Podcast Episodes

JRR Tolkien, creator of The Hobbit

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 g…

4 years, 5 months ago

Ruth Rogers on James Baldwin

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 activi…

4 years, 8 months ago

Yanis Varoufakis on Hypatia

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 Hypa…

4 years, 8 months ago

Dorothy Byrne on Catherine of Siena

The president of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge and former Channel 4 editor champions the life of a 14th-century mystic. Like Dorothy Byrne, famo…

4 years, 8 months ago

Peggy Seeger on her husband Ewan MacColl

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 c…

4 years, 8 months ago

Josiah Wedgwood

When Josiah Wedgwood had part of an injured leg amputed, he encouraged his workers to celebrate the anniversary as St Amputation Day.

This remarkable…

4 years, 9 months ago

Frantz Fanon

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 Alger…

4 years, 9 months ago

Althea Gibson

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. …

4 years, 9 months ago

Yehudi Menuhin

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 …

4 years, 9 months ago

Hans Christian Andersen

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 stor…

4 years, 9 months ago