Last Word

Dec 20 2024 493 ep. 27 mins 15.5k
Last Word Podcast artwork

Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently

  Society & Culture
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Baroness Wilkins, Charles Handy, Renee Bornstein, Tony Brignull

Dec 20 2024 27 mins  
Matthew Bannister onBaroness Wilkins who became a wheelchair user after an accident aged 19 and went on to present TV programmes on disability issues and to campaign for the rights of disabled people. Charles Handy, the social philosopher and management theorist who predicted many changes to the world of work. Renee Bornstein who, as a child, survived being imprisoned by the Nazis.

Wolfgang Stange, Lord Renfrew, Julie Stevens, Mary McGee

Dec 13 2024 27 mins  
Matthew Bannister on Wolfgang Stange, the director and choreographer who founded the Amici Dance Theatre Company which integrates able bodied and disabled performers. Sir Ben Kingsley pays tribute. Lord Renfrew, the leading archaeologist who used scientific techniques to challenge the received wisdom in his chosen discipline. Julie Stevens, the actor who was also one of the e

Vicky Stone, Penny Chuter, Clifton Wharton Junior, Peter Sinfield

Dec 06 2024 27 mins  
Matthew Bannister onVicky Stone, the film maker who travelled to the remotest parts of Africa to make her award winning wildlife documentaries.Penny Chuter the medal winning rower who became coach of the GB team.Clifton Wharton Junior, the first black chancellor of a primarily white US university, the first African American to run a Fortune 500 company and the first to become Deput

Madeleine Riffaud, Chris Topp, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Dr Julian Litten

Nov 29 2024 27 mins  
Matthew Bannister onMadeleine Riffaud, the French resistance fighter who was tortured by the Gestapo, became a journalist and was embedded with the Vietcong in Vietnam.Chris Topp, the blacksmith who restored ironwork at Buckingham Palace, York Minster and St Paul’s Cathedral.Barbara Taylor Bradford, the best-selling author of A Woman of Substance and many other novels.Dr Julian L

Lord Prescott, Stephanie Collie, Dame Janet Nelson, Frank Auerbach

Nov 22 2024 27 mins  
Matthew Bannister onLord Prescott, the working-class lad who became Deputy Prime Minister.Stephanie Collie, whose costume designs for “Peaky Blinders” and “Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” inspired street fashion.Dame Janet “Jinty” Nelson, the leading mediaeval historian who wrote an acclaimed biography of the Frankish King Charlemagne.Frank Auerbach, one of the twen

Timothy West, Sir John Nott, June Spencer, Nadia Cattouse

Nov 15 2024 27 mins  
Matthew Bannister on the versatile actor Timothy West whose roles ranged from Shakespeare to soap operas. Sir Ian McKellen pays tribute.Sir John Nott, the Conservative politician who was Defence Secretary at the time of the Falklands War.June Spencer who played the matriarch of Ambridge, Peggy Wooley. She was the last original cast member.Nadia Cattouse, who was born in what is now

Quincy Jones, Janey Godley, Lyudmila Trut, Dr Paul Stephenson

Nov 08 2024 27 mins  
Matthew Bannister onQuincy Jones, the music producer, composer and arranger who worked with artists ranging from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson.Janey Godley, the comedian who used her challenging childhood and youth in Glasgow as material for her shows. Lyudmila Trut, the Russian geneticist who dedicated her life to a revolutionary – and evolutionary - experiment investigating

Dick Pope, Sister Sally Butler, Professor Tim Darvill OBE, Patti McGee

Nov 01 2024 27 mins  
Matthew Bannister on Dick Pope, the cinematographer who worked closely with Director Mike Leigh on films like “Secrets and Lies” and “Mr Turner”. Mike pays tribute. Sister Sally Butler, the American nun who blew the whistle on historic child sex abuse in her New York parish. Professor Tim Darvill OBE, the archaeologist best known for his work on the history of Stonehenge. P

Sir Mike Jackson, Lily Ledbetter, Safeya Binzagr, Steve Piotrowski

Oct 25 2024 27 mins  
Matthew Bannister onGeneral Sir Mike Jackson, the Chief of the General Staff at the time of the Iraq War.Lily Ledbetter, whose campaign for equal pay led to an Act of Congress. Safeya Binzagr, the pioneering Saudi Arabian artist whose career flourished despite the cultural restrictions on women in her societySteve Piotrowski, the ornithologist who ringed 100,000 birds and helped to

Alex Salmond, Ethel Kennedy, Ratan Tata, Fleur Adcock

Oct 18 2024 27 mins  
Kirsty Lang on Alex Salmond, the former First Minister of Scotland. Ethel Kennedy, wife of Robert F Kennedy who went onto become a campaigner for Human Rights.Ratan Tata, the businessman who led the Tata Group for more than two decades.Fleur Adcock, the poet who's conversational, irreverent style made her one of the most popular voices in British poetry.Interviewee: Brian Taylor In