Radio Oldie

Sarah Vine speaking about her new book, How Not to be a Political Wife , at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on November 4th 2025.

Ysenda Maxtone-Graham speaking about her new book, Screams: Shrieks of Horror and Yelps of Pleasure from Modern Life , at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on November 4th 2025.

Edward Fox tells Harry Mount about playing Sir Brian Horrocks in A Bridge Too Far and his starring role as Edward VIII in Edward & Mrs Simpson . He details his extraordinary acting bloodline and explains how he approached the melon-shooting scene in The Day of the Jackal .

Daniel Finkelstein is an award-winning political commentator and journalist.  He’s a Times columnist, and author of his 2023 memoir,  Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad . Previously he was a politician and political advisor to John Major and William Hague. He was appointed to the House of Lords as a life peer in 2013.   He talks to Charlotte Metcalf about his book and his parents – his mother was sent to...

Jeremy Hunt, former Chancellor and Foreign Secretary, tells Harry Mount about his new book, Can We Be Great Again?: Why a Dangerous World Needs Britain. He sympathises with Rachel Reeves about the prospect of dealing with a mammoth deficit – and recalls meeting Donald Trump at Chequers.

Gus Christie took Glyndebourne Opera over from his father George in 2000.  He tells us about Glyndebourne’s beginnings when his grandfather John Christie fell in love with and married the soprano Audrey Mildmay and decided to build her an opera house. Gus also reflects on his own decision to step into his father’s shoes, describes his vision and tells us about the upcoming Autumn Festival.

Jonathan Dimbleby speaking about his new book, Endgame 1944: How Stalin Won the War , at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on October 7th 2025.

Jeremy Hunt speaking about his new book, Can We Be Great Again?: Why a Dangerous World Needs Britain , at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on October 7th 2025.

Frances Wilson speaking about her new book, Electric Spark : The Enigma of Muriel Spark , at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on October 7th 2025.

Gyles Brandreth tells Harry Mount about his new book about Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne and Gyles’s friend, Christopher Robin Milne. Winnie the Pooh first appeared in print 100 years ago.

A N Wilson in conversation with Harry Mount at this month's Dartmouth Literary Festival, sponsored by The Oldie . A N Wilson chatted about two of his books, Goethe: His Faustian Life and Victoria: A Life .  In a dazzling talk, he discusses Queen Victoria's hidden child with John Brown and how Goethe discovered evolution before Darwin.

Alexander McCall Smith is a prolific and fast writer, known mainly for his best-selling series The Number One Ladies Detective Agency in Botswana and featuring his popular heroine Mama Precious Ramotswe.  The books have been translated into 46 languages and sold millions worldwide. These and his numerous other books, including the Scotland Street series, have earned him a global reputation, a CBE...

Journalist and broadcaster Rachel Johnson tells Harry Mount about her competitive upbringing, her imposter syndrome and the collapse of The Lady magazine. 

Amanda Barrie speaking about her new book, I'm Still Here: My 90 Years , at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on September 9th 2025

Paula Byrne speaking about her new book, Six Weeks by the Sea: The Summer Jane Austen Fell in Love  , at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on September 9th 2025.”

Eleanor Doughty speaking about her new book, Heirs and Graces: A History of the Modern British Aristocracy , at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on September 9th 2025.

At 93, Antonia Fraser, one of our leading historians, has written her 40th book – The House that Spoke: The History of a Home . She tells Harry Mount about 70 years of writing, going all the way back to her 1954 debut, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table . And she talks about her west London house, where she wrote her 1969 bestseller, Mary, Queen of Scots – and her late husband, Harold...

Joshua Levine, one of our leading Second World War historians, talks to Harry Mount about the 85th anniversary of the Blitz - which began on September 7 1940. Levine's book The Secret History of the Blitz led to him advising film director Steve McQueen for his 2024 film Blitz .  His book Forgotten Voices of Dunkirk inspired Christopher Nolan to make Dunkirk (2017), for which Levine was the histori...

On Radio Oldie, Prince Andrew's biographer, Andrew Lownie, talks to Harry Mount. His new book Entitled - The Rise and Fall of the House of York is a number one bestseller. It reveals how Prince Andrew, the late Queen's favourite, was disgraced by his greed for money and sex.

Fay Maschler, the restaurant critic, tells Harry Mount about 53 years of reviewing restaurants. The Evening Standard critic for 48 years, she is now Tatler's critic. She reveals London's greatest restaurant - and explains why 1987 was the year that changed the British eating landscape for ever.

John Lloyd is a multi-award-winning television and radio producer. He is the creator of Not the Nine O’Clock News , The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy , Blackadder ,  Spitting Image , QI, The Museum of Curiosity and much more.  In 2011 was awarded a CBE for services to broadcasting.

Rachel Kelly is a bestselling author, keynote speaker and mental health advocate, who has just published her new book The Gift of Teenagers , recently serialised in the Daily Mail.  A former Times journalist, Rachel has been named one of the UK’s top five mental health influencers and is an official ambassador for the mental health charities Rethink Mental Illness and SANE.  

Helen Lederer tells Harry Mount about a life in comedy. A stand-up comedian at the Comedy Store, she has starred with Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Ben Elton and the late Rik Mayall, . And she excelled as Catriona, the dim Sloane in Absolutely Fabulous.

Sarah Sands is a well-known journalist. She edited Readers’ Digest , the Sunday Telegraph and the Evening Standard before becoming editor of Today , BBC Four’s flagship news programme. Recently she abandoned her career in exchange for a quieter, more fluid life and has written three books about monasticism, faith and inner peace.  She also now organises pilgrimages. She talks to Charlotte Metcalf...

Philippa Langley speaking about her new book, The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case , at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on July 15th 2025.