Matthew Bannister on
Professor David Vaughan OBE, who was a leading expert on the effects of climate change on glaciers in the Antarctic.
Burt Bacharach (pictured), who wrote scores of hit songs including 'I Say A Little Prayer', 'Do You Know The Way To San José' and 'Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head'.
Janet Anderson, the Labour MP who wrote entertaining ... Show More
Aug 22
Terence Stamp, Stephanie Shirley, Kay Dunbar, Eric Midwinter
John Wilson on: Actor Terence Stamp, the Oscar nominated 60s screen icon who went onto play many villains in his later film career Baroness Stephanie Shirley, the pioneering computer scientist and founder of her own software companyKay Dunbar who founded the Ways with Words liter ... Show More
27m 37s
Aug 15
Jim Lovell, Biddy Baxter, Razia Jan, Iris Williams
Matthew Bannister onJim Lovell, the astronaut who commanded the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission.Biddy Baxter, the editor who left an indelible stamp on the children’s TV show Blue Peter. Sarah Greene pays tribute.Razia Jan, the Afghan/American who founded a school for girls in Afghan ... Show More
27m 53s
Aug 8
Dame Stella Rimington, Sylvia Young, Sir Jamie McGrigor, Joan Anderson
Matthew Bannister onDame Stella Rimington, the first woman to be Director General of MI5, who made the service more open and accountable.Sylvia Young, whose drama school turned out countless stars of stage, screen and music.Sir Jamie McGrigor, the Conservative Member of the Scott ... Show More
27m 51s
Jun 2023
Professor Peter Hennessy, historian
Professor Peter Hennessy is one of the UK’s leading contemporary historians. He has written acclaimed and important books about politics, the civil service, the intelligence agencies and the British constitution on which he is an expert. Peter was born in London in 1947 and read ... Show More
36m 58s
Feb 2021
George McGavin, entomologist and broadcaster
George McGavin is an entomologist, explorer and broadcaster, who has spread the word about the importance of insects to audiences in their millions. Born in Glasgow, he grew up in Edinburgh where he studied zoology at university. Following a PhD in entomology, he went on to teach ... Show More
36m 40s
Dec 2021
Playwright James Graham on Best of Enemies; Lamb film review; The Belarus Free Theatre; remembering actor Antony Sher
Britain’s foremost writer of political drama, James Graham, has written a new play ‘Best of Enemies’, about the television debates in the US in 1968 between the right wing thinker William Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal, the left wing writer. When they began yelling at each other rati ... Show More
41m 50s
Feb 2022
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, statistician
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter specialises in medical statistics. He is the Chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at Cambridge University, and one of the most frequently cited experts in his field. During the Covid 19 pandemic, he has made regular appe ... Show More
37 m
Jan 2023
Kirsty Young, broadcaster
Kirsty Young was the award-winning presenter of Desert Island Discs between 2006 and 2018, interviewing 496 castaways. Her TV work includes BAFTA-winning coverage of events marking the centenary of World War One, and memorable live presentation from Windsor of the state funeral o ... Show More
52m 10s
Mar 2023
Jenny Beavan, costume designer
Jenny Beavan has won three Oscars for her costumes for the films Room with a View, Mad Max: Fury Road and Cruella, and has received nine further Academy Award nominations. She was born in London, and her parents were both professional musicians who encouraged her to paint, draw a ... Show More
38m 51s