Ludwig Koch
The award-winning Sound Recordist and Musician, Chris Watson nominates his hero, Ludwig Koch. In 1889, German-born Koch was the first person ever to record birdsong (at the age of 8) onto a wax cylind...
29 Sep 202327min
Lady Eve Balfour
An aristocrat in an eye patch, a jazz saxophonist, a crime novelist and a pioneering organic farmer.Lady Eve Balfour was born in 1898 into the political elite - her uncle was A J Balfour, who was Prim...
29 Sep 202327min
Ken Loach on Gerrard Winstanley
Veteran British film director Ken Loach nominates the 17th century radical pamphleteer and and leader of the Diggers, Gerrard Winstanley.Born in Wigan in 1609, Winstanley began writing religious pamph...
29 Sep 202327min
Chi-chi Nwanoku on Jessye Norman
On the 11th June 1988, Jessye Norman performed a spine-tingling rendition of 'Amazing Grace' to a packed Wembley Stadium in London.This was the climax of a concert marking the 70th birthday of Nelson ...
19 Sep 202327min
Ninette de Valois
The Godmother of English - and Irish - ballet, Dame Ninette De Valois or ‘Madam’ as she was known to those around her. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of b...
5 Sep 202327min
Sophie Scott on Hattie Jacques
She was born Josephine Edwina Jacques in 1922.Hattie Jacques’ career began in music hall before graduating onto 1950s BBC radio comedies such as ‘Educating Archie', 'ITMA' and 'Hancock's Half Hour' m...
15 Aug 202327min
Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore and London Zoo
Sir Stamford Raffles is championed as the pioneering founder of London Zoo. It's a famous name.There's Raffles Hotel and Raffles Hospital, plus the rafflesia, the largest flowering plant in the world,...
8 Aug 202327min
Susie Dent on Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German writer whose books explored themes around family, beauty and the creeping threat of fascism in Europe. Mann's best-known 'Death in Venice' revealed the author's attraction to...
1 Aug 202327min
