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Authors talking to David Freeman about their books. Most of the conversations are from David’s personal archive that have been collected over the past 40 years.
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 01, 2022
Tuesday Nov 01, 2022
This evocative book tells the story of the scramble for power in the Vatican as the College of Cardinals voted for a new Pope.
One might like to think that such an election would be very different from the political elections that we are used to.
Sadly the way things were done in 1559 would be very familiar to the likes of Liz Truss and Jacob Rees Mogg..... and they used the Sistine Chapel as a dormitory. It had to be fumigated.
Saturday Oct 22, 2022
Saturday Oct 22, 2022
This is the story of a massive miscarriage of justice that leads to a teenager, Stephen Downing, being sentenced to life in jail.
Don Hale worked for the local newspaper and spent years working through the evidence to show that Stephen was innocent.
It is a shocking story.
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
The journalist William Davis talked to David Freeman on the morning of June 13, 2022, the day before the first Rwanda flight was scheduled and just before the publication of the bill to change the Brexit agreement in Ireland.
As the UK sinks into another election for another Tory election this seems all too relevant again.
The Rwanda flight is yet to happen and the Irish protocol is still awaiting sorting.
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
Wednesday Oct 19, 2022
This conversation was recorded when Mark's first Thom Thorne novel, Sleepy Head, was published.
It's interesting to note that the UK health service comes under scrutiny in the story and Mark concludes that the problem even then was funding. Some things don't change.
When asked about his own literary enthusiasms Mark comes up with cheers for Ian Rankin and Val McDermid and a whole group of American writers.
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
A fantastic celebration of the amazing achievements of women in the air and space. Some of these women are hardly known. This book is a revelation.
Friday Sep 30, 2022
Friday Sep 30, 2022
With his co-author, Keshia Abraham, John Woolf tells the story of Black Victorians who have been marginalised by history.
There are many characters to meet - Sarah Forbes Bonetta who was given as a gift to Queen Victoria, Pablo Fanque who ran a circus, the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and South African Saartjie Baartman who was exhibited as the 'Hottentot Venus'.... and many more.
Fascinating and sometimes shocking book wonderfully introduced by its co-author John Woolf.
Monday Sep 26, 2022
Monday Sep 26, 2022
Nancy Campbell is a poet and travel writer based in Oxford.
This is not a travel book or a book of poems. Thunderstone is different. It's about setting up a happy home in a caravan that will probably never move again.
Nancy is put in the position of being the carer for her partner Anna who has suffered a massive stroke. With kindness and fortitude, they cope.
It's a beautiful book.
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
On Friday 5th October 1962 the first Beatles record 'Love Me Do' and the first Bond film 'Dr No' were released.
This coincidence leads to a splendidly entertaining examination of the two hugely popular cultural phenomena.
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
Wednesday Sep 14, 2022
This is a superb book brilliantly explained by Nessa. Thought-provoking in an optimistic way.
Tuesday Sep 06, 2022
Tuesday Sep 06, 2022
Trevor Rees-Jones was the sole survivor of the car crash that killed Diana and Dodi in Paris on August 31st 1997.
He was very badly injured and kept a very low profile for a long time, but such was the media interest and the search for scapegoats he wrote his story - as much as he could remember.
If things had been slightly different could it now be King Charles and Queen Diana?