Podcast Episodes

A N Wilson selects Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"I've chosen him because I think he was possibly the most interesting human being who has ever lived". A N Wilson

Born in the middle of the 18th centu…

1 year, 3 months ago

Jessica Fostekew on Boudica

"The Queen Boadicea, standing loftily charioted, Brandishing in her hand a dart and rolling glances lioness-like, Yell'd and shriek'd between her dau…

1 year, 3 months ago

Reginald D Hunter selects Eugene V Debs

Eugene Victor Debs, born 1855 in Indiana USA, was a railway worker, a trade unionist and a five time candidate for the presidency. He was imprisoned …

1 year, 3 months ago

Pen Hadow nominates Sir Peter Scott

"Make the boy interested in natural history," wrote Captain Scott from his tent in the Antarctic. He was talking about his son, three year old Peter …

1 year, 4 months ago

Lauren Cuthbertson on Margot Fonteyn

Margot Fonteyn was an icon: a ballerina who helped build and indeed embodied the traditional image of a dancer, just as the artform was finding its f…

1 year, 4 months ago

Dr Hannah Critchlow picks Professor Colin Blakemore

Professor Colin Blakemore was a famous communicator of science, the youngest ever Reith lecturer on the BBC. He was also targeted by members of the a…

1 year, 4 months ago

Doug Allan on Captain Jacques Cousteau

Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau was an oceanographer, filmmaker and explorer who made the seas a subject of fascination for millions.

During his time in…

1 year, 4 months ago

Ekow Eshun on the first openly gay footballer, Justin Fashanu

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 t…

1 year, 8 months ago

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

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 Rosset…

1 year, 8 months ago

The surgeon Henry Marsh picks 'the saviour of mothers' Dr Semmelweis

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 …

1 year, 9 months ago