Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth

We have a treat for you today: an exclusive one-off edition of Rosebud recorded at RHS Wisley, brought to you in association with the Royal Horticultural Society, and starring special guests RHS Ambassadors Dame Mary Berry and James Wong. In this episode, Gyles, Mary and James enjoy walking round the beautiful gardens at Wisley, and discuss the joys and benefits of getting out into gardens of all shapes and sizes. You'll find out about Dame Mary's first memory of gardening, about her love of roses, and about her long relationship with Wisley. You'll find out about James Wong's tips for making your garden more nature-friendly, and about his current pet project: growing a giant waterlily. But most of all we hope this episode will inspire you to get out into your own outside space, and - better still - to visit on the RHS's five flagship gardens somewhere in the UK.

Thank you to Dame Mary Berry and James Wong for sharing what gardening and visiting gardens means to them, and of course the important role they can play in bringing people together and creating a sense of community.

The RHS is the UK’s gardening charity helping people and plants to grow, so go visit your nearest garden today: there are five to choose from, RHS Wisley, RHS Hyde Hall, RHS Rosemoor, RHS Harlow Carr and RHS Bridgewater.

You can visit the RHS website here.

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Our guest today is the scientist, broadcaster and presenter of The Sky At Night, Dame Maggie Aderin. In this moving conversation, Dame Maggie tells Gyles about her childhood - and her parents' long custody battle, which often led to upheaval for Maggie and her sisters. She talks about her early interest in space, and joining a telescope-making club as a teenager. She talks about thinking big and not taking no for an answer. She talks about "Maggie-isms" and being unusual.

This is a fabulous edition of Rosebud with one of our foremost science communicators and educators. Dame Maggie's book, Starchild, My LIfe Under the NIght Sky, is out now and available here.

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It's another action-packed episode of Gyles's 1978 diaries, including: fun chat from G & H about seagulls and sumo wrestlers; Gyles taking a trip to NYC to publicise his joke book; the death of Pope John Paul I; a holiday to Barbados; a disastrous after-dinner speech and perjury. Yes, this is an episode you won't want to miss. Plus an Edinburgh update, and a shout-out to some of the brilliant listeners we've met at the first couple of shows. Thank you to EVERYONE who has supported us in our show this year - either by coming along, emailing, wishing us luck or by following our journey on the podcast. We really appreciate your encouragement! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a treat: our guest today is the much-loved actor and star of Doc Martin, Martin Clunes. In this gorgeous conversation, Gyles and Martin discuss Martin's childhood - and Gyles's admiration for Martin's actor father, Alec Clunes, who died when Martin was only 8 years old. They talk about Martin's unhappy time at boarding school in the years after his father's death. They talk about a visit to a psychic, and about the importance of animals in Martin's life. And finally, Gyles and Martin talk about Martin's latest book, his life on his westcountry farm, and burials for dogs.

Martin's book Training John and Murray, about training two terriers, is out now and available here.

Our heartfelt thanks to Martin Clunes for this fascinating conversation.
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It's Tuesday, so we have another delicious slice of Gyles's diaries for you. It's 1979, and his son Benet is learning to ride his pony, Tonka; Gyles is learning to drive at the ripe old age of 30, and Michele is giving birth to their third child: Aphra. Plus some fun Gyles and Harriet chat, a brilliant email from Gemma O'Connor about nerves and stage fright, and the usual brilliant observations about British life at the end of the 20th century from Gyles's diary.

Enjoy this.
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