Private Passions

Thirty-five years ago, during the Gulf War, the face of the RAF navigator John Nichol appeared on news bulletins around the world. His Tornado jet had been shot down over Iraq, and he was captured, tortured and paraded on Iraqi television.
Together with the pilot John Peters, he wrote about these experiences in their best-selling book Tornado Down. Since then, he's written many more books about military history, on topics ranging from the Spitfire to the Unknown Warrior. His most recent book, Blitz, focuses on the effects of German bombing, not just on London, but in Glasgow, Cardiff, Manchester and his native north east.
John's music includes Chopin, Aaron Copland, Arthur Sullivan and Elgar.

Ruth Ozeki won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2022 with her novel The Book of Form and Emptiness. The judges called it a ’complete joy to read.’

She’s also a film-maker and a Zen Buddhist priest, and her books draw on her Japanese-American heritage.

They also convey her deep concern for our environment, taking on topics such as industrial agriculture, ocean pollution and mass consumerism.

Her most recent book, The Typing Lady and Other Fictions, is her first collection of short stories – and the Typing Lady of the title has more than a little in common with Ruth herself.

Ruth Ozeki's music includes Albeniz, Praetorius, Prokofiev and Benny Goodman.

Jeremy Vine is one of the most familiar voices and faces in British broadcasting. He's presented his Radio 2 lunchtime show since 2003, and its mixture of music and news reaches 6 million listeners every week. Their personal stories and opinions are a vital part of the programme.
Jeremy also presents a weekday show on Channel 5, and since joining the BBC almost 40 years ago, he's been our correspondent in Africa and appeared on everything from Newsnight to Strictly Come Dancing.
He also writes crime fiction, drawing on his work behind the microphone. His books Murder on Line One and most recently Turn the Dial for Death feature the radio presenter Edward Temmis turning his hand to detective work.
Jeremy's music includes Morricone, Mussorgsky and Holst.

Like many writers, Sofka Zinovieff draws on her own history in her books – and her family tree offers plenty of inspiration. Her paternal grandmother was born into Russian high society, fled to England after the 1917 revolution and became a Communist. Sofka wrote her biography.
Her maternal grandmother married the eccentric aristocrat Robert Heber-Percy, and for a time shared a house with his lover, the artist and composer Lord Berners. Sofka has also charted her story.
Her father Peter was a composer and co-founder of Britain's first synthesiser manufacturer, making instruments used by the likes of Pink Floyd and David Bowie.
He banned his many children from attending his funeral – a decision which inspired her most recent book, a novel called Stealing Dad.
Sofka's music includes Bach, Monteverdi, Theodorakis and Mozart.

The writer Simon Barnes has two very public passions - sport and the natural world. He wrote about both for The Times for 30 years, covering seven Olympic Games and six World Cup finals, while also delivering columns on short-eared owls, mountain hares and “the organ-pipe contact call of lions."
His books include reflections on the meaning and the soul of sport, and numerous titles about birds, including the best-selling How to Be a Bad Birdwatcher, in which he says: ‘Birdwatching is a state of being, not an activity. It is not a matter of organic trainspotting. It is about life and it is about living.’ This way of seeing also informs his most recent book How to Fly – which examines not only birds, but butterflies, bees, bats and the deep human fascination with flight.
Simon's musical choices include Beethoven, Scarlatti, Monteverdi and Messiaen.