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!

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?

When the lit fest season comes round some 'late' authors are very much missed.

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!

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.

Colin Dexter was a splendid writer. His creation Inspector Morse is superb on the page and 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.

Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore explains the mythic status of this eighteenth century Russian statesman, and military leader.

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.

Interesting to hear Simon say that Putin read this book and what he learned has informed his political views. This lead to the invasion of Ukraine and a significant incident when Russian troops broke into the crypt of the cathedral in Kherson and removed the bones of Grigory Potemkin.

This is history to remember. Putin uses this history to justify his 'special military operation'.

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.