Category: People

Thatcher, the IRA, and the Bomb That Changed History

The Bunker | 6 April 2023 | 0h 32m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Rory Carroll about his book Killing Thatcher: The IRA, the Manhunt and the Long War on the Crown. Discusses the 1984 Grand Hotel bombing, when the Provisional IRA almost wiped out the British Cabinet, and the way it changed history.

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Remembering Robert Lucas

The Indicator from Planet Money | 19 May 2023 | 0h 09m | Listen Later | Podcasts
Robert Lucas has died at 85 (The Economist obituary). This episode remembers Lucas and his legacy, especially his influential “Lucas critique” that argued economic policy must take into account people’s expectations and decisions in reaction to the policy.

EconTalk | 5 February 2007 | 0h 48m | Listen Later | Spotify
2007 interview with Robert Lucas discussing wealth and poverty, what affects living standards around the world and over time, the causes of business cycles and the role of money in our economy, Jane Jacobs, immigration, and Milton Friedman’s influence on his career.

See also Noah Smith’s farewell to Robert Lucas.

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Boudica’s Rebellion: A Blood-Soaked Blow to the Roman Empire

History Extra | 4 April 2023 | 0h 50m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Duncan Mackay about his book Echolands: A Journey in Search of Boudica. Discusses the Roman conquest of Britain, the lead-up to Boudica’s rebellion, the course of the rebellion, the various battles, what we know about Boudica herself, and why she continues to be a resonant figure today.

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Wade Davis on Into the Silence

Baillie Gifford Prize | 14 April 2023 | 0h 33m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Wade Davis about his 2011 book Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest. Delves into George Mallory’s fatal expedition to Mount Everest. Discusses the psychological aftermath of the First World War, Mallory’s character, and why he kept climbing on that fateful day.

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James Shapiro on 1599: A Year In The Life of William Shakespeare

Baillie Gifford Prize | 6 April 2023 | 0h 25m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with James Shapiro about his book 1599: A Year In The Life of William Shakespeare. Explores life in Elizabethan England, how Shakespeare managed to produce four great works (including Hamlet) in just one year and why the rumours that Shakespeare was in fact more than one person are false.

James Shapiro was subsequently named the Winner of Winners, as discussed in the following episode:

Baillie Gifford Prize | 11 May 2023 | 0h 11m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify

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Marriage, Middlemarch & Male Pseudonyms: George Eliot’s Unconventional Life

History Extra | 27 March 2023 | 0h 35m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Clare Carlisle about her book The Marriage Question: George Eliot’s Double Life. Discusses the life and work of George Eliot. She repeatedly challenged the restrictive norms of Victorian society by eloping with a married man, writing fiction under a male pseudonym and marrying someone 20 years younger than her. Describes Eliot’s unconventional experience of marriage, her fascination with philosophy, and how these may have influenced her books.

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Sarah Wheeler: Glowing Still

The Book Club | 8 March 2023 | 0h 41m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Sarah Wheeler about her book Glowing Still: A Woman’s Life on the Road. Looks back over her life as a travel writer, discussing her background in Bristol, her travelling life, and the past and future of travel writing.

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The Tudor Who Hiked North America

History Extra | 2 March 2023 | 0h 35m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Dean Snow about his book The Extraordinary Journey of David Ingram: An Elizabethan Sailor in Native North America. Tells the story of David Ingram trekking 3,600 miles across North America in the 1560s after being shipwrecked, encountering sights and sounds that no other English people had ever experienced before. Explores how Ingram’s incredible journey across North America in the early years of Elizabeth I’s reign changed the course of the continent’s history.

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