Today's great life is possibly more famous as a Shakespearean character - King Richard II who was deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke in 1399. He's been chosen by historian Helen Castor, author of The Eagle and the Hart, who shines a light on what really happened towards the end of his reign. Also helping is Professor Emma Smith who explains why the play was a hit two hundred years later under Elizabeth I.
With archive of John Hurt as Richard and David Suchet as his cousin and usurper, Henry Bolingbroke.The producer for BBC Studios Audio in Bristol is Miles Warde
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27:37
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27:37
DJ Deb Grant on John Prine
DJ Deb Grant picks US mailman turned country-folk singer John Prine, whose beautiful songs captured the world in which he lived.
Bob Harris, who first met him on the Old Grey Whistle Test, adds to the conversation."I came to know him through him speaking about his own music - it's his character, his personality and his attitude that I fell for," says Deb Grant. "When he died I was absolutely inconsolable."Programme includes archive of John and his wife, talking after her husband died of complications arising from covid. There's also a reading of the lyrics from Sam Stone, his tale of a Vietnam vet returning from the war. "There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes," he sings.This is series 67 of Great Lives and future guests include Miles Jupp, Stewart Lee and Elizabeth Day.The producer for BBC Studios Audio in Bristol is Miles Warde
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Sir Seretse Khama, first president of Botswana
Seretse Khama was born in 1921 in Bechuanaland when it was still a British Protectorate. In 1966 he became Botswana's first president. In between he married a white Londoner, Ruth Williamson, was exiled by the British, and made to renounce his interest in succeeding as head of the Bangwato. It's an extraordinary and notable life, and he's been nominated by Professor Mike Bode, an astrophysicist and visiting professor to Botswana. As well as archive of Seretse Khama, the programme includes contributions from Bishop Trevor Mwamba and Susan Williams, author of Colour Bar: The Triumph of Seretse Khama and His Nation.The producer for BBC Studios Audio in Bristol is Miles Warde
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Emily Williamson, co-founder of the RSPB
For over a hundred years no one thought too much about the origins of the RSPB, but among its founders was a woman in Didsbury opposed to the use of feathers in fashionable hats. Emily Williamson was outraged by the widespread slaughter of egrets and the crested grebe. She had tried to join the all-male British Ornithological Union, and when that failed she established her own Society for the Protection of Birds.
Nominating Emily is Hannah Bourne-Taylor, author of Fledgling and Nature Needs You, which is about her own campaign for the introduction of swift bricks into all new buildings. Helping Hannah discover more about this little known life is author Tessa Boase, who discovered Emily's role; plus Beccy Speight the current head of the RSPB. Matthew Parris presents.
The producer in Bristol for BBC Studios Audio in Miles Warde.
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27:32
Tina Turner
Rock Icon Tina Turner proposed by the actress and author Rebecca Humphries.
Tina Turner began life as Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee, joining Ike Turner's band in St Louis at the age of 17. Her presence, her performances and her voice captivated audiences, but this is really a story of triumph over abuse. After she left Ike Turner with nothing but her name, she built a successful solo career in her 40s and rose to become one of the best-selling artists of all time, filling arena into her 70s.
Tina Turner is nominated by Rebecca Humphries.
Presented by Matthew Parris, produced in Bristol for BBC Studios Audio by Ellie Richold
UK