Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
Radio 4,·609 episodes
Eleanor Bron discusses the life of French philosopher and mystic Simone Weil.
30 mins
Camila Batmanghelidjh discusses the life of her Victorian equivalent, Mary Carpenter.
Historian Dominic Sandbrook discusses the life of Richard Nixon.
Greek poet Sappho - intellectual or vamp?
John Lennon is the life nominated by writer John Harris. Matthew Parris presents.
03 Aug 2010,·30 mins
Viv Anderson champions the life of Arthur Wharton, the first black professional footballer
Matthew Parris introduces the life of writer Harold Pinter, chosen by Diane Abbott MP.
24 May 2010,·30 mins
Sarah Hogg chooses as her champion Lady Charlotte Guest.
Physicist Brian Cox reveals how Carl Sagan's Cosmos TV show changed his life.
18 May 2010,·30 mins
Matthew Syed chooses the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion.
17 May 2010,·30 mins
TV producer John Lloyd discusses the life of American architect Richard Buckminster Fuller
Sir Stuart Rose discusses the life of the cartographer who mapped Australia.
04 May 2010,·30 mins
Peter White discusses the controversial England cricket captain Douglas Jardine.
Human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith discusses Robin Hood.
13 Apr 2010,·30 mins
Playwright John Godber discusses the life of German writer Bertolt Brecht.
Professor Richard Dawkins discusses the evolutionary theorist Bill Hamilton.
02 Feb 2010,·30 mins
Photographer David Bailey discusses the life and work of Pablo Picasso.
19 Jan 2010,·30 mins
Jenny Agutter champions the life and work of pioneering Austrian physicist Lise Meitner.
12 Jan 2010,·30 mins
Christopher Biggins champions the life of the Roman Emperor Nero.
05 Jan 2010,·30 mins
Munira Mirza discusses the life of the influential political philosopher Hannah Arendt.
29 Dec 2009,·30 mins
Neil Innes discusses the life of his colleague and friend Vivian Stanshall.
22 Dec 2009,·30 mins
Stand-up comedian Rich Hall discusses the life of playwright Tennessee Williams.
15 Dec 2009,·30 mins
Sir Ranulph Fiennes discusses the life of Henry V and tries to separate fact from myth.
08 Dec 2009,·30 mins
John Major discusses the life of Rudyard Kipling, poet to the British Empire.
29 Sep 2009,·30 mins
Paul Daniels explores the life of Harry Houdini, with help from biographer William Kalush.
22 Sep 2009,·30 mins
Kate Humble discusses the South African singer and anti-apartheid activist, Miriam Makeba.
15 Sep 2009,·30 mins
Politician Boris Johnson chooses the creator of the English dictionary, Dr Samuel Johnson.
Rolf Harris discusses the life of the Welsh painter Sir Kyffin Williams.
01 Sep 2009,·30 mins
Travel writer Dervla Murphy discusses the life of another woman traveller, Freya Stark.
25 Aug 2009,·30 mins
George Galloway chooses British poet and political activist John Cornford.
