The Author Archive Podcast

Fiona Maddocks - Rachmaninoff in Exile : Goodbye Russia

After the Russian revolution in 1917 Rachmaninoff was able to escape to America and build a new life in music.

Fiona Maddocks tells how he got on with Stravinsky, Shoenberg , and the foxtrot!

One of the revealing details is how Sergei Rachmaninoff and Jeremy Clarkson would share a passion and have much to talk about.

Anne Sebba - biographer : talks about her book about Ethel Rosenberg who was executed for supposed espionage in 1953 and Wallis Simpson who brought about the abdication of the king in 1936.

Anne Sebba is a master of the biographers art. In this conversation she talks about two of her books.

Ethel Rosenberg was executed for aiding her husband Julius in his task of spying for the Soviet Union. The Rosenbergs had two young sons who were orphaned on that day - June 19 1953. Anne tells the story.

The other book has become a classic - 'That Woman'.

That woman was Wallis Simpson. Wallis became the person responsible for the abdication crisis in 1936.  So who was that woman and what did she want?

 

 

 

Alyn Shipton : The 1950s Jazz Recordings by the Gerry Mulligan Quartet

This book goes back to a pre rock 'n roll era when jazz was a popular music form.

The early 50s were the time when the big bands were fading a way and the rock'n roll revolution was yet to happen.

A quartet led by a baritone saxophonist caused a revolution. 

 Audiences were entrance by the sound of a jazz group that didn't have a piano in it. This was new - it hadn't been done before.

Julian Baggini - How To Think Like a Philosopher

Dr Julian Baggini has built a successful career as a writer and communicator about philosophy.

In this conversation Julian wonders about the validity of monarchy, whether truth in politics is essential, if wisdom inevitably comes with age, why there is so much angst around trans people ...... and much more!

How does AC/DC fit in to all this, and.... does thinking like a philosopher make you feel better??

Marcus Chown - The One Thing You Need To Know

Marcus Chown is an award winning science writer and journalist.

This book has approachable chapters on Quantum Theory, Global Warming, Relativity .... 21 topics in all.

If you are curious about the cosmos - if you wonder about Dark Matter or even Dark Energy this conversation and the book behind it are for you.

Iain Banks - Dead Air

Iain Banks died of cancer 10 years ago.

He was a delight to interview... funny, quick, challenging and always entertaining.

Iain Banks was a rock star author!

 

 

Stephen P. Kershaw - The Harvest of War -Three Epic Battles that Saved Democracy: Now available in paperback.

When David Freeman talked to Dr Kershaw about his new book about battles in ancient Greece. it seemed that the human desire for conflict is unchanged through history.

Three Epic Battles that Saved Democracy is an entertaining and instructive read published by Robinson in spring 2022.

Now published in the US by Pegasus Books. 

Great review in the Wall Street Journal.

Donna Leon : The joys and frustrations of being a writer residing in Venice

This interview is a conversation found in the digital archive.

Donna Leon has written crime novels set in the magnificent city of Venice. This interview happened long ago before Italy entered the Eurozone. Donna expressed some fairly attention grabbing facts. 

Didn't put me off going to Venice!

I was reminded of this interview when I was in Cheltenham Hatchards today and there was  a whole table filled with the latest Donna Leon novel.

Jeffery Archer : the author and disgraced Tory politician talked to me about his joy in being a story teller.

This conversation has contemporary resonances. LIke others that came after him this former vice chairman of the Conservative Party and would be Mayor of London had supreme confidence in his ability to tell lies and then lie his way out of the consequences of the earlier untruths. Jeffery Archer was supremely confident he would always 'get away with it'. The edifice of untruths became unsustainable and eventually collapsed. We see this happening again.

The reason for this interview was the publication of a new collection of short stories. The coverage in the tabloids at the time was much more about his relationship with a prostitute and how he persuaded a friend to give her money to go away.

With hindsight his lies were going to send him to prison and I should maybe have asked him about being banished from the Tory party and his payments to sex worker Monica Coghlan. That might have made a more riveting conversation. 

This fits in with all the revelations in the Channel 5 documentary.

It was a long time ago ..... I was young!!!

Ken Dark : The Archaeology of Jesus’ Nazareth

In this new book published by Oxford University Press, Professor Dark explains  what his archeological investigations have revealed  about the small  village where Jesus grew up.  

There are surprising details about the life style and beliefs of the community that Jesus and his family were a part.