Ricky Ross on Hank Williams
The life of the 'Hillbilly Shakespeare' Hank Williams is the choice of Deacon Blue singer Ricky Ross. Williams is regarded as being the prototype rock star and continues to be hugely influential on m...
10 Dec 201327min
Nina Simone
The chanteuse, pianist, composer and civil rights activist Nina Simone is the choice of another female musician who has made a career of defying convention; Joanna Macgregor. Presented by Matthew Parr...
27 Nov 201328min
Nancy Mitford
Grace Dent nominates Nancy Mitford for her wit, and for the way in which she showed women that it was possible to live your life fully and unconventionally. Nancy Mitford's greatest success came with ...
2 Okt 201328min
Al Murray on Bernard Montgomery
"In defeat, unbeatable; in victory, unbearable" – so said Winston Churchill on this week's Great Live, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery. Many would argue that he was Britain's greatest field comma...
1 Okt 201327min
Sir Brendan Barber on John Steinbeck
Trade unionist Sir Brendan Barber nominates American author, John Steinbeck as his Great Life. The author of The Grapes of Wrath aimed to fight the cause of the common man, was derided by the right...
24 Sep 201328min
Konnie Huq on Ada Lovelace
From Banking, to air traffic control systems and to controlling the United States defence department, there's a computer language called 'Ada'.It's named after Ada Lovelace – a 19th century mathematic...
17 Sep 201327min
Peter Bowles on George Devine
Matthew Parris is joined by actor Peter Bowles who nominates George Devine, groundbreaking artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre. Devine battled against the theatrical establishment, repressive...
10 Sep 201327min
Paul Mason on Louise Michel
TV journalist and writer Paul Mason talks to Matthew Parris about the 19th Century French anarchist, Louise Michel, heroine of the Paris Commune. They're joined by historian Carolyn Eichner who says t...
3 Sep 201327min
