The Author Archive Podcast

Patricia Cornwell : Isle of Dogs

Patricia Cornwell became successful at writing crime novels because she knew what she was writing about. 

She had been a journalist covering crime when she took a job in the office of the Chief Medical Officer of Virginia.

Her first hand experience lead to the writing of the Kay Scarpetta series of novels.

This interview was recorded in London when Patricia was launching the third of the Trooper Andy Brazil novels.

 

 

Toby Matthiesen : The Caliph and the Imam : The making of Sunnism and Shiism

Dr Toby Matthiesen is Senior Lecturer in Global Religious Studies at the University of Bristol. 

In this new book Dr Matthiesen looks at the way, at this death, the followers of the Prophet Muhammad disagreed on who should succeed him. This argument started in AD632. This book traces the history of the split through history and shines a light on the modern world. Was the invasion of Iraq a good idea?

The Caliph and the Imam is published by Oxford University Press.

Mike McCartney, Roger McGough, John Gorman known collectively as Liverpool group, The Scaffold

In spring 1973 these three Liverpudlians were the comedy, poetry and musical group The Scaffold.

Mike McCartney was known as Mike McGear to differentiate himself from his Beatle brother Paul.

This conversation was recorded at a time when the trio were travelling the country to promote their Island LP, Fresh Liver.

From time to time they became serious but the overriding atmosphere was a bit silly. Some of what was said shows how perceptions of what is funny have changed over 50 years!

Carl Hiaasen - Basket Case : The case of the dead rock star.

The journalist and novelist talked to David Freeman in London when his novel Basket Case was first published.

It's a mystery surrounding the fate of the frontman of Jimmy and the Slut Puppies. On the surface it looks like he died in a  scuba diving accident .... but maybe that just doesn't smell right.

Michael G.Welham : Combat Divers

Mike Welham used to have a career as a combat diver so he has a handle on the secret subject he writes about.

This elite within an elite are sadly very relevant in our world today with a war in Europe. The author explains. 

Geoffrey Ashe : The Secret History of the Hell Fire Clubs.

'Do what you will' was the motto of the Hell Fire Clubs whose members did precisely that. Dressing up as monks and romping with 'nuns' was just part of their life.

Geoffrey Ashe first wrote about the Hell Fire Clubs 20 years ago and the latest reprint was in 2019. He lived in Glastonbury and wrote much about Arthurian legends. He died at the age of 98 in 2022.

 

 

 

Richard Kolada - Holy Ghost: The Life and Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler.

Albert Ayler is a mythic figure amongst the musically curious and those drawn to the further reaches of sonic expression. Although he played inside the boundaries of what could be recognised as 'jazz' his influence extended far beyond into rock and even 'serious' music.

His biography, published in the UK by JawBone Press is the work of extensive and lengthy research by American academic and music fan Richard Kolada.

 

 

Charlie Taverner - Street Food

This book, published by Oxford University Press, is a look at street food selling, hawking, in London from Tudor times through to the first world war.

What emerges is a story of a trade spanning hundreds of years that was essential for keeping the ever growing population of the city supplied with nutritious affordable food.

Who were these people? Where did they source their stock? What were their lives like?

It's a fascinating and sometimes surprising story.

 

John Campbell - biography of Margaret Thatcher

Although this book was first published around 20 years ago John Campbell's weighty biography of Margaret Thatcher still sells well.

This conversation was recorded when the book was first released but there are details that are revealed in the interview that are quite surprising. 

In the light of the Liz Truss rise and fall, her identification with the Thatcher image is fascinating. The Truss way of doing things took the aggressive Thatcher demeanour and the wardrobe but the central core of Thatcher's charisma totally escaped her. Being self assured and bossy, it turns out, is not enough.

Jonathan Aitken - owning up to wrong doing and paying the price by spending time in jail

We are used to politicians , particularly Tory politicians, being untruthful.

Twenty five years ago Jonathan Aitken was a high profile journalist and Tory politician who found himself in very hot water

He was pursued mercilessly by sections of the British press when they gathered evidence to show that he had encouraged one of his daughters to lie in court to get him out of a tight legal corner into which his own lies had lead him.

He was found guilty and sentenced to a jail term

As a sideshow to his public fall from grace he ran up a huge legal bill which he could not pay. Bankruptcy was inevitable.

Many were sceptical when he 'found God' in jail. He confounded his critics however by sticking with religion and becoming ordained as a vicar.

There was a book published in 2003 called 'Pride and Perjury'. Jonathan Aitken talked to David Freeman about it, and his life,  soon after publication.