Radio Days Book Club

May 17 2024 15 ep. 51 mins 3

Radio Days Book Club Podcast artwork

Conversations with authors from the worlds of sport and entertainment. Join us (after the lockdown...) at our live events in London, Brighton and across the south east. Hosted by Duncan Steer.

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Matt Rendell: ITV Tour de France commentator, author, man on mission

May 17 2024 60 mins

ITV Tour de France commentator and general polymath Matt Rendell joins me to discuss some things that never make it into our live talk shows. Why is ITV like the social services? Did Matt really sell his house to finance one of his books (and, if so, why?) Was/is Marco Pantani Italy's Princess Diana? How come nobody knows the actual route of this year's Tour de France? Why is Matt

60 Years of the Rolling Stones, with Lesley-Ann Jones

Apr 18 2023 46 mins

Lesley-Ann Jones discusses The Stone Age, her biography of the self-styled greatest rock'n'roll band in the world.Lesley-Ann Jones interviewed hundreds of insiders and eye witnesses to create the biography. As a friend of Bill Wyman in the 80s, she was curious to investigate further the emotional chaos the band has left in its wake - as well as to detail how a group of white suburb

Lost gems of 1960s pop television, with Kevin Mulrennan

Mar 01 2022 42 mins

Kevin Mulrennan has compiled a 700-page encyclopaedia of ITV's 60s pop show Thank Your Lucky Stars. He joins us to recall great lost moments of the Beatles - as well as the stars who burned brightly but briefly.

12. Baxter Dury on his wild West London childhood

Nov 09 2021 38 mins

Baxter Dury joined us at a live event in Chiswick, to discuss his new memoir, Chaise Longue. Now an acclaimed musician in his own right, Baxter recalls a seemingly chaotic 70s and 80s childhood, growing up as the son of pop star and national treasure Ian Dury. Baxter's tales of avoiding school and seeking instead a demi-monde of Dickensian characters and misadventures are at once d

Nick Lowe and Will Birch on Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, punk rock and Peters and Lee.

Oct 05 2021 73 mins

Nick Lowe and Will Birch joined me at a live event at the Seven Dials Club to discuss Cruel to be Kind, Will's biography of Nick. Nick reflects on dealings with Paul McCartney, Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello and, well, Peters and Lee, why 1962 was the most important year in pop and how he hit upon the style used in his acclaimed late-career albums, Will muses on how pub rock led to pu

10. Drinking at dawn, shadow puppetry and the bouzouki ban: true tales of Greek village life, with Alex Kemp

May 15 2021 45 mins

Alex Kemp discusses his book Here is Greece, the story of a five-year tour, taking in rebel music bars in Athens, octogenarian shepherds in the far-flung outposts and a world of chance and bizarre encounters along the way. For more info on the book (and a free sample): https://worldofkemp.wordpress.com/portfolio/here-is-greece/Alex's Greek music playlist is at this link.

9. Canalmania, waterborne bohemians and Peter Sallis as Hitler, with Julian Dutton

May 09 2021 57 mins

BAFTA-winning actor, comedian and impressionist Julian Dutton was born and raised on a houseboat, moored on the Thames at Chelsea. In a Saturday morning tour de force of social history and showbiz tales, Julian discusses Water Gypsies, his new book on the history of Britain's river-dwellers, from the hardmen of canalmania to post-War bohemians - and throws in a few brilliant impres

The Velvet Mafia: Darryl Bullock on the gay men who masterminded the Swinging 60s

Feb 17 2021 79 mins

Behind the UK's 50s and 60s rock and pop revolution was a group of gay impresarios, many of whom were good friends; from Larry Parnes (who mentored Billy Fury and Tommy Steele) to Brian Epstein, who made the Beatles the biggest group in the world, to Joe Meek, who made No 1 records in his house. Author Darryl Bullock takes us into their backstage world in his new book, 'The Velvet

7. Emily Chappell on becoming an athlete in her mid-20s and whether adventurers find lockdown life easier or harder

Dec 10 2020 76 mins

An edited version of our summer Zoomcast with Emily Chappell.Emily is the author of the acclaimed What Goes Around (about life as a London bike courier) and Where There's a Will (about her 4000km unassisted ride across Europe in the Transcontinental cycle race).What Goes Around shows a new side to familiar city life, taking us inside the couriers' world, seen by everyone and known

6. Amazing true stories of French football, with Matthew Spiro

Nov 27 2020 58 mins

When France won the World Cup in 1998, it was meant to be the start of a golden age for the team and the country; and the success of the multi-racial squad did, briefly, unite the country. But the 20 years between that victory and the 2018 triumph showed that France needed more than football to bring it together…British journalist and broadcaster Matthew Spiro's "Sacré Bleu: Zid