Radio Oldie

Edward Stourton has worked in broadcasting for over 40 years and was a presenter on Today for many years.  He continues to present  BBC Radio 4 programmes like Sunday and The World at One.  He’s also been a foreign correspondent for Channel Four, ITN and the BBC and has written several books, including his recent memoir, Confessions , is now out in paperback with a new postscript commenting on how...

Kenneth Cranham CBE is a Scottish film, television, radio and stage actor. His most notable screen roles were in Oliver!, Up Pompeii, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Chocolat, Layer Cake, Gangster No. 1, Hot Fuzz, Maleficent and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. 

William Boyd is a British novelist, short story, writer and screenwriter. Between 1980 and 1983, Boyd was a lecturer in English at St. Hilda's College, Oxford and it was while he was there that his first novel, A Good Man in Africa (1981) was published. He was also a television critic for the New Statesman between 1981 and 1983. Boyd was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 20...

Sir John Ronald Leon, 4th Baronet (born 16 August 1934), known professionally as John Standing, is an English actor. Standing is best known for roles in the 1955 production of Titus Andronicus starring Laurence Olivier and his wife Vivien Leigh, and for leading parts in many plays such as The Importance of Being Earnest and Private Lives with Maggie Smith. John Standing has appeared in major roles...

Stephen Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. Fry first came to prominence as one half of the comic double act  Fry and Laurie  and  Jeeves and Wooster . In 1986-1989 Fry starred in  Blackadder .  Odyssey  completes his Greek Myths series in marvellous fashion. . . Fry, a born storyteller, succeeds again in making the ancient stories a...

Stephen Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. Fry first came to prominence as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster . In 1986-1989 Fry starred in Blackadder . Odyssey completes his Greek Myths series in marvellous fashion. . . Fry, a born storyteller, succeeds again in making the ancient stories accessi...

Listen to Sam Leith on The Haunted Wood, A History of Childhood Reading. Sam was speaking at The Oldie Literary Lunch on 10th December 2024. Sponsored by Noble Caledonia. Photos by Neil Spence.

Gyles Brandreth: Breaking the Code: Westminster Diaries & 7 Secrets of Happiness & Prose & Cons: The English Language in Just a Minute.

Stephen Fry speaking at The Oldie Literary Lunch on Tuesday 10th December on his latest book Odyssey.  The lunch was sponsored by Noble Caledonia. Photos by Neil Spence.

Thomas Pakenham, 91, tells Harry Mount about his new book, The Tree Hunters. From the 17th century to the 19th century, British daredevils headed across the world to bring back seeds for arboretums back home. Among them was David Douglas, who brought back the Douglas Fir - and was gored to death by a wild bull in Hawaii in 1834. Thomas also recalls his own tree-hunting expeditions to bring back se...

John Suchet is an English author, television news journalist and presenter of classical music on Classic FM. He is a huge fan of Beethoven, writing 8 books on the composer. Suchet's journalistic career began when he worked as a graduate trainee at the Reuters news agency in 1967 and later joined the BBC News a sub-editor for the Nine O'Clock News from 1970 to 1971. Suchet worked at ITN as a script...

​Charlotte Metcalf is a journalist, editor, award-winning documentary film-maker and was co-presenter of the Break Out Culture podcast. She is Supplements Editor and a frequent contributor at The Oldie. Don Black is one of England's best-known lyricists, famous for Diamonds Are Forever and other James Bond theme tunes that he wrote with John Barry. Don was born in 1938 in Hackney, the youngest of...

Stan ‘Mac’ McMurtry – Oldie Lead in his Pencil Award. By Quentin Letts Cartoonist Stan ‘Mac’ McMurtry says that, during his decades on Fleet Street, his duty has been to make news pages brighter ‘by putting in a laugh’. Ever-modest Mac, 88, undersells his genius. His drawings in the Daily Sketch, Daily Mail and, to this day, the Mail on Sunday have always done more than that. Since the 1960s they...

Nanette : "I had my 90th a few weeks ago. I woke up one morning and I didn’t feel 90 at all... I felt more like 104! It was one of those awful mornings with bills and all those terrible things that come in the mail. One of the other things in the mail was a letter from Gyles saying I was going to get this award. I was thrilled. I’m a big fan of the magazine. How should I say thank you… I thought o...

Manette Baillie, Oldie Flying Angel of the Year By Harry Mount This summer, Manette Baillie parachuted her way into the nation’s hearts as Britain’s oldest skydiver. At 102, Manette made her first ever jump, plunging from 13,000 feet up in the air over Beccles Airfield, Suffolk. Having served as a Wren in World War II, plucky feats of derring do were nothing new to Manette, of Benhall, Suffolk. “I...

"Short speech. Short script. Act 1. Old. Act 2. Old fart. Act 3. Dead. Somewhere lurking between the acts The Oldie magazine, these awards... What an honour, thank you. I’m really overwhelmed. It’s great. Cut." Sponsored by Baillie Gifford Photos by Neil Spence Photography

"I just want to say thank you for the remarkable account of what I’ve done and so on and so forth and how marvellous are all the people here." Sponsored by Baillie Gifford Photo by Neil Spence Photography

"I’ve got a little thing written down... I feel very embarrassed. I’m very honoured to receive this but it's also strange to me to be here, as a poor working class kid from South London. I can only thank my grandma. She taught me everything. She taught me to write a diary, to scrapbook, the art of collecting things, to say the alphabet backwards. Anyone else? Someone’s nodding over there... (at th...

Hugo Vickers speaks to Harry Mount about his latest book on Clarissa: Muse to Power, The Untold Story of Clarissa Eden, Countess of Avon. Our podcasts are sponsored by Baillie Gifford.

Dame Jacqueline Wilson tells The Oldie Literary Lunch how she wrote her first-ever sex scene. Think Again is her first adult book. The Oldie Literary Lunch took place on 12th November 2024 at The National Liberal Club, sponsored by Kirker Holidays and photos by Neil Spence photography.

Beethoven expert John Suchet tells The Oldie why he has written his eighth book on Beethoven and why this story is personal to him. The Oldie Literary lunch was held at The National Liberal Club on 12th November 2024, sponsored by Kirker Holidays. Photos by Neil Spence.

Listen and watch Bendor Grosvenor talking about The Invention of British Art at The Oldie Literary Lunch 12th November 2024. The lunch was sponsored by Kirker Holidays. Photos by Neil Spence Photography.

Craig Brown, the funniest man alive, tells Harry Mount about his latest book A Voyage Around The Queen. Listen here. The Oldie podcast is sponsored by Baillie Gifford

Listen to Leslie Caron, aged 93, in conversation with Charlotte Metcalf. Multi-award winner Leslie Caron was born in 1931 and is a French and American actress and dancer. Leslie is best known for her role in Gigi .

As Americans go to the polls, listen to Antonia Fraser on taking a dip in the White House pool with President Kennedy – in Jackie Kennedy's swimming costume. In March 1962, Antonia Fraser and her husband, Conservative MP Hugh Fraser, dropped in on President Kennedy at the White House. They joined him for a dip in the White House pool - and Antonia Fraser borrowed Jackie Kennedy's swimming costume...