Alan Freeman picked by Simon Mayo
In 1961 Alan 'Fluff' Freeman took over as the host of the BBC Radio's 'Pick of the Pops' and...
27:58
Alan Freeman picked by Simon Mayo
In 1961 Alan 'Fluff' Freeman took over as the host of the BBC Radio's 'Pick of the Pops' and...
27:58
Actor Niamh Cusack on the life of poet Mary Oliver
The Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mary Oliver died in 2019. She was best known for her poetry that...
28:32
Mr Motivator picks Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte became the King of Calypso with hits like 'Day-O' and 'Jump in the Line' but he...
28:38
Jimmy Wales on Thomas Jefferson
In 1776 Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, kick-starting the movement...
27:57
Eartha Kitt proposed by Faye Tozer
Eartha Kitt was born in South Carolina in 1927. She had a tough upbringing but found her talent...
28:35
Philosopher John Gray chooses as his great life the iconic British writer of dystopian and...
28:33
Iszi Lawrence on Diana Barnato Walker
Broadcaster and author Iszi Lawrence chooses the aviator Diana Barnato Walker. Coming from a...
29:00
Mohammad Mossadegh, PM of Iran ousted in a coup
Walter Murch picks Mohammad Mossadegh, prime minister following the nationalisation of the...
28:25
An aristocrat in an eye patch, a jazz saxophonist, a crime novelist and a pioneering organic...
27:49
The award-winning Sound Recordist and Musician, Chris Watson nominates his hero, Ludwig Koch....
27:54
Ken Loach on Gerrard Winstanley
Veteran British film director Ken Loach nominates the 17th century radical pamphleteer and and...
27:52
Chi-chi Nwanoku on Jessye Norman
On the 11th June 1988 Jessye Norman performed a spine-tingling rendition of 'Amazing Grace' to a...
27:59
The Godmother of English - and Irish - ballet, Dame Ninette De Valois or ‘Madam’ as she was known...
27:59
Sophie Scott on Hattie Jacques
Born in 1922, Hattie Jacques began her career in music hall before graduating onto the radio...
27:59
Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore and London Zoo
It's a famous name - there's Raffles Hotel and Raffles Hospital, plus the rafflesia, the largest...
27:43
Thomas Mann was a German writer whose books explored themes around family, beauty and the...
28:04
"It's the complicated ones I enjoy the most." Matthew Parris Tony Benn, MP from 1950 to 2001,...
27:59
Jon Ronson picks Terry Hall of The Specials
When Jon Ronson was growing up, he went to see The Specials play in Cardiff. "I went on my own to...
27:19
Sir Edward Coke, prosecutor of Guy Fawkes
Edward Coke was born in Norfolk in 1552. He's best known as a judge and Parliamentarian, the link...
27:40
In 1997 Kofi Annan became the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations. The nineties were...
29:11