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Dame Joan Collins and John Barnes

Dame Joan Collins chats to Zoe about her Unapologetic Diaries and John Barnes discusses The Uncomfortable Truth About Racism. Plus the QI elves return with another Why Workshop.

Dame Joan Collins chats to Zoe about her latest book, My Unapologetic Diaries. A legend of the screen and stage, Joan Collins is perhaps best known for playing Alexis Carrington in the globally popular television series Dynasty. She has appeared in over seventy films, hundreds of TV shows and over a dozen plays and is also a bestselling author of seventeen books. As its title suggests, this new book pulls no punches in a breathtakingly candid, wickedly withering and frequently hilarious collection of diary entries that offer unvarnished opinions on some of the biggest stars on the planet.

Former footballer John Barnes discusses his thought-provoking book, The Uncomfortable Truth About Racism. John spent the first dozen years of his life in Jamaica before moving to the UK with his family in 1975. Six years later he was a professional footballer, distinguishing himself for Watford, Liverpool and England, and in the process becoming this country's most prominent black player. By vividly evoking his personal experiences, and holding a mirror to this country's past, present and future, John provides a powerful and moving testimony in his new book to help inform and advance the global conversation around society's ongoing battle with the awful stain of prejudice.

Plus it’s The Why Workshop, and Zoe quizzes the QI Elves with more wonders and ponders, including your questions.

Along with Adam Porter on news, Richie Anderson on travel and Mike Williams on sport, Zoe and the team have the best start to your morning. With celeb guests, quizzes, headlines, tunes chosen by listeners and more music than you can shake a glitterball at!

There's also a Pause For Thought from Jim Harris and listeners on the line as Zoe entertains the nation with fun for the family!

2 hours, 59 minutes

Last on

Wed 13 Oct 2021 06:30

Music Played

  • The Doobie Brothers

    Long Train Runnin'

    • The Very Best Of The Doobie Brothers.
    • Warner Bros.
  • Ed Sheeran

    Shivers

    • = Equals.
    • Atlantic.
  • The Mavericks

    Dance the Night Away

    • Ultimate Country (Various Artists).
    • Telstar.
  • Clean Bandit

    Symphony (feat. Zara Larsson)

    • (CD Single).
    • Atlantic.
  • Dusty Springfield

    Son Of A Preacher Man

    • The All Time Greatest Movie Songs.
    • Columbia/Sony Tv.
  • Billy Ocean

    Red Light Spells Danger

    • Billy Ocean - Love Is For Ever (L.I.F.
    • Jive.
  • Huey Lewis and the News

    The Power Of Love

    • Huey Lewis & The News - Fore!.
    • Chrysalis.
  • Gregory Porter & Troy Miller

    Dry Bones

    • The Collection.
    • Blue Note.
  • Destiny’s Child

    Bootylicious

    • (CD Single).
    • Columbia.
  • Justin Timberlake

    Rock Your Body

    • (CD Single).
    • Jive.
  • Paul Simon

    Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

    • The Paul Simon Anthology (Disc 1).
    • Warner Bros.
    • 3.
  • Jennifer Lopez

    Ain't It Funny

    • (CD Single).
    • Epic/Sony.
  • Coldplay & BTS

    My Universe

    • Music Of The Spheres.
    • Parlophone.
  • Christina Aguilera

    Genie In A Bottle

    • (CD Single).
    • RCA.
  • Justin Bieber

    Ghost

    • Justice.
    • EMI.
  • Tiggs da Author

    Run (feat. Lady Leshurr)

    • Bridget Jones's Baby O.S.T. (Various Artists).
    • Polydor.
    • 001.
  • Room 5 & Oliver Cheatham

    Make Luv

    • New Woman 2003 (Various Artists).
    • Virgin.
  • Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande

    Rain On Me

    • Chromatica.
    • Interscope Records.
  • Liam Payne

    Sunshine

    • (CD Single).
    • Capitol.
  • Rick Astley

    Never Gonna Give You Up

    • Rick Astley - Whenever You Need Someb.
    • RCA.
  • Soft Cell

    Tainted Love

    • Hits & Pieces - The Best of Marc Almond & Soft Cell.
    • UMC.
  • Bee Gees

    You Should Be Dancing

    • Bee Gees - Their Greatest Hits.
    • Polydor.
  • James Blunt

    Love Under Pressure

    • The Stars Beneath My Feet (2004-2021).
    • Atlantic.
  • CeCe Peniston

    Finally

    • Now That's What I Call Music! 1992 (Various Artists).
    • Now.
  • Silk Sonic, Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak

    Skate

    • An Evening With Silk Sonic.
    • Atlantic.
  • The Charlatans

    The Only One I Know

  • James

    Just Like Fred Astaire

    • Mercury.
  • Oasis

    The Hindu Times

    • Big Brother Records.
  • Joy Crookes

    When You Were Mine

    • Skin.
    • Speakerbox Recordings.
    • 5.

Pause For Thought

Pause For Thought

A couple of weeks ago I went for a walk. And then, last Friday, I took a long ride on a bus. These were wildly divergent experiences. The walk was on Dartmoor, and was as bleak and magical and terrifying as a walk in South West England can be. Starting in the north of the moor, I walked alone in a long loop, across the highest ground, over muscle-sapping bogs and rock, sometimes through dense mist and rain, navigating by compass and then under vast skies towards expansive horizons. I camped under a rock called Wild Tor and spent a wakeful, lonely night battered by an apocalyptic storm, fearing my faithful tent might give up the ghost and surrender to the wind and the rain.  But it didn’t, and the next morning, I came off the moor through more wind, more rain and more sunshine, every so often blessed by rainbows as the weather conspired to show me everything it had to offer. And I was happy.

The bus, on the other hand, was on the M40 and was as bleak and joyless as a journey can be. For the first time since March of last year it was absolutely packed and so, for the first time since March of last year, someone sat next to me. And I was not happy. And to my shame, I made my unhappiness amply known to that poor, benighted individual who had, therefore, to contend not only with the big bag on his lap but also a grumpy and frankly rude neighbour. Now, I can’t honestly say that on Dartmoor I was trying to emulate Jesus’ habit of taking himself alone into the hills to pray. I must honestly confess, though, that I am nowhere close to his capacity to exist comfortably in a crowd.

In recent times I’ve lost both the desire and the willingness to share my space, which are basic requirements of community life. I suspect I’m not the only one. I reckon, then, that what I probably need is to learn again from scratch the essential skills of co-existence not only with my friends, but with all the unknown unfortunates who will have to share space with me. And then perhaps, I can be as happy in those everyday, unexpected encounters as I was the day I walked up and out into the wilderness.

Broadcast

  • Wed 13 Oct 2021 06:30