Great Lives

Latest Episodes:

Anton Du Beke on Arnold Palmer Apr 25, 2017

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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

Show notes

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.

Helen died in 1999 aged 43.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

With John Caunt who helped Helen write her autobiography.

Plus contributions from:

* Clare Balding * James Pearce * Deb Crook

Producer: Toby Field

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2016.

Orlando Murrin on Dinu Lipatti Dec 20, 2016

Show notes

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.

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