Great Lives

Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in 1928. She was a mother, writer, dancer, director, performer, friend of presidents, and author of seven volumes of memoir. The very first - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - returned to the top of the best-seller lists when she died in 2014. So why were people fascinated by her life? Nominating her is Bristol University's recently appointed professor of slavery, Olivette Otele. "I l love her, I really do." She's joined by Patricia Cumper who has adapted many of Maya Angelou's books for radio. The presenter is Matthew Parris. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Ursula le Guin was born in California, USA in 1929. Her books - including A Wizard of Earthsea and The Left Hand of Darkness - have been described as masterpieces.Yet she battled prejudice all her life from the literary elite. On the line from Paris, British musician Kate Stables tells Matthew Parris about her love of le Guin's books. And Arwen Curry is in San Francisco. She knew the author and made the film The Worlds of Ursula K Le Guin with the strapline 'A Wizard's Work is Never Done'.Produced at BBC Bristol by Toby Field and Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2020.

"One of the best things a children's writer can do is to implant sign posts in childhood to things that are good, and to the small pleasures that will get you through life" Frank Cottrell-Boyce Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki in 1914. An artist, illustrator and writer she became best known as the creator of The Moomins, the little white trolls who lived in Moominvalley with other fantastical creatures such as the Hattifatteners, Mymbles and Whompers. Acclaimed screenwriter and children's author Frank Cottrell-Boyce has described Tove Jansson as his 'Guardian Angel' having first discovered Moominvalley one Saturday morning in his local library in Liverpool. He encountered Comets, Great Floods and a little Midsummer Madness all of which were met with the warmth and wisdom of Moomin-Mamma, the gentle observance of Snufkin and the inventiveness of Little My. Fantastical in their adventures but rooted in reality and humanity, Frank Cottrell-Boyce champions the creator of Mooninvalley who poured her fascinating life into her books. Drawing inspiration from childhood disagreements about the philosopher Immanuel Kant, creative ways to survive a war and a forbidden - but wonderful - love story that lasted a life time. Producer in Bristol is Nicola Humphries Presented by Matthew Parris Guest Expert Boel Westin Author of 'Tove Jansson: Life, Art, Words'(Pre-recorded earlier this year)

Chef , writer and presenter Rick Stein chooses the lead singer of The Doors, Jim Morrison.As a 21 year old man travelling the world, a young Rick Stein discovered The Doors and became fascinated by the band's lead singer, Jim Morrison. Over the subsequent 50 years, the life and legend of one of rock and roll's brightest stars had a lasting impact on the restauranteur. Joining Matthew Parris and Rick Stein to uncover the mysteries of Jim's life is the broadcaster Paul Gambaccini, who found The Doors when he was a student radio disc jockey at university. With contributions from Frank Lisciandro, filmmaker and friend of Jim, and Kirsten Norrie, poet and singer. Producer: Camellia SinclairFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2020.

When Andi Oliver first read Toni Morrison's 'The Bluest Eye' she felt as though someone climbed inside her head. Morrison's books saved the chef and broadcaster's life - both emotionally and cerebrally. The author, editor and college professor Toni Morrison chronicled the lives of African-Americans in novels such as 'Beloved', 'Sula' and 'Song of Solomon'. She once said that what drove her to write was "the silence of so many stories untold and unexamined". Born in Ohio, she was granddaughter to a slave, and her work often drew on the legacies of slavery, how it's carried down the generations. Awarded both the Pulitzer and the Nobel Prize for Literature, her work was internationally acclaimed. Joining Matthew Parris and Andi Oliver is Morrison's close friend Fran Lebowitz, and Howard University professor Dana Williams.Producer: Eliza LomasFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2020.

"I am a German American, a pure one, dating back to when German Americans were still marrying each other." Kurt Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis in 1922, but the most important event in his life happened in Dresden in 1945. He was a POW and underground in a meat locker during the firebombing. When he emerged he found the city totally destroyed. It took him another two decades to work out how to write his book, Slaughterhouse-Five.Nominating Vonnegut is the comedian Josie Long, who says that finding a writer you love is like finding a friend. Because no expert was available for this recording, Kurt Vonnegut will be taking on this role himself. Kurt died in April 2007.The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

From Kansas City to New York, young Charlie Parker conquered the world of jazz.. He was famous during his life, and even more famous after he died aged 34. He's nominated here by former health minister, home secretary and chancellor of the exchequer, Kenneth Clarke. Together with Richard Williams and Val Wilmer, Ken recounts what made Bird great, and why he died so very young. "If you look at the street scenes of Harlem in 1940, it was a squalid place. Club life in New York was probably a smart escape." Ken ClarkeThe programme also includes clips by Dizzy Gillespie and Annie Ross. and music such as Koko and Now's the Time. The presenter is Matthew Parris, and the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Bill Bailey has not just travelled in naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace's footsteps, he's crazy about him too. "I love him, I really do." Wallace is best known for what used to be known as the Wallace-Darwin theory of evolution. When he died in 1913, the New York Times called him the last of the 'giants belonging to that wonderful group of intellectuals ... whose daring investigations revolutionised and evolutionised the thought of the century." Born in 1823, Wallace was a collector, a writer, a keen conservationist, and Bill has been to Borneo to see Wallace's famous flying frog. With Sandy Knapp of the Natural History Museum, and presented by Matthew Parris. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Janice Turner recently wrote a sweet, sensitive article about packing up the contents of her parent’s house. “The experience was almost unbearable,” she began. Among the items passed down from the attic, “my entire childhood,” were a heavy sledge, Twinkle and Jackie annuals, “and a heavy trunk of 60 Enid Blytons.”60 Enid Blytons - imagine that! Janice Turner aka @victoriapeckham and winner of press interviewer of the year, is nominating Enid Blyton in a programme filled scandal, racism and lovely archive. Blyton was rejected in 2019 from a commemorative coin because of the controversy that continues to swirl around her work .... which include The Famous Five, the Secret Seven, and 24 books about Noddy. The programme includes the biographer Nadia Cohen, the presenter Matthew Parris, and the producer Miles Warde.

What makes a brilliant politician? What should motivate them? Does having a faith help? Broadcaster and writer Jeremy Paxman chooses the seventh earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley-Cooper. a Victorian politician whose numerous and wide-ranging social reforms transformed working and living conditions for impoverished children, miners and chimney-sweeps alike. Joining Matthew Parris and Jeremy Paxman is Lord Shaftesbury's great-great-grandson, the twelfth earl, Nick Ashley-Cooper. The three discover more about the Ashley-Cooper dynasty, ponder what makes a good earl and explore how aristocratic life has changed between then and now. Producer: Camellia Sinclair

In the early summer of 1945, Lee Miller sent a telegram back to London about what she had seen in the Nazi death camps. “I implore you to believe this is true,” she wrote. Her employers were Vogue magazine. How did a famous beauty like Miller end up covering the war?Her extraordinary life and the images she left, most famously posing in Hitler's bath, are explored here by Lindsey Hilsum of Channel 4 News. She is joined by Miller's son, Antony Penrose. Lee Miller was American, born in 1907, but lived in Paris and Cairo and then London during the blitz. Her lovers included Man Ray, she knew Cocteau and Picasso, and was an important surrealist. But it was her work in world war two that leads Lindsey Hilsum to claim her as Marie Colvin's spiritual ancestor. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.Photo copyright www.leemiller.co.uk

"It's absolutely joyous, one of the highlights of my career!" Peter Oborne on being joined by Martin Jarvis, the man who brings Just William to life.Journalist Oborne is nominating both William Brown and his creator, Richmal Crompton. She wrote 39 multi-million selling books, and her delight in William is clear to hear in the archive. Other contributors include her biographer, Mary Cadogan, and her niece, Richmal Ashbee. But it's the brilliance of Martin Jarvis's impersonations of William, Ginger and the gang that brings this programme to life. Plus the interplay between Peter Oborne and Matthew Parris."Do you think William would have been Brexit?" "I don't think there's any evidence." Producer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

The author Chibundu Onuzo nominates the first elected female in Africa, Constance Agatha Cummings-John.Chibundu discovered the remarkable story of Constance while studying for her PhD. Born into the Sierra Leonean Krios elite in 1918, Constance was brought up in colonial Freetown, with a lifestyle which most resembled English gentility. But everything changed for her when she travelled to England and America as a teenager. She experienced racism and segregation for the first time, and returned to Sierra Leone determined to fight the colonial rule of the British. At just 20 years old she became the first female elected councillor in Africa, and later the mayor of Freetown. But following independence, she would find herself in exile in London. Matthew Parris is joined by Chibundu and Constance's grandson, Dennis Cummings-John, to discuss prejudice, class and colonialism, through the inspirational story of a woman ahead of her time.Producer: Polly WestonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2019.

Comedian Sindhu Vee has loved Prince ever since she was a young girl in India - when her sister gave her illicit cassettes recorded from US radio. A pop polymath and global superstar, Prince was also a man of extreme contradictions and multiple personas. Hearing his music changed Sindhu's life forever, and seeing him perform influenced her career as a comedian. Sindhu is joined by BAFTA-winning investigative journalist Mobeen Azhar (who saw Prince live 54 times) and presenter Matthew Parris, to discuss the life of Prince Rogers Nelson.Produced at BBC Bristol by Eliza Lomas.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2019.

Fiona Shaw - BAFTA award-winning star of BBC TV's Killing Eve - explores the life of one of history's most remarkable and forgotten actresses, Eleonora Duse. The 19th-century performer inspired Stanislavski's 'method', changed Chekhov's mind about acting, and took Chaplin's breath away,Kirsten Shepherd-Barr - professor of English and Theatre Studies at St Catherine's College, Oxford - helps Fiona and presenter Matthew Parris to uncover the drama of Duse's life, both on and off the stage. Producer: Camellia SinclairFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2019.

Psychotherapist Philippa Perry nominates the Italian educator and doctor Maria Montessori, who revolutionised children's education. Montessori schools exist today in over 170 countries. They are defined by a child-centred approach to learning, nurturing independence and individuality in children as young as three years old. In Philippa Perry’s work as a psychotherapist, she finds deep connections with Montessori’s philosophy, which is about believing the person has the power to develop within them. Philippa is joined by the executive director of Association Montessori International Lynne Lawrence. Matthew Parris is the presenter. Producer: Eliza LomasFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2019.

Ramsay MacDonald, Labour's first Prime Minister, is chosen by Shaun Ley.In 1931 Ramsay MacDonald went to see the king in order to resign. George V persuaded him to stay, and a story of party betrayal began. Broadcaster Shaun Ley and journalist Anne Perkins pick through events that have a contemporary ring as the political class of the thirties struggled to cope with fast moving events. MacDonald's own story and background is remarkable too - illegitimate son, born in Lossiemouth in Scotland, he is remembered as one of the early founding fathers of the Labour party, and a man who bravely spoke out against the First World War.Presenter: Mathew ParrisProducer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2019.

4 Extra broadcast to mark the 300th Anniversary of the death of Sir John Vanbrugh.From acting in TV's Men Behaving Badly and Jonathan Creek to restoring dozens of period properties and touring India for TV, Caroline Quentin loves variety. When she discovered the life of the playwright and architect Sir John Vanbrugh, she had found a kindred spirit. Caroline appeared in an RSC production of The Provoked Wife by Vanbrugh - who also designed Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. Architectural critic and broadcaster, Jonathan Glancey, joins Caroline and presenter Matthew Parris, to explore the full and meandering life of this flamboyant figure.Producer Camellia SinclairFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2019.

Laura Marling nominates the first female psychoanalyst, Lou Andreas-Salomé.Folk singer-songwriter, Laura has been unravelling the mysteries of Russian-born Lou Andreas-Salomé ever since she came across her name in the biography of the poet, Rainer Maria Rilke. She'd never heard of Salomé's name but discovered she was Rilke's literary mentor for years. As well as this, she was the only woman allowed in Sigmund Freud's Inner Psychoanalytic Circle, and was proposed to by Friedrich Nietzsche, who called her “the cleverest person I ever knew...” Yet today, she's been largely forgotten. Laura makes the case for remembering this enigmatic woman who inspired some of the greatest minds of our time. Laura Marling has been nominated for the Grammy Awards, the Mercury Prize and has won a Brit award for best British Female Solo Artist. Presented by Matthew ParrisProducer: Eliza Lomas in BristolFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2019.

Was Robinson Crusoe real? According to the book it was 'written by himself'.To establish the facts, Matthew Parris is joined by two notable desert island survivors to discuss Crusoe’s life and strange adventures, during 28 years on an uninhabited island near the mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque. Crusoe's nominator is Lucy Irvine, who spent a year on Tuin Island with a man called Gerald. Her exploits resulted in a book and a film called ‘Castaway’. The second guest is journalist Martin Popplewell, who was inspired as a teenager to try desert island life by Brooke Shields in the film ‘The Blue Lagoon’.As Martin points out, "There's no mention in the entire Crusoe book of coconuts" in this entertaining dissection of both Crusoe and his creator, Daniel Defoe.Producer: Miles WardeProduced in Bristol and first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2019.

Former Member of Parliament Ed Balls chooses the 20th-century English composer, organist and teacher, Herbert Howells. With the biographer of Herbert Howells, Paul Spicer. Presented by Matthew ParrisProducer: Polly WestonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2019.

Kamila Shamsie champions the life of the Pakistani human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir. Author of award-winning novel 'Home Fire', Kamila says she was only ten years old, growing up in Karachi, when Asma became her hero even before she really knew her name. She remembers her mother and her aunts all talking about this amazing woman lawyer and social activist who was standing up against many of the laws that Pakistan's President General Zia ul Haq had introduced in the 1980s. Jahangir was always making the news headlines or giving radio interviews. Here was a woman who was determined to speak her mind and stand up for women and the human rights of all its citizens - it seemed she feared no-one, recalls Shamsie. Kamila Shamsie is joined by Asma's daughter Sulema Jahangir, a lawyer working in London and Pakistan who shares some personal stories and anecdotes about her mother - and Saqlain Imam, BBC Urdu journalist and broadcaster - part of the BBC World Service. Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Perminder KhatkarFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2019.

The prolific and most significant of American song-hunters - Alan Lomax - is the choice of English folk singer Shirley Collins. She's joined by singer-songwriter and activist Billy Bragg. Lomax did whatever was necessary to preserve traditional music and take it to a wider audience. He was the first to record towering figures like Lead Belly, Muddy Waters and Woody Guthrie. He was instrumental in the revival of U.S. and UK folk. Shirley Collins met Lomax in 1954, after he'd moved to England to avoid the U.S. McCarthy witch-hunt. She tells the story of how they fell in love and describes their recording trips around Europe and in America's Deep South, on the cusp of the civil rights movement. Lomax's ambition was to give a voice to the voiceless, and that took him from fisherman shacks to prisons, farmyards to cotton mills. His steadfast drive to capture cultures before they disappeared resulted in a staggering amount of recordings we can listen to today, from gospel choirs to Cajun fiddling, country blues to calypsos and Haitian voodoo rituals.Presenter: Matthew Parris. Producer: Eliza LomasFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2019.

Turner Prize Winner Jeremy Deller believes the music entrepreneur and The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein, has never been properly credited for his role within popular culture.He's arguing that if Brian hadn't have lived, The Beatles might never have left Liverpool.Jeremy and presenter Matthew Parris are joined by The Beatles' historian Mark Lewisohn, author of 'Tune In’, to discuss the deeply turbulent - but highly successful life of Brian Epstein, who died aged just 32. Producer: Eliza LomasFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2019.

In 2013, Caroline Criado-Perez successfully campaigned for a woman to be featured on a banknote. The Bank of England chose Jane Austen. Caroline joins Matthew Parris and Dr Paula Byrne, author of three books about the novelist, to challenge some of the myths which surround the life of one of history's most famous writers. Matthew discovers how Jane Austen's teenage writings shocked and entertained her family and learns about her grit and determination to be published. He finds out whether there was ever a Mr Darcy in the author's real life and hears why Caroline thinks Austen might just be the Georgians' answer to Fleabag. Producer: Camellia SinclairFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2019.

Pianist Kirill Gerstein chooses the conductor and composer Ferruccio Busoni. Matthew Parris presents.When Busoni died in Berlin in 1924, his pupil Kurt Weill said, "We did not lose a human being but a value." Unravelling exactly what this means is the pianist Kirill Gerstein, a great admirer of Busoni and also a performer of his work. Busoni was a thinker as well as a composer. His book from 1907, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, has influenced generations of musicians. With contributions from Erinn Knyt and Anthony Beaumont Producer: Miles Warde.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

Matthew Parris meets the poet Ian McMillan to find out about the life of his literary hero Malcolm Lowry. Ian first discovered this 20th century writer's work as a young sixth former searching for literary inspiration. He stumbled by chance upon the writer's most famous novel, Under the Volcano, and Lowry's lyrical lines have remained with Ian ever since. Joining Matthew and Ian to discuss the life of this Merseyside writer is the artistic director of Liverpool's Bluecoat Theatre, Bryan Biggs. Together, they discuss the biography of this complex and intense man, a life that was full of sea-voyaging, shack-dwelling and heavy drinking. Producer: Camellia SinclairFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 April 2019.

Journalist Helen Lewis rehabilitates the reputation of the ‘Black Queen’ of France, Catherine de Medici. Helen and presenter Matthew Parris are joined by Dr Estelle Paranque, history lecturer at the New College of Humanities and author of a book on the relationship between Catherine and Elizabeth I.Catherine’s life is a remarkable story of female resilience in the face of adversity. Born and immediately orphaned in Florence, Catherine’s Medici name meant she was married off to the French King’s second son. When she arrived in France, she was shunned. Her new husband was already completely in love with another far older, more beautiful woman and showed little interest in her. No one expected her to come to the throne. But, following a series of unfortunate deaths, Catherine would go on to become one of the most powerful women in Europe – Queen regent, and mother to three kings across decades of a volatile period in French history. Helen became fascinated by her aged 10 when she realised with a kind of horror that had she been a medieval princess she was the right age to be shipped off to a strange land to marry some duke she’d never met. Helen Lewis - associate editor at the New Statesman - argues that Catherine was a savvy political operator, and that her reputation as ‘the serpent of Paris’ was largely due to the fact she was a female in power at a very difficult time. A fascinating insight into a major character little known in the UK. Producer: Polly WestonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2019.

She's the most influential woman that English history forgot, says Tom Holland - Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, daughter of Alfred the Great. Living and ruling at a time when the Anglo-Saxons were fighting back against the Vikings, Aethelflaed became a key figure in the construction of what we know today as England. But how much do we actually know?Joining Tom and Matthew Parris in the studio is Sarah Foot, the Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical history. Together they pick though the life of an astonishing character recently recreated in Bernard Cornwell's series 'The Last Kingdom' and played by Millie Brady; and who also might have inspired Eowyn in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.Producer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2019.

Comedian and author Shappi Khorsandi has been desperate to tell the story of Emma, Lady Hamilton as she’s quite simply one of her greatest fans. Everyone knows Emma Hamilton as simply the seducer of Admiral Horatio Nelson but according to Shappi she was more than that; history has simply palmed her off as a prostitute, a mistress, without looking at the deeper story of what she suffered and endured.In this programme Shappi, with help from Professor Kate Williams, author of ‘England’s Mistress’, makes the case for how this woman born into poverty clawed her way up through London’s sordid underworld and became fantastically famous posing for artist George Romney. She also became an ambassador’s wife and mixed in diplomatic circles and became the confidante of both Marie Antoinette and the Queen of Naples.Will presenter Matthew Parris be convinced and accept Emma, Lady Hamilton as a great life.Producer: Perminder KhatkarFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

Matt Lucas champions Freddie Mercury of the band, Queen. To what extent can a troubled childhood contribute to an adult's need to perform? Farrokh Bulsara was born in Zanzibar, sent to school in India, and fled revolution in Zanzibar to Feltham, Middlesex, aged 18. His family were Parsees and Freddie, as he became better known, was brought up as a Zoroastrian. He also became one of the greatest singer songwriters in British rock history.Matt Lucas - of Little Britain, Shooting Stars and Doctor Who - was entranced by Freddie from an early age. In this revealing, funny tribute, Matt explains how Freddie inspired him to perform, and unveils his Montserrat Caballe impression on the world. Lesley-Ann Jones knew the band as a 'young scumbag journalist' and provides an eyewitness account of watching Freddie from the wings. Matt and presenter Matthew Parris are joined by the author of Bohemian Rhapsody, Lesley-Ann Jones, to dissect a legend.Producer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.

The arrival of Lotus shook up motor sport in 1960s and 70s. In Formula One, Colin Chapman made his cars lighter and quicker than anyone else, often challenging the rules. But not everything he designed was safe. On the roads, Lotus sports cars are an icon of the era. To discuss this colourful and controversial life, Matthew Parris is joined by the entrepreneur Rohan Silva and motor racing journalist, Maurice Hamilton.Producer: Chris LedgardFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.

Matthew Parris meets Suzanne O'Sullivan to discuss her medical and literary hero, Oliver Sacks. She first came across his work on a beach in Thailand, reading his famous collection of case studies, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Joining the discussion is Sacks' partner, the writer and photographer Bill Hayes. Together they discuss the career of a gifted medic and writer who also loved motorbikes and wild swimming. Sacks wrote another extraordinary book, Awakenings, which was made into a film starring Robin Williams and Robert de Niro.Suzanne O'Sullivan is an Irish neurologist and award winning author.Producer: Chris LedgardFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

Ghulam Mohammad, or the Great Gama Pehlwan as he was more commonly known, was a Muslim wrestler born into a Kashmir family in India in 1878. When writer Nikesh Shukla first came across him in a book at the airport, he thought he must be a fictional character- the stories seemed so far-fetched. Gama reportedly drank 10 litres of milk and ate six chickens every day. He also grappled with 40 wrestlers a day and did 5000 squats. Surely this was an action hero figure and not a real man?But Gama was real with a career spanning over 50 years, unbeaten not only in India, but also in England and Europe. In 1910 he was dubbed the strongest man in the world. And the press feared his strength might inspire rebellion in India, then under British rule. Joining Nikesh to tell the story of the Great Gama is Dr Majid Sheikh.Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Perminder KhatkarFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.

Author and Journalist Sathnam Sanghera nominates a Great Life; a man dismissed as a fantasist and a liar in his own lifetime. Alexander Gardner was a Scottish-American soldier, a traveller, an explorer and adventurer - a white man with a tartan turban, who ended up in India in a Maharaja's Sikh Army in the 19th Century, just before the British Raj took over. Possibly a plagiarist and touted as a scoundrel, yet Sathnam claims he's worthy of a bigger place in history. If just a tiny portion of what we think we know about him is true, he is a genuinely remarkable figure.Historian John Keay is the expert witness to Gardner's life.Presented by Matthew Parris. Producer: Perminder Khatkar.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2017.

Mark Steel makes the case for Charlie Chaplin being one of the most radical comedians of his time. He reckons it's sad that most see Chaplin as that bloke who wore a bowler hat, had a funny walk, waved a cane around and wasn’t even that funny. Mark argues that the silent film star and his "Tramp" character make sense if you look at the upheavals in society that were occurring alongside his career.Mark is best known for the Mark Steel Lectures and Mark Steel's in Town. He says that while Chaplin was standing up for the working class, the irony was that he became the richest rebel. With Simon Louvish - author of ‘Chaplin: The Tramps Odyssey’. Presented by Matthew Parris. Producer: Perminder KhatkarFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Christmas Day 2018.

Tim Smit has admired Humphrey Jennings since seeing Danny Boyle’s Olympics Opening Ceremony in 2012. Jennings was a film maker, artist, and co-founder of the Mass Observation Movement. Many of the scenes in that memorable Olympic ceremony were inspired by his work. His films about ordinary British life during the Second World War are a poetic testament to the people of the British Isles.Tim Smit wants to know why Jennings isn’t better known?Tim Smit is founder of the Eden Project and talks to Matthew Parris. They're joined by curator Ros Cranston from the British Film Institute, with contributions from Jennings' biographer Kevin JacksonProducer: Maggie AyreFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2018.

Comedian Russell Kane nominates the novelist Evelyn Waugh. One of the greatest prose stylists of 20th century literature, not to mention one of the funniest, novelist Waugh also has a reputation for being a snob, a bully, and a dyed-in-the-wool reactionary. How much of this was a self-parodying pose, and how much the underlying truth? Russell is supported by literary critic Ann Pasternak Slater. Both are unabashed Waugh fans.Russell calls him "a ninja master of banter", but series presenter Matthew Parris says he can't stand him... Producer: Jolyon JenkinsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2018.

In the summer of 2018, the name of Laura Ingalls Wilder was erased from a children's literary medal set up in her honour six decades ago. Readers of the 'Little House on the Prairie' series of books were widely perplexed, but the original American pioneer girl now finds herself at the centre of the culture wars in the US.Nominating Laura is broadcaster and super-fan Samira Ahmed, who has been to Rocky Ridge Farm, now an historic museum in Missouri and Laura Ingalls Wilder's home. Joining Samira in studio is novelist Tracy Chevalier, president of the Laura Ingalls Wilder club at the age of eight. At the centre of the controversy - the depiction in these books of native Americans. “Her works reflect dated cultural attitudes toward indigenous people and people of colour that contradict modern acceptance, celebration, and understanding of diverse communities,” was the judgment of the ALSC.Also featuring Laura Ingalls Wilder's biographer, Pamela Hill; plus the Commanche writer Paul Chaat Smith in an extract from The Invention of the USA. "I feel worried," says Samira Ahmed, "that we've lost the ability to have nuance. I cannot read these books without feeling aspects of racism, but why shouldn't we be able to read them and still see the beauty in them."Presented by Matthew Parris. Producer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2018.

Benazir Bhutto made history when, aged 35, she became the first democratically elected female Prime Minister of a Muslim majority country. Her family are one of world’s most famous political dynasties, but also one blighted by tragedy – murder, feud and assassinations. Bhutto has been nominated by Christina Lamb, author and chief foreign correspondent with The Sunday Times. Bhutto was her friend and a huge influence on her life. She also expelled Christina Lamb from Pakistan. Christina has a picture of Benazir Bhutto on her desk attending the rally in Pakistan before she was killed by a suicide bomber on the 27th December 2007. Christina was on a bus with her during a previous assassination attempt, and she recounts the horror of that day.Her expert witness is Huma Yusuf, a journalist and columnist with Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper and a Global Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Centre.Presented by Matthew ParrisProducer: Perminder KhatkarFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2018.

Olympic rower Helen Glover champions the life of mountaineer Alison Hargreaves. Alison's short life was defined by her love of the mountains. She became interested in climbing as a teenager and devoted her life to pursuing ever greater challenges. She was the first woman to climb Mount Everest without oxygen and unsupported - before losing her life on the infamous K2 mountain in Pakistan in 1995. Presented by Matthew Parris - with the help of Alison's biographer, Ed Douglas. Producer: Maggie AyreFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.

"Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, this is an interesting world I find myself in - fits me rather neatly, don't you think?"Douglas Noel Adams wasn't even 50 when he died in 2001, but his imagination had already roamed far. He created The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Meaning of Liff and several episodes of Doctor Who, plus the Dirk Gently character and Last Chance to See.Nominating him is his co-writer on Last Chance to See, the zoologist Mark Carwardine. Mark's role, Adams said later, was to be the one who knew what he was talking about. "My role was to be an extremely ignorant non-zoologist to whom everything that happened would come as a complete surprise."Joining Mark and Matthew Parris in the bar where this was recorded, is Douglas Adam's biographer, Jem Roberts. With archive of Stephen Fry, John Lloyd, Naomi Alderman, Griff Rhys Jones and Geoffrey Perkins.Producer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2018.

For Cherie Blair, leading barrister and QC, picking her great life was simple – her role model is Rose Heilbron, England's first woman judge. When Cherie was growing up in Liverpool, Rose Heilbron was always the name that excited her grandmother the most. Rose was a barrister and when she was arguing a case before a jury in her home city, Cherie Blair's grandmother would follow her cases avidly, sometimes from the public gallery. Then she would come back and tell young Cherie all about what had gone on. And so Heilbron became a great example of what a Liverpool girl could achieve in the law. And she had a remarkable career - first woman in silk, first to lead in a murder case, first woman treasurer of Gray's Inn.Cherie is joined in the studio by Hilary Heilbron QC, daughter and author of the biography: 'Rose Heilbron, Legal Pioneer of the 20th century'; plus Dr John Tribe – senior lecturer in law from the University of Liverpool.Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Perminder KhatkarFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2018.

Public historian Greg Jenner has always loved Gene Kelly. "So much better than he had any right to be."Born in Pittsburgh in 1912, Gene Kelly was a broad-shouldered Irish American whose first love was ice hockey. But according to his biographer, Ruth Leon, he revolutionised movie-making by making the camera dance. Kelly's great films are Singin in the Rain, On The Town and An American in Paris - with extracts and archive of Gene speaking, this is a joyful celebration of the great age of Hollywood musicals.Presented by Matthew Parris. Producer Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2018.

Actress Patricia Greene (Jill Archer in BBC Radio 4's The Archers) makes the case for Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, or Bess of Hardwick as she's more commonly known. Like her heroine, Patricia was born in Derby and was aware of the nearby grand stately home Hardwick Hall. 'More glass than wall' was the local saying; as the key feature of this 1590s house was the exuberant use of this rare material. Only recently did she discover that the initials 'ES', which are blatantly carved on the turrets, stood for a woman - Elizabeth Shrewsbury.And so began Patricia Greene's admiration and obsession. Who was this woman born in Tudor times, when women had few if any rights at all? Bess ended up becoming the richest woman in the land after Queen Elizabeth I, but she was portrayed by some as a 'cold-hearted shrew' who only became rich by marrying four husbands, Patricia's job is to defend her hero. The expert witness is Dr Nigel Wright, the House & Collections Manager with the National Trust at Hardwick Estate. Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Perminder Khatkar First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.

Towards the end of his comic rant about the descent of man, Simon Evans does something very dangerous. He starts to read out to his audience an extract of John Stuart Mill. Potential comedy death? He tells Matthew Parris why the famous Victorian philosopher with the squirly hair is his idea of genius. As well as On Liberty, Mill wrote The Subjection of Women and was the first member of Parliament to call for women's right to vote.The expert witness is Professor Anne Phillips of the London School of Economics.Producer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.

"We are ready to take the Pole in any kind of weather on offer," wrote the Norwegian Roald Amundsen in December 1911. Born in 1872, Amundsen is part of a group of men - including the playwright Henrik Ibsen and the explorer Fridjtof Nansen - who gave shape to Norwegian identity just as the country broke free from Sweden and achieved independence. He is also remembered as the man who beat the British explorer Scott to the South Pole. The different cultures of their two countries come under scrutiny in this episode. The nominator is Erica Wagner, former literary editor of The Times and a writer who knows Norway well. Joining Erica and presenter Matthew Parris are two experts: * Pieter van der Merwe from the National Maritime Museum; * Roland Huntford, whose book on Scott and Amundsen caused an angry fuss when first published in 1979.Produced at BBC Bristol by Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2018.

"Suddenly this light comes into your life" - says Hanif Kureishi, referring to his hero, his great life, David Bowie. Hanif, an author, screenwriter and film maker, went on to become friends with Bowie in the 1990's after they worked together when Bowie wrote the soundtrack to Kureishi's TV adaptation 'The Buddha of Suburbia'. For Hanif it was also Bowie who inspired him to become an author and filmmaker - he says for a "mixed race Pakistani kid living in a crummy terrace bored out of my mind, I wanted to get out - I wanted to explore, I wanted to express myself, I wanted to be free".Hanif gives his personal insight into the life of David Bowie.The expert witness is Dylan Jones - author of 'David Bowie A Life' and 'When Ziggy Played Guitar'. Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Perminder KhatkarFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2018.

Catherine the Great assumed power in a St Petersburg coup, extended the empire into Crimea, Ukraine and Alaska. is Russia's longest lasting female ruler, and wasn't even Russian herself. All of this intrigues Dame Barbara Stocking, former head of Oxfam, who admires Catherine's leadership style. Biographer Virginia Rounding provides the details of her background and her lovers, and Matthew Parris presents. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Hedy Lamarr was described by her studio as the most beautiful woman in the world. A recent film, called Bombshell, argued that she was a brilliant inventor as well. But what was going on behind that wonderful face? Suzy Klein, host of the BBC Proms, tells Matthew Parris that this was an intriguing woman who continually reinvented herself. She left her native Austria before the Second World War but, despite a successful Hollywood career, what she really wanted was to be known for being clever. Recent newspaper headlines - including 'Sex Symbol by Day, Scientific Trailblazer by Night' - suggest her wishes may have finally come true. But Professor Hans-Joachim Braun isn't so sure. Film critic Antonia Quirke joins Matthew Parris in the studio to discuss a truly extraordinary life.The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.