Podcast Episodes

Marcus Garvey

Playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah is a passionate advocate of Marcus Garvey, the inspirational black leader of the early twentieth century. Long before Mar…

15 years, 4 months ago

Mary Stott

The writer Katharine Whitehorn chooses Mary Stott, the great campaigning journalist and the first editor of the Guardian women's page. She's the jour…

15 years, 4 months ago

Gertrude Bell

Gertrude Bell was a British woman who arguably founded the modern state of Iraq. Explorer, mountaineer and archaeologist, this extraordinarily talent…

15 years, 4 months ago

Aneurin Bevan

In his time, Aneurin Bevan was, according to one biographer, "the most colourful and controversial, most loved and most loathed political personality…

15 years, 4 months ago

Sammy Davis Jr

Dance and actor Lionel Blair chooses his friend and dancing partner Sammy Davis Jr.

Sammy described himself as a 'one-eyed black Jew' - and he was des…

15 years, 5 months ago

Samuel Beckett

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 awa…

15 years, 5 months ago

DH Lawrence

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 …

15 years, 5 months ago

Malcolm McLaren

Malcolm McLaren was the great rock'n'roll swindler, who died in April 2010, aged 64.

'I've been called many things,' McLaren wrote as advance publici…

15 years, 5 months ago

Walt Disney

Satirical cartoonist Gerald Scarfe nominates Walt Disney.

He joins Matthew Parris to discuss the life of a complex cultural icon.

With guest experts B…

15 years, 8 months ago

Michel de Montaigne

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 an…

15 years, 8 months ago