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
Unbelievably Sophie Kinsella has died.
This archive conversation was recorded at the Langham Hilton in London and I remember that Sophie ( real name Madeleine) turned up with lots and lots of shopping. That was to be expected because the conversation was to mark the publication of the third in the shopaholic series of stories.
She was great fun to talk to. That isn't PR spin .... she really was.
Huge sympathy to her husband and...
Putin seems determined 'to make Russia great again'
His motivations are difficult to understand but listening to historian Simon Sebag Montefiore might go some way to explaining his thinkng.
Simon Sebag Montefiore explains the mythic status of this eighteenth century Russian statesman, and military leader Grigory Potemkin.
In this conversation recorded in London in 2000 Simon Sebag Montefiore tells David Freeman about practical p...
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...
The cover of this new book declares that in it Marcus Chown explains the simple way to understand the most important ideas in science.
Marcus is one of the very best science writers on the planet.
Listening to this conversation you might marvel at his patience as he explains the workings of a quantum computer to me.
I learned a lot!
Steve Ashley has had a long illustrious career in music and political activism.
This conversation was recorded in November 2025, a few months before Steve's 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 lyricism left!
A very entertaining musician and stimulating conversationalist.
This engrossing book is subtitled 'how to listen to what animals are trying to say'
Amelia, the author, is passionate and thought provoking.
Hearing this conversation or reading the book just might drive you to the edge of becoming a vegetarian.
An excellent gift book for any animal lover.
When this interview was recorded in August 2015 Andrew was a prince and a duke living in a very big house. That is now history.
Andrew Lownie has spent four years researching the lives of Andrew Windsor and Sarah Ferguson, who used to be the Duke and Duchess of York.
The book is full of dramatic details of lives spent sailing very close to the wind but mostly protected by their royal status. Not anymore.
What Andrew Lownie tells me...
Halloween again!
Everything weird is celebrated. Does this include UFOs?
In this interview on the subject David Freeman, a UFO skeptic, met UFO true believer Timothy Good when his book Unearthly Disclosure was first published.
The conversation was friendly but inquisitive!
So are UFOs real? Are those little creatures with three fingers that are on the TV screens real aliens?
Hearing Ross talk about the Ancient Romans is an entertaining revelation.
I didn't know that the 'no kings' movement is a Roman invention as is the tradition of reminding would be absolute rulers that they are as human as the rest of us.
Ross is a riveting writer of history and a great story teller.
Roger Hammond writes in fearless detail how he was his wife's carer for thirty of their forty seven years of marriage.
Lyn was diagnosed with MS when they were a family of four with two young daughters.
Roger writes about the challenges but he also recounts how they dealt with them and enjoyed a happy and fulfilling marriage.
They never forgot how to enjoy life ...... their holidays were fabulous!
Sad to report that Jilly Cooper has died.
She was always great fun to chat to and consistently jolly. Hugely successful but not grand at all!
This conversation was recorded when her novel Pandora was first published.
Some interviewees I remember as 'troupers'.
At the very top of that tree were the Collins sisters. Joan is now 92.
I remember a televised conversation I had with Joan. Her assistant decreed that the lighting must be subtle but Joan herself insisted on full on straight in the face spots. I had theories why this might be her preference.
Over the years I interviewed Joan and her sister Jackie a few times. It was always 'an event'.
The...
Ross King is a superb history storyteller.
He will be talking to me here at the Author Archive soon about his new book 'The Shortest History of Ancient Rome'.
His previous book is tells of a different dimension of Italian history. .'The Bookseller of Florence' is all about the surprising trade in manuscripts and books in Renaissance Italy.
Adrian Levy tells David about his visit to the Jade mines of Myanmar and the inhuman condit...
James Patterson is a phenomenon. His skill as a storyteller has made him very wealthy.
His wealth allowed him to buy a house in Palm Beach, near to Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.
Interestingly James is the producer of 'Filthy Rich' the Netflix documentary about the scandalous behaviour of Epstein.
David Freeman met him in London to talk about his sixth Alex Ross story 'Roses are Red', when the paperback was first published in th...
Prince Andrew has been in the news. In this episode Hugo Vickers discusses his biography of Alice, Princess Andrew of Greece mother of the Duke of Edinburgh:
Donna Leon tells the story of her novel “Wilful Behaviour “ set in Venice:
R.J.B. Bosworth recounts his research into the life of Mussolini and Gitta Sereny remembers Germany in the 1930s as told in her book “The German Trauma”
We have seen the power of the political rally to...
This unsettling book examines the astonishing extent of American ownership of UK business.
In a Trump world this could be even more of a cause for concern
Whether you are interested in 'taking back control' or how much of our day to day financial transactions happen via the US, you will find this fascinating and possibly horrifying.
As the American President 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 the writings that are the basis of his religion?
This book by Catherine Nixey is terrific - its a revelation and it's now available in paperback format.
Catherine has studied texts written...
Recently there has been a surge of on line interest in the anarchic radio comedy The Goon Show.
The genuis behind the comedy was Spike Milligan .
In this episode Spike talks to David Freeman about his life in comedy, The Goons, and the mental health problems that dogged his life after he was blown up by a wartime bomb.
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Being royal is not a job you can apply for. If you decide to walk away from your royal identity or are pushed away from it just what are you left with?
This book,'Traitor King', tells the story of an inglorious royal. It is a shocking example of what happens when inherited status is randomly given to a person who is clearly not up to the task. The book is the basis of the Channel 4 programme that shed light on the whole episode.
...The Cotswolds are in the news,but before the area was discovered by rich Americans it was a fertile area for thought and creativity. The village of Great Tew was where John Lloyd and John Mitchinson met. They both lived there in historic cottages. This is where they came up with the idea of the TV show QI.
In this episode they introduce their Book of General Ignorance.
The original chair of QI was Stephen Fry and he was replaced...
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