Great Lives Podcast
Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
Episodes to download
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Cartoonist Naji al-Ali
Monday
Mona Chalabi chooses Naji al-Ali, Palestinian cartoonist shot in London in 1987.
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Cleopatra picked by Kate Williams
Mon 25 May 2026
Kate Williams picks Cleopatra, queen of ancient Egypt for over 20 years.
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Ade Edmondson on singer Sandy Denny
Mon 18 May 2026
Ade Edmondson - star of The Young Ones and much more - chooses the singer Sandy Denny.
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Tony Garnett picked by Harry Bradbeer
Mon 11 May 2026
The director of Fleabag and Killing Eve picks the producer of Kes and Cathy Come Home.
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Peter Cook picked by Jon Harvey aka Count Binface
Mon 4 May 2026
Comedian Jon Harvey picks Peter Cook as his hero for Great Lives.
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Coco Khan picks Edith Garrud, the jujitsu fighting suffragette
Mon 27 Apr 2026
Journalist Coco Khan picks the formidable jujitsu fighting suffragette, Edith Garrud.
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William Gladstone, four-time PM
Mon 20 Apr 2026
Trevor Lyttleton picks William Gladstone, Victorian prime minister and tory turned liberal
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Alistair McGowan on HE Bates
Mon 13 Apr 2026
Impressionist, poet and comedian Alistair McGowan on author HE Bates
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Beverley Knight on Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of rock and roll
Mon 6 Apr 2026
Beverley Knight picks the great Rosetta Tharpe, gospel singer turned pioneer.
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Daisy Dunn on Marcus Agrippa, ancient Rome's king of cement
Mon 2 Feb 2026
Classicist Daisy Dunn picks Marcus Agrippa, right-hand man of the emperor Augustus.
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Dr Sian Williams nominates Anna Freud
Mon 26 Jan 2026
Psychoanalyst Anna Freud is the choice of broadcaster and psychologist Dr Sian Williams.
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Pianist and broadcaster Keelan Carew nominates Russian composer Nicolai Medtner
Mon 19 Jan 2026
Pianist and broadcaster Keelan Carew champions the pianist and composer Nicolai Medtner.
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Comedian Helen Lederer on Joan Rivers
Mon 12 Jan 2026
Famous guests pick someone who has inspired their lives.
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John Cooper Clarke on Johnny Green, road manager of The Clash
Mon 5 Jan 2026
Famous guests pick someone who has inspired their lives
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Helen Carr picks Christine de Pizan at the Gloucester history festival
Mon 29 Dec 2025
Famous guests picks someone who has inspired their lives.
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Alex Wheatle, the Bard of Brixton
Mon 22 Dec 2025
Ashley John Baptiste chooses Alex Wheatle, author of the Crongton novels.
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Spitfire pilot Jeffrey Quill picked by astronaut Tim Peake
Mon 15 Dec 2025
Famous guests pick someone who has inspired their lives.
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Oliver Postgate
Mon 6 Oct 2025
Andrew Davenport, creator of In the Night Garden, chooses Oliver Postgate.
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Jock Stein, first British football manager to win the European Cup
Mon 8 Sep 2025
Famous guests pick someone they love or admire.
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Benjamin Franklin
Mon 1 Sep 2025
Famous guests nominate lives they love or admire - today Benjamin Franklin.
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Miles Jupp on JL Carr, author of A Month in the Country
Mon 25 Aug 2025
Famous guests pick a life they love or admire.
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DJ Deb Grant on John Prine
Mon 11 Aug 2025
DJ Deb Grant picks US mailman turned country-folk singer John Prine.
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Sir Seretse Khama, first president of Botswana
Mon 2 Jun 2025
Notable guests pick a great life they admire.
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Emily Williamson, co-founder of the RSPB
Mon 26 May 2025
Notable guests pick someone who has inspired their lives.
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Raymond Blanc on Professor Nicholas Kurti
Mon 12 May 2025
Raymond Blanc chooses physicist Nicholas Kurti.
Great Rock and Roll Lives
Stories of inspiration from great musicians from Bowie to Billie Holliday
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