The Author Archive Podcast: Recent Episodes
David Freeman
Authors talking to David Freeman about their books. Most of the conversations are from David’s personal archive that have been collected over the past 40 years.
Twenty five years ago Julian Hoffman and his wife Julia decided to leave their life in London and make a dramatic change. They would leave the city life with it's commuting hassles and move somewhere and live very different life
On nothing more than a chance encounter with a book about it they moved to Prespa in northern Greece.
They didn't speak the language, had very few possessions but their bold and brave decision has worked out very well.
They searched for home in the mountains of Greece.
How they found it is told in Lifelines.
Joe Boyd is a man about music, record producer, a film producer and author.
He arrived in London in 1964 with Muddy Waters and a host of blues musicians who played to sold out UK audiences when they were unappreciated in their US homeland.
In this conversation he talks about Nick Drake, Paul Simon, The Incredible String Band, Paul Butterfield, MIke Bloomfield and the enduring power of real music.
A thought provoking podcast.
Jeanette Winterson celebrated her 65th birthday on August 27th.
This interview was recorded when Jeanette was a 20 something brand new literary force.
I remember this converstaion with huge affection. Mostly I would talk to an author for 20 minutes or so but this conversation is twice that. It was recorded in the spring of 1984 when 'Oranges are Not the Only Fruit' was first published.
I was very fortunate because I was one of the very first broadcasters to interview Jeanette.
I had been reading the book in bed the night before and was buzzing with enthusiasm for it when I met her.
Hear the author talk about her life in religious Accrington and why she rejected the faith.
A superb book!
Steve Kershaw has two personas .... he is Steve the musician and Dr Stephen the classics tutor.
He is involved in two new projects.
One is a magnificent illustrated childrens encyclopedia of gods, monsters and mortals from ancient Greece.
The other is a jazz trio recording. Steve is the Oxfordshire based bass player. The pianist and saxophonist Leonid and Nick Vintskevich are Russian .
As Steve tells me the wide geographical distribution sometimes make rehearsal tricky!
The record is called 'I'll Show You a Beautiful Country.
Bitter Crop is a superb biography of Billie Holiday who was probably the very best jazz singer there has ever been. The book title is takes from one of Billie's signature songs, 'Strange Fruit'.
There have been films and many books about Billie's career but not all of them came close to telling the whole truth of a remarkable life.
True there were drugs and alcohol but there was so mucah more than that. There was huge musical success and adulation - Billie considered her life to be a triumph.
The conversation took place in July 2024 ..... 65 years after Billie died.
Taylor Swift attracts huge interest in her song lyrics. They are studied as poetry.
Rowland Bagnall is a different sort of poet. Near - Life Experience, his new collection is just published
When I spoke to him we talked about his poetic motivation and the process of writing these concentrated nuggets of observation.
His replies are thoughtful and enlightening.
Tim Coulson talks about his book which tells the amazing story of 13.8 billion years of history from the Big Bang to you!
It is a wonderful read - inspiring, gripping and fascinating.
And just a thought .... did a deity have a hand in the story?
Tim explains his view!
This glorious popular science books tells the story of how black holes that were thought to be too ridiculous to exist in 1916 had by 1971 been proved to exist.
Einstein thought they were impossible but in 1971 Paul Murdin and Louise Webster discovered the very first black hole, Cygnus X-1
Marcus tells the story of these extraordinary people who discovered that black holes are centre stage in the cosmos. Indeed without black holes it is unlikely that we would exist.
Fasten your seat belts and prepare to be amazed.
A great book for the curious!!
Truddi Chase lived with dissociative identity disorder a condition that used to be called multiple personality disorder.
On the cover of her book the author was named as 'The Troops' - the name she gave to her 90 plus identities.
When I interviewed her she was with her therapist Robert Phillips. The whole story was very difficult to assimilate as you can probably hear.
Truddi died in 2010 but there is a website dedicated to her and her autobiography is still in demand.
It seems that her condition was a result of abuse in her childhood.
A story like no other!
This new book is terrific - its a revelation.
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!!
Ashley Mullinger is a commercial fisherman.
She used to work in an office but found it dull and stressful. She decided to go on a half day fishing trip with a couple of her friends just to make a change.
The friends sort of liked it but Ashley REALLY liked it and now does it as a full time job. She is so good at it she was awarded the title of 'Fisherman of the Year'.
In this conversation she explains her passion for the life and her fears for the future of the whole commercial fishing industry.
There is an article in the Culture section of The Sunday Times about father and daughter Michael and Rebecca Frayn.
Rebecca is a farmer and environmental activist and writer who lives in the north of Ibiza.
Her new novel 'Lost in Ibiza' is coincidentally, about a young environmental activist who travels to Ibiza to meet her biological father for the very first time.
It's a story of family drama, but it is also the story of a paradise island under threat.
A great holiday read!
Eric Bibb remembers his introduction into music via his dad Leon and the musical luminaries who visited the family home.
Paul Robeson was his Godather, and a very young Bob Dylan gave him some sound advice.
Now 72 Eric is still touring, playing, and writing songs. He is one of lifes gentlemen!
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.
This brand new book examines the astonishing extent of American ownership in UK business.
Whether you are interested in 'taking back control' or how much of our day to day financial transactions happen via the US, you will find this fascinating and possibly horrifying.
Sunken Lands is about a journey through flooded kingdoms and lost worlds.
Gareth tells of places he has visited to see history and extrapolates forward to imagine the world we are leaving for future generations.
There is anger, poetry, myth .... and David Bowie.
This conversation too place in the West End of London to mark the publication of the third in the shopaholic series of stories.
As the interview progressed it wasn't clear whether we were talking about a real wedding or the fictional 'over the top' one.
This title is alive and well. The audiobook was published on Sept 1st 2023 and the paperback is still on sale.
Emeritus Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe is an academic archaeologist who writes enthusiastically and engagingly about his passions.
In this interview he talks to me about his book which tells the whole of African human history focussing on the Sahara.
Sir Barry takes the story of us from our evolution through to the present day. Is he optimistic about our survival?
Professor Grey has made it a personal mission to chronicle the drama and effects of Brexit.
He writes a blog and now the latest edition of his book "Brexit Unfolded" is published bringing the story up to date.
Does this mean that the Brexit story has reached a conclusion?
Maybe not!!!
Gerald McCaughrean is a hugely successful author of books for children.
The Kite Rider is recognised as a classic and in this conversation she tells me about the background to her story and man lifting kites!
Colin Dexter was a splendid writer. His creation Inspector Morse is superb on the page but just as gripping on television.
I used to meet Colin in the pub on Banbury Road in Oxford, The Dew Drop. He was great company and almost completely unaware of his success and star quality.
I recorded this conversation in his house after the publication of The Remorseful Day. He was relaxed and very happy to look back at his life in education and crime writing.
These revelations about life at the Tudor Court are now well known , but when I talked to Philippa Gregory about 'The Other Boleyn Girl' it was all quite new.
When the book was first published it won romantic novel of the year.
For a book that starts and ends with an execution that seemed a bit odd.
Linda Grant grew up in Liverpool when it was a thriving port.
Her parents were friends of Brian Epstein's parents. Brian went on to manage The Beatles, and teenage Linda was entranced by the band who went on to conquer the world.
Talking about the mechanics of writing her book Linda reveals how she felt composing her very first sex scene.
An author and English teacher, Peter Farquhar, was murdered by a much younger student, Ben Field. This happened in Maids Moreton in Buckinghamshire, the home of David Wilson.
Peter Farquhar was a gay Christian who found it difficult to reconcile these two characteristics. This lead to his murder.
The horrific event was the subject of a very well reviewed BBC drama series, The Sixth Commandment.
The Wilson book was written after a Channel 4 documentary and a Radio Five Live programme but before the BBC One drama.
It is a shocking story told in gripping detail in David Wilson's book 'A Plot to Kill'. The destruction that a psychopath can reak is appalling.
This is the story of one man's war in Iraq told in his own words.
Barrie was not in the army, he was a private security contractor. What did that mean? Was he in an outfit like the Wagner group?
Towards the end of our conversation Barrie shared his thoughts on the long term outlook for humanity. He is not an optimist.
Ann Patchett has a new novel - Tom Lake - just published with enthusiastic revues.
Bel Canto, describes as Ann's hostage novel won the Orange Prize.
The plot mixes the sublime power of music with political trouble and possible violence.
This novel was a finalist for the National Book Critics Award and it won the PEN/Faulkner Award
Ann lives in Nashville a place known for country music rather then opera, so does she like opera?
This is another conversation from the archive. Terry Pratchett died in 2015.
Terry started life writing when he was just a boy and in adult life became press officer for the nuclear power stations of the Central Electricity Board.
When the Pratchett books became hugely successful he gave up the day job and by 1996 he was the bestselling author in the UK.
In public he always wore a big hat, and in his Wiltshire studio he was an early adopter of a robot vacuum cleaner. When he wrote he worked on four computer screens simultaneously.
Great guy!
Salley Vickers is a charismatic author. Not all authors are good at talking .... Salley definitely is.
Miss Garnet's Angel was her very first published novel. It was an instant success and is still available in print formats and as an audiobook read by the late Anna Massey.
The story happens in Venice.
Superb holiday read.
When I recorded this interview with the then editor of Conde Nast publications in Britains he was was plain mister. The knighthood was awarded in 2002 for services to museums, publishing and the creative industries.
Over a glittering career Sir Nicholas has received four Lifetime Achievement Awards from his peers in publishing.
He has been chairman of the V & A and the trading board of the Prince's Trust.
And he written a dozen books.
Seems odd that he found time to talk to me in a suite at the Langham Hotel!
Ed McBain was a hugely successful novelist and screenwriter.
He started life as Salvatore Lombino, found success as Evan Hunter and then reinvented himself as Ed McBain author of the many 87th Precinct novels.
In this conversation he mentions his link to the very first rock'n roll film and how he came to work with Alfred Hitchcock .... plus his tip for leading a happy life.
This is a remarkable conversation with a young man who went from serving in Threshers wine shop in Rochester to having a script excepted by Hollywood.
The film was The 51st State starring Samuel L Jackson and Robert Carlyle.
Around the same time Stel wrote a novel, Decipher with a plot to delight all those fascinated by Atlantis and associated myths. When Stel was writing conspiracy theories weren't such a big thing but this book will be sure get them zinging.
This is an interview that I had with Ron Mael before the release of the first Sparks record. Hardly anybody knew who he was - and that included me.
There was a campaign under way by Island Records to get their new signing known - Ron came to me, Russell had his photograph taken for Melody Maker.
It was long ago. I had been listening to the album in my car on an 8 track cartridge.
Ron Mael was very patient !
Wendy Perriam writes about what she knows - sex and religion.
She used to be very religious. She attended a catholic school from which she was expelled. For heresy.
Her writing often seems to be part of her rebellion against the religion that told her she was in satan's power.
Her writing often includes fairly explicit sex ...... but she is also very entertaining, on the page and in real life.
Has she ever had therapy?
Listen and she will tell you.
After making her name as the instigator of the first women's refuge in West London Erin became a successful author.
The refuge opened in 1971. A career as a non fiction and fiction author followed. An author can live anywhere and she left London to live in the Cayman Islands. I met her for this interview on her birthday soon after she had moved continents again.
There was a new book 'Morningstar' which she was very keen to tell me all about.
One of the interesting dimensions in Erins thinking is how her view of men changed.
After the Russian revolution in 1917 Rachmaninoff was able to escape to America and build a new life in music.
Fiona Maddocks tells how he got on with Stravinsky, Shoenberg , and the foxtrot!
One of the revealing details is how Sergei Rachmaninoff and Jeremy Clarkson would share a passion and have much to talk about.
Anne Sebba is a master of the biographers art. In this conversation she talks about two of her books.
Ethel Rosenberg was executed for aiding her husband Julius in his task of spying for the Soviet Union. The Rosenbergs had two young sons who were orphaned on that day - June 19 1953. Anne tells the story.
The other book has become a classic - 'That Woman'.
That woman was Wallis Simpson. Wallis became the person responsible for the abdication crisis in 1936. So who was that woman and what did she want?
Before George Alagiah was known as a BBC newsreader he was a working TV journalist.
In this conversation recorded more than 20 years ago he recounts what Rwanda meant to him. Not a near perfect place to be deported to, but a country that had experienced the most horrendous genocide.
He recounts the effect of constant propaganda. How people can be turned against each other by daily repetition of untruths.
Couldn't ever happen here ......... could it?
George Alagiah reveals himself to be both thought provoking and wise.
This book goes back to a pre rock 'n roll era when jazz was a popular music form.
The early 50s were the time when the big bands were fading a way and the rock'n roll revolution was yet to happen.
A quartet led by a baritone saxophonist caused a revolution.
Audiences were entrance by the sound of a jazz group that didn't have a piano in it. This was new - it hadn't been done before.
Dr Julian Baggini has built a successful career as a writer and communicator about philosophy.
In this conversation Julian wonders about the validity of monarchy, whether truth in politics is essential, if wisdom inevitably comes with age, why there is so much angst around trans people ...... and much more!
How does AC/DC fit in to all this, and.... does thinking like a philosopher make you feel better??
Marcus Chown is an award winning science writer and journalist.
This book has approachable chapters on Quantum Theory, Global Warming, Relativity .... 21 topics in all.
If you are curious about the cosmos - if you wonder about Dark Matter or even Dark Energy this conversation and the book behind it are for you.
Iain Banks died of cancer 10 years ago.
He was a delight to interview... funny, quick, challenging and always entertaining.
Iain Banks was a rock star author!
This interview is a conversation found in the digital archive.
Donna Leon has written crime novels set in the magnificent city of Venice. This interview happened long ago before Italy entered the Eurozone. Donna expressed some fairly attention grabbing facts.
Didn't put me off going to Venice!
I was reminded of this interview when I was in Cheltenham Hatchards today and there was a whole table filled with the latest Donna Leon novel.
This conversation has contemporary resonances. LIke others that came after him this former vice chairman of the Conservative Party and would be Mayor of London had supreme confidence in his ability to tell lies and then lie his way out of the consequences of the earlier untruths. Jeffery Archer was supremely confident he would always 'get away with it'. The edifice of untruths became unsustainable and eventually collapsed. We see this happening again.
The reason for this interview was the publication of a new collection of short stories. The coverage in the tabloids at the time was much more about his relationship with a prostitute and how he persuaded a friend to give her money to go away.
With hindsight his lies were going to send him to prison and I should maybe have asked him about being banished from the Tory party and his payments to sex worker Monica Coghlan. That might have made a more riveting conversation.
This fits in with all the revelations in the Channel 5 documentary.
It was a long time ago ..... I was young!!!
In this new book published by Oxford University Press, Professor Dark explains what his archeological investigations have revealed about the small village where Jesus grew up.
There are surprising details about the life style and beliefs of the community that Jesus and his family were a part.
Marilyn Wisbey is the daughter of one of the Great Train Robbers. She grew up with her father in jail and remembers the difficulties of visiting him.
When she was an adult she was drawn to criminals and for ten years was the partner of the gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser.
Listening to this interview now there are so many questions I would like to ask ....... what was the electric pliers incident??
Gangster's Moll was published in 2001.
Patricia Cornwell became successful at writing crime novels because she knew what she was writing about.
She had been a journalist covering crime when she took a job in the office of the Chief Medical Officer of Virginia.
Her first hand experience lead to the writing of the Kay Scarpetta series of novels.
This interview was recorded in London when Patricia was launching the third of the Trooper Andy Brazil novels.
Dr Toby Matthiesen is Senior Lecturer in Global Religious Studies at the University of Bristol.
In this new book Dr Matthiesen looks at the way, at this death, the followers of the Prophet Muhammad disagreed on who should succeed him. This argument started in AD632. This book traces the history of the split through history and shines a light on the modern world. Was the invasion of Iraq a good idea?
The Caliph and the Imam is published by Oxford University Press.
In spring 1973 these three Liverpudlians were the comedy, poetry and musical group The Scaffold.
Mike McCartney was known as Mike McGear to differentiate himself from his Beatle brother Paul.
This conversation was recorded at a time when the trio were travelling the country to promote their Island LP, Fresh Liver.
From time to time they became serious but the overriding atmosphere was a bit silly. Some of what was said shows how perceptions of what is funny have changed over 50 years!
The journalist and novelist talked to David Freeman in London when his novel Basket Case was first published.
It's a mystery surrounding the fate of the frontman of Jimmy and the Slut Puppies. On the surface it looks like he died in a scuba diving accident .... but maybe that just doesn't smell right.
This conversation 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?
This interview was recorded in 2001 and in the introduction recorded at the time I say that the story is no longer relevant as the Taliban are no longer in charge.
This was true at the time but sadly the Taliban are back and the the story of The Breadwinner is all too relevant again. Did the UK let these people down?
Mike Welham used to have a career as a combat diver so he has a handle on the secret subject he writes about.
This elite within an elite are sadly very relevant in our world today with a war in Europe. The author explains.
'Do what you will' was the motto of the Hell Fire Clubs whose members did precisely that. Dressing up as monks and romping with 'nuns' was just part of their life.
Geoffrey Ashe first wrote about the Hell Fire Clubs 20 years ago and the latest reprint was in 2019. He lived in Glastonbury and wrote much about Arthurian legends. He died at the age of 98 in 2022.
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.
Albert Ayler is a mythic figure amongst the musically curious and those drawn to the further reaches of sonic expression. Although he played inside the boundaries of what could be recognised as 'jazz' his influence extended far beyond into rock and even 'serious' music.
His biography, published in the UK by JawBone Press is the work of extensive and lengthy research by American academic and music fan Richard Kolada.
This book, published by Oxford University Press, is a look at street food selling, hawking, in London from Tudor times through to the first world war.
What emerges is a story of a trade spanning hundreds of years that was essential for keeping the ever growing population of the city supplied with nutritious affordable food.
Who were these people? Where did they source their stock? What were their lives like?
It's a fascinating and sometimes surprising story.
Although this book was first published around 20 years ago John Campbells weighty biography of Margaret Thatcher still sells well.
This conversation was recorded when the book was first released but there are details that are revealed in the interview that are quite surprising.
In the light of the Liz Truss rise and fall, her identification with the Thatcher image is fascinating. The Truss way of doing things took the aggressive Thatcher demeanour and the wardrobe but the central core of Thatcher's charisma totally escaped her. Being self assured and bossy, it turns out, is not enough.
We are used to politicians , particularly Tory politicians, being untruthful.
Twenty five years ago Jonathan Aitken was a high profile journalist and Tory politician who found himself in very hot water
He was pursued mercilessly by sections of the British press when they gathered evidence to show that he had encouraged one of his daughters to lie in court to get him out of a tight legal corner into which his own lies had lead him.
He was found guilty and sentenced to a jail term
As a sideshow to his public fall from grace he ran up a huge legal bill which he could not pay. Bankruptcy was inevitable.
Many were sceptical when he 'found God' in jail. He confounded his critics however by sticking with religion and becoming ordained as a vicar.
There was a book published in 2003 called 'Pride and Perjury'. Jonathan Aitken talked to David Freeman about it, and his life, soon after publication.
Michael Dobbs was a very successful politician in his youth. He was labelled as the Tories baby faced hit man.
But then he turned to fiction but still writing about politics .... House of Cards was his invention.
After the loathsome amoral Francis Urquhart he came up with Thomas Goodfellowe MP.
Around 20 years ago Michael met David Freeman and they started their conversation musing on how party discipline was achieved in Westminster. Around that time he had said of the Tory government
'We have a flat pack Cabinet that threatens to collapse every time you turn the telly on'
Maybe nothing changes!
Richard Houghton has collected memories of music fans who have revelled in the folk/rock music of Fairport Convention.
The band was formed in London in 1967 so there his a huge fund of stories to draw on.
Legendary musicians have come and gone but Fairport Convention rolls on!
This novel imagines the horticultural world of the 1860s.
The hero of the story is a young man who seeks his fortune by travelling east to find new plants that will sell for huge prices in London.
Martyn Ware tells David Freeman about his life growing up in Sheffield , almost making it as a manager in the Co Op but became a pop star with a passion for synthesisers and other electronic instruments instead.
He talks about his enthusiasm for Brian Eno and Roxy Music, and how his insight into the capabilities of electronics took him to be the successful producer of numerous records including tracks by Tina Turner and Mavis Staples.
This evocative book tells the story of the scramble for power in the Vatican as the College of Cardinals voted for a new Pope.
One might like to think that such an election would be very different from the political elections that we are used to.
Sadly the way things were done in 1559 would be very familiar to the likes of Liz Truss and Jacob Rees Mogg..... and they used the Sistine Chapel as a dormitory. It had to be fumigated.
Rebecca Beattie identifies as a witch.
A few days before Hallowe'en Rebecca tells David Freeman how the world looks to her through the lens of her pagan world view.
This is the story of a massive miscarriage of justice that leads to a teenager, Stephen Downing, being sentenced to life in jail.
Don Hale worked for the local newspaper and spent years working through the evidence to show that Stephen was innocent.
It is a shocking story.
This conversation was recorded when Mark's first Thom Thorne novel, Sleepy Head, was published.
It's interesting to note that the UK health service comes under scrutiny in the story and Mark concludes that the problem even then was funding. Some things don't change.
When asked about his own literary enthusiasms Mark comes up with cheers for Ian Rankin and Val McDermid and a whole group of American writers.
A fantastic celebration of the amazing achievements of women in the air and space. Some of these women are hardly known. This book is a revelation.
With his co-author, Keshia Abraham, John Woolf tells the story of Black Victorians who have been marginalised by history.
There are many characters to meet - Sarah Forbes Bonetta who was given as a gift to Queen Victoria, Pablo Fanque who ran a circus, the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and South African Saartjie Baartman who was exhibited as the 'Hottentot Venus'.... and many more.
Fascinating and sometimes shocking book wonderfully introduced by its co-author John Woolf.
Nancy Campbell is a poet and travel writer based in Oxford.
This is not a travel book or a book of poems. Thunderstone is different. It's about setting up a happy home in a caravan that will probably never move again.
Nancy is put in the position of being the carer for her partner Anna who has suffered a massive stroke. With kindness and fortitude, they cope.
It's a beautiful book.
Robert Lacey is known as a historian of the Royal Family, so much so that he is a consultant to Netflix for their hit series The Crown.
At the time of the Golden Jubilee he write a biography of the Queen which was published as 'Royal' in the UK and 'Monarch' in the US.
The book gives a history of the Queen's reign and the story of the wider family. Prince Philip is celebrated as is Prince Charles. The role of Princess Diana is examined as are Camilla and Princes William and Harry.
The partial withdrawal of Prince Harry is predicted ... and this was written 20 years ago.
A conversation that gives perspective to the nation's reaction to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
On Friday 5th October 1962 the first Beatles record 'Love Me Do' and the first Bond film 'Dr No' were released.
This coincidence leads to a splendidly entertaining examination of the two hugely popular cultural phenomena.
This is a superb book brilliantly explained by Nessa. Thought-provoking in an optimistic way.
In Volt Rush Henry Sanderson tells the story of the electric car from the early 19th century to the current challenges facing the global industry.
Although an electric vehicle doesn't emit carbon dioxide and is thus 'clean' the raw materials in the battery have to be mined somewhere. There is big money to be made.
Who is winning the Volt Rush?
Trevor Rees-Jones was the sole survivor of the car crash that killed Diana and Dodi in Paris on August 31st 1997.
He was very badly injured and kept a very low profile for a long time, but such was the media interest and the search for scapegoats he wrote his story - as much as he could remember.
If things had been slightly different could it now be King Charles and Queen Diana?
Dr. Helen Fry has written the biography of a man who is hardly known ..... yet!
Thomas Kendrick was a major architect of intelligence services, as well as being a saviour of hundreds of Jews in wartime Vienna. Oskar Schindler is known, so far Kendrick is not.
Spymaster is the meticulously researched biography of a man who deserves to be the subject of a major movie.
Listen to Dr Fry and you will be swept along by her knowledge and enthusiasm.
Richard Fortey is a paleontologist with a passion.
As a boy he went on a search for fossil trilobites. He found one and turned his interest into a career. His enthusiasm is hugely engaging.
Ruth Werner was born Ursula Kuczynski in Berlin.
She was appalled by Hitler and became a lifelong communist and a spy. During the 1940s she lived around Oxford and radioed secrets to Russia.
Her spy codename was Sonja and her memoir was published as Sonja's Report. Ben MacIntyre wrote a best-selling biography of her ...Agent Sonya: Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy.
David Freeman spoke to her in Oxford.
Philip Hensher is an author, academic, critic and a past Booker Prize judge.
I spoke to him when his novel The Mulberry Empire was first published. It's a huge wide-screen historical novel about an attempted British invasion of Afghanistan.
Although it is fiction the novel puts the plight of the country in an unhappy perspective.
This conversation took place 20 years ago when Tony Blair was still a force in UK politics.
Listening to the chat now it still sounds relevant although all the names have changed and the overriding national mood has veered to the right.
We are warned that we are going back to the 70s - Mark Steel grew up in the 70s and has some refreshing views!
On April 15th 1929 Colonel Victor Barker was sentenced at the Old Bailey to nine months imprisonment
Colonel Barker was in fact a woman who earlier in life had married and given birth to two children.
She then adopted several male aliases and married again.
The unbelievable story, that is begging to be made into a film, is told by Rose Collis.
Martin Jarvis is known as the mellifluous reader of many audiobooks, but he has had a very successful career as an actor as well.
In 1586 Queen Elizabeth became the big chief of a tribe of North American Indians.
The story behind this event is a tale of almost unimaginable vision and courage led by the man who was to become Sir Walter Raleigh
The ghost of Mrs Thatcher walks through the Tory party despite the fact she left office in 1990 and died in 2013.
Her spirit is evoked and some emulate her style of dress ..... but when David Freeman interviewed Mark Lawson about his collection of stories, attitudes were very different.
At the time of the recording John Major was Prime Minister and Mark had written a book called Bloody Margaret. It's a satire.
Paul Britton advises police forces on some of their most difficult and upsetting cases. A few years ago he found himself in hot water is a situation that was dramatised for a Channel 4 series 'Deceit. As a result of Paul Britton's involvement Colin Stagg was wrongly accused of Rachel Nickell's murder.
David Freeman spoke to Paul Britton long before these things happened about his book 'Picking up the Pieces. The book is full of horrifying cases, and starts with an occurrence that sounds straight from The Exorcist.
In this inspiring book James Attlee tells what happened when he rang the doorbells of houses that had homemade pictures of rainbows in their windows.
The simple idea blossomed and grew and James found himself talking about Extinction Rebellion and Black LIves Matter.
This conversation took place on the day after the hottest ever day in the UK.
In his excellently written evocative memoir, Jeremy Worman recounts how a privately educated schoolboy came to live in the biggest squat in Europe.
This is a personal story, but it is also full of observations about the way the world was back then.
Jeremy met the most glamorous film star of the time, saw Jimi Hendrix at the Isle of Wight festival..... and fell in love.
Twice.
Baron McAlpine of West Green was a fund raiser for Mrs Thatcher but had another life in Australia. David Freeman met him when his book Bagman to Swagman was first published.
Even if one didn't share his politics, he was fantastic company with amazing stories.
Jonathan Aitken was a high profile Tory who was found to be lying. He ended up serving time in jail. Have times changed?
He told David Freeman his story.
Vicky Spratt is a British journalist specialising in the issue of housing.
For her book 'Tenants' Vicky spoke to people trapped in a world where homelessness is a constant threat. The stories are heartbreaking and shocking. It is unbelievable that this is happening in the UK in 2022. The book is a loud and strident wake up call to politicians. A change is required. Now.
Victoria Glendinning is an award-winning biographer and novelist.
In 2003 she published a novel called 'Flight'. It's fascinating to hear about the conversations that were already happening about the rightful place of England in Europe. Europe seemed to be getting on with life in a cooperative manner that England just didn't seem able to manage.
Who could have predicted in those heady days that England would vote to leave Europe ..... unbelievable!
Howard Jacobson has won major literary prizes and has a long history of writing splendid thoughtful comic novels.
When David Freeman met him to discuss his novel 'Who's Sorry Now' it was back on the old favourite subject of sex ....... again.
David Freeman met Pete McCarthy in 2002 after he had enjoyed the success of McCarthy's Bar.
Pete was a splendid raconteur and great company. It seemed at the time that he was probably the only travel writer who could submit to a masochistic spiritual experience and still find one third of the Jimi Hendrix Experience playing in the back room of an off the beaten track country pub.
The journalist William Davis talked to David Freeman on the morning of June 13, 2022, the day before the first Rwanda flight was scheduled and just before the publication of the bill to change the Brexit agreement in Ireland.
James Patterson is a phenomenon. His skill as a storyteller has made him very wealthy.
David Freeman met him in London to talk about his sixth Alex Ross story 'Roses are Red', when the paperback was first published in the UK.
In this episode of The Author Archive Podcast Sheridan Morley talked to David Freeman about Sir John Gielgud.
There is a lot of looking back 70 years at the moment. In 1953 John Gielgud was knighted in the Coronation Honours. A few months later there was public uproar when he was arrested for homosexuality which was illegal at the time. Sheridan tells what happened, how prejudices were confronted and laws eventually changed.
David Freeman spoke to the Cambridge historian Vic Gatrell about his splendid book about a group of conspirators who attempted to bring revolution to London in 1820.
They failed but their story makes a compelling read. Not everything has changed in 200 years.
Nick has interviewed loads and loads of pop people .... The KLF, Don McLean, Robbie Williams, Stuart Copeland, Adam Ant ...... the list goes on. David Freeman asked him about the task and some of the characters he met.
In this splendid but depressing book FT journalist Simon Kuper traces the idea of Brexit back to toffs in the Oxford Union in the late 1980s. Much food for thought.
As the UK celebrates the reign of Queen Elizabeth II this book tells the less than glorious story of her uncle and his wife.
As well as telling the historical story Andrew discusses the lessons that can be learned by the present Royal Family. Maybe food for thought for Andrew, Harry and Meghan.
David Freeman talked to Alyn about his new book and his life in jazz.
The book is all about a passion for the music and the people who make it.
David Freeman, a UFO skeptic, met Timothy Good when his book Unearthly Disclosure was first published.
The conversation was friendly but honest and inquisitive!
The Australian novelist Kate Grenville won the Orange Prize for her novel 'The Idea of Perfection'
She talked to David Freeman when she was on a publicity tour in London. As an interviewee she was terrific on Australian men and concrete.
The book is entertaining and so is the author!
In this episode David Freeman talks to the author and academic Celia Brayfield about her novel 'Heartswap'.
The book comes in a pink cover and sells itself as a romantic comedy with links to Mozart ..... but maybe it's a little darker and more hard hearted than that?
Professor 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.
When David Freeman talked to Dr Kershaw about his new book about battles in ancient Greece it seemed that the human desire for conflict is unchanged through human history.
Three Epic Battles that Saved Democracy is an entertaining and instructive read published by Robinson in spring 2022.
Professor Davies is a top scientist and a top science communicator.
He now works in Arizona but when this conversation with David Freeman took place Paul Davies was based in Australia.
So is time travel possible???
David Freeman met the American author Geoffrey Giuliano in London when he was promoting his book Lennon in America.
Some of his views might ruffle a few feathers!
When Michel Roux and his brother Albert came to London in the 1960s they revolutionised British gastronomy and became 'the godfathers of modern restaurant cuisine'.
Michel Snr died in March 2020 and his nephew continues the name and the culinary tradition.
When David Freeman met Michel Snr in 2001 they discussed his life as told in his book "Life is a Menu".
Richard Dawkins talked to David Freeman just after delivering the 1991 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.
Professor Dawkins has numerous friends in the comedy fraternity, particularly the late Douglas Adams who wrote The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. As scientists go he is a very approachable and entertaining lecturer.
Lily Burana had been a stripper and when she decided to move to another profession she decided to go on one last stripping tour of the strip clubs of America.
She wrote about her exploits in her book Strip City: A Strippers Farewell Journey Across America. On a promotional visit to London she told David Freeman all about her adventures.
In this conversation, Melvyn Bragg tells David Freeman about his novel "A Son of War" which has a dimension of family autobiography.
Jennifer Lauck spoke to David Freeman when her memoir 'Blackbird' was first published in the UK.
The very apt subtitle was 'A Childhood Lost'. A heartbreaking story.
Jonathan Coe tells David Freeman about his novel 'The Rotters' Club' a story set in the 1970s when Prog Rock was giving way to punk and old Labour was losing ground to Thatcherism.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes met David Freeman when his book 'The Secret Hunters' was published in 2001.
The book tells the story of a diary that was found in a shelter in Antarctica in 1997. This opens the door to a world of deprivation, war, survival and revenge.
It's a gripping page-turning read, but is it fiction?
David Freeman met Mark Steel when his memoir 'Reasons to be Cheerful : from Punk to New Labour through the Eyes of a Dedicated Troublemaker' was first published. There was a Labour government back then!
David Freeman met Anthony Holden around the turn of the century to discuss Anthony's biography of William Shakespeare and was surprised to learn that there was so much biographical material available.
David Freeman talked to the actress Harriet Walter when her autobiography 'Other People's Shoes' was published in 2003.
Alan Sillitoe spoke to David Freeman when his novel Birthday was published in 2001.
Birthday is the sequel to Saturday Night and Sunday Morning which was published to great acclaim in 1958.
So why did it take so long to write the sequel?
Carol Drinkwater came to prominence playing the wife of James Herriot in the first TV version of All Creatures Great and Small.
Now she is probably better known for living life on an olive farm in southern France.
She told David Freeman the story when The Olive Farm was first published.
This conversation with the American author Joseph Kanon took place in London when the novel The Good German was published.
The backdrop to the story is World War II.
In 2001such a war seemed a far distant nightmare that could never happen again. Surely it really could never happen because everyone knows how unthinkably bad it is.
But it is happening. As Joseph says in this conversation .... who are the people who are inflicting these outrages? Do their mothers know what they are doing? Who could possibly think such outrages are justifiable?
In the summer of 2002 David Freeman talked to Tony Hawks about the challenge he had been given to have a hit record somewhere.
It's a remarkable, entertaining and almost unbelievable story. He reveals how he rose to the challenge and became a chart star in Albania with the help of Norman Wisdom. Simon Cowell gets a mention too.
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.
David Freeman met John Simpson when his book 'A Mad World, My Masters' was first published.
The conversation ranged from Robert Maxwell, father of Ghislaine , to Idi Amin, Colonel Gaddafi and the International Red Cross. It was wide ranging and hugely entertaining.
Edwina Currie was a Tory MP from 1983 to 1997.
She became Junior Health Minister for 2 years and famously had an affair with John Major, who became Prime Minister, that lasted 4 years.
David Freeman met her when her novel This Honourable House was first published. Prior to this, and her second marriage she had written Chasing Men.
In this conversation, she talks about her life and her books, but also revealingly about the Tory party that she used to be a part of. Times change??
This conversation between the American journalist David E.Hoffman and David Freeman took place in London in 2002.
David Hoffman had been Moscow Bureau Chief for the Washington Post. Prior to this he has studied Russian at Oxford University and found himself fascinated by the rise of what was then a new force in Russia, the Oligarchs.
Clive James died in 2019 after a long illness.
This conversation with David Freeman was recorded in 2001 when Clive was excited by the internet and somewhat fearful of the way public service broadcasting was heading.
Listening to Clive James now it is clear that he had a very good grasp on what could happen in many spheres of life - and he really didn't approve.
Paul Jones talks to David Freeman about his life in music with Manfred Mann and The Blues Band.
At the time the conversation was recorded The Blues Band had announced they were retiring and Paul told David how he felt about the decision.
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.
David Freeman interviewed David Sedaris in 2000 when his book 'Me Talk Pretty One Day' was first published
This conversation was recorded when the 12th Rebus novel The Falls was published.
David Freeman and Ian Rankin were relaxing in a London hotel and it turned out that Ian was in a chatty mood.
He talked about the writing process and even did a bit of Buckingham Palace name dropping!
In this conversation historian Hugh Sebag Montefiore talks to David Freeman about his book Enigma:The Battle for the Code.
They talk about the role the Bletchley Park codebreakers had in winning the second world war. One of the towering intellects was Alan Turing who not only had a major part on breaking the code but also laid the groundwork for modern computers.
In the early 1960s there was a music revolution happening centred on Richmond on Thames.
The Rolling Stones built their career there but so did The Yardbirds. Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck were all locals who honed their talent by the Thames.
Music festivals are now a major feature of national UK life but the very first one happened in Richmond in 1961.
The geographical roots of the music revolution that gave the world the bands and the guitarists is told in Andrew Humphrey's book Raving Upon Thames
This conversation with Nina Simon was recorded in December 1998 just before her last ever show at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
She was talking to David Freeman for a programme on the radio station Jazz fm, which would promote the concert.
Nina had a reputation for being a tricky interviewee but on the day she was delightful and during the conversation she was eager to give her views on sexism, racism and feminism.
After the interview David was asked to introduce Nina on stage at the Albert Hall. In this episode of the Author Archive podcast he tells what happened.
Radhia spent 25 years in an American cult. In this conversation she explains what happened to her and why her first hand experience of a narcissist probably has lessons for the wider political world.
Antonia Fraser in conversation with David Freeman about her biography of Marie Antoinette
In 1957 Eton educated 25 year old Colin Clark found himself charged with looking after Marilyn Monroe while she was filming The Prince and the Showgirl.
What happened has been made into a successful film starring Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh and Eddie Redmayne. In this conversation recorded in 2000 Colin Clark tells David Freeman how it came about and how he found himself spending the night and several days with Marilyn.
Poet Matthew Sweeney is talking to David Freeman when his Selected Poems were first published in 2002.
He talked about the process of writing and read a couple of his poems.
This conversation is a record of a man who was a writer of poems for adults and children and was also very good company!
Sadly Matthew died of motor neurone disease in 2018.
David Freeman had this conversation with the alternative rock musician Don Van Vliet better known as Captain Beefheart, sitting on the tour bus in the early hours of May 6th 1973. The Magic Band had just played a sold out gig at Southampton University.
This isn't a conversation with an author, but there are many books about the Captain, his music and his art. He was a fascinating character projected as weird and maybe even frightening but as this conversation shows he was funny, friendly and very ahead of his time on green issues and sustainability.
As this conversation mentions particular tracks there is a Spotify playlist where the songs can be heard. Search Author Archive - Beefheart.
Spike Milligan tallking to David Freeman about his life in comedy, The Goons, and the mental health problems that dogged his life after he was blown up by a wartime bomb.
The Collins sisters spoke to David Freeman in London at the end of the last century. Jackie was promoting her novel 'Thrill' about the glamorous world of Hollywood, and Joan was encouraging interest in her autobiography 'Second Act'. Both sisters were happy to talk about themselves.
In this edition David Freeman talks to author Anna Kent about her new novel House of Whispers and in an archive recording Pat Barker talks about her disturbing 2001 novel Border Crossing.
Both novels have dark themes at their core
In this episode Kelley Swain tells David Freeman about her new Oxford based novel Ophelia Swam and following that a vintage interview with Oliver Sacks. In this conversation recorded 20 years ago Oliver talks to David about his wartime childhood remembered in his memoir Uncle Tungsten.
David Freeman in conversation with Iranian German film maker Siba Shakib when her best selling book 'Afghanistan, Where God Only Comes to Weep ' was first published in 2002.
So much of what Saba Shakib says is still very relevant and casts a light on the current situation.
Ellen Apsten tells David Freeman about her new book, the second novel in her series telling the stories of the powerful Russian women who lived remarkable lives in the 18th century.
The Tsarina's Daughter is about Elizabeth the beautiful daughter of Peter the Great and Catherine. A life which has parallels with the struggles of England's Elizabeth the First.
The Romanovs are the sort of family Shakespeare might have liked to write about. Sir Stanley Wells talks to David about the life and work of Shakespeare. The interview recorded in 2003 reveals the depth of knowledge and passion Stanley Wells has for his subject.
Talking to David Freeman in this episode are adventurer Sir Rannulph Fiennes, legendary travel writer Eric Newby and the memorable Lucy Irvine. Lucy had replied to an advertisement in 1980 seeking a woman to spend a year on a desert island with a man she didn't know. This adventure became a film starring Oliver Reid. She tells David how she went on to write the story of another island dwelling family in her book Faraway.
Memorable stories.
David Freeman talks to Ross King talking about his book 'The Bookseller of Florence' which is all about the surprising trade in manuscripts and books in Renaissance Italy.
Adrian Levy tells David about his visit to the Jade mines of Myanmar and the inhuman conditions that he found there.
This visit was 20 years ago and one can only hope that conditions have improved.
David Freeman talks to Beatles Historian Mark Lewisohn about his mammoth history of the Fab Four,
Thomasina Lowe talks about her fathers photographs of the Kennedy presidential years and science writer Marcus Chown talks about his book "What a Wonderful World". that endeavours to explain almost everything.
The conversations in this episode were recorded in the Langham Hotel in West London 20 years ago.
Mark Bowden recounts the life of the mega rich drug dealer Pablo Escobar in his book 'Killing Pablo'.
Mark Bowden's book is a type of biography and following that Peter Ackroyd tells David Freeman about his fascinating biography of London.
A different dimension of London's history is told by Liza Pickard in her book 'Dr. Johnson's London'.
Finally the award winning journalist Christina Lamb tells the remarkable story of a rich eccentric who a hundred years ago built a replica of an English country house in the middle of Africa. 'The Africa House' is a an astonishing true story that would make an amazing film.
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson are the minds behind the TV show QI, and in this episode introduce their Book of General Ignorance.
The original chair of QI was Stephen Fry and he was replaced by Sandi Toksvig. Here she introduces her story Melted into Air.
Journalist Jon Ronson explains how he researched his amazing book 'Them - Adventures with Extremists' and philosopher Simon Blackburn explores the notion of being good. The interview was recorded 20 years ago but the quandaries remain just the same.
In The Author Archive Podcast 2 John Le Carre talks about writing politics , and Mallory Blackman explains the political thinking behind Noughts and Crosses.
Maggie Gee gives the background to her novel The White Family that endeavours to explain prejudice and on the frothy side Jilly Cooper gives more background to how life might be in the English counties.
The episode concludes with two views of the Court of King Henry VIII, Philippa Gregory discusses her book about 'The Other Boleyn Girl' and Alison Weir explains how the king was totally surrounded by the people of the court all the time!
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”