The Author Archive Podcast

Sophie Kinsella : Shopaholic Ties the Knot

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 : Pandora

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

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.

Deborah Ellis - The Breadwinner : A book for children about about the life of a girl in Afghanistan living under Taliban rules.

This interview was recorded in 2001 and in the introduction recorded at the time I say that the story is no longer relevant as the Taliban are  no longer in charge.

This was true at the time but sadly the Taliban are back and the the story of The Breadwinner is all too relevant again. Did the UK let these people down?

 

Jeanette Winterson - Oranges are Not the Only Fruit.

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!

Barry Cunliffe : Facing The Sea Of Sand - the Sahara and the peoples of Northern Africa

Emeritus Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe is an academic archaeologist who writes enthusiastically and engagingly about his passions.

In this interview he talks to me about his book which tells the whole of African human history focussing on the Sahara.

Sir Barry takes the story of us from our evolution through to the present day. Is he optimistic about our survival?

Steve Kershaw - Mythologica and Vintskevich-Kershaw Trio

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.

Rowland Bagnall : Near - Life Experiences : Poetry Collection

Taylor Swift attracts huge interest in her song lyrics. They are studied as poetry.

Rowland Bagnall is a different sort of poet. Near - Life Experience,  his new collection is just published

When I spoke to him we talked about his poetic motivation and the process of writing these concentrated nuggets of observation.

His replies are thoughtful and enlightening.

Tim Coulson - The Universal History of Us

Tim Coulson talks about his book which tells the  amazing story of 13.8 billion years of history from the Big Bang to you!

It is a wonderful read - inspiring, gripping and fascinating.

And just a thought .... did a deity have a hand in the story?

Tim explains his view!

 

 

Truddi Chase - When Rabbit Howls : A memoir of living with multiple personalities.

Truddi Chase lived with dissociative identity disorder a condition that used to be called multiple personality disorder.

On the cover of her book the author was named as 'The Troops' - the name she gave to her 90 plus identities.

When I interviewed her she was with her therapist Robert Phillips. The whole story was very difficult to assimilate as you can probably hear.

Truddi died in 2010 but there is a website dedicated to her and her autobiography is still in demand.

It seems that her condition was a result of abuse in her childhood.

A story like no other!