The Author Archive Podcast
Authors talking to David Freeman about their books. Most of the conversations are from David’s personal archive that have been collected over the past 40 years.
Episodes
There is an article in the Daily Telegraph written by Petra Khasoggi.
When she was a teenager she discovered that her biological father is Jonathan Aitken. It is not a consistently happy story.
We are used to politicians , particularly Tory politicians, being untruthful.
Twenty five years ago Jonathan Aitken was a high profile journalist and Tory politician who found himself in very hot water
He was pursued mercilessly b...
Sir Ranulph Fiennes is still in the news. Where he is still unknown but he is often referred as a national treaure.
Sir Ranulph Fiennes met David Freeman when his book 'The Secret Hunters' was published in 2001.
The book tells the story of a diary that was found in a shelter in Antarctica in 1997. This opens the door to a world of deprivation, war, survival and revenge.
It's a gripping page-turning read, but is it fiction?
There is huge interest in the latest Charles Spencer book, but he has written about his family before.
They started as sheep farmers. They were successful!
This conversation was recorded in the 90s at Althrop the Spencer family stately home. Interesting to hear his view , all those years ago , of his sister Diana.
It was memorable to talk to the author in one of the grand rooms surrounded by portraits of his ancestors.
The purpose ...
There is a press story telling how Sir Rannulph Fiennes seems to have disappeared. The facts seem to suggest that he is being held in a care home and his friends are discouraged from visiting him. If any friends manage to find him they have to sign an NDA. This seems very odd.
Obviously I have no idea where he is. I remember him as a fascinating, engaging and memorable interviewee.
In 2019 Sir Rannulph was diagnosed with Parkinsons...
The American president now suggests that he is closely associated with Jesus. He has distributed pictures. He is performing Bible readings. Will he include the bits from Matthew 5:9? Blessed are the peacemakers?
He declares that he has been saved by God to make his country great again, I find it impossible not to wonder about the precise nature of the deity that he professes to believe in. Are Donald and his advisers familiar with ...
Antonio Forcione is a brilliant guitar player.
Antonio really likes to entertain and he is joined by comedian, singer and songwriter Boothby Graffoe.
When we talked Antonio was in a museum in Rome and Boothby was in Portugal.
I'm David Freeman and I was in Cheltenham.
I saw the show last night - it was brilliant.
Joseph Millson is an author but he is also a stage actor.
Currently he is starring in the hugely successful West End revival of Phantom of the Opera.
He tells me about his first novel - Miller Rose Roberts. Who she is, what she does and the role of tinnitus in the story.
Joseph is an entertainer.... great fun.
Amongst other stories he describes how his dad became fused to a bass guitar. He didn't mean to!
Jeanette Winterson celebrates her 67th birthday on August 27th.
This interview was recorded when Jeanette was a 20 something brand new literary force and a CD was cutting edge technology.
I remember this conversation with huge affection. Mostly I would talk to an author for 20 minutes or so but this conversation is twice that. It was recorded in the spring of 1984 when 'Oranges are Not the Only Fruit' was first published.
I was ver...
This archive interview dates back to March 2014. Jim Lovelock was in his mid nineties. I was delighted to interview him. As I said at the time for me it was like meeting Elvis!
He was energetic, effervescent and wise. His wife Sandy was in the front row and he shone with contentment.
When the conversation started I had no idea we were going to end up talking about microwave ovens .... but we started discussing climate change. And t...
It is five years since the Taliban regained control in Afghanistan. Science is one of the many things they disapprove of. Religion is believed more than evident truth.
All over the globe there are powerful politicians who have taken to denying scientific facts to further their own ambitions.
This took another massive leap into the abyss when President Trump removed all the limits on greenhouse gas emissions in the US. Not a s...
The new war that is happening now and the the appalling inhumanity still happening in the world makes this conversation distressingly relevant. There is the thought that some people are less human then others.
Some people in power seem to think that bombs and missiles provide an answer.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on December 10th 1948.
We now live in a world where the rights agreed in that document ...
Joe Boyd is a man about music, record producer, a film producer and author.
He arrived in London in 1964 with Muddy Waters and a host of blues musicians who played to sold out UK audiences when they were unappreciated in their US homeland.
In England Joe Boyd is remembered as a producer associated with Fairport Convention, particularly the ground breaking album Liege and Lief. Classic songs from the record are still in Fairpo...
Kind of Blue is the most successful jazz LP ever made. It was recorded over two sessions in New York in 1959 and is still revered as a masterpiece.
The session was lead by Miles Davis who was born 100 years ago.
Ashley Kahn told David Freeman the story behind a historic music event.
Simon Nicol was one of the founder members of Fairport Convention in 1967. Fifty nine years ago.
He talks about being a member of the ground breaking Folk Rock band who still draw a capacity crowd at the Cropredy Festival.
The thoughts and memories of a musician who started his career in the legendary flower power hippie 'Summer of Love'.
Times have changed!
David Sedaris now fills arenas with enthusiastic fans but when I interviewed him in 2000 he was almost unknown.
His book 'Me Talk Pretty One Day ' was just published.
There is a new collection of Sedaris writing just published - this conversation gives context and back story.
Harry talks to me about his book which tells of the harsh life lived by gladiators, but also extends to the ideas and philosophies that defined Roman life.
This is not fiction. It's an account written using evidence from the time.
A gripping read. Some of the events told are hideous to us, but we have to remember that not that long ago our ancestors flocked to public executions.
In some places in our 'civilised ' world ...
It is very easy to get very troubled by the current US administration .
Who could have predicted that the American Vice President would have thought it part of his task to question the Pope's understanding of theology?
Who could have predicted that Donald Trump would think it a good idea to read parts of the Bible to the nation?
Have they redefined god in their own image?
It seems that the current American administratio...
Sir Anthony Seldon has written about a 1,300 kilometre walk he took across Europe from Southern France, through Austria and the Czech Republic finally reaching his destination, Auschwitz in Poland.
On the journey he seeks out inspiring stories of the lives of 'figures of light'.
As he tells me , while he was walking through places associated with fascism and the second world war he was well aware of the worrying state of global pol...
Steve Ashley played a gig to a hometown Cheltenham crowd on June 26th 2026.
It was a triumph.
Steve has had a long illustrious career in music and political activism.
This conversation was recorded in November 2025, a few months before his 80th birthday. His passions, enthusiasms and commitment remain undimmed.
In this informal interview Steve tells of his influences and motivation. He clearly has a lot of fight and lyr...
Racism is on the rise.
Misogyny is on the rise.
These awful social trends remind me of what Nina Simone said to me. She was the victim of cruel prejudice. She was angry.
Nina Simone was born on February 21st 1933.
There has been news recently of a plan to buy Nina Simone's childhood home in Tryon North Carolina and make it into a museum celebrating the life and work of the girl who was born Eunice Waymon.
I interviewed Nina&n...
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