The Author Archive Podcast

THis book is number 10 in the Sunday Times General Hardbacks chart In our conversation Prue talks to me about her life and how she still has a lot of fun. Ageing, acting your age, health, exercise, fame ...... she talks about it all!!!    

  The new war that is happening now and the the appalling inhumanity still happening in the world makes this conversation distressingly relevant. There is the thought that some people are less human then others.  Some people in power seem to think that bombs and missiles provide an answer. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on December 10th 1948. We now live in a world where the rights agreed in that document are widely ignored. Racial intolerance is on the march . The horrible spectre of antisemitism is looming over the news as is denial of the rights of Palestinians.  As an American bishop recently said ..... immigrants and gay people are as valuable as everyone else. A good time to listen to the words of the late Sir Martin Gilbert. The name Winston Churchill has been used recently to score political points. Sir Martin Gilbert is known as Churchill's biographer, but also as the historian of the Holocaust. This conversation with David Freeman took place when his book Never Again was published. Sir Martin's thoughts on war are sadly relevant. Sir Martin died in 2015.

The man who used to be Prince Andrew is now back at his new Norfolk home with dogs for company. Apparently he will soon have a chef and a valet who will address him as 'Sir'. Unbelievable. The sorry story continues. Andrew and his ex wife Sarah are in the Epstein linked news again. The photographs of him on his knees by a young lady lying on her back on the floor don't look good. The begging notes from Sarah to Jeffrey are embarrassing. When this interview was recorded in August 2015 Andrew was a prince and a duke living in a very big house. That is now history. Andrew Lownie has spent four years researching the lives of Andrew Windsor and Sarah Ferguson, who used to be the Duke and Duchess of York. The book is full of dramatic details of lives spent sailing very close to the wind but mostly protected by their royal status. Not anymore. What Andrew Lownie tells me will stop you in your tracks.    

. In the wake of the Andrew Windsor  scandal there is much questioning of the need for the  royals at all Being royal is not a job you can apply for.  If you decide to walk away from your royal identity or are pushed away from it just what are you left with? This book,'Traitor King', tells the story of an inglorious royal. It is a shocking example of what happens when inherited status is randomly given to a person who is clearly not up to the task. The book is the basis of the Channel 4 programme that shed light on the whole episode. As well as telling the historical story Andrew Lownie discusses the lessons that can be learned by the present Royal Family.  This book was published long before 'Entitled'.      

There are powerful politicians who have taken to denying scientific facts to further their own ambitions. This took another massive leap into the abyss when President Trump removed all the limits on greenhouse gas emissions in the US.  Not a solution to the problem - just a denial of its existence. Inconvenient scientific facts denied and dismissed. There is a new book edited by Lawrence M.Krauss - The War on Science. Among the writers and scientists who have contributed chapters is Richard Dawkins. Professor Dawkins talked to me about his chapter.

Eric Bibb is a blues music legend. In this conversation he talks about his teenage life growing up in the middle of the New York civil rights movement. The people he knew... Paul Robeson, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger ..... and how his father Leon Bibb continues to be an inspiration. In the middle of an increasingly wayward world Eric Bibb is a voice of sanity.

Nina Simone was born on February 21st 1933. There has been news recently of a plan to buy Nina Simone's childhood home in Tryon North Carolina and make it into a museum celebrating the life and work of the girl who was born Eunice Waymon. I interviewed Nina  in December 1998 just before her last ever show at the Royal Albert Hall in London. She was talking to me for a programme on the radio station Jazz fm, which would promote the concert. Nina had a reputation for being a tricky interviewee but on the day she was delightful and during the conversation she was eager to give her views on sexism, racism and feminism. After the interview I  was asked to introduce Nina on stage at the Albert Hall. It was a memorable day.    

The future of democracy is a popular talking point at the moment. It seems some democratically elected leaders would like to change the system that gave them the job in the first place. History records that we have been here before! When I talked to Dr Steve Kershaw about his book about battles in ancient Greece. it seemed that the human desire for conflict is unchanged through history.  Three Epic Battles that Saved Democracy is an entertaining and instructive read - now published in the US by Pegasus Books.  Great review in the Wall Street Journal. Will it be read in the White House?  

In 2019 Sir Rannulph Fiennes was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease. A few years ago as part of the Cheltenham Literary festival I interviewed Sir Rannulph on stage at the Everyman Theatre about his family history book 'Mad Dogs and Englishmen'. I remember shaking hands  - a non standard formality for him. He told me how he had to adopt a DIY approach to dealing with frost bite in his fingers. In this episode there's a conversation I had with Sir Rannulph later in a London studio, a chat with the legendary travel writer Eric Newby, and the life of the unforgettable Lucy Irvine. Lucy had replied to an advertisement in 1980 seeking a woman to spend a year on a desert island with a man she didn't know.  This  adventure became a film starring Oliver Reid. She tells me how she went on to write the story of another island dwelling family in her book Faraway. Memorable stories.  

Michael Payne has spent his whole working life in the sports marketing business. In his autobiography he tells how sport became big business. In this  wide ranging conversation we discuss how the Olympics were saved from oblivion, whether FIFA were right to award Donald Trump a special peace prize.... and the major challenges facing sport in our connected digital age.,

Unbelievably Sophie Kinsella has died.   This archive conversation was recorded at the Langham Hilton in London and I remember that Sophie ( real name Madeleine) turned up with lots and lots of shopping. That was to be expected because the conversation was to mark the publication of the third in the shopaholic series of stories. She was great fun to talk to. That  isn't PR  spin .... she really was. Huge sympathy to her husband and five children.     

Putin seems determined 'to make Russia great again' His motivations are difficult to understand but listening to historian Simon Sebag Montefiore might go some way to explaining his thinkng. Simon Sebag Montefiore explains the mythic status of  this eighteenth century Russian statesman, and military leader Grigory Potemkin.  In this conversation recorded in London in 2000 Simon Sebag Montefiore tells David Freeman about practical politics in 18th century Russia and how Potemkin made his way in society with the help of the love of Catherine the Great. Their relationship has been told in films but the way Simon tells the story is probably more gripping and unbelievable. Simon told the story in full in his the books, Prince of Princes, and Catherine the Great and Potemkin, The Imperial Love Affair. Interesting to hear Simon say that Putin read this book and what he learned has informed his political views. This lead to the invasion of Ukraine  and a significant incident when Russian troops broke into the crypt of the cathedral in Kherson and removed the bones of Grigory Potemkin.  This is history to remember. Putin uses this history to justify his actions.          

Sir Anthony Seldon has written about a 1,300 kilometre walk he took across Europe from Southern France, through Austria and the Czech Republic finally reaching his destination, Auschwitz in Poland. On the journey he seeks out inspiring stories of the lives of 'figures of light'. As he tells me , while he was walking through places associated with fascism and the second world war he was well aware of the worrying state of global politics in the 21st century. A thought provoking conversation.  

The cover of this new book declares that in it Marcus Chown explains the simple way to understand the most important ideas in science. Marcus is one of the very best science writers on the planet. Listening to this conversation you might marvel at his patience as he explains the workings of a quantum computer to me. I learned a lot!

Steve Ashley has had a long illustrious career in music and political activism. This conversation was recorded in November 2025, a few months before Steve's 80th birthday.  His passions, enthusiasms and commitment remain undimmed. In this informal interview Steve tells of his influences and motivation. He clearly has a lot of fight and lyricism left! A very entertaining musician and stimulating conversationalist.  

This engrossing book is subtitled 'how to listen to what animals are trying to say' Amelia, the author, is passionate and thought provoking. Hearing this conversation or reading the book just might drive you to the edge of becoming a vegetarian. An excellent gift book for any animal lover.

Halloween again! Everything weird is celebrated. Does this include UFOs? In this interview on the subject David Freeman, a UFO skeptic, met UFO true believer Timothy Good when his book Unearthly Disclosure was first published. The conversation was friendly but inquisitive! So are UFOs real?  Are those little creatures with three fingers that are on the TV screens real aliens?  

Hearing Ross talk about the Ancient Romans is an entertaining revelation.  I didn't know that the 'no kings' movement is a Roman invention as is the tradition of reminding would be absolute rulers that they are as human as the rest of us. Ross is a riveting writer of history and a great story teller.

Roger Hammond writes in fearless detail how he was his wife's carer for thirty of their forty seven years of marriage. Lyn was diagnosed with MS when they were a family of four with two young daughters. Roger writes about the challenges but he also recounts how they dealt with them and enjoyed a happy and fulfilling marriage. They never forgot how to enjoy life ...... their holidays were fabulous!      

Sad to report that Jilly Cooper has died. She was always great fun to chat to and consistently jolly. Hugely successful but not grand at all! This conversation was recorded when her novel Pandora was first published.