George Harrison was a musician, singer and songwriter who became one of the most famous people in the world as one quarter of the Beatles. That alone would merit a place in the Great Lives pantheon, but his work in the decades after the band broke up indicates a man of diverse and arguably underestimated talents. Erupting onto the pop music scene in the 1960's, the Beatles' success was swift and dizzying; and for the rather private George, sometimes dubbed ‘the quiet Beatle’, this celebrity and adulation seems to have never quite sat comfortably. Nevertheless, he became a musical icon: responsible for a captivating collection of songs, from those he wrote with the Beatles through to his solo work; collaborating with a host of international artists; popularising Indian music and instruments; and even venturing into the movie-making business. At the same time, like many others thrust into the spotlight, George appears to have struggled with balancing success and the celebrity lifestyle with a more meaningful and spiritual existence.This tension and how it drove George Harrison as an artist is part of what attracts crime writer, occasional musician and self-professed Beatles fanatic Mark Billingham to his story, and why he's nominated him today. Also in the studio to offer her insights is Dr Holly Tessler, a senior lecturer in music industries at the University of Liverpool, where she leads their MA programme: 'Beatles, Music Industry and Heritage'.Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Studios Audio by Lucy Taylor.
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27:00
Jake Arnott on John Gay
John Gay, eighteenth-century satirist and author of The Beggar's Opera, is nominated by the writer Jake Arnott - whose novels, including The Long Firm and He Kills Coppers, are also set in London's criminal underworld. Editor of Private Eye, Ian Hislop, is the presenter, and Dr Rebecca Bullard of the University of Oxford is on hand to help uncover the life of a man who was perhaps as keen to expose the corruption and sleaze he saw around him as he was to climb the greasy pole of professional success. After reaching middle age in the shadow of his much more famous friends, Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope, what was it about The Beggar's Opera that suddenly brought him the fame he craved? And was John Gay, in fact, gay? Presented by Ian Hislop
Produced by Beth Sagar-Fenton
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27:42
Ellen E Jones nominates Florynce Kennedy
One dubbed "the biggest, loudest and indisputably the rudest mouth on the battleground", Florynce Kennedy was a force to be reckoned with. She was a lawyer, a vocal figure in the American civil rights and feminist movements of the 1960s and '70s, and a champion of numerous other causes besides; from legalising abortion to campaigning for sex-worker rights - proving that it was possible to care about and campaign for causes even if they didn't affect her directly.Flo was famous in her own time, not only for her passionate commitment to fighting injustice and her incredible talent as a phrase-maker - delivering punchy comments peppered with colourful language - but also for her flamboyant style, notably her trademark Australian hat. And yet today Flo's reputation has dwindled; she's arguably far less well-known than she should be according to her nominator Ellen E Jones, a journalist and broadcaster focusing on film and television who co-hosts the Radio 4 programme 'Screenshot'. Joining the discussion remotely from the United States, is Sheri Randolph, author of the biography ‘Florynce "Flo" Kennedy: The Life of a Black Feminist Radical’; also an associate professor of history at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and founder of the Black Feminist Think Tank.Matthew and his guests also hear from Flo's friend and fellow activist Gloria Steinem, who says: "Wherever we went, somehow she created a community of our own by her presence. She was effervescent and smart and outgoing and irresistable... Flo, in her jodhurs and her Aussie hat, was just a symbol of all the movements together."Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Studios Audio by Lucy Taylor.
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27:59
A N Wilson selects Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"I've chosen him because I think he was possibly the most interesting human being who has ever lived". A N WilsonBorn in the middle of the 18th century in Frankfurt, Goethe went on to become the pre-eminent figure in German literature. As well as writing plays and poetry (including Faust) he was a statesman, a scientist, an artist and a critic. Queen Victoria was a huge fan of his work and his philosophy, but his fame in this country subsequently suffered because of anti-German sentiment. Joining A N Wilson in the nest of Goethe worshippers is Dr Charlotte Lee, Director of German at Cambridge.She notes that Goethe's "immense charisma" was there physically as well. But was he a nice man? Wilson argues that we shouldn't even ask such questions of someone like Goethe. "I just don't feel asking whether he was nice or not gets you anywhere."Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Studios Audio by Ellie Richold
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27:47
Jessica Fostekew on Boudica
"The Queen Boadicea, standing loftily charioted, Brandishing in her hand a dart and rolling glances lioness-like, Yell'd and shriek'd between her daughters in her fierce volubility": so wrote Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the 19th Century, celebrating the story of an ancient English warrior queen who sparked a brutal and bloody rebellion against Roman rule in the first century AD. Today, Boudica - or as the Victorians renamed her, Boadicea - remains a symbol of bravery, independence, and that indomitable British underdog spirit; although how much of that is true and how much should be attributed to the romanticising of her story in later years, is open to debate...Bringing that debate to the Great Lives studio is comedian and erstwhile Boudica impersonator Jessica Fostekew, along with expert insight from Professor Miranda Aldhouse-Green, known for her research on the Iron Age and the Celts as well as books including 'Boudica Britannia: Rebel, War-leader and Queen'.So was Boudica a brutal giant of a women hell-bent on personal revenge, or a forward-thinking feminist leader determined to overthrow her country's conquerors?
And could her death possibly have been down to a war elephant? Jess, Miranda and Matthew thrash it out. Presented by Matthew Parris, produced for BBC Studios Audio by Lucy Taylor.
Portugal