The Author Archive Podcast

Andrew Lownie has spent four years researching the lives of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, 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. What Andrew Lownie tells me will stop you in your tracks.

This book is as exploration of the rich and varied cultural worlds shaped by the Rhine, the Rhone and the Po. Three Rivers traces the rivers' journeys from their glacial sources through Germany, Itals and France. Its an entertaining and informative story. A great holiday read!

Twenty five years ago Julian Hoffman and his wife Julia decided to leave their life in London and make a dramatic change. They would leave the city life with it's commuting hassles and move somewhere and live very different life On nothing more than a chance encounter with a book about it they moved to Prespa in northern Greece. They didn't speak the language, had very few possessions but their bold and brave decision has worked out very well. They searched for home in the mountains of Greece. How they found it is told in Lifelines.

This conversation looks back at the post war time when all the world aspired to be young and America. America was really perceived to be great back then. How times change ........ Joseph Connolly paints a rock 'n roll picture.

After Ashley Kahn had published his book on the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue he turned his attention to the timeless John Coltrane record A Love Supreme. Not only is this still a highly regarded jazz performance, A Love Supreme is now the title of the biggest open air jazz festival in the UK.

Duke Ellington is famous, but what was he really like. In this biography published in 2000, Stuart Nicholson writes about the man who was a brilliant instinctive and sophisticated musician. Was he then a bit of a goody goody? As Stuart Nicholson told me he was not in any way a goody goody!

The Oxford Companion to Music is probably the most famous music reference book of them all. The latest edition was first published in 2002. It has over 120 contributors and covers covers the whole universe of music. I spoke to the editor Alison Latham soon after publication. A huge task to pull such a tome together ..... but maybe an enjoyable job?

As the news from America becomes more and more worrying it's good to look back to the last century when everything was different and some American rock musicians brought joy to the world. Peace and Love meant something back then. The Grateful Dead were very successful despite having no chart hits and they had a huge dedicated fanbase. They were formed in California in 1965 and performed regularly for 30 years. The anniversaries have spawned renewed interest in the band. Dennis McNally was their official archivist.

Kind of Blue is the most successful jazz LP ever made. It was recorded over two sessions in New York in 1959 and is still revered as a masterpiece. Ashley Kahn told David Freeman the story behind a historic music event.

A Line in the Sand is a novel about two friends on an adventure in the Middle East based on an actual journey two real life friends took to Saudi Arabia and Damascus in 2006. One of the inspirations for the trip was T.E Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia. The two authors Miles Spencer and Wells Jones had worked on a stage play based on the life of Lawrence and they decided to take a trip to see the landscape for themselves and meet the people Lawrence identified with. This conversation with Wells Jones took place on 15th January 2025 when a cease fire had just been signed between Israel and Hamsas. Line in the Sand explains some of the long history behind the conflict in the Middle East.

Joe Boyd is a man about music, record producer, a film producer and author. He arrived in London in 1964 with Muddy Waters and a host of blues musicians who played to sold out UK audiences when they were unappreciated in their US homeland. In this conversation he talks about Nick Drake, Paul Simon, The Incredible String Band, Paul Butterfield, MIke Bloomfield and the enduring power of real music. A thought provoking podcast.

The effect of the American reverberates around the globe. There seems to be perceived electoral advantage in fanning hate and intolerance. The wars in the Middle East and Ukraine continue. Why is this? Is there any cause for optimism? Where do non rational beliefs and convictions fit in the conflicts? This conversation with the activist and thinker Tariq Ali was recorded soon after the outrage of 9/11. There is a plan for the future in what Tariq was saying but I wonder if he is as optimistic today. Will rational thought and reasoned discussion bring peaceful coexistence?

This new book is terrific - its a revelation. Catherine has studied texts written around the same time as the writings we know as the gospels. Some of these ancient documents tell the story of the bible characters we are familiar with in a totally different way. Listen to Catherine talk about her research and you will be surprised ..... probably very surprised!! My favourite book of the year. Every time I see a politician leaning in a faith direction I want to urge them to read this book!

Sophie Kinsella has a brain tumour. She has written a book about it entitled 'What Does It Feel Like?' This archive conversation was recorded at the Langham Hilton in London and I remember that Sophie 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. Her books are great escapist fiction ....We wish Sophie a speedy recovery from her health challenges.

Jilly Cooper is back in the news and she has every reason to be jolly. Her football novel is out and Disney have made a movie of one of her stories. I met Jilly when her novel Pandora was first published. She was jolly then too!!

Spike Milligan is a timeless national treasure. In this episode Spike Milligan talks to David Freeman about his life in comedy, The Goons, and the mental health problems that dogged his life after he was blown up by a wartime bomb.

Jeanette Winterson celebrated her 65th birthday on August 27th. This interview was recorded when Jeanette was a 20 something brand new literary force. I remember this converstaion with huge affection. Mostly I would talk to an author for 20 minutes or so but this conversation is twice that. It was recorded in the spring of 1984 when 'Oranges are Not the Only Fruit' was first published. I was very fortunate because I was one of the very first broadcasters to interview Jeanette. I had been reading the book in bed the night before and was buzzing with enthusiasm for it when I met her. Hear the author talk about her life in religious Accrington and why she rejected the faith. A superb book!

When the lit fest season comes round some 'late' authors are very much missed. This is another conversation from the archive. Terry Pratchett died in 2015. Terry started life writing when he was just a boy and in adult life became press officer for the nuclear power stations of the Central Electricity Board. When the Pratchett books became hugely successful he gave up the day job and by 1996 he was the bestselling author in the UK. In public he always wore a big hat, and in his Wiltshire studio he was an early adopter of a robot vacuum cleaner. When he wrote he worked on four computer screens simultaneously. Great guy!

Steve Kershaw has two personas .... he is Steve the musician and Dr Stephen the classics tutor. He is involved in two new projects. One is a magnificent illustrated childrens encyclopedia of gods, monsters and mortals from ancient Greece. The other is a jazz trio recording. Steve is the Oxfordshire based bass player. The pianist and saxophonist Leonid and Nick Vintskevich are Russian . As Steve tells me the wide geographical distribution sometimes make rehearsal tricky! The record is called 'I'll Show You a Beautiful Country.

Bitter Crop is a superb biography of Billie Holiday who was probably the very best jazz singer there has ever been. The book title is takes from one of Billie's signature songs, 'Strange Fruit'. There have been films and many books about Billie's career but not all of them came close to telling the whole truth of a remarkable life. True there were drugs and alcohol but there was so mucah more than that. There was huge musical success and adulation - Billie considered her life to be a triumph. The conversation took place in July 2024 ..... 65 years after Billie died.