Great Lives Podcast
Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
Episodes to download
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Ekow Eshun on the first openly gay footballer, Justin Fashanu
Mon 23 Sep 2024
Biography show where famous guests pick someone they admire or love.
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Anneka Rice picks the largely forgotten Jane Morris, muse to Rossetti and wife of William Morris
Mon 16 Sep 2024
Anneka Rice picks Jane Morris, wife of William Morris and muse to Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
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The surgeon Henry Marsh picks 'the saviour of mothers' Dr Semmelweis
Mon 2 Sep 2024
Biography show where famous guests pick someone from history they admire or love.
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The Roman Emperor Nero
Mon 26 Aug 2024
Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
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Film director Julien Temple on Elizabethan bad boy Christopher Marlowe
Mon 19 Aug 2024
Biographical show in which famous guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
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Zing Tsjeng on Swedish painter Hilma af Klint
Mon 12 Aug 2024
Biography series in which famous guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
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Miriam Margolyes on Charles Dickens
Mon 5 Aug 2024
The great Miriam Margolyes chooses her hero, Charles Dickens
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Mary Portas on Anita Roddick
Mon 27 May 2024
Mary Portas chooses the founder of The Body Shop Dame Anita Roddick as her Great Life.
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Lady Rachel MacRobert, chosen by Hayaatun Sillem
Mon 13 May 2024
Dr Hayaatun Sillem chooses the extraordinary life of Lady Rachel MacRobert.
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James Dyson on Frank Whittle
Mon 29 Apr 2024
James Dyson chooses the inventor of the jet engine, Frank Whittle.
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Katherine Rundell on E Nesbit
Mon 22 Apr 2024
Writer Katherine Rundell nominates fellow children's author E Nesbit.
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Sir Bruce Forsyth
Mon 8 Apr 2024
Sir Bruce Forsyth, nominated by the political writer and broadcaster Steve Richards
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Harry Enfield on Gerard Hoffnung
Mon 1 Apr 2024
Comedian Harry Enfield chooses the cartoonist, musician and raconteur Gerard Hoffnung.
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Alan Freeman picked by Simon Mayo
Tue 23 Jan 2024
Simon Mayo picks his broadcasting hero, Pick of the Pops's Alan 'Fluff' Freeman.
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Actor Niamh Cusack on the life of poet Mary Oliver
Tue 16 Jan 2024
Actor Niamh Cusack chooses the American poet Mary Oliver.
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Mr Motivator picks Harry Belafonte
Tue 9 Jan 2024
Mr Motivator chooses the King of Calypso, whose hits include Day-O and Jump in the Line.
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Jimmy Wales on Thomas Jefferson
Tue 2 Jan 2024
The founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales, picks the third president of the United States.
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Eartha Kitt proposed by Faye Tozer
Boxing Day 2023
Faye Tozer from Steps nominates a singer and dancer with a trademark growl.
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John Gray on JG Ballard
Tue 19 Dec 2023
Philosopher John Gray chooses the iconic futuristic writer JG Ballard.
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Iszi Lawrence on Diana Barnato Walker
Tue 12 Dec 2023
Iszi Lawrence chooses record-breaking aviator Diana Barnato Walker.
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Mohammad Mossadegh, PM of Iran ousted in a coup
Tue 5 Dec 2023
Mohammad Mossadegh was toppled in a coup in Iran in 1953.
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Chi-chi Nwanoku on Jessye Norman
Tue 19 Sep 2023
Chi-chi Nwanoku picks the American singer Jessye Norman who became a global star of opera.
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Lady Eve Balfour
Tue 12 Sep 2023
Lady Eve Balfour was a pioneering organic farmer and founder of the Soil Association.
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Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore and London Zoo
Tue 8 Aug 2023
The head of ZSL, Matthew Gould, picks the founder of London Zoo
Great Rock and Roll Lives
Stories of inspiration from great musicians from Bowie to Billie Holliday
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