Hearing Ross talk about the Ancient Romans is an entertaining revelation.  I didn't know that the 'no kings' movement is a Roman invention as is the tradition of reminding would be absolute rulers that they are as human as the rest of us. Ross is a riveting writer of history and a great story teller.

Roger Hammond writes in fearless detail how he was his wife's carer for thirty of their forty seven years of marriage. Lyn was diagnosed with MS when they were a family of four with two young daughters. Roger writes about the challenges but he also recounts how they dealt with them and enjoyed a happy and fulfilling marriage. They never forgot how to enjoy life ...... their holidays were fabulous!      

Ross King is a superb history storyteller. He will be talking to me here at the Author Archive soon about his new book 'The Shortest History of Ancient Rome'. His previous book is tells of a different dimension of Italian history. .'The Bookseller of Florence'   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.

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.

Andrew Lownie has spent four years researching the lives of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, the Duke and Duchess of York. The book is full of dramatic details of lives spent sailing very close to the wind but mostly protected by their royal status. What Andrew Lownie tells me will stop you in your tracks.    

The Cotswolds are in the news,but before the area was discovered by rich Americans it was a fertile area for thought and creativity. The village of Great Tew was where  John Lloyd and John Mitchinson met. They both lived there in historic cottages. This is where they came up with the idea of the TV show QI. In this episode they  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.    

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. The relationship   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. Interviewing Edwina I always had the feeling that she was very entertaining but was probably trouble. 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??

There is much thought about memoirs at the moment. Salt Paths etc. Clive James wrote memoirs but he always declared they were 'unreliable'. Maybe that is the nature of memory and memoir? 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. He would probably be even more fearful now. 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.

This book is as exploration of the rich and varied cultural worlds shaped by the Rhine, the Rhone and the Po. Three Rivers traces the rivers' journeys from their glacial sources through Germany, Itals and France. Its an entertaining and informative story. A great holiday read!

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.

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.

This conversation looks back at the post war time when all the world aspired to be young and America. America was really perceived to be great back then.  How times change ........ Joseph Connolly paints a rock 'n roll picture.

After Ashley Kahn had published his book on the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue he turned his attention to the timeless John Coltrane record A Love Supreme. Not only is this still a highly regarded jazz performance, A Love Supreme is now the title of the biggest open air jazz festival in the UK.

Duke Ellington is famous, but what was he really like. In this biography published in 2000,  Stuart Nicholson writes about the man who was a brilliant  instinctive and  sophisticated musician. Was he then a bit of a goody goody? As Stuart Nicholson told me he was not in any way a goody goody!      

The Oxford Companion to Music is probably the most famous music reference book of them all. The latest edition was first published in 2002. It has over 120 contributors and covers covers the whole universe of music. I spoke to the editor Alison Latham soon after publication. A huge task to pull such a tome together ..... but maybe an enjoyable job?    

As the news from America becomes more and more worrying it's good to look back to the last century when everything was different and some American rock musicians brought joy to the world.  Peace and Love meant something back then. The Grateful Dead were very successful despite having no chart hits and they had a huge dedicated fanbase. They were formed in California in 1965 and performed regularly for 30 years. The anniversaries have spawned renewed interest in the band. Dennis McNally was their official archivist.

Kind of Blue is the most successful jazz LP ever made. It was recorded over two sessions in New York in 1959 and is still revered as a masterpiece. Ashley Kahn told David Freeman the story behind a historic music event.

Religion still motivates sime people. In early 2025 a million Hindus tried to bathe in a river at the same time. Why would anyone think this would be a good idea. Robin 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. Does the professor's analysis explain the enduring but shrinking appeal of non logical beliefs?

Channel 4 are presnting an engrossing drama depicting the professional relationship that evolved between Mrs Thatcher the politician and  Brian Walden the labour MP turned television interviewer. The two lead actors Steve Coogan and Harriet Walter are excellent at showing the  friendly dimension to the relationship that turned sour under media pressure. David Freeman talked to the actress Harriet Walter when her autobiography 'Other People's Shoes' was published in 2003.

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” We have seen the power of the political rally to stir followers. Gitta Sereny actually attended a Hitler rally.