Last Word podcast | Listen online for free

Available Episodes

5 of 521

Lord Tebbit, Daphne Boden, James Leprino, Sir Francis Graham-Smith
Matthew Bannister onLord Tebbit, who as Norman Tebbit was a member of Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet, introducing trade union reform and privatisation. Daphne Boden, the harpist who played for the Queen and taught for more than fifty years at the Royal College of Music. James Leprino who built a multi-billion-dollar business by supplying cheese to pizza chains. And the former Astronomer Royal, Sir Francis Graham-Smith, who helped to transform our understanding of the origins of the universe.Interviewee: John Sergeant Interviewee: Lord Deben Interviewee: Geraldine McMahon Interviewee: Sally Pryce Interviewee: Chloe Sorvino Interviewee: Professor Andrew LyneProducer: Gareth Nelson-DaviesArchive used: Lord Tebbit interview, A Life in Politics: Jo Coburn with leading politicians, BBC; Lord Tebbit, Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 04/12/1992; Profile of Employment Secretary Norman Tebbit, BBC News, 26/01/1982; Norman Tebbit speech, Conservative Party Conference, BBC News, 1981; Brighton Bomb news report, BBC Television 12/10/1984; Lord Tebbit interview, BBC News, 24/09/2019; Daphne Boden interview, Meet the Stars, The Harp Channel, Uploaded to YouTube 25/06/2020; A Drive Through Time — A Leprino Foods Origin Story, Leprino Foods, https://vimeo.com/648650074, Vimeo uploaded 2024; Sir Francis Graham-Smith at 100, Science Cafe, BBC Radio Wales, 23/05/2023; Francis Graham-Smith appearance on The Sky at Night, BBC Television, 06/12/1992;
--------
27:53
--------
27:53
Courtney Griffiths KC, Sara Venn, Nina Kuscik, Mohammad Hussain
Matthew Bannister on Courtney Griffiths, one of the first black lawyers to become a Queen’s Counsel. Sara Venn, who turned unloved spaces in Bristol into community gardens growing food for low-income families. Nina Kuscik, the American marathon runner who broke down barriers to women participating in long distance running. Sergeant Mohammed Hussain, one of the last surviving Muslim veterans of the second world war. Producer: Catherine PowellArchive used: BBC News: Courtenay Griffiths, April 2012; BBC Breakfast News: Courtenay Griffiths, April 2012; Hardtalk, BBC Two, Interviewer Tim Sebastian, 12/10/2002; Hardtalk, BBC Two, Interviewer Stephen Sackur, 19/11/2010; The Organic Gardening Podcast: Sara Venn, YouTube Upload, 24/01/2024; BBC Points West: Sara Venn, 27/04/2016; BBC Points West: Sara Venn, 01/05/2014; Nina Kuscik, Northeast Historic Film; BBC London: Mohammad Hussein, 10/11/2022; Southall to Cassino, BBC Two, 02/09/1989; Festival of Remembrance, BBC, 09/11/2024
--------
27:50
--------
27:50
Sir Geoff Palmer, Barbara Holdridge, Kim Woodburn, Sly Stone
John Wilson onSir Godfrey “Geoff” Palmer, the scientist whose discovery of a new brewing method revolutionized the industry and saved them millions of poundsBarbara Holdridge, the entrepreneur who co-founded a new record label that paved the way for the audiobook industry Kim Woodburn, the reality TV Star who made gained popular recognition through the TV show How Clean Is Your House?Sly Stone the American genre-bending musician who fronted the band Sly and the Family Stone. Interviewee: Catherine Bisset Catrina Rose Matthew Rubery Arlene HirschkowitzProducer: Ribika MoktanDetails of help and support with pregnancy related issues are available at BBC Action Line. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1KhLYgXHRxyw67mkGRRXQ3R/information-and-support-pregnancy-related-issuesArchive used: Scientific, BBC Radio 4, 04/08/2015; Sunday Morning with Cathy Macdonald; Writers and Company, CBC, 24/11/2002; Child's Christmas in Wales, read by Dylan Thomas, Caedmon Audio, 02/1952 https://soundcloud.com/harperaudiopresents/childschristmasinwales ; The Connor Phillips Show, BBC Radio Ulster, 26/04/2024; How Clean is Your House?, S1 E1, Channel Four Television Corporation, dir Simon Bisset, series producer Steph Harris, A Talkbalk production, 2003; I’m a Celebrity Get me out of here 2009, YouTube Upload, 12/02/2015; An excerpt from Sly on the air at KSOL, courtesy of Arlene Hirschkowitz
--------
27:43
--------
27:43
Valmik Thapar, Nancy Blaik, Norma Meras Swenson, Dr Stuart Farrimond
Kirsty Lang on Wildlife conservationist Valmik Thapar who spent five decades trying to protect India’s tigersNancy Blaik, the driving force behind the creation of Scotland’s first children’s hospiceNorma Meras Swenson, the co-author of the influential book ‘Our Bodies, Ourselves’ Doctor Stuart Farrimond who became a popular science writer after being diagnosed with a brain tumourProducer: Ed PrendevilleArchive used: Tony Livesey – Steffan Powell sitting in, BBC Radio 5 Live, 28/04/2025; Tiger Crisis: Update, BBC Two, 08/01/1997; Wild: The Natural World – The Tigers' Fortress, BBC Two, 29/10/2000; Wild: Search for Tigers, BBC Two, 19/10/2003; My Tiger Family, BBC Two, 12/08/2024; Life in a Children's Hospice, BBC Radio Scotland, 20/02/2006; Reporting Scotland, BBC One Scotland, 05/12/1994; Reporting Scotland, BBC One Scotland, 11/03/1996
--------
27:50
--------
27:50
Alan Yentob, Richard Garwin, Dr Joy Schaverien, Anne Merriman
Matthew Bannister on Alan Yentob, the BBC’s only Creative Director, who commissioned many successful TV programmes, was known as an impresario of talent and also presented Imagine. Richard Garwin, the American physicist who developed the Hydrogen bomb, but then devoted his life to nuclear disarmament.Dr. Joy Shaverien, the psychoanalyst who identified “boarding school syndrome” suffered by some who were sent away to school at an early age. Dr Anne Merriman, the former nun who made it her life’s work to bring effective palliative care to Africa.Producer: Ed PrendevilleArchive used ichard Garwin Interview, Voices of the Manhattan Project – Atomic Heritage Foundation, Los Alamos Historical Society, The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, 22/09/2018; Pride and Prejudice, Episode 2, BBC Four, Drama, Classic & Period; imagine...: Winter 2004 – Arthur Miller: Finishing the Picture, BBC; Desert Island Discs: Alan Yentob, BBC Radio 4, 08/10/1995; Cracked Actor: David Bowie, BBC, 04/04/2013; Boarding School Syndrome: In Conversation with Joy Schaverien, Interviewed by Joana de Waal, British Psychotherapy Foundation (bpf), YouTube Upload, 23/09/2019; Dr Anne Merriman Interviewed by Scott Murray, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, 2023; orth West Tonight, BBC, 21/07/2009; Anne Merriman – Harvard University Talk; Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 13/05/2011
--------
27:58
--------
27:58