Barbara Stocking on Catherine the Great
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 i...
29 Maj 201828min
Suzy Klein on Hedy Lamarr
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 w...
22 Maj 201829min
Mica Paris on Josephine Baker
For soul singer Mica Paris, when she first dreamt of becoming a singer it was Josephine Baker who inspired her most. Baker was a young black American dancer who became an overnight sensation in Paris ...
15 Maj 201828min
Simon Callow on Orson Welles
Actor Simon Callow joins Matthew Parris to nominate the life of a giant of Hollywood's golden age, Orson Welles. Aged just 26, Welles wrote, directed and starred in Citizen Kane. He once recalled how...
9 Maj 201829min
Ayesha Hazarika on Jayaben Desai
Stand up comedian and political commentator Ayesha Hazarika's hero is Jayaben Desai.Jayaben led a two year strike at Grunwick Film processing factory in North London. The majority of the workers were ...
2 Maj 201827min
Tej Lalvani on Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman was a physicist who helped design the atomic bomb and won the Nobel Prize. He is the great life choice of businessman Tej Lalvani CEO of his family business Vitabiotics and the newest ...
1 Maj 201829min
Laura Serrant on Audre Lorde
Professor of Nursing, Laura Serrant, chooses the life of the black, gay poet and activist Audre Lorde who still inspires the women's movement today. She tells Matthew Parris why Audre has meant so muc...
26 Apr 201827min
Adrian Utley of Portishead on Miles Davis
**Visionary jazz musician Miles Davis joins BBC Radio 4 Extra's 100 Club – born 26th May 1926. He died in 1991 aged 65***Miles Davis - trumpeter, composer, bandleader - is championed by Adrian Utley o...
17 Apr 201829min
