The Author Archive Podcast

Mark Lawson - Bloody Margaret : Thatcher that is!

The ghost of Mrs Thatcher walks through the Tory party despite the fact she left office in 1990 and died in 2013.

Her spirit is evoked and some emulate her style of dress ..... but when David Freeman interviewed Mark Lawson about his collection of stories, attitudes were very different.

At the time of the recording John Major was Prime Minister and Mark had written a book called Bloody Margaret. It's a satire. 

Paul Britton - Picking up the Pieces : memoir of a criminal psychologist.

Paul Britton advises police forces on some of their most difficult and upsetting cases. A few years ago he found himself in hot water is a situation that was dramatised for a Channel 4 series 'Deceit. As a result of Paul Britton's involvement Colin Stagg was wrongly accused of Rachel Nickell's murder.

David Freeman spoke to Paul Britton long before these things happened  about his book 'Picking up the Pieces. The book is full of horrifying cases, and starts with an occurrence that sounds straight from The Exorcist.

James Attlee - Under the Rainbow : Voices from Lockdown

In this inspiring book James Attlee tells what happened when he rang the doorbells of houses that had homemade pictures of rainbows in their windows.

The simple idea blossomed and grew and James found himself talking about Extinction Rebellion and Black LIves Matter.

This conversation took place on the day after the hottest ever day in the UK.

 

 

Alistair McAlpine - Love Letter to Australia

Baron McAlpine of West Green was a fund raiser for Mrs Thatcher but had another life in Australia. David Freeman met him when his book Bagman to Swagman was first published.

Even if one didn't share his politics, he was fantastic company with amazing stories. 

 

Jonathan Aitken - what happened to a member of John Major’s cabinet who was found to be lying.

Jonathan Aitken was a high profile Tory who was found to be lying.  He ended up serving time in jail. Have times changed?

He told David Freeman his story.

Victoria Glendinning - Flight : the difficulty of being faithful, the burden of good looks and England’s place in Europe.

Victoria Glendinning is an award-winning biographer and novelist.

In 2003 she published a novel called 'Flight'. It's fascinating to hear about the conversations that were already happening about the rightful place of England in Europe. Europe seemed to be getting on with life in a cooperative manner that England just didn't seem able to manage.

Who could have predicted in those heady days that England would vote to leave Europe ..... unbelievable!

 

Howard Jacobson - Who’s Sorry Now : Writing about sex and table tennis!

Howard Jacobson has won major literary prizes and has a long history of writing splendid thoughtful comic novels.

When David Freeman met him to discuss his novel 'Who's Sorry Now' it was back on the old favourite subject of sex ....... again.

Pete McCarthy - travelling in Ireland

David Freeman met Pete McCarthy in 2002 after he had enjoyed the success of McCarthy's Bar.

Pete was a splendid raconteur and great company.  It seemed at the time that he was probably the only travel writer who could submit to a masochistic spiritual experience and still find one third of the Jimi Hendrix Experience playing in the back room of an off the beaten track country pub.

Sheridan Morley - talking about his biography of the acclaimed actor Sir John Gielgud who was knighted in the 1953 Coronation Honours.

In this episode of The Author Archive Podcast Sheridan Morley talked to David Freeman about Sir John Gielgud.

There is a lot of looking back 70 years at the moment.  In 1953 John Gielgud was knighted in the Coronation Honours.  A few months later there was public uproar when he was  arrested for homosexuality which was illegal at the time. Sheridan tells what happened, how prejudices were confronted and laws eventually changed.

Vic Gatrell - Conspiracy on Cato Street : Attempted revolution in Regency London

David Freeman spoke to the Cambridge historian Vic Gatrell about his splendid book about a group of conspirators who attempted to bring revolution to London in 1820.

They failed but their story makes a compelling read. Not everything has changed in 200 years.