Radio Oldie

The world is getting better. Amid the doom and gloom of the news, things are actually pretty good, says Douglas Carswell. In this talk, Carswell charts the history of human progress and explains how we have held ourselves back. Douglas Carswell spoke at the Oldie's August lunch about his new book Progress vs Parasites: A Brief History of the Conflict That's Shaped Our World , published by Head of...

What is the difference between Old Masters and old mistresses? Where did Chanel put her No. 5? Whose yacht was called the 'floating double-bed'? Anne de Courcy examines life in the French Riviera before and during the war. Her new book, Chanel's Riviera: Life, Love and the Struggle for Survival on the Côte d’Azur, 1930–1944, is published by W&N.

Welcome to August Issue of the Oldie podcast. George Courtauld, a former Queen's messenger and bestselling writer of The Travels of a Fat Bulldog , has penned a delightful piece about discovering his grandmother Daisy Dobell's diaries in his attic. He speaks to The Oldie 's editorial assistant Ferdie Rous about his grandmother: her childhood, why she earned the nickname – 'Naughty Daisy' – and her...

Introduced by Barry Cryer, Sir Tim Waterstone spoke at the Oldie's July lunch about what inspired him to create Waterstones, the difficulty of getting funding for it and a set-to with a journalist in the 90s. His book is The Face Pressed Against a Window: A Memoir .

Introduced by Barry Cryer, Sir Antony Beevor spoke at the Oldie's July lunch about the British fascination with defeat, the disaster at Arnhem bridge and Field Marshal Montgomery's appalling behaviour before, during and after the battle. Antony Beevor's book is Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944 .

Introduced by Barry Cryer, Anna Pasternak speaks at the Oldie's July lunch. Looking past the steely scheming facade that is so familiar  the public, Pasternak praised the better side of one of the most hated royals. Anna Pasternak's book is Untitled: The Real Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor .

Welcome to the July issue of the Oldie podcast. Harry Mount editor of The Oldie speaks to the comic genius Barry Cryer, who has been working in comedy since 1957. Here Barry Cryer talks about his life as a raconteur, the art of the perfect punchline and the beginnings of any good gag.

Christopher Lee speaks at the Oldie Literary Lunch about Lord Carrington: his peculiarly-named dogs, how he came to be 'an honourable man', and why he hated Boris. His new book Carrington: An Honourable Man was published by Viking books.

Introduced by Barry Cryer, Rachel Kelly spoke about her experiences with depression and anxiety, and how she beat them. Her new book, Singing in the rain: A Happiness Workbook ​,​ published by Short books, outlines a series of exercises that can give you a sense of purpose.

Introduced by Barry Cryer, former MP Chris Mullin speaks at the Oldie's  June lunch about an encounter with George W Bush, the story behind his bestselling hit,  A Very British Coup,  and why he wrote a sequel to it. His new book,  The Friends of Harry Perkins,  was published by Scribner UK.

Sara Lodge, former speechwriter to Kofi Annan and author of Inventing Edward Lear , speaks at the Oldie Literary Lunch at Cholmondeley Castle about the hidden gems of Edward Lear: the links between pathos and absurdity in his poetry, his under-regarded art and the Owl and the Pussycat's sombre sequel.

Adrian Tinniswood, author of Behind the Throne: A Domestic History of the British Royal Household , speaks about the man who got Prince Albert killed, the steady drinking of the Queen Mother and what makes the sovereign different, at the Sandstone Ridge Festival's Oldie Literary Lunch.

Welcome to the Oldie's June Podcast. D-Day took place 75 years ago on the 6th June. It was the largest invasion in military history. 7,000 vessels, 156,000 personnel and 1,200 planes and gliders were involved. Historian and bestselling author of D-Day: The Soldiers' Story Giles Milton, who has penned a piece for us about the soldiers' experiences on the day for this month's magazine talks to T he...

With commemorations for the 75th anniversary of D-Day just around the corner, we were delighted to welcome Giles Milton to our May lunch. His new book, D-Day: A Soldiers' Story  charts the stories of the men and women who took part in the Normandy landings. At the lunch, he recounted the tale of a one-man raid on a Normandy beach, in May of 1944, which ended in a chance encounter with Erwin Rommel...

During the Second World War, MI5 ran a secret operation to root out Nazi-sympathisers. At the Oldie's May literary lunch Robert Hutton spoke about the man in charge of it all. The unsung hero: Eric Roberts. The full story is detailed in Hutton's new book, Agent Jack: MI5's secret Nazi Hunter.

Christopher Howse speaks about the highs and lows of the golden days of Soho. Soho in the Eighties , his new book, is an anecdotal history of the strange and brilliant figures that populated Soho: from Jeffrey Bernard to Francis Bacon. Here he is speaking at the Oldie's May literary lunch.

Welcome to The Oldie 's May podcast. William Cook, a regular contributor to The Oldie,  the Spectator and the Independent , who has written books about Auberon Waugh and Peter Cook, speaks to The Oldie's Editorial Assistant, Ferdie Rous, about the German town of Coburg, where Prince Albert was born 200 years ago . At (22.37), we turned briefly to Auberon Waugh.

At the April lunch, Prue Leith spoke about her life in cooking, one of Paul Hollywood's meaner moments on Bake Off, bomb scares and explosive marmalade. Her book,  Prue: My All-Time Favourite Recipes,  is out now. Leith's fellow speakers were Hugo Vickers ( The Quest for Queen Mary ) and Matthew Sturgis ( Oscar: A Life ).

Hugo Vickers on The Quest for Queen Mary by James Pope-Hennessy, which he edited. He spoke about the book's 60-year journey to publication, James Pope-Hennessy's inimitable style and the understated way to describe large royals. Vickers's fellow speakers were Prue Leith ( Prue: My All-Time Favourite Recipes ) and Matthew Sturgis ( Oscar: A Life ).

At the April Literary Lunch, Matthew Sturgis spoke about his new book, Oscar: A Life .

Welcome to the Spring podcast of T he Oldie  magazine. Harry Mount speaks to the great Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who have written a terrific cover piece about Ronnie Barker, who would have been 90 this year, and Porridge . Other great news is that two lost episodes of The  Likely Lads have been rediscovered along with the feature film The Likely Lads  from 1976.

Mary Killen has no time for the knife, the exercises or the headstands. Instead, she lies back and tries the facelift for the lazy – and it works

John Motson speaks about his new book, World Cup Motty: My World Cup Stories at The Oldie's February Literary Lunch . He remembers the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, an unnerving encounter with Brian Clough and his brief flirtation with Greco-Roman wrestling.

William Keegan, the former Economics Editor of the Observer , speaks on his book,  Nine Crises: Fifty Years of Covering the British Economy from Devaluation to Brexit .  He approaches these nine crises with the experience of having met a few of the instigators. Listen to his brilliant anecdotes from his long career.

Lady Colin Campbell speaks about her new book, The Queen's Marriage  at The Oldie's February Literary Lunch. Her amusing anecdotes, matched by her impeccable sources, give a brilliant insight into the marriage of our brilliant Queen Liz and her boat-rocking husband Prince Philip.