Radio Oldie

Drawing on lost royal letters from a closed archive, The White King introduces us to Charles I as the monarch at the heart of an epic tale: of populist politicians, the fall of the mighty, religious hatreds, civil war, the power of a new media, and a maligned queen.

This talk was recorded at an Oldie Literary Lunch as part of Buxton International Festival on July 7th 2018.

'Rock and Roll is Life' is a vastly entertaining, picaresque and touching novel inspired by the excess and trajectories of the great '60s and '70s supergroups, and of the tales brought back from the front line by a very special breed of Englishmen who made it big in the States as the alchemists and enablers, as well as the old making way for the new in the era of the baby boomers. At its heart is one man's adventure, and the poignancy of the special relationships that dominate his life.

This talk was recorded at an Oldie Literary Lunch as part of Buxton International Festival on July 7th 2018.

Sam Leith, literary editor of the Spectator, talks about 'How to Write a Book Review' and proffers wisdom on how to make a review 'really sing on the page' and why you should read a book armed with a pen.

Mary enlightens course-goers, telling them that 'only a blockhead goes into journalism for money' in her session on 'How to Write a Column' – something she has been doing now, for the best part of 50 years.

Sophia Money-Coutts on modern manners: drinks at 6.30, dinner at 8.30 – and get married by 30. The former features director of Tatler talks tongue-in-cheek about the world of the magazine, and her new book The Plus One which is published on 9th August.

The father of our ‘Golden Oldies’ columnist, Rachel Johnson, has written a political thriller – an account of the skulduggery that might have gone on behind the scenes in the run-up to the EU referendum. Described as a ‘unique peek under the dirty doormat of politics’.

He talks at Chichester Cathedral, an Oldie lunch in partnership with the Literary festival.