is the biggest selling book in America.

Businessman Mark Constantine champions the poet and together with the actor Nadim Sawalha. Matthew Parris is the presenter. Producer : Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.

Meg Rosoff on Isabella Bird Jan 23, 2014

At home in Edinburgh Isabella Bird was the very picture of the ailing Victorian spinster but the moment her tiny feet hit the gangway of a steamer or squeezed into the stirrups of a horse she was transformed. Taking a doctor's advice to travel for the sake of her health Isabella headed for Australia, Japan, Korea and Hawaii before finding her spiritual home amongst the most rotten scoundrels of America's West. In 'Great Lives' the award-winning author of novels including 'How I Live Now' and 'The Bride's Farewell', Meg Rosoff explains why Isabella's transformation has inspired her books and her love of horses. She's joined by David McClay from the National Library of Scotland who maintains an archive of Isabella's colourful correspondence from the farthest flung corners of the Earth.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.

Dave Allen chosen by Adil Ray Jan 14, 2014

Comedian Dave Allen is chosen by Adil Ray, creator and star of Citizen Khan. He explains to Matthew Parris how the legendary Irish comic helped shape his own career.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.

David Baddiel on John Updike Jan 08, 2014

Writer and comedian David Baddiel chooses the American novelist, John Updike. With Matthew Parris and Justin Cartwright.

His novels perfectly captured the shifting moral codes of middle America in the 1970s and 80s but do John Updike's novels still have something important to tell us today? The writer and comedian David Baddiel makes the case for Updike in conversation with Matthew Parris and the novelist and Updike expert, Justin Cartwright.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.

Sir David Chipperfield on Le Corbusier Dec 31, 2013

Pioneer of Modern architecture, Le Corbusier, chosen by award winning architect Sir David Chipperfield.

Le Corbusier aimed to build a better world through radical buildings and the controversial reshaping of whole cities. Flora Samuel, Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield, joins Matthew Parris to unpick the life of a man who considered himself a herioc figure, fighting battles to improve the world.

Presenter: Matthew Parris. Producer: Melvin Rickarby

Michael Horovitz on Allen Ginsberg Dec 17, 2013

Matthew Parris is joined by Michael Horovitz who nominates fellow poet and founder of the 'Beat Generation', Allen Ginsberg, as his Great Life. Ginsberg's friend and biographer Barry Miles provides biographical detail of this colourful and controversial writer, who through his battle for free expression inspired American counter culture.

Producer: Melvin Rickarby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.

Ricky Ross on Hank Williams Dec 10, 2013

The life of the 'Hillbilly Shakespeare' Hank Williams is the choice of Deacon Blue singer Ricky Ross.

Williams is regarded as being the prototype rock star and continues to be hugely influential on musicians today despite a short recording career of just six years before he died at the age of 29.

Matthew Parris presents.

With Nick Barraclough as the expert witness.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.

Nina Simone Nov 27, 2013

The chanteuse, pianist, composer and civil rights activist Nina Simone is the choice of another female musician who has made a career of defying convention; Joanna Macgregor. Presented by Matthew Parris.

Nancy Mitford Oct 02, 2013

Grace Dent nominates Nancy Mitford for her wit, and for the way in which she showed women that it was possible to live your life fully and unconventionally.

Nancy Mitford's greatest success came with the novels The Pursuit of Love (1945) and Love in a Cold Climate (1949).

Matthew Parris asks what else it is about Nancy that so inspires Grace, with the aid of Mitford biographer Lisa Hilton.

Grace Dent is a TV and restaurant critic, newspaper columnist, author, and broadcaster.

Producer Beth O'Dea

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2013.

Al Murray on Bernard Montgomery Oct 01, 2013

"In defeat, unbeatable; in victory, unbearable" – so said Winston Churchill on this week's Great Live, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery. Many would argue that he was Britain's greatest field commander since Wellington - arrogant, hard to like but undeniably successful – one of the most, perhaps the most, conspicuously successful British commander of the Second World War. He was a national celebrity.

In this edition of Great Lives - Al Murray - comedian and TV personality best known for his character of 'The Pub Landlord' champions Monty – and Al starts off by showing presenter Matthew Parris his action figure doll of the man. Joining them is expert historian from the Imperial War Museum, Terry Charman.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2013.

Sir Brendan Barber on John Steinbeck Sep 24, 2013

Trade unionist Sir Brendan Barber nominates American author, John Steinbeck as his Great Life.

The author of The Grapes of Wrath aimed to fight the cause of the common man, was derided by the right as a Communist and by the left as a sell-out for supporting the Vietnam war.

Brendan picks through the politics and explains how Steinbeck influenced him as a teenager to look towards joining the trade union movement. After early success, describing the catastrophic effects of the Great Depression and the Dustbowl in Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck became war correspondent, Nobel Laureate, presidential speechwriter, Hollywood scriptwriter, and environmentalist.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Professor Christopher Bigsby from the University of East Anglia helps guide us through the life of a man described as 'America's Charles Dickens'. Producer: Melvin Rickarby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2013.

Konnie Huq on Ada Lovelace Sep 17, 2013

TV presenter Konnie Huq chooses the mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron, Ada Lovelace. With Matthew Parris.

From Banking, to air traffic control systems and to controlling the United States defence department there's a computer language called 'Ada' – it's named after Ada Lovelace – a 19th century mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron. Ada Lovelace is this week's Great Life. She's been called many things – but perhaps most poetically by Charles Babbage whom she worked with on a steam-driven calculating machine called the Difference Engine an 'enchantress of numbers', as her similarly mathematical mother had been called by Lord Byron a "princess of parallelograms". Augusta 'Ada' Byron was born in 1815 but her parents marriage was short and unhappy; they separated when Ada was one month old and she never saw her father , he died when was eight years old. Her mother, Annabella concerned Ada might inherit Byron's "poetic tendencies" had her schooled her in maths and science to try to combat any madness inherited from her father.

She's championed by TV presenter and writer – Konnie Huq, most well known for presenting the BBC's children's programme - 'Blue Peter' and together with expert– Suw Charman- Anderson, a Social technologist, they lift the lid on the life of this mathematician, now regarded as the first computer programmer with presenter Matthew Parris. Producer : Perminder Khatkar. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2013.

Peter Bowles on George Devine Sep 10, 2013

Matthew Parris is joined by actor Peter Bowles who nominates George Devine, groundbreaking artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre. Devine battled against the theatrical establishment, repressive censorship, helped the careers of actors like Laurence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft, and by discovering writers like John Osborne and other 'Angry Young Men' - he changed British theatre forever. Helping guide us through the post-war landscape of Devine's life, is Philip Roberts, Emeritus Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Leeds.

Produced in Bristol by Melvin Rickarby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2013.

Paul Mason on Louise Michel Sep 03, 2013

TV journalist and writer Paul Mason talks to Matthew Parris about the 19th Century French anarchist, Louise Michel, heroine of the Paris Commune. They're joined by historian Carolyn Eichner who says that Michel "expounded action and aggression with a theatrical, infectious elegance."

Known as 'the Red Virgin of Montmartre', Michel fought on the barricades in the short-lived revolution of 1871. Captured and tried by the French government, she told her accusers: "Since it seems that every heart that beats for freedom has no right to anything but a little lump of lead, I demand my share. If you let me live, I shall never cease to cry for vengeance and l shall avenge my brothers. If you are not cowards, kill me!"

She served seven years in a penal colony in the South Pacific and seven thousand Parisians turned out to welcome her home. She was a school teacher, writer, orator, anthropologist, feminist and cat-lover. She wrote some moving poems – and an opera about the destruction of the world. Producer: Peter Everett

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4in 2013.

Julie Burchill on Ava Gardner Aug 27, 2013

The writer Julie Burchill talks to Matthew Parris about the Hollywood star Ava Gardner. They're joined by Ava's biographer Lee Server.

Often described as ‘the most beautiful woman in the world’, Ava Gardner made sixty-five movies, ranging from ‘Mogambo' (for which she won an Oscar nomination) to ‘Maisie Goes To Reno' (for which she didn't). She had three husbands - Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra - and many lovers including Howard Hughes, David Niven, Robert Mitchum and John F. Kennedy as well as numerous playboys, beach-boys and bullfighters.

Ava Gardner was, says Matthew Parris, “a hard-drinking, wisecracking, libidinous vamp – a liberated woman before the phrase was invented.”

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Produced by Peter Everett.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.

Tanika Gupta on Rabindranath Tagore Aug 20, 2013

Playwright Tanika Gupta chooses as her Great Life, a man who is a hero to Bengali speakers across the World, Rabindranath Tagore.

Born in 1861, to a wealthy family in Calcutta, Tagore would be the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, his work spanning every genre. He was also a humanist, philanthropist, and thinker, whose friends included Yeats and Gandhi.

Tagore began writing in his boyhood, and his work reflects a deep feeling for the landscape of Bengal. His plays, essays, stories and poetry quickly found a ready audience in Bengali speakers. And in 1913, when he won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his poetry collection ‘Gitanjali', or ‘Song Offerings', his reputation was established world-wide.

Tagore's brand of humanism, his anti-imperial politics, and his literature, took him around the World. It also convinced him of the dangers of European aggression and the need for Indian Independence. He died just six years before it was achieved.

Playwright Tanika Gupta joins Matthew Parris to share her deep love of Tagore's work and her early experiences of performing it. She is joined by Tagore's translator, Ketaki Kushari Dyson, to discuss Tagore's vast legacy to Bengali speakers and beyond.

Produced by Lizz Pearson.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.

Gabriel Gbadamosi on Fela Kuti Aug 13, 2013

Poet, playwright, and critic Gabriel Gbadamosi chooses as his Great Life the political maverick and inventor of Afrobeat, musician Fela Kuti, and tells Matthew Parris why his work deserves to be better known.

Whether withstanding ferocious beatings from the Nigerian police, insulting his audiences, or demanding a million pounds in cash upfront from Motown records, his strength and stubbornness were legendary, and his gift for controversy unmatched.

Fela had more than 25 wives, some of whom he beat, and was President of his own self proclaimed Republic. He smoked dope and was the scourge of the rulers of a corrupt Nigerian state and was acclaimed as having the best live band on earth.

Gabriel Gbadamosi is joined by Stephen Chan, professor of International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, to discuss the musical and political life of this outspoken force of nature.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Melvin Rickarby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.

Russell Grant on Ivor Novello Aug 06, 2013

Astrologer and performer Russell Grant chooses one of the greatest screen legends of cinema's early years – Ivor Novello.

Born in 1893 in Cardiff, Novello was also a talented writer and composer and would dominate both screen and stage with his epic romantic fantasies, until his death in 1951.

Russell is joined by Richard Stirling, author of the stage biography of Novello, 'Love, from Ivor', and the adaptor of one of Novello's last productions, ‘Gay's the Word’.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Produced by Lizz Pearson.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.

Florence Nightingale Jun 05, 2013

Dr Lucy Worsley chooses a figure as familiar as she is unknown, the great champion of Victorian nursing, Florence Nightingale. Known as 'the Lady with the Lamp' for her work in the Crimea.

Born in 1820 into an upper middle class family, Florence experienced early life as a bird in a gilded cage and suffered frequent 'nervous collapse'. Prodigiously intelligent, she was also deeply religious, and at 16 declared she had heard the voice of God, calling her to nursing. By her thirties, and despite opposition from her family, Florence had succeeded in training as a nurse. She was working in a Harley Street establishment for the care of gentlewomen when Britain and France joined Turkish forces against the Russians in the Crimea. As reports came in of the men's suffering, she became convinced of her ability to help.

Commissioned by the War Office, Florence set sail for the Crimea in 1854, and her work there quickly became well known. Walking the corridors with her lamp, she was adored by the men for her determination to spare them the diseases like cholera and typhus that were decimating their numbers. But she was as steely as she was compassionate, and ran her troop of nurses with a military discipline. In Britain her reputation grew.

By the time of her return two years later, Florence was a reluctant celebrity, frail and ill. While her mother and sister basked in her glory, Florence retreated from the limelight, and for some years was bed-bound. It's now believed she had brucellosis, an illness contracted through infected milk, which leads to depression and severe pain. Yet this did not stop her engagement with medicine, and even from her bed she was instrumental in changing the way that healthcare was implemented both in the Army, and in society at large. Statistics was key to this, and a passion for Florence, who saw in the gathering of data, the evidence of God's patterns at work. She also famously established a school for nursing, and professionalised nursing work.

Dr Lucy Worsley, television historian, writer and Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces, the independent charity that looks after buildings including Hampton Court and the Tower of London, joins Matthew Parris to discuss the complex background of 'the Lady with the Lamp'. And biographer Mark Bostridge explains why Nightingale has a right to be regarded as a great genius of the Victorian age.

Producer: Lizz Pearson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.

Primo Levi May 21, 2013

Edmund de Waal chooses a writer he believes is one of the greatest of the modern age - Primo Levi, author of the Periodic Table. Born in 1919 in Turin, Levi was an Italian Jew, one of the few deported to Auschwitz who would escape alive.

Primo Levi's account of his time in the camp, If This Is a Man, made him one of the first writers to document the Holocaust and it established his name around the world. But Levi was not just a writer. He was a chemist, which gave him the skills that helped save his life in Auschwitz. It was also a day job he never gave up, and his passion for science remained a life-long pursuit.

After the War, Levi returned to Turin, married, had a family and wrote books in his spare time. He also became an enthusiastic letter-writer, corresponding with a new generation of Germans, to help them better understand the effects of the Nazi regime. Yet from his youth, Levi suffered from depression. In 1987 he took his own life, throwing himself down the stairwell in the house where he'd been born.

Ceramicist and author Edmund de Waal joins Matthew Parris to discuss how Levi's work inspired The Hare With Amber Eyes - his own memoir of his family's history as Jews in 19th and 20th century Europe. And biographer Ian Thomson, one of the last to interview Levi, explains why we shouldn't confuse Levi the writer with Levi the man.

Producer: Lizz Pearson

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.

Salvador Dali May 14, 2013

John Cooper Clarke, poetry's Punk Laureate, nominates Salvador Dali, the surrealist behind melting clocks, lobster telephones, and that trademark moustache.

Matthew Paris asks whether Dali was a genius artist or just a gifted marketeer of his own brand image, who latterly embraced commercialism.

"Both" comes the resounding answer from his champion John Cooper Clarke and the art historian Professor Dawn Ades, who recalls meeting the artist when just she just rang his doorbell in Figueres, Catalonia, back in 1968.

Producer: Mark Smalley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.

Bill Shankly May 07, 2013

Mumsnet founder Justine Roberts champions the life of Liverpool’s football manager Bill Shankly.

In the 1960s, Bill Shankley took his team from division two to become one of the world's greatest sides.

Famous for his quip that "football is not a matter of life and death, it's much more important than that", Shankly lived and breathed football; but in his later years he felt that the Liverpool managers had frozen him out of the side he had nurtured, and betrayed him.

Shankly came from humble beginnings. After school he worked down the local coal mine until the pit was closed. He never became rich and lived in a modest semi-detached house where Liverpool fans were always welcome.

His life was a far cry from that of today's top managers, but through his canny playing of the transfer market, did he anticipate their methods?

Matthew Parris chairs the discussion, with the aid of Shankly biographer Stephen Kelly.

Producer: Jolyon Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2013.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Apr 30, 2013

Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth nominates Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as his "Great Life". Matthew Parris chairs, assisted by biographer Andrew Lycett.

Conan Doyle is best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes. This always irritated him, and he tried to kill off the great detective, only to bring him back by popular demand. But there was more to Conan Doyle than Holmes. A footballer, cricketer, skier,, a campaigner against the Belgian atrocities in the Congo, and most startlingly, a convinced spiritualist who believed in fairies.

The paradox of Conan Doyle's life was that, having invented the most rational, cerebral fictional character of all time, he himself embraced superstition and behaved in ways that caused even his allies to despair of his credulity.

David Livingstone Apr 23, 2013

Dr David Livingstone was the Victorian equivalent of an astronaut - a man who ventured into the interior of Africa to report on territory that was wholly unknown to Europeans. In this programme, the explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell explains why he admires his predecessor. Matthew Parris chairs the discussion, assisted by Dr Sarah Worden of the National Museum of Scotland.

Livingstone went to Africa as a missionary but succeeded in making only one convert, who soon lapsed. Frustrated, he switched his focus to exploration, crossing southern Africa from east to west and back again. He discovered the Victoria Falls, but his attempts to reach the interior by going up the Zambezi were a disaster when he discovered that the rapids he had been warned about were impassable. On his recommendation, missionary families came out from England to settle in what is now Malawi but - as he should have anticipated - many of them died of disease.

Despite these failures, he was and is regarded as a hero. As a self-made man who put himself through university on his wages from working in a cotton mill, he embodied the Victorian can-do spirit. His map-making, natural history observations, facility with languages and sheer endurance in the face of overwhelming obstacles made him a formidable character. Above all, his legacy in helping to end the east African slave trade mean that he is still revered in Africa today.

Produced by Jolyon Jenkins.

First broadcast on Radio 4 in 2013.

Kenny Everett Apr 16, 2013

Chris Tarrant chooses one of the great pioneers of modern radio.

He's the man born Maurice Cole in Liverpool in 1944, who found fame on TV as Gizzard Puke, Cupid Stunt and Sid Snot: Kenny Everett.

Kenny's life was almost as bizarre as the characters he played, but it is for his work as a DJ that Chris Tarrant selects him. Tarrant was at London's Capital Radio for 20 years.

Kenny Everett began his career in pirate radio, from where he was sacked. He also worked for the BBC, from where he was sacked. He made one appearance on Radio 4's Just a Minute, famously talking about marbles. Other employees included Radio Luxembourg and Capital.

Presenter Matthew Parris reminisces about the Young Conservatives invitation to Kenny Everett to join them on stage in 1983 - his slogans included 'Let's Bomb Russia' and 'Let's kick Michael Foot's stick away' - while biographer James Hogg fills in some of the details of Everett's complicated personal life.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2013.

Galileo Apr 09, 2013

The DJ and broadcaster Bobby Friction champions the Italian physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei. He is the first Great Lives guest to have named a child after his nominated hero.

Galileo was born on 25th February 1564, in Pisa. He was a best-selling author - the Stephen Hawking of his day - who challenged Aristotle's view of the cosmos and was brought before the Inquisition.

The presenter is Matthew Parris, with additional contributions from Dr David Berman from Queen Mary University of London. Together they discuss whether Galileo should have stood his ground and refused to recant, or if he should be recognised as someone whose experimentation helped define what science is.

Produced by Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.

George Bell Apr 02, 2013

"I remember seeing him sitting on the bishops' bench, and I went to him and said, George, I believe you are going to make a speech. He replied, yes I am. I said, George, there isn't a soul in this House who doesn't wish you wouldn't make the speech ..." Lord Woolton, 1944

George Bell, Bishop of Chichester, was the most famous churchman of his day. His brave speech attacking the allies' bombing tactics in World War Two is justly remembered here by Peter Hitchens as one of the clearest, most coherent and measured statements ever made about the war. But his contemporaries did not see it quite the same way. "Don't let's be beastly to the Germans," sang Noel Coward, in part inspired by Bell's anti-war stance.

But George Bell was not a pacifist - he just believed that the British should not be as barbaric, as he saw it, as the Nazis who had provoked the war. In his speech Bell said, "... to justify methods inhumane in themselves by arguments of expediency smacks of the Nazi philosophy that Might is Right." The controversy surrounding the tactics of bomber command remain alive today.

Peter Hitchens is a columnist on the Mail on Sunday, and was once described by a contemporary as a 'deeply compassionate man with the air of a propher about him; and like all prophets, doomed to be scorned by so many'. The programme discussion also includes Andrew Chandler, director of the George Bell Institute; and the presenter Matthew Parris.

The producer is Miles Warde.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.

William Robinson Jan 29, 2013

Gardener Carol Klein's great life is a Victorian hero of the wild garden, the writer and horticulturalist William Robinson. Matthew Parris presents, with expert help from Robinson's biographer Richard Bisgrove and reader Stephen Hogan.

William Robinson was a radical and persuasive writer and designer whose influence on British gardens has been compared to that of William Morris on interiors. You may not recognise his name but his influence lives on: 'we are all Robinsonians now, even if we don't know it', according to one recent review. Born in 1838 in Ireland, he started young as a garden boy for the Marquess of Waterford. Little more is known about Robinson's early life, but his rise to prominence was swift once he'd arrived in London. Within a few years he'd been elected as a fellow to the Linnaean Society, sponsored by Charles Darwin and James Veitch. He founded, wrote and published his own gardening periodicals and almanacs as well as writing best-selling books on gardening which struck a chord with the newly wealthy English middle classes who were beginning to build their own gardens in the suburbs around London.

Carol Klein is the garden expert and star of Gardener's World, who started life as an art teacher. Her gardening hobby became a successful career, with a trugful of gold medals from RHS shows and many best selling books on gardening, as well as her own TV series, most recently 'Life in a Cottage Garden'. She shares Robinson's passion and what she calls his 'empathy' for plants, too, making the best of their individual features, whatever they may be.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery

Aubrey Beardsley Jan 15, 2013

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen on the Victorian artist Aubrey Beardsley, whose shocking originality he compares to that of Alexander McQueen. Laurence's first foray into art was copying Beardsley drawings to sell at his school - with the more erotic ones fetching a premium price...

Biographer Matthew Sturgis fills in the detail of Beardsley's short but extraordinary life, and Matthew Parris presents.

Produce:r Beth O'Dea

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.

John Stuart Mill Jan 08, 2013

Max Mosley nominates the philosopher and proponent of personal liberty, John Stuart Mill, as his great life. With presenter Matthew Parris and biographer Richard Reeves.

Max Mosley trained as a barrister and was an amateur racing driver before becoming involved in the professional sport, latterly as president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. The youngest son of Sir Oswald Mosley, former leader of the British Union of Fascists, and Diana Mitford, his family name made a career in politics impossible. His choice of Mill as a great life is a result of his recent experiences of suing the News of the World for invasion of privacy, and giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry. He says that both sides of the debate used Mill's work on liberty to justify their arguments.

Until summer 2012 Richard Reeves was Nick Clegg's Director of Strategy, and before that, head of the think-tank 'Demos'. His biography, 'John Stuart Mill - Victorian Firebrand', depicts Mill as a passionate man of action: a philosopher, radical MP and reformer who profoundly shaped Victorian society and continues to illuminate our own.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2013.

Grigori Rasputin Jan 01, 2013

What was so notable about Grigori Rasputin ? "The hypnotic power shining in his exceptional gaze," said one observer. The photos are indeed remarkable, and so are the myths. This programme begins with his death. The date is December 1916, and Rasputin, ice encrusted and with a mutilated face, is dragged out of a frozen river in St Petersburg. According to police reports at the time, people ran to the river with armed with jugs and buckets, hoping to scoop up any unfrozen water that had come into contact with this famous man.

Comedian Richard Herring chooses Rasputin as much for the mythology as the fact. Was he really the lover of the Russian Queen ? No ... but it is said that his dead body sat up in the fire when it was being burnt. Filling in some of the gaps in this mysterious tale of pre-revolutionary Russia is Bob Service of Oxford University, and an endlessly entertained Matthew Parris presents.

Producer: Miles Warde.

Ralph Vaughan Williams Dec 25, 2012

Matthew Parris talks to writer, broadcaster and 6Music presenter Stuart Maconie about the life of Ralph Vaughan Williams.

The expert witness is Em Marshall-Luck, chairman of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society and founder-director of the English Music Festival.

Producer: Christine Hall

Jean Cocteau Dec 11, 2012

Francesca Simon is a writer, journalist and - most famously - the creator of the "Horrid Henry" series of children's books

She describes herself as "a giddy fan" of the artist, film-maker and poet Jean Cocteau

She celebrates his life and work with the help of expert witness Dr Andy Martin of Cambridge University

Matthew Parris finds out more

Producer: Christine Hall

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2012.

Dick Francis Dec 04, 2012

The date is 1956, Aintree, and Dick Francis is riding the Queen Mother's horse to victory in the Grand National. Except Devon Loch collapses bizarrely to the ground within sight of the finishing post. The jockey later says that he never recovered from this defeat. But the strange case of Devon Loch and the most famous Grand National of them all is the making of Dick Francis, who becomes both a household name and a best selling author too.

Martin Broughton, chairman of British Airways, the British Horse Racing Board and - for a while - Liverpool FC, chooses Dick Francis as his example of a man who succeeded in two careers. The Francis novels have sold in millions. Philip Larkin loved the opening lines: "There was a godawful cock up in Bologna," begins The Danger.

But there have been question marks over whether the books were all his own work. Mischievous biographer Graham Lord tells Miles Warde why he thinks Dick's wife, Mary, was responsible. "Garbage," says Martin Broughton. Expert opinion comes from Jonathan Powell, racing correspondent of the Mail on Sunday and a man who knew Dick Francis in his later years. The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer Miles Warde.

George Orwell Sep 28, 2012

Whilst at school, a young Alan Johnson was given some money by a teacher and told to go and buy four copies of any book for the school library.

He headed down the Kings Road in Chelsea, stopping only for a sly cigarette along the way.

Having already read 'Animal Farm', he picked 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying' and yearned for the life of lead character Gordon Comstock.

Former Home Secretary Alan Johnson tells Matthew Parris, why Orwell was crucial to his education and political development.

But he's surprised to learn that Orwell is not on the National Curriculum, and insists that Orwell would have hated ID cards.

With Jean Seaton, Professor of Media History at the University of Westminster and Chair of the Orwell Prize.

Producers: Beatrice Fenton and Toby Field.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2012.

Edith Wharton Sep 25, 2012

"If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time." Edith Wharton is as well known for her wit as for her novels. Born in 1862, she was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize, for The Age of Innocence in 1921. She is nominated by Naomi Wolf, the provocative American commentator and author of The Beauty Myth. Presenter Matthew Parris is also joined in the studio by Janet Beer and Avril Horner.

The producer is Jolyon Jenkins.

From 2012.

Karel Reisz Sep 11, 2012

Film director Stephen Frears discusses the life of his mentor, Czech-born director, Karel Reisz, with the help of critic and Reisz's friend, John Lahr. Frears is one of Britain's most successful directors, responsible for "My Beautiful Laundrette", "Dangerous Liaisons", and "Dirty Pretty Things", among many others. Reisz is probably best known for "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning", and "The French Lieutenant's Woman".

"Karel took me into his life and into his family and he took on the business of turning me into whatever it is I've become," Frears has said. "Without him, I wouldn't have become a film director". Matthew Parris chairs the discussion.

Stan Laurel Sep 04, 2012

The late Ken Dodd explains to Matthew Parris why Stan Laurel inspired him to get into comedy, with the help of expert Glenn Mitchell.

Born Stan Jefferson into a theatrical family, in Lancashire, he later moved to the United States, where talent and a leg of lamb helped forge the Laurel & Hardy partnership.

They became the last big comedy sensation of the silent era but took to talkies like "ducks to water" and were mobbed by fans and reporters everywhere they went.

Features archive clips, including their memorable performance of The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.

Juvenal Aug 29, 2012

Matthew Parris invites writer and comic Natalie Haynes to explain why her nomination for a Great Life is a Roman poet about whose life we know very little. Dr Llewelyn Morgan of Brasenose College Oxford helps her explain the enduring appeal of this scurrilous writer.

On the face of it, Juvenal's life is hard to defend as a Great one. In the first place - as Dr Llewelyn Morgan, lecturer in Classical Languages and Literature at Oxford, confirms - we know very little about his life. He may have been a first-generation Roman from a Spanish family; he may have served in army; he may have been sent into exile. None of this can be confirmed. What we do know is that he uses his Satires to rant and rail against women, foreigners, gays and the upstarts who are all ruining Rome - which might make him hard to love. But Natalie Haynes, veteran of the stand-up circuit and now a writer and critic, finds Juvenal an indispensable part of her life and is very happy to explain why.

Producer Christine Hall

From 2012.

Leonard Maguire Aug 21, 2012

Matthew Parris finds out why the actor Bill Paterson would nominate for Great Life status a Scottish actor little known outside Scotland. He is Leonard Maguire, who died in 1997 after a career which took in acting on stage, television, film and radio and included some wonderful writing - not bad going for a man who learned English as his third language as a child.

The expert witness is Leonard Maguire's writer daughter, Susie.

Produced by Christine Hall and Sarah Langan.

First heard on Radio 4 in 2012.

Walter Scott Aug 14, 2012

Tory MP author and adventurer Rory Stewart champions the life of Sir Walter Scott. Presenter Matthew Parris is joined by Scott's biographer Stuart Kelly. Scott arguably invented the idea of Scottishness and marketed it to the world. But now he is virtually unread and he stands accused of saddling Scotland with tartan tat and Highland kitsch. Rory Stewart argues that Scott's version of Scottish identity represents a valid alternative to today's Scottish nationalism. Producer: Jolyon Jenkins

From 2012.

Josephine Bonaparte Aug 07, 2012

"I get to Milan," wrote Napoleon. "I fling myself into your room. I have left everything in order to see you, to clasp you in my arms .... you were not there." The tale of Napoleon and Josephine is one of history's great love affairs, and while she did not win the battles he fought, she was both present, and perhaps influential, at a great moment in Europe's past. Her own life before then was equally extraordinary - born in Martinique, her first husband was executed and she was in jail too, expecting the madame guillotine at any time.

Reporter Janine di Giovanni champions Josephine with the expert help of her biographer Andrea Stuart, who makes no apology for the methods Josephine employed to ensure her survival and rise. An astonishing life, though presenter Matthew Parris remains unconvinced that she was truly great. The producer is Miles Warde.

Henry Cooper Jul 31, 2012

The date is June 18 1963, the final seconds of the fourth round of a boxing match. In the ring, Henry Cooper, eight years older and 26 pounds lighter than his opponent, Cassius Clay. And then Cooper hits Clay, just as the bell rings.

Des Lynam was Henry Cooper's boxing co-commentator for many years. He nominates our 'Enery - or Lord 'Enery as he became - as the representative of a different era of sporting prowess. Winner of three Lonsdale belts, but never world champion himself, Henry Cooper is always remembered for his two fights with Cassius Clay, later Muhammed Ali. The programme features archive of the first of those fights, plus the voice of Cooper's famous manager, the Bishop, also known as Jim Wicks. Expert opinion is provided by Norman Giller, author of Henry Cooper: A Hero For All Time.

The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer Miles Warde.

Sebastian Walker May 22, 2012

Lynn Barber first met Sebastian Walker at Oxford. "He was the first person I'd ever met who was gay...quite funny looking with a big adam's apple and bespeckled face...he dressed in a very dandy way."

He formed Walker Books in 1978 which, in Lynn's words, "launched a whole new era of children's book publishing." He took every opportunity to reinvent the rules of publishing - he paid the illustrators more money than anyone else, befriending the likes of Maurice Sendak and Helen Oxenbury till they agreed to work for him. He struck a deal to sell books through Sainsbury's supermarkets and justified it in the name of child literacy. Titles like 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' and 'Where's Wally? would establish Walker Books as a major player in children's book publishing. Walker would describe the financial side of business as a "bore" preferring to spend his money on lavish parties for his friends.

Lynn Barber talks to Matthew Parris about why Sebastian Walker remains such a memorable friend. They're joined by Walker's sister and biographer Mirabel Cecil who says her brother "..had very little sense of his own identity", and that his one true love was really the piano.

Producer: Toby Field

First broadcast on Radio 4 in 2012.

Goya May 15, 2012

Diana Athill joins Matthew Parris to explore the life of the Spanish painter, Francisco de Goya, who has been called the last old masters and the first of the moderns.

The literary editor and memoirist praises Goya for bearing witness truthfully to the horrors of war, for the tenderness of his observations as a painter, his unorthodox style and his desire to keep learning, even in old age.

We know more about Goya thanks to his letters, which have been edited by Dr Sarah Symmons, who also contributes to this programme. They reveal a passionate and playful man, who was fascinated by people and every incarnation of human life and behaviour - including royalty, prostitutes and the elderly. He also wrote openly about professional humiliation and shared intimate details about his private life.

Diana Athill helped establish the publishing company Andre Deutsch, worked with some of the 20th century's greatest writers in her long career, and her six volumes of memoirs include Somewhere Towards the End, an examination of what it means to be old.

Reader Javier Marzan.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.

John Ford May 08, 2012

John Ford had a monumental Hollywood career - over 140 films, Oscars he never turned up to receive, and a blunt way of approaching the business that made him enemies as well as friends. He stood up once at a meeting and said simply, "My name's John Ford, I make westerns."

Critic Ed Buscombe also joins Matthew Parris and we hear archive of the tough-talking director John Ford. From 2012.

Producer: Miles Warde.

Edward Said Apr 26, 2012

Edward Said was a man, who, in his own words, lived two quite separate lives. First there was the scholar and literary critic of Columbia University, and then there was the fierce critic of American and Israeli policies in the Middle East. In the United States he was an academic superstar, but his views - on Palestine in particular - made him an intensely divisive figure. He died of leukaemia in 2003.

In Great Lives, Alexei Sayle explains to Matthew Parris why Edward Said, a man he met twice and described as "very noble and fiercely intelligent", inspired him. Edward Said once described the Palestinians as 'the victims of the victims'. This eloquence, on a subject that in America was taboo, still impresses Alexei Sayle today.

Producer: Toby Field.

George Lyward Apr 24, 2012

The musician and broadcaster Tom Robinson nominates educationalist George Lyward in this episode of Great Lives.

Aged 15 and struggling with his sexuality, Tom Robinson attempted to take his own life and had a nervous breakdown. Following a series of assessments and tests, he was interviewed for Finchden Manor, a therapeutic community founded by George Lyward.

Tom shares his own experience, explaining to Matthew Parris how he believes Lyward saved his life. Former Finchden teacher Dr Norman Alm is also on hand to provide expert assistance.

Lyward's work is also assessed in the context of the 2011 summer riots, as Matthew asks his guests what should society do with its troubled teens.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.

Gertrude Stein Apr 17, 2012

Gertude Stein, American poet, writer and art collector, lived most of her life in France.

She was one of the first people to spot the genius of Picasso, Cezanne and Matisse, and she believed she was a genius too. Opinion on that score remains divided.

Erin Pizzey nominates Stein because she inspired her to ‘live a life without compromise’.

Since setting up the world's first refuge for battered women in 1971, Pizzey has campaigned and written about domestic violence, publishing ‘Scream Quietly Or The Neighbours Will Hear’ and her autobiography ‘This Way To The Revolution’.

Joining presenter Matthew Parris in the studio is Diana Souhami, author of ‘Gertrude and Alice’.

Producer: Isobel Eaton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2012.

Oscar Wilde Apr 10, 2012

Oscar Wilde, author of The Importance of Being Earnest and The Ballad of Reading Gaol, is proposed by Will Self, a writer once described as a 'high powered satirical weapon'.

In 1895, and at the height of his success, Wilde began libel proceedings against the Marquess of Queensberry, sparking a disastrous sequence of trials, prison, exile and disgrace. A century later Oscar Wilde is often listed as one of the wittiest Britons who ever lived, but this was a life that ended in tragedy and early death. Joining Will Self and Matthew Parris in the studio is Franny Moyle, author of a biography of Oscar Wilde's wife, Constance, an often overlooked character in Wilde's life. The programme features actor Simon Russell Beale's reading of De Profundis - From The Depths.

The producer is Miles Warde.

Dylan Thomas Apr 03, 2012

Dylan Thomas, arguably Wales's most famous poet, comes under scrutiny on Great Lives.

A man famous both for his linguistic exuberance and his chaotic, alcohol-fuelled private life, Thomas is proposed by another Welsh poet, Owen Sheers.

Owen, the author of ‘Resistance’, is one of Britain's brightest young writers and keen to bust some myths about his fellow Welshman's reputation.

Joining Owen and presenter Matthew Parris is Damian Walford-Davies of Aberystwyth University.

Featuring archive recordings of Dylan Thomas's unmistakable voice, and Richard Burton reading the opening of ‘Under Milk Wood’.

Specially recorded at Bristol's ‘More Than Words’ Listening Festival in 2012.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2012.

Razia Sultana Jan 31, 2012

Co-chairman of the Conservative party, Baroness Warsi recalls her Pakistani-born father during her Yorkshire childhood telling her about the heroic martial deeds conducted by a thirteenth century Indian princess, Razia Sultana.

Descended from humble stock, the much mythologized Sultana ruled for less than four years in the 1230s, but has long been celebrated as the first female Indian Muslim leader. Sayeeda Warsi explains why she's fascinated by this character whose reign was abruptly brought to an end by the jealous rivalries of the male nobility around her who could not tolerate the fact that she had been chosen by her father above the heads of her brothers. We'll hear whether Sayeeda draws inspiration from Razia's model of bold leadership, and whether she finds parallels with her own experience of British politics today within the senior ranks of the Conservative Party.

Writer and expert on India, William Dalrymple sets the scene, explaining how and why Turkish Muslims had an empire that reached as far as the Himalayas, at a time when northern India was having to withstand the Mongol incursions of Genghis Khan.

Producer: Mark Smalley.

Vera Brittain Jan 24, 2012

The writer and pacifist Vera Brittain is discussed by her daughter Baroness Shirley Williams and Dr Clare Gerada, Chair of the Royal College of GPs.

Vera Brittain's life was shaped by the grief that followed the loss of her fiance, her brother and two good friends. She candidly conveyed the toll of the First World War on her generation in the best-selling 1933 book, Testament of Youth.

Matthew Parris chairs an insightful exploration of what it was like to be brought up by Vera a mother who was, for many reasons, simply unavailable to the young Shirley Williams.

Vera was a teenage feminist desperate for an education. But she turned her back on her studies at Oxford in 1914 because she felt compelled to serve as a nurse, wanting to join her brother and his friends in the trenches.

Shirley Williams explains that as a result of her experiences, Vera became a committed pacifist, at a time when it was deeply unpopular to do so.

Dr Clare Gerada nominates a fascinating life while paying tribute to two women - mother and daughter - who she believes have made the 21st century a better place for women to live.

Produced by Mark Smalley.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.

Gracie Allen Jan 17, 2012

Matthew Parris is joined by the actress Emma Kennedy to explore the life of the American comedienne Gracie Allen. George Burns and Gracie Allen were a hugely successful stage act who went on to conquer the new media of radio and television. But, unusually for the time, it was Gracie who was getting all the laughs, whilst George played the straight man. For actress and comic Emma Kennedy, Gracie was a pioneering female comic who, with her energy, wit and "illogical logic", paved the way for the likes of Lucille Ball and Roseanne Barr. Professor Brian Ward provides the expert analysis.

Joseph Rotblat Jan 10, 2012

Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees tells Matthew Parris why his hero, physicist Joseph Rotblat, lived a "great life".

Rotblat was a brilliant physicist who was the only scientist to resign from the Manhattan Project once it became clear that Germany would not make an atomic bomb. Rotblat believed that all scientists have a moral obligation to work for the benefit of mankind, and spent his life campaigning against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Joining Lord Rees and Matthew Parris in the studio is Rotblat's friend and colleague Kit Hill.

Lonnie Donegan Jan 03, 2012

Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter tells Matthew Parris why skiffle king Lonnie Donegan is his hero.

Lonnie Donegan is probably best remembered for the novelty hits "My Old Man's a Dustman" and "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavour? " However, early hits like "Rock Island Line" were instrumental in inspiring the likes of John Lennon, Brian May and Roger Daltrey to perform.

Donegan played a decisive role in the development of British popular music. His revitalisation of skiffle provided the inspiration for the whole British beat movement that was to come. Ironically, although Donegan was the catalyst, he was soon eclipsed by the young electric guitar heroes of the mid-sixties, and he was left with the comedy and cabaret circuits.

Ludwig II of Bavaria Dec 27, 2011

Brian Sewell on his long-standing love of "Mad" King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who built the ultimate fantasy castle at Neuschwanstein. From his first fateful glimpse of one of Ludwig's palaces, Brian's been fascinated with the eccentric King, and his mysterious death, and has become personally involved in the story of his life. Presenter Matthew Parris and contributor Simon Winder find out more...

Producer Beth O'Dea.

Thomas Hobbes Dec 20, 2011

Thomas Hobbes: the writer and psychologist Steven Pinker joins Matthew Parris to discuss the life of the great English philosopher. Noel Malcolm from All Souls College, Oxford provides the expert analysis. Power and violence are themes of the discussion of Hobbes who, Steven Pinker argues, was "perhaps the first cognitive psychologist." Although he was born in the late sixteenth century, we are fortunate to have some rich biographical description of Hobbes thanks to his contemporary and friend, the writer John Aubrey. Now, the word Hobbesian is often used to describe a world in which life is "nasty, brutish and short." But Professor Pinker suggests Hobbes was actually "a nice man, despite the fact his name became a rather nasty adjective."

Producer: Chris Ledgard.

Ludwig Wittgenstein Dec 13, 2011

Ludwig Wittgenstein, the fascinating and misunderstood genius who changed the course of philosophy, is chosen by writer Raymond Tallis. With biographer Ray Monk, he brings alive this most enigmatic of men and his singular life. And to make sure that they don't get lost in Wittgensteinian thought, presenter Matthew Parris brings along a whistle to blow whenever he feels in danger..

Producer Beth O'Dea.

Philip K Dick Dec 06, 2011

Actor Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon; The Queen; Midnight in Paris) explores the life of Philip K. Dick with Matthew Parris, and explains why he had such a big influence on his recent production of Hamlet.

Michael first discovered Philip K. Dick through the film Bladerunner, and moved onto his short stories which got him thinking about science-fiction in a new way. Whilst reading about philosophy, quantum physics, and comparative mythology, it struck him how Dick was intuitively weaving narratives around all the most interesting elements that these fields were throwing up.

He talks about Philip K. Dick's innate interest in multiples realities, and how they overlap with Sheen's own family experiences of mental health issues. In fact the more he found out about him, the more he was drawn to this enigmatic writer.

Producer: Toby Field.

William Shakespeare Oct 07, 2011

No less a figure than the national bard, William Shakespeare, is nominated for great life status by poetry curator and TV producer, Daisy Goodwin. Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director of the Globe Theatre joins Matthew Parris to put flesh on the life that is remarkably light on known and verifiable facts. How and why did this son of an illiterate glovemaker from Stratford on Avon come to bestride the international stage, adopted not only as England's national poet, but even displacing Goethe and Schiller in Germany? Dromgoole argues that more than a sense of the man is conveyed in his 37 plays.

Producer: Mark Smalley.

Gerald Durrell Sep 27, 2011

Former England footballer Graeme le Saux champions the life of writer, broadcaster and conservationist Gerald Durrell. Graeme and presenter Matthew Parris are joined in the studio by Durrell's widow, Lee.

Gerald Malcolm Durrell (1925 - 1995) was a pioneering conservationist who took on the established "zoo community" by emphasising the need to preserve endangered species, rather than just repeatedly dip in to the natural world for more animals to amuse and entertain. His work culminated in the creation of his own zoo on Jersey. It was there that a teenage islander called Graeme le Saux helped out in the gorilla enclosure, before moving on to play at left back for Chelsea and England.

Hildegard Von Bingen Sep 20, 2011

When the singer Cerys Matthews first played the music of the 12th century nun, Hildegard von Bingen, on her BBC 6 music show, she said she felt she could hear the tumble weed rolling through the listeners' houses. Matthew unravels Cerys's admiration for the woman who was given by her parents as a 'tithe' to the church at the age of eight and who became one of the most influential people of her time. She wrote about the visions that she experienced from the age of three, later deemed to have been migraines, but was a true polymath, writing liturgical texts, songs, botanical studies and morality plays. Despite her religious devotion, she was no demure subject. Her influence was widespread and she even had the ear of the Pope. Beatified but never officially canonized, Matthew, Cerys and guest expert (tbc) celebrate the life of the woman who was nonetheless known to millions as Saint Hildegard von Bingen Producer: Sarah Langan.

Edwin Lutyens Sep 13, 2011

If Edwin Lutyens, the architect behind New Delhi, the Cenotaph, and the British embassy in Washington, sounds an austere, imperial figure then think again. He was fun and almost child-like - he loved to dance and doodle, and he told terrible jokes. But his great grand daughter, Jane Ridley, believes it was Lutyens' shockingly miserable marriage that inspired his greatest work. Simon Jenkins, former editor of The Times and current head of the National Trust, chooses Lutyens primarily for the quality of his work. But he also recognises that the grimness of the marriage - Emily Lutyens fell in love with Krishnamurti - spurred the architect onto greater heights. Presenter Matthew Parris initially questions whether the quality of Lutyens' sex life really needs to play a part in this tale, then declares himself underwhelmed by much of the work. Expert Jane Ridley is the author of the Architect and his Wife, and the producer is Miles Warde.

Hans Fallada Sep 06, 2011

The Fast Show comedian Simon Day tells Matthew Parris why he's fascinated by the life and work of German author Hans Fallada. Matthew is also joined by Fallada's biographer Jenny Williams.

Hans Fallada (real name Rudolf Ditzen) was an alcoholic, a thief, a morphine addict and, prone to depression, attempted suicide twice. He lived and worked in the Germany of the 1930's and, although declared an "undesirable author," stayed in his beloved country for the duration of the Second World War. In and out of prison, sanatoriums and relationships, his volatile personal life often informed his writing (The Drinker, 1950.)

Simon Day achieved fame as "Competitive Dad" and "Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior" in The Fast Show of the 1990's. More recently he has written of his battles with various addictions, and finds parallels between his own experience of addiction, and that of Hans Fallada.

Eduardo Paolozzi Aug 23, 2011

This week's Great Life, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, hated being tagged as the father of pop art, yet his representations of images from popular culture came almost two decades before Warhol and Lichtenstein. Prolific and generous, his public sculptures populate many cities across the country, yet his name is not as well known as Moore, Hepworth or Gormley. The diversity of the forms that he worked in, and his reluctance to be packaged and promoted by agents, accounts at least partly for that.

Paolozzi's personal story is no less complicated. Born in Edinburgh to Italian parents that sent him back to Fascist summer camp in Italy every year, all the men in his family, including the young Eduardo were interned when Mussolini declares war in 1940. Eduardo spent three months prison, but his father and grandfather met a far worse fate.

Joining Matthew in the studio are two close friends of Paolozzi's. Nominating him is the restaurateur Antonio Carluccio, who remembers dining and cooking with Paolozzi, and marvelling at how his 'fatty sausage' fingers could produce artwork of such intricacy. Cultural historian, Professor Sir Christopher Frayling who taught with Paolozzi for many years also has many anecdotes to tell, and he and Matthew agree to differ on their appraisal of one of Paolozzi's most well known works; the mosaics at Tottenham Court Road tube station.

Produced by: Sarah Langan.

Kirsty MacColl Aug 09, 2011

Broadcaster Janice Long tells Matthew Parris why singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl led a "great life" despite her tragically early death in a boating accident in Mexico in 2000.

Kirsty MacColl was a supremely gifted singer-songwriter in the "English" tradition, often compared to Ray Davies or Morrissey for her kitchen-sink realism and sardonic wit. She loved pop but insisted on witty and literate writing, and, whilst sporadically successful in her own right, she was everyone's favourite collaborative artist. She battled stage-fright and writers block to produce five outstanding albums, and worked with The Smiths, Talking Heads, the Rolling Stones, Simple Minds and U2. She once described her talent as a "one-woman-Beach Boys" for her ability to layer and orchestrate harmonies.

Her father, Ewan MacColl, was a famous folk singer, but Kirsty had no interest in folk music - a clear rejection of the world her father inhabited - and wanted instead to create great, "edgy" pop records.

She died in controversial circumstances when she was hit by a speedboat whilst on a diving holiday in Mexico in 2000.

Graham Greene Aug 02, 2011

The Third Man, Brighton Rock, Travels With My Aunt - the books of Graham Greene all still have a definite ring. But the the man himself was an enigma. He worked both as a spy as well as a foreign correspondent, and wrote endlessly about shady characters and secret affairs. This programme opens with him talking about his love of playing Russian Roulette - it turns out that Graham Greene was easily bored. Choosing Greene for Great Lives is Tim Butcher, 20 years a war reporter for the Daily Telegraph and more recently author of Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart, a title that suggests the influence of Greeneland. Tim says that it's his depiction of seedy life that appeals. The programme also features the voices of Beryl Bainbridge, Christopher Hampton and Auberon Waugh, along with a classic clip of Trevor Howard as Scobie in the Heart of the Matter from 1953. Matthew Parris is unimpressed with Greene's treatment of his wife, Vivienne, and questions whether the image Greene created was really true. David Pearce, founding trustee of the International Graham Greene Festival offers a robust defence. Future programmes in the series include editions on Shakespeare, Kirsty MacColl, and Antonio Carluccio on the sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi. The producer is Miles Warde.

Harold Pinter May 24, 2011

Matthew Parris is joined by Diane Abbott MP and biographer and critic Michael Billington to explore the life of playwright and Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter.

His name - if you add an "esque" to it, as in Thatcheresque or Ortonesque - defines that which is 'marked especially by halting dialogue, uncertainty of identity, and air of menace'. But today's great life is not an easy man to encapsulate. He was a polymath - a playwright, poet, screenwriter, actor, director, political activist and Nobel Laureate - whom his biographer describes as 'an instinctively radical poet whose chosen medium is drama.' He was one of Britain's most celebrated writers - the master of the pause - Harold Pinter.

Pinter is said to have 'stamped his mark on the cultural and political scene as an observer of suburban brooding and as an irate iconoclast.' He was also born in Hackney, which explains in part why he has been chosen by Diane Abbott, Shadow Minister for Public Health, and MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.

The programme explores Pinter's life and his appeal for Abbott with expert assistance from Pinter's biographer, the writer and critic Michael Billington.

Jack Johnson May 17, 2011

It was the fight of the century, July 4th 1910, when Tim Jeffries, the so-called Great White Hope, was stopped by Jack Johnson in the 15th round. Suddenly white supremacy didn't seem so self-assured. In America there were riots, while a follow up fight in Britain - between Johnson and the British champion, Bombardier Wells - never took place. A leader in the Times newspaper had urged the promoter to consider 'the special position of trusteeship for coloured subject peoples which the British empire holds ....'

Jack Johnson, also known as the Galveston Giant, has been proposed by Matthew Syed, a recent sports journalist of the year. His nomination is based not only on Johnson's life, but what he came to represent. The expert is Kasia Boddy, author of Boxing: A Cultural History. The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer Miles Warde.

Petra Kelly May 10, 2011

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives. Green MP Caroline Lucas nominates German Green politician Petra Kelly. Kelly was one of the first Green parliamentarians to be elected anywhere in the world. Intense, charismatic and beautiful, she became an international political superstar who rejected the idea of conventional politics. But she fell out with her colleagues and became reliant on her lover, a former German army General turned peace activist, Gert Bastian. Bastian, possibly fearing exposure as a Stasi agent, murdered Kelly and himself in 1992. Joining the discussion is Kelly's biographer and former Green Party activist, Sara Parkin.

Lewis Carroll May 03, 2011

Writer Lynne Truss chooses the creator of Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll.

Famous for the Alice books, Carroll was also a brilliant mathematician and early photographer.

But his reputation has been clouded by allegations, never substantiated, that he was a repressed paedophile.

Lynne and presenter Matthew Parris try to discover why, despite the millions of words written about him, Carroll still remains a mystery.

With assistance from biographer Robin Wilson.

Producer: Jolyon Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2011.

Kathleen Ferrier Apr 26, 2011

Kathleen Ferrier was a British contralto singer who died in 1953 from breast cancer. Her professional career had lasted just 14 years but in that time she had had become an international star, singing at Covent Garden, Glyndebourne and Carnegie Hall; and had worked with such luminaries of post-war music as Benjamin Britten, Sir John Barbirolli, and Bruno Walter. Not bad for someone who had no formal training as a singer and who had left school to work in the Blackburn telephone exchange. Ferrier never lost her common touch, never became a prima donna, and retained her liking for beer, cigarettes, and risque jokes. In this programme, broadcaster Sue MacGregor tells Matthew Parris why she admires Ferrier's work. Joining the discussion is conductor Christopher Fifield who edited Ferrier's letters.

Simone de Beauvoir Apr 19, 2011

Actress Diana Quick tells Matthew Parris why she believes that existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir lived a great life, despite living in the shadow of Jean Paul Sartre.

Simone de Beauvoir was a brilliant writer and philosopher in her own right. Her study, The Second Sex, made her an iconic figure for the feminist movement, and she remained true to her intellectual honesty until her death in 1986, aged 78. Yet despite all of her achievements, she is chiefly remembered as the student of her lover and teacher, Jean Paul Sartre.

Joining Matthew Parris and Diana Quick in the studio is de Beauvoir biographer Lisa Appignanesi. The producer is John Byrne.

Leonard Bernstein Apr 12, 2011

The conductor Charles Hazlewood chooses the great American composer Leonard Bernstein, music director of the New York Philharmonic and creator of West Side Story, Wonderful Town, and Candide. The charismatic Bernstein clearly influenced Charles Hazlewood's own choice of career - he's an award winning conductor, made his debut at Carnegie Hall in 2003 and recently presented The Birth of British Music on BBC tv. Joining him in the studio is Humphrey Burton, friend and professional colleague of Leonard Bernstein and whose documentaries include The Making of West Side Story. Matthew Parris presents. The producer is Miles Warde.

Thomas Edison Apr 05, 2011

Matthew Parris presents the biographical series in which his guests choose someone who has inspired their lives. Here, Sir Clive Sinclair nominates fellow inventor Thomas Edison. Edison invented sound recording, the electric light bulb and moving pictures, but also had his fair share of duds along the way. Sir Clive invented the first electronic calculator but also the ill-fated C5 electric car. Separated by a century, do the two men have anything in common? Joining the discussion is Edison's biographer Neil Baldwin.

Marcus Garvey Feb 01, 2011

Playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah is a passionate advocate of Marcus Garvey, the inspirational black leader of the early twentieth century. Long before Martin Luther King or Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey was trying against all the odds to give black people a sense of pride, and to create the conditions in which they might hope to flourish and prosper. Kwame Kwei-Armah tells the story of Garvey's incredible rise and fall, and brings this impressive yet flawed man to life. He's joined by Colin Grant, the author of Negro with a Hat - a biography of Marcus Garvey. Presenter Matthew Parris contributes his own memories of living in both Jamaica and Africa.

Producer: Beth O'Dea.

Mary Stott Jan 25, 2011

The writer Katharine Whitehorn chooses Mary Stott, the great campaigning journalist and the first editor of the Guardian women's page. She's the journalist who more than anyone started the revolution in women's journalism since the 1950s. She gave ordinary women a voice, and a place to get together and share ideas. Liz Forgan, who was to edit the women's page later, shares her memories of working with Mary, and Matthew Parris presents. Producer Beth O'Dea.

Gertrude Bell Jan 18, 2011

Gertrude Bell was a British woman who arguably founded the modern state of Iraq. Explorer, mountaineer and archaeologist, this extraordinarily talented woman travelled widely across Arabia in the years preceding the first world war. When war came, her knowledge of the tribes, geography and politics of the area made her a vital asset to British intelligence. In the wake of British victory in Mesopotamia, she became a key figure in the the post-war administration of the turbulent area, as the British grappled with how best to reduce their military commitment while still retaining influence - a situation that was to find strong echoes in post-war Iraq 90 years later. A woman who rose to the top in a man's world, her personal life was beset with ill-starred romance and tragedy.

Physicist Jim al-Khalili was born in Iraq at a time when Gertrude Bell was still revered as someone who fought for Iraqi self-determination. With the help of Bell's biographer, Janet Wallach, he explores her remarkable life. Matthew Parris chairs.

Aneurin Bevan Jan 04, 2011

In his time, Aneurin Bevan was, according to one biographer, "the most colourful and controversial, most loved and most loathed political personality in Britain".

The founding father of the NHS is the choice of Lord Kinnock, the former leader of the Labour Party who, like Bevan, grew up in Tredegar, in the heart of the Welsh coalfields, where he met his hero many times.

Kinnock regards Bevan as a hero on a level with Nelson Mandela and believes it was Nye alone who had the force of personality and political will necessary to get the Health Service established after the war. But the presenter Matthew Parris and his other studio guest, Bevan's biographer, John Campbell are more sceptical. Campbell goes so far as to argue that, the achievement of the NHS not withstanding, Nye Bevan's life was essentially a failure because, in his commitment to socialism, he misread the trend of history so completely. Now, with the NHS facing radical reform, this programme captures some of the passion and debate that surrounded its inception and provides personal insights into the life and character of the man responsible for its creation.

The producer is Isobel Eaton.

Future subjects in the series include Barry Cryer on JB Priestley.

Sammy Davis Jr Dec 28, 2010

Lionel Blair chooses his friend and dancing partner Sammy Davis Jr. Sammy described himself as a 'one-eyed black Jew' - and he was described by others as one of the greatest all-round entertainers of all time. Lionel danced and sang with Sammy in a dazzling performance on the stage at the Royal Variety Performance in 1961, and he revisits that memory through an evocative archive recording. Paul Gambaccini is on hand to help presenter Matthew Parris draw out the contradictions and triumphs of Sammy Davis Jr's great American life. Producer Beth O'Dea.

Samuel Beckett Dec 21, 2010

Business guru Sir Gerry Robinson was born in Ireland but moved to England in his teens, and he chooses Samuel Beckett, another Irishman who lived away for much of his life - in Paris. Gerry, a late convert to Beckett's plays, loves him because he's accepting of the human condition: that we're all locked in this repetitive pattern. We don't want to keep on doing the same thing over and over again, but we do. Presenter Matthew Parris is also joined by Jim Knowlson, who was a personal friend of Samuel Beckett for 19 years, and is his authorised biographer. He reveals that Beckett was far from the dour gloomy figure of popular imagination, and was in fact very good company - as long as you didn't interrupt him when he was watching the rugby on the telly on a Saturday afternoon.

Producer: Beth O'Dea.

DH Lawrence Dec 14, 2010

DH Lawrence was, in the words of Geoff Dyer, a man with thin wrists and thick trousers. He was also the author of Women in Love, Sons and Lovers and Lady Chatterley's Lover. But poet and performer John Hegley has chosen him above all for the quality of his poetry, an admiration presenter Matthew Parris also shares.

Lawrence died aged just 44. An obituary at the time reckoned he was 'a rebel against all the accepted values of modern civilization'. Certainly his life - born in Eastwood, Notts, became a teacher only to run off with a German-born mother of three to embark on his 'savage pilgrimage' around the world - was unpredictable. As indeed was this programme, recorded in front of an audience at the Arnolfini in Bristol, with John Hegley using both music and verse to make his point. Geoff Dyer, the author of Out of Sheer Rage, makes the case that Lawrence's unpredictability was a sign of strength, and that his best work lies in his letters and not his books. The producer is Miles Warde.

Malcolm McLaren Dec 07, 2010

Matthew Parris presents the life of the great rock and roll swindler, Malcolm McLaren, who died earlier this year.

'I've been called many things,' McLaren wrote as advance publicity for his one man show, 'a charlatan, a con man, or the culprit responsible for turning popular culture into nothing more than a cheap marketing gimmick. This is my chance to prove these accusations are true.'

The man behind the Sex Pistols and Duck Rock is nominated by public relations expert Mark Borkowski, author of The Fame Formula, and a man who knew him well. What intrigues Borkowski is not just the success, but the myths that have evolved around this highly manipulative man. Matthew Parris is more sceptical, as is Chris Salewicz. As a journalist for NME between 1974-1981, Salewicz watched McLaren rewrite the rules of management. He also introduced the Sex Pistols to the man from EMI who then signed them up. An intriguing programme about fame, the media, and why the truth should not be confused with an easily believable myth.

The producer is Miles Warde.

Future subjects in the series include Samuel Beckett, Nye Bevan, and JB Priestley who is nominated by Barry Cryer.

Walt Disney Sep 28, 2010

Gerald Scarfe, merciless cartoon satirist of political figures, chooses an icon who created icons: Walt Disney.

Gerald Scarfe spent much of his childhood in his sick bed, so it's not surprising that Disney cartoons and feature films meant so much to him. He can still recall the thrill at the prospect of seeing Pinocchio at the cinema, and then the agony of being led away again in the rain because the tickets were too expensive.

Walt Disney came from a working family. His god-fearing father Elias, said by one writer to have 'hated Capital, and favoured Labour, but really needed to make a buck', found work where he could. So Walt lived a peripatetic childhood, and sought solace in drawing and play acting.

Hard times early on did not make Walt frugal with money in adulthood, and despite the huge successes of the golden era of Disney, it was only with the opening of Disneyland that Walt attained any substantial personal wealth.

You don't have to look far to find myth surrounding Walt Disney.

Even after his death, rumours that his body had been cryogenically frozen spread so widely that they soon slipped into folklore. He had actually been cremated, but the readiness with which the cryogenic claim was accepted perhaps bears witness to a man who was terrified of dying, who believed in the white hope of technology and who, some might say, had been searching all his life for an escape into an immortal, fairy-tale world.

Matthew Parris, Gerald Scarfe and guest experts Brian Sibley and Richard Williams, creator of Roger Rabbit, discuss the life of a complex cultural icon.

A man who was seemingly unpretentious, and did not fit the image of movie mogul with his scruffy tweed jacket and awkward demeanour, yet a man who was accused of being a tyrannical egomaniac. The son of a socialist who ended up naming names at the House of Un- American Activities committee. Above all else perhaps though, they discuss the life of a man who strove tirelessly for perfection and who changed the cultural landscape of a little boy called Gerald, and arguably of the world, for ever.

Scarfe himself is best known for his classic images lampooning the great and the good of politics, and also in his iconic animation for Pink Floyd's The Wall. He reveals in this programme that he also spent time working on the Disney production Hercules.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.

Michel de Montaigne Sep 21, 2010

Michel de Montaigne is one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the essay as a literary genre and became famous for his ability to fuse intellectual speculation with casual anecdotes and autobiography. Montaigne's work continues to influence writers to this day.

Championing his life is the surgeon, scientist, broadcaster and politician Professor Robert Winston and providing expert witness is the writer Sarah Bakewell, whose recent biography, How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer, was recently published to great acclaim.

Producer: Paul Dodgson.

Winston Churchill Sep 14, 2010

Winston Churchill's is the Great Life chosen by Lord Digby Jones, former Director General of the CBI.

Expert contribution comes from Professor David Reynolds. Both men have vivid memories of the day in 1965 when, as children, they heard that Churchill had died.

Surprisingly this is the first time that Churchill has been nominated in the series.

Considered by many a busted flush in the 1930s, Churchill is now remembered as our greatest wartime leader - his speech before the Battle of Britain still sends a shiver down the spine. But his great qualities and personal flaws remained inextricably linked. David Reynolds has uncovered a stark revelation about Churchill's real state of mind at the time he made that speech, while Digby Jones argues that the ability to instil confidence in people even when there is little rational hope of victory is one of the signs of a great leader. He believes that no one made his mark on the last century in the way that Churchill did.

David Reynolds does not subscribe to the Great Man theory of history. He is the Professor of International History at Cambridge University. Known to Radio 4 listeners as the writer and presenter of "America, Empire of Liberty", he has also written extensively on Churchill, including the book "In Command of History" about Churchill's memoirs of the Second World War.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.

Golda Meir Sep 07, 2010

Golda Meir was the Iron Lady of Israeli politics, a straight-talking, intransigent leader who once said, "There is a type of woman who does not let her husband narrow her horizons". She is the choice of former Conservative government minister Edwina Currie. Golda Meir was born in Kiev and educated in the United States, but moved to Palestine her twenties, just after the First World War. One of the signatories on Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948, Meir was elected to the Knesset and stayed there until she retired in her late sixties. But when prime minister Levi Eshkol died unexpectedly she was called back to take his place. She was the compromise candidate but stayed there for five years and was in power during the Yom Kippur War. Edwina Currie admires her conviction and humanity, and that fact that she reminds her of her granny. Ahron Bregman from the Department of War Studies at Kings College London, served in the Israeli army and was present at Golda Meir's funeral. Unlike Edwina, Ahron thinks Golda Meir made some unforgiveable mistakes.

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