PODCAST

Great Lives

BBC Radio 4

Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.

society & culture documentary

All Episodes

27:46

Ludwig Koch

Great Lives ·

2023/09/29

The award-winning Sound Recordist and Musician, Chris Watson nominates his hero, Ludwig Koch. In 1889, German-born Koch was the first person ever to record birdsong (at the age of 8) onto a wax cylinder recorder, given to him by his father as a toy. Despite a promising baritone voice and being a very good violinist, the first world war put paid to Ludwig Koch's career as a musician and he began working for the German branch of EMI recording cityscapes, before going on to invent the ‘sound book', a

27:41

Lady Eve Balfour

Great Lives ·

2023/09/29

An aristocrat in an eye patch, a jazz saxophonist, a crime novelist and a pioneering organic farmer.Lady Eve Balfour was born in 1898 into the political elite - her uncle was A J Balfour, who was Prime Minister from 1902-05. But from the age of 12 she wanted to be a farmer and, after studying at agricultural college, made her dream a reality.She started experimenting with organic farming, and eventually published a book called The Living Soil, which lead to her founding the organic farming body, the

27:44

Ken Loach on Gerrard Winstanley

Great Lives ·

2023/09/29

Veteran British film director Ken Loach nominates the 17th century radical pamphleteer and and leader of the Diggers, Gerrard Winstanley.Born in Wigan in 1609, Winstanley began writing religious pamphlets after his cloth selling business in London went bankrupt and he was forced to move to the country. There his 'heart was filled with sweet thoughts ... that the earth shall be made a common treasury of livelihood to all mankind', for 'the great Creator Reason, made the Earth to be a Common

27:51

Chi-chi Nwanoku on Jessye Norman

Great Lives ·

2023/09/19

On the 11th June 1988 Jessye Norman performed a spine-tingling rendition of 'Amazing Grace' to a packed Wembley Stadium, bringing to a close a concert marking the seventieth birthday of Nelson Mandela. By this point her career Jessye Norman was a global icon of opera, best-known for her performances in works by Wagner, Verdi and Mozart. She refused to take the parts traditionally offered to Black singers and once said that pigeonholes were only for pigeons. She would sing, in fact, whatever she

27:51

Ninette de Valois

Great Lives ·

2023/09/05

The Godmother of English - and Irish - ballet, Dame Ninette De Valois or ‘Madam’ as she was known to those around her. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of ballet. She established the Royal Ballet School, the Royal Ballet and the UK’s premiere touring ballet company, which went on to become the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Under the guidance of ‘Madam’, these institutions grew and became celebrated around the world, with post WWII Ballet tours generating much

27:51

Sophie Scott on Hattie Jacques

Great Lives ·

2023/08/15

Born in 1922, Hattie Jacques began her career in music hall before graduating onto the radio comedies of the 1950s such as Educating Archie', 'It's That Man Again' and 'Hancock's Half Hour' where she became a star. TV and films followed, most notably the role of Eric Sykes' twin sister in 'Sykes' and the stern but lovelorn matron, headmistress or housekeeper in the 'Carry On' films. Hattie was teased about her weight in school and she was often the person being laughed at in her work. She largely

27:35

Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore and London Zoo

Great Lives ·

2023/08/08

It's a famous name - there's Raffles Hotel and Raffles Hospital, plus the rafflesia, the largest flowering plant in the world, an ant, a butterflyfish and a woodpecker, as well as the Raffles Cup, a horse race in Singapore. He was born in 1781 and as an agent of the East India Company, Thomas Stamford Raffles rose to become lieutenant governor of Java during the Napoleonic war. He's also often named as the founder of Singapore and also London Zoo. But how did he achieve so much so fast? Recorded on

27:56

Susie Dent on Thomas Mann

Great Lives ·

2023/08/01

Thomas Mann was a German writer whose books explored themes around family, beauty and the creeping threat of fascism in Europe. Mann's best-known 'Death in Venice' revealed the author's attraction to young boys and it was turned into a film in 1971 starring Dirk Bogarde. Mann moved to Switzerland before the outbreak of the Second World War and lived in exile in Europe and the USA for the rest of his life. From his home in California he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Einstein and Brecht, and

27:51

Tony Benn

Great Lives ·

2023/06/01

"It's the complicated ones I enjoy the most." Matthew ParrisTony Benn, MP from 1950 to 2001, packed so much into a long career. He renounced the peerage inherited from his father, served in the Labour governments of both Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan, led the Stop the War Coalition from 2001 and became pretty much the country’s pre-eminent rock star politician in older age. Comedian Ellie Gibson says she was a Tony Benn groupie and saw him speak many times. A brilliant orator and prolific

27:11

Jon Ronson picks Terry Hall of The Specials

Great Lives ·

2023/05/16

When Jon Ronson was growing up, he went to see The Specials play in Cardiff. "I went on my own to Sophia Gardens," he says. "The crowd was fantastically wild. There’s a lot to not like about the feral nature of British street culture – i.e. getting beaten up - but out of turmoil can come great art, songs like Ghost Town and Concrete Jungle. Anyway, before The Specials came on, I made a decision: I would pretend to faint in the hope that I could watch the show from the side of the stage. It worked

27:40

Sir Edward Coke, prosecutor of Guy Fawkes

Great Lives ·

2023/05/10

Edward Coke was born in Norfolk in 1552. He's best known as a judge and Parliamentarian, the link says Jesse Norman between Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights. He was also, the programme claims, an occasionally appalling human being who used his own daughter in a marriage deal to buy himself favour with the King. Joining Jesse Norman in studio, often backing up his claims for Coke's greatness, is Dr Alexandra Gajda of Oxford University.Jesse Norman is a government minister, former paymaster

27:54

Kofi Annan

Great Lives ·

2023/05/02

In 1997 Kofi Annan became the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations. The nineties were a turbulent period for the organisation and it had received criticism for a lack of action in both Rwanda and Bosnia leading to thousands of deaths. Kofi was born in Ghana and after a brief spell in the USA slowly worked his way up through the organisation and his appointment was seen by many as a return to a consensus and multi-lateral approach to diplomacy.Choosing Kofi is the writer, biologist and

27:50

Frank Zappa

Great Lives ·

2023/04/25

"The most important thing to do in your life is not to interfere with somebody else's life." Frank Zappa was born December 1940 in Baltimore, USA. Comedian John Robins - who is obsessed - reckons that it was his subsequently itinerant childhood that had much to do with what happened next. Frank's musical output was prodigious and varied, but John laughs out loud when pushed on whether he had any hits. That wasn't the point of Frank Zappa - the music was everything, creating it and performing

27:41

Frederick the Great of Prussia

Great Lives ·

2023/04/11

Frederick the Great had a brute of a father. When young Frederick was captured trying to run away, he was locked up and forced to watch his friend - possibly his lover - being beheaded in front of his eyes. King of Prussia from 1740, Frederick was also a musician, a composer, a writer and a chancer who took extraordinary military risks to secure his place in Europe. Adolf Hitler thought the world of Frederick the Great, but how do Germans view him today?Joining Matthew Parris to discuss a really

27:37

Arthur Ashe

Great Lives ·

2023/04/04

Broadcaster Qasa Alom chooses the first African American tennis player to win the US Open and Wimbledon, Arthur Ashe. Arthur Ashe was born in Richmond, Virginia, a state in the US that in 1943 was still part of the segregated south. If Arthur wanted to compete with white players, he had to leave for St Louis and then California to play. His story is staggering, and not just his success in a notoriously elitist sport. His mother died when he was six, he had a heart attack when he was 36, and he died

27:35

Astrid Lindgren, creator of Pippi Longstocking

Great Lives ·

2023/02/20

The best-selling author of How to Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell, explains her love for the Swedish author, Astrid Lindgren. Born in 1907, Lindgren invented the Pippi Longstocking stories to tell to her children during the war years, only writing them down for a publisher years later. Following the immense success of Pippi, Astrid Lindgren went on to write Emil of Lonneberga, Children of Noisy Village and the fantasy novels Mio, my son; Ronia the Robber's Daughter; and The Brother's Lionheart

27:27

Adjoa Andoh on Zora Neale Hurston

Great Lives ·

2023/01/24

Actor Adjoa Andoh has a list of TV, theatre and film credits as long as your arm. She's best known worldwide as Bridgerton's Lady Danbury, and is due to direct - and star in the title role - in a new production of Richard III. Her great life is the 20th century American writer and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, author of "Their Eyes Were Watching God". An iconic figure in the literature of the jazz age, her name was all but forgotten after her death in 1960, before being pulled back into public

27:51

Comedian Chris McCausland on Kurt Cobain

Great Lives ·

2023/01/17

‘For me, it’s all about his authenticity’. Chris McCauslandKurt Cobain, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the band Nirvana became the voice of a generation and is to this day considered one of the most influential musicians in the history of alternative rock. His angst ridden, often politically driven lyrics challenged the conventions of the day and resonated with youth audiences around the world. He championed the underdog and stood up for all those who had ever felt excluded from the

27:46

Roger Deakin, wild swimmer and author of Waterlogged

Great Lives ·

2023/01/09

Matthew Parris travels along the Thames to meet Nick Hayes - illustrator and author of The Book of Trespass - to discuss the life of Roger Deakin. They also enjoy a naked swim. Joining them, in his pants, is Patrick Barkham. His new biography of Roger Deakin is published this year. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

27:48

Minette Batters on Henry Plumb

Great Lives ·

2023/01/03

"I was born an Englishman but I'll die a European." Those are the words of Henry Plumb, Lord Plumb, a farmer who was President of the National Farmers Union in the 1970s and who became the first British person to be elected President of the European Parliament. Championing his life is the farmer and current President of the National Farmers Union, Minette Batters. She says that Henry supported her from the outset and that he would offer advice and support wherever it was needed. Minette is

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