The career of BAFTA winning actor and funny woman Rebecca Front spans the stage, screen and now podcasting - she brings her unique blend of irreverence and being a ‘bit of a Pollyanna’ to the studio. Natalie Chandler swapped her boots for the pen as a former professional rugby player who’s now tackling the world as a thriller writer – guided by her dreams and her ancestors. And a living example of her work, curator and historian of textiles, dress and design Amber Butchart is currently making a ...
Mar 15, 2025•59 min
Actor Sally Lindsay has gone from stealing scenes as Shelley Unwin in Coronation Street to creating and starring in The Madame Blanc Mysteries - and is passionate about fighting for working class talents in her industry. Lorraine Kelly has been brightening our screens in the morning for decades with warmth, wit and her ability to put absolutely anyone at ease - and now can add debut novelist to her achievements. After suffering with long covid, Alice Watkins swapped her job as a scenic artist in...
Mar 08, 2025•1 hr 1 min
Lindsey Burrow who inspired the nation caring for her late husband, the rugby league legend Rob Burrow, as he lived with MND, shares her story of love, loss, resilience and advocacy. At the age of sixteen, Connor Allen attacked his own mum and she reported him to police, but his life turned around thanks to support from his teachers at trial to become the Welsh Children’s Laureate and multi-disciplinary artist. Multi-disciplinary is something I could add to John McFall’s description too; former ...
Mar 01, 2025•1 hr 2 min
Steven Frayne, better known as the illusionist and magician Dynamo, has made the impossible look effortless: walking on water, levitating above London and somehow keeping his secrets. His new show marks a new chapter, where he uses his magic to spotlight everyday heroes across the UK, returning to the street magic that first launched his career. From backing vocals for Wham! to pop stardom with Pepsi & Shirlie, Pepsi Demacque-Crocket has now woven her St Lucian roots into her writing, with a...
Feb 22, 2025•1 hr 3 min
Internationally lauded, bestselling novelist, Kate Mosse is celebrating big this year, with both the 20th anniversary of her iconic novel Labyrinth, and the 30th edition of the Women’s Prize for Fiction announced later this year. Maher Fattouh, a football loving student who was blinded by an explosion as he fled Syria in 2014 but discovered that true vision comes from resilience not sight. Photographer Dola Posh has an eye for beauty, truth and the spaces in between, she explores themes of mothe...
Feb 15, 2025•1 hr 2 min
Nisha Katona, former barrister now Mistress of Spices, Mowgli restaurant mogul, TV presenter and host of new show Home Kitchen - she’s described herself as a culinary Womble. Astronomer Mark Thompson is famous for unravelling the mysteries of the universe and the world of STEM., on TV and on tour, telescope in one hand and a sense of wonder in the other. Phoebe ‘Wander Woman’ Smith is with us, adventurer, author, extreme sleeper and podcaster whose latest book weaves together her personal journe...
Feb 08, 2025•57 min
Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman who’s transformed the literary landscape, broken boundaries and redefined storytelling, brings her brand of honesty and unfiltered storytelling to the stage with Pig Heart Boy. Cat Burford, aka The Molar Explorer, navigates both teeth and tundras, balancing dentistry with daring polar expeditions - and has returned from Antarctica to join us. The mythological author Claire Fayers isn't scared by lions, tigers and bears...she deals with Giants, Ghosts a...
Feb 01, 2025•1 hr
Cook, author, broadcaster and former Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain knows how to turn up the heat in the kitchen and how to quietly contemplate life. Her new book is a love letter to her food and her religion. Dr Kate Hays helps us keep our cool under pressure, as the FA’s performance psychologist currently working with the Lionesses, she's seen the highs and lows that sport has to offer. Tim Sullivan is the film and tv writer turned crime author who has swapped My Little Pony for ...
Jan 25, 2025•1 hr 1 min
Gardening Guru Monty Don, who’s sown seeds of sustainability, cultivated lawns of loyal fans, travelled the world and has grown his wise and warm reputation by sharing personal experiences. Beth Jones is a tattooist whose body-art is empowering breast cancer survivors, proving that inking can be therapeutic and transformative. Danny Gray has not only redefined men’s grooming with his makeup brand but is also on a mission to break down stigmas in beauty and in men’s mental health. All that plus t...
Jan 18, 2025•1 hr 2 min
The literary alchemist Jackie Kay, poet, author and playwright, whose words dance between the very personal and the universal - she wants us to Coorie Doon. We’ve scored a bullseye in getting darts referee and LGBT+ ambassador Huw Ware on the show...so…game on! Sir Peter Murray, the visionary sculptor of landscapes and minds alike reveals how he went from an educationalist to founder of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. All that plus the Inheritance Tracks of Professor Alice Roberts are dug up. Pres...
Jan 11, 2025•1 hr 2 min
Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.
Jan 04, 2025•1 hr 2 min
Tiffany Murray grew up watching legendary rock stars eat her mother’s food...David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Ozzie Osbourne and Siouxsie Sioux, to name but a few. She shares what it was like to grow up at the iconic Rockfield Studios. Actor Sam Oladeinde gave up a career in law to become Aaron Burr, Sir, in the UK and Ireland tour of Hamilton. But what has he taken from his previous profession into life on the stage. Mared Pugh Evans is the seventh official harpist to His Majesty the King, her sou...
Dec 28, 2024•59 min
Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.
Dec 21, 2024•59 min
Gordon Buchanan, the world-renowned wildlife filmmaker, takes us through the mud, sweat and tears, and lions, tigers and bears that have shaped his extraordinary career. Abby Furness, the singer-songwriter and social media influencer, has become an advocate for resilience after her harrowing experience with a cyber-stalker... Imam Emad Choudhary, the UK's only spiritual leader and police detective, whose dual roles allow him to build bridges between diverse communities. All that, and the Inherit...
Dec 14, 2024•1 hr
The hypnotic charmer and master of psychological illusion Derren Brown blurs the line between magic, psychology, and theatre and he’s won two Olivier Awards for that showmanship - as well as his latest show 'Only Human' Derren steps into Springfield for the Simpsons Christmas special. As a child, Abigail Tinnion was brought up on folk-stories and horror films, that inspired her art-work where myth, legend, and imagination collide. Rob Parsons, founder of the charity Care for the Family, lives hi...
Dec 07, 2024•1 hr 1 min
The actress Tracy Ann Oberman is back playing Shylock in 'The Merchant of Venice: 1936' - a version inspired by the life of her great-grandmother who stood on the frontline against the fascists at the Battle of Cable Street. Laura Henry-Allain also tells us how she was inspired by her Gran Gran and the stories she shared that helped Laura create the UK’s first animated series about a Black British family…'JoJo and Gran Gran'. Ben Branson joins, the maverick behind the non-alcoholic spirits compa...
Nov 30, 2024•58 min
Amar Latif, the trailblazing adventurer who as a blind rambler and fearless globetrotter, treks paths that many of us wouldn’t dare, proving that vision is about perspective, not sight. Dirt detective Professor Lorna Dawson is armed with her trowel and cutting-edge forensic science, she’s revolutionised crime-solving from the ground up. James Middleton, entrepreneur, ideas man and brother to the Princess of Wales. From crafting bespoke marshmallows to creating a pet wellness brand, a champion of...
Nov 23, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Actor Martin Clunes, who although now has hung up his stethoscope, will forever be Doc Martin for some. But, these days he's busy meeting remarkable animals; from search-and-rescue dogs to mine-sniffing rats and therapy horses. The mighty Sabrina Pace-Humphreys is here, she’s a trailblazing ultra-runner, author and activist, who not only tackles gruelling terrain but also breaks down barriers; encouraging diversity every step of the way. Richard Armitage is an actor, author and voice-over artist...
Nov 16, 2024•1 hr
Celebrated chef, restaurateur and TV star Rick Stein, is more than a master of seafood - he’s a well-travelled storyteller with a deep-seated love for food that transcends borders. He has a new heart and a fresh outlook on life. Andy Cato, best known as one half of the pioneering electronic duo Groove Armada, is equal parts DJ, musician and forward-thinker - and now mostly a pioneering sustainable agriculture farmer. Lady Anne Glenconner is an aristocrat, author, former lady-in-waiting to Prince...
Nov 09, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Phil Wang, who says he wouldn’t be a comedian if he wasn’t of mixed heritage, Malaysian and British, his latest Netflix special opens on the subject of reheating rice and how in the west we’re afraid to do that…so what does his dual heritage allow him to do A question we could also put to Chitra Soundar, the award-winning children’s writer, who grew up in India, and whose books have inspired the new BBC animated sitcom Nikhil & Jay which is about two Indian/British dual heritage brothers. Ni...
Nov 02, 2024•59 min
The global explorer, TV presenter and author Simon Reeve makes programmes around the world which focus on people’s lives...and he’s been arrested by the KGB, chased by cheetahs and nearly died from malaria. Liz McConaghy spent seventeen years as a Chinook crewman with the RAF, the longest serving woman to do so, her deployments left scars on her soul but has now found a way to soothe them. Lalage Snow, photojournalist and filmmaker, has covered war and unrest in the in Gaza, The West Bank, Israe...
Oct 26, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Lindsay Nicholson, who, after studying astrophysics, chose journalism as a career, became Good Housekeeping’s editor for two decades and is now a grief counsellor, equestrian coach and writer... none of which are rocket science. She talks about the loss of her husband and daughter to cancer, and the car accident that led to her life’s third act. Skiing and climbing up and down mountains are Alpinist Fay Manners’ life. But, recently in the Himalayas she experienced the indiscriminate power of Mot...
Oct 19, 2024•1 hr
Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.
Oct 12, 2024•1 hr 1 min
One of the world’s best known and bestselling authors Jodi Picoult is no stranger to controversy, some of her books have been banned in the US, and her latest novel might just ruffle a few ruffs here too as she looks to bust the myths we hold about the truth behind who wrote Shakespeare's plays. The actor and DJ Kristian Nairn, perhaps best known as the gentle giant Hodor in Game of Thrones, has written a memoir sharing stories about his life coming of age as a gay man during The troubles in Nor...
Oct 05, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Radio 4's Saturday morning show brings you extraordinary stories and remarkable people.
Oct 01, 2024•1 hr
Frenchman Fred Sirieix who's gone from front of house at the crème de la crème of London's restaurants, to fronting TV shows, to now writing a book on his love of Britain. We hear what sort of urge it was that took Shetland raised journalist Jen Stout over to Russia to study, then onto Ukraine to cover the war. Plus, screenwriter and playwright Jeff Young joins us to tell us why he quit his job as a filing clerk to hitchhike to Paris. Two-time Sunday Times bestselling author Candice Brathwaite s...
Sep 21, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Culinary maestro Yotam Ottolenghi, the man who’s transformed the way we think about Middle Eastern flavours, vegetables, and the art of home cooking joins us to chat 'Comfort' food. We welcome Livi Deane, a model and beautician, who’s written a book about living with lifechanging impaired vision and a prosthetic eye, as a result of a rare form of eye cancer. And historian siblings David and Yinka Olusoga join us to discuss their new book 'Black History for Every Day of the Year' and will be shar...
Sep 14, 2024•1 hr
Who better to kick-off Saturday Live's return than the historian by day and superstar DJ by night Dan Jones, who chats all things Henry the fifth and lay down a few beats as well. From Ace to Grace, Warren Furman reveals how his life has drastically changed from being homeless, to becoming a Gladiator and now a fully-fledged man of the cloth. And the multi-award-winning folk musician Cara Dillon shares how her love of home and how telling stories through music has helped her connect to family me...
Sep 07, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Carol Kirkwood shares the secret behind not only being the UK's favourite weather presenter, but a bestselling author as well - and reveals where her lifelong love of fast cars comes from. The Antipodean singing-comedian Michelle Brasier reveals how she survived a house fire, grieved for the loss of her father and brother to cancer, befriended her scammer...and turned it all on it's head for comedic purposes. Clive and Jo Bailey, the married balloonists who have seen just about everything in the...
Jul 27, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Welcome to the brightest and boldest of Saturday Lives as fashion-designer Dame Zandra Rhodes arrives. Perhaps as famous as the garments which have adorned the likes of Princess Diana and Freddie Mercury as she is for her neon-pink hair - She has now published her memoir through the prism of 50 of her most precious items. Matt Forde has, I think it’s safe to say, had a tough year health-wise, he’ll explain how he’s still able to see the funny side of life – and take inspiration from Taylor Swift...
Jul 20, 2024•1 hr
