The Author Archive Podcast

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.

 

Vicky Spratt - Tenants : The People on the Frontline of Britain’s Housing Emergency

Vicky Spratt is a British journalist specialising in the issue of housing.

For her book 'Tenants' Vicky spoke to people trapped in a world where homelessness is a constant threat. The stories are heartbreaking and shocking. It is unbelievable that this is happening in the UK in 2022. The book is a loud and strident wake up call to politicians. A change is required. Now.

This is a shocking story that is back in the headlines because of the stories of mould in houses that can be lethal.

Michael Dobbs - the author of the House of Cards talks about real politicians and another fictional invention.

Michael Dobbs was a very successful politician in his youth. He was labelled as the Tories baby faced hit man.

But then he turned to fiction but still writing about politics .... House of Cards was his invention.

After the loathsome amoral Francis Urquhart he came up with Thomas Goodfellowe MP.

Around 20 years ago Michael met David Freeman and they started their conversation musing on how party discipline was achieved in Westminster.  Around that time he had said of the Tory government 

'We have a flat pack Cabinet that threatens to collapse every time you turn the telly on'

Maybe nothing changes!

Richard Houghton - Gonna See All My Friends : A Peoples History of Fairport Convention

Richard Houghton has collected memories of music fans who have revelled in the folk/rock music of Fairport Convention.

The band was formed in London in 1967 so there his a huge fund of stories to draw on.

Legendary musicians have come and gone but Fairport Convention rolls on!