Afleveringen
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David Sedaris now fills arenas with enthusiastic fans but when David Freeman interviewed him in 2000 he was almost unknown.
His book 'Me Talk Pretty One Day ' was just published.
I would love to hear the Sedaris view of what is happening now in the US!
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After Ashley Kahn had published his book on the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue he turned his attention to the timeless John Coltrane record A Love Supreme.
Not only is this still a highly regarded jazz performance, A Love Supreme is now the title of the biggest open air jazz festival in the UK.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore explains the mythic status of this eighteenth century Russian statesman, and military leader. Turns out that this slice of history informs current geo politics.
In this conversation recorded in London in 2000 the historian Simon Sebag Montefiore tells David Freeman about practical politics in 18th century Russia and how Potemkin made his way in society with the help of the love of Catherine the Great.
Their relationship has been told in films but the way Simon tells the story is probably more gripping and unbelievable.
Simon told the story in full in his the books, Prince of Princes, and Catherine the Great and Potemkin, The Imperial Love Affair.
Interesting to hear Simon say that Putin read this book and what he learned has informed his political views. This lead to the invasion of Ukraine and a significant incident when Russian troops broke into the crypt of the cathedral in Kherson and removed the bones of Grigory Potemkin.
This is history to remember. Putin uses this history to justify his 'special military operation'.
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Duke Ellington is famous, but what was he really like.
In this biography published in 2000, Stuart Nicholson writes about the man who was a brilliant instinctive and sophisticated musician.
Was he then a bit of a goody goody?
As Stuart Nicholson told me he was not in any way a goody goody!
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The Oxford Companion to Music is probably the most famous music reference book of them all.
The latest edition was first published in 2002. It has over 120 contributors and covers covers the whole universe of music.
I spoke to the editor Alison Latham soon after publication.
A huge task to pull such a tome together ..... but maybe an enjoyable job?
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Jon Ronson was not so well known when this conversation was recorded in the early 2000s
I was very taken with the subject of the book and the way Jon talked about it.
Being a Jewish journalist getting involved with people money raising for Hamas seemed improbable. It's true of course, as was Jon's interest in the wilder fancies of David Icke. Jon might well be fascinated by the wacky thoughts put about by the Trump administration.
'Them' is a terrific read.
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As the American President declares that he has been saved by God to make his country great again, I find it impossible not to wonder about the precise nature of the deity that he professes to believe in. Are Donald and his advisers familiar with the writings that are the basis of his religion?
This book by Catherine Nixey is terrific - its a revelation and it's now available in paperback format.
Catherine has studied texts written around the same time as the writings we know as the gospels.
Some of these ancient documents tell the story of the bible characters we are familiar with in a totally different way.
Listen to Catherine talk about her research and you will be surprised ..... probably very surprised!!
Every time I see a politician leaning in a faith direction I want to urge them to read this book!
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As war rages in Europe again it becomes clear that the capacity for cruelty of man to a fellow human is seemingly infinite.
This interview with the Northern Irish poet Brian Keenan took place in London a full 10 years after his release from his barbaric incarceration in Beirut where he had been teaching at the local university.
Brian talks eloquently about his brutal treatment, but also about the strange things that can happen when confronted with sensory deprivation.
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As the news from America becomes more and more worrying it's good to look back to the last century when everything was different and some American rock musicians brought joy to the world. Peace and Love meant something back then.
The Grateful Dead were very successful despite having no chart hits and they had a huge dedicated fanbase.
They were formed in California in 1965 and performed regularly for 30 years.
The anniversaries have spawned renewed interest in the band.
Dennis McNally was their official archivist.
This conversation was recorded in 2015.
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Kind of Blue is the most successful jazz LP ever made. It was recorded over two sessions in New York in 1959 and is still revered as a masterpiece.
Ashley Kahn told David Freeman the story behind a historic music event.
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This novel is set in the 1960s with a backdrop of The Beatles and other music of the time.
It tells the story of Daisy Shoemaker who is 15 in 1964. She was born into a fundamentalist Mormon community on the US - Canada border.
In a ceremony called Placement she is given as a teenage wife to a much older man. She finds this intolerable and runs away.
The church official who makes the decisions is known as Bishop and he assures his followers that he has a direct line to God. Amazingly they believe him.
It's a gripping and enraging read. It's fiction but events like the book describes are still happening today. The fundamentalist cult is vey much alive and well.
There is a Netflix documentary about the group .. Keep Sweet : Pray and Obey.
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As the world remembers the inhuman brutality of Auschwitz this is an author who deserves to be heard.
The appalling inhumanity still happening in the world makes this conversation distressingly relevant. There is the thought that some people are less human then others. This has to be challenged.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on December 10th 1948.
We now live in a world where the rights agreed in that document are widely ignored and some politicians openly seek to remove the UK from enforcing them.
Plus racial intolerance is on the march . The horrible spectre of antisemitism is looming over the news as is denial of the rights of Palestinians.
As an American bishop recently said ..... immigrants and gay people are as valuable as everyone else.
A good time to listen to the words of the late Sir Martin Gilbert.
Sir Martin Gilbert is known as Churchill's biographer, but also as the historian of the Holocaust.
This conversation with David Freeman took place when his book Never Again was published. Sir Martin's thoughts on war are sadly relevant.
Sir Martin died in 2015.
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The future of democracy is a popular talking point.
The human race as been here before! When David Freeman talked to Dr Steve Kershaw about his 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 - now published in the US by Pegasus Books.
Great review in the Wall Street Journal.
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The effect of the Trump win reverberates around the globe. There seems to be perceived electoral advantage in fanning hate and intolerance and spreading intolerance the idea around the world.
The Middle East is on a knife edge and the Ukraine war continues.
Why is this? Is there any cause for optimism? Where do non rational beliefs and convictions fit in the conflicts?
This conversation with the activist and thinker Tariq Ali was recorded soon after the outrage of 9/11.
There is a plan for the future in what Tariq was saying but I wonder if he is as optimistic today. Will rational thought and reasoned discussion bring peaceful coexistence?
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The UFO and alien question is all over the TV news in the Uk and the US. Again.
In this interview on the subject David Freeman, a UFO skeptic, met UFO true believer Timothy Good when his book Unearthly Disclosure was first published.
The conversation was friendly but inquisitive!
So are UFOs real? Are those little creatures with three fingers that are on the TV screens real aliens?
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Religion still motivates sime people.
In early 2025 a million Hindus tried to bathe in a river at the same time. Why would anyone think this would be a good idea.
Robin Dunbar is Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Oxford. From his academic standpoint he charts the evolution of religion in all its many guises and forms.
Does the professor's analysis explain the enduring but shrinking appeal of non logical beliefs?
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Channel 4 are presnting an engrossing drama depicting the professional relationship that evolved between Mrs Thatcher the politician and Brian Walden the labour MP turned television interviewer.
The two lead actors Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter are excellent at showing the friendly dimension to the relationship that turned sour under media pressure.
David Freeman talked to the actress Harriet Walter when her autobiography 'Other People's Shoes' was published in 2003.
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Authors talking to David Freeman including Hugo Vickers discussing his biography of Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece mother of the Duke of Edinburgh:
Donna Leon tells the story of her novel “Wilful Behaviour “ set in Venice:
R.J.B. Bosworth recounts his research into the life of Mussolini and Gitta Sereny remembers Germany in the 1930s as told in her book “The German Trauma”
We have seen the power of the political rally to stir followers. Gitta Sereny actually attended a Hitler rally.
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A Line in the Sand is a novel about two friends on an adventure in the Middle East based on an actual journey two real life friends took to Saudi Arabia and Damascus in 2006.
One of the inspirations for the trip was T.E Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia. The two authors Miles Spencer and Wells Jones had worked on a stage play based on the life of Lawrence and they decided to take a trip to see the landscape for themselves and meet the people Lawrence identified with.
This conversation with Wells Jones took place on 15th January 2025 when a cease fire had just been signed between Israel and Hamsas.
Line in the Sand explains some of the long history behind the conflict in the Middle East.
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There is a new BBC TV history series by Simon Schama, The Story of Us.
In the first programme Simon highlights the huge impact that Alan Sillitoe's novel 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' had when it was published in 1958.
Alan Sillitoe spoke to David Freeman when his novel Birthday was published in 2001.
Birthday is the sequel to Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
1958 to 2001 is a ling time to wait for a sequel.
So why did it take so long?
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