Country Life

Ken Follett is a man who doesn’t really need much introduction, but introduce him I will anyway. Thirty-eight books written. 197 million copies sold in 80 countries and in 40 languages. Very popular across the world — and even in China and Brazil, according to the man himself.• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify• Listen to Country Life podcast on AudibleYou would think that might be enough to retire on, but Ken is not interested in retirement. Rather he would like to talk about his latest book Circle of Days, which is about the building of Stonehenge and is out on September 23 (but is very much available to pre-order now).Ken has long been the master of historical fiction, with his bestseller Pillars of the Earth adoring most bookshelves up and down the country. He joins the podcast to discuss his writing process, and how he combines his painstaking research with fiction to create his much-loved tales.We also chat about cathedrals, the revival of Notre Dame, whether he’s played his own video game, a fictional dinner with Shakespeare, and his favourite place in the UK (the answer to which might just surprise you).Episode creditsHost: James FisherGuest: Ken FollettEditor and producer: Toby KeelMusic: JuliusH via Pixabay Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You would be forgiven that a trip to space might be one of the hardest things that a human being could do. But, it might actually be becoming a Master of Wine (MW). After all, more people have been to space than there are MWs.One such master of the grape is Beth Pearce, the head of buying at Flint Wines, who took some time from her very busy schedule of finding, trying and signing off on some of the world’s finest wines to join the Country Life podcast.• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify• Listen to Country Life podcast on AudibleShe was incredibly gracious in talking to me, a self-confessed wine idiot, about her career in the industry. From working at Majestic, to passing her exams to become an MW (who knew there were so many essays involved? Not me), to her work at Flint, buying some of the finest terroir-driven drops the world over and putting them on tables at the finest restaurants, hotels and private collections in the country. It’s amazing to hear just how much effort and skill is required in not only producing wines, but tasting them, pairing them, and presenting them. Thankfully, Beth absolutely knows her stuff, and not only gives us a peek behind the scenes of the wine-buying world, but also offers us some take-home advice on what we can do to drink better wine, as well as get ahead of the curve.Episode creditsHost: James FisherGuest: Beth PearceEditor and producer: Toby KeelMusic: JuliusH via Pixabay Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Levison Wood, an intrepid adventurer and bestselling author, shares his remarkable journey from a soldier to a globe-trotting explorer. He reveals how planning his famous Nile trek tested his resilience and adaptability. Wood discusses the evolution of exploration from conquest to modern discovery, emphasizing the importance of storytelling in connecting people with nature. Amid lively anecdotes of his travels, including a nail-biting taxi ride in the Himalayas, he expresses his newfound affection for rural living in Devon and his upcoming adventures in South America.

What do catflaps and some of the finest carpentry in the land have in common? Bruce Hodgson, that’s what. The man who founded Artichoke is our guest on the Country Life Podcast this week, talking us through the history of the brand, as well as his own personal journey as a craftsman, and what the future holds for heritage crafts.Bruce’s journey to Artichoke wasn’t what we’d call traditional. After ‘being asked to leave’ school, and a brief stint in the army, he returned to the thing that made him happy as a child. But it wasn’t straight into the Country Life Top 100 for him — he spent 15 years working as a carpenter before Artichoke became synonymous with elegance, timelessness and quality.• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify• Listen to Country Life podcast on AudibleBruce’s is a fascinating story, but he’s not done yet. Not satisfied with creating one of the country’s most well-respected interiors companies, he’s determined to put making and craftsmanship back into the spotlight.Whether it’s little steps, such as re-framing woodworking away from being just ‘a hobby’ and to be taken more seriously as a career, to larger projects such as the Inspiring Makers conference, apprenticeships, work experience and the Artichoke School of Furniture, it’s clear that in Bruce, making has a fine champion.Episode creditsHost: James FisherGuest: Bruce HodgsonEditor and producer: Toby KeelMusic: JuliusH via Pixabay Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anyone who loves P.G. Wodehouse knows Jeeves and Wooster, Blandings Castle and the Oldest Member golf stories. But what of the man himself? His early life as a sensation on Broadway? His extraordinary seven-days-a-week work ethic? The truth about his attempts to flee the Nazis, scuppered by an unreliable car, before he was interned and pressured into making wartime broadcasts for the German regime? His later life in the US, and his sadness at never returning to the UK — even to collect his eventual knighthood? These are some of the things that fuelled a conversation a decade ago between Robert Daws and Stephen Fry, which set Daws off on a road that will lead him to the stage at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh this summer, playing the role of P.G. Wodehouse in a one-man show, Wodehouse in Wonderland.'Stephen mentioned that very few people know anything about P.G. Wodehouse the writer,' he said. 'They might know about the scandal around him in the Second World War, but apart from that, not really anything. And we thought there should be something.'That led to Daws speaking to William Humble, a friend, collaborator, screenwriter and playwright who happened to have been working on an unproduced screenplay about Wodehouse. The play Wodehouse in Wonderland was ready within weeks, went on tour a couple of years ago, and is now back on stage at the Edinburgh festival to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Wodehouse's death.We're delighted that Robert was able to join us on the Country Life Podcast to talk about Wodehouse's life and career, from his little-known start as a writer of smash-hit shows on Broadway — he was a huge success before he wrote a single word about Jeeves and Wooster — through to his final years living in the US.Wodehouse in Wonderland is at Tabard in London from July 20-22 and at The Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh from July 30 to August 25, 2025.Episode creditsHost, editor and producer: Toby KeelGuest: Robert DawsMusic: JuliusH via PixabayBack next week: James Fisher Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you come to a point in your life when you find yourself swimming with great white sharks?And how can it be that when you do, you find that moment 'completely normal'?Dan Abbott — aka Shark Man Dan — answered these and many more questions when he joined us on the Country Life Podcast at the beginning of 2025.In the six months or so since then, Dan's career has taken a huge upswing after he ended up as one of the stats of Netflix's All The Sharks, a unique blend of nature documentary and reality TV contest which has become something of a sensation in just a few days, hitting the Netflix Top 10 in more than 44 countries at the time of writing.So we thought it would be a great time to look back on this recording to share it once again. It'll be a treat for those who might have missed it first time round, and just as much of a treat for those who revisit this truly fascinating interview.All The Sharks is out now on Netflix and you can follow Dan Abbott on Instagram @sharkman_dan. Episode credits• Host: James Fisher• Guest: Dan Abbott• Producer and editor: Toby Keel• Music: JuliusH via Pixabay Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'We still see people out wearing colours which we know for a fact we haven't produced in 15 or 20 years,' chuckles Marcus Janssen, head of Schöffel, as he speaks about the company's gilets — the 'Chelsea Lifejackets' — to James Fisher on this week's edition of the Country Life Podcast.Marcus took over at Schöffel after a career as a countryside journalist, stepping in to a role as head of a family-owned business which has been going for well over two centuries.His love of the British countryside shines through as he talks to James about how a South African journalist ended up running a much-loved countryside brand whose roots are in Germany — and many of whose customers wear their gilets as much in the streets of SW3 as they do in the fields of Scotland or Gloucestershire. Marcus also talks about the recently-inaugurated Schöffel Countryside Awards, run in partnership with the GWCT.Episode creditsHost: James FisherGuest: Marcus JanssenEditor and Producer: Toby KeelMusic: JuliusH via PixabaySpecial thanks: Adam Wilbourn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Corinne Fowler, a Professor of Colonialism and Heritage at the University of Leicester and author of Our Island Stories, as she walks through the hidden histories of the British countryside. She connects landscapes with multicultural narratives, revealing how colonialism shaped national identity. Discover the ties between scenic walks, diverse histories, and properties linked to slavery. Corinne also shares personal revelations from her transformative journey from John O'Groats to Land's End, encouraging a deeper understanding of the past.

The adventurer, broadcaster, scientist and writer Steve Backshall has been a fixture on TV screens in Britain for nearly three decades — and we're absolutely thrilled that he joined James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast.• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify• Listen to Country Life podcast on AudibleSteve talks through some of the highlights of his amazing career, from coming face-to-face with tigers and great white sharks to discovering ancient ruins while diving in flooded cave systems. But as well as a globetrotting naturalist with a gift for overcoming his natural fears, he's also a natural raconteur who shares and why he's determined that his kids should have a wonderful childhood spent outdoors — just as he did.Steve is now sharing his lifetime of adventures on a new podcast called That's Just Wild, which he presents alongside biologist Lizzie Daly and environmental journalist Sarah Roberts, with two episodes each week from wherever you get your podcasts.Episode creditsHost: James FisherGuest: Steve BackshallEditor and producer: Toby KeelMusic: JuliusH via Pixabay Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘I thought, okay, well it worked for Lady Godiva, didn’t it? This whole naked stuff? So let me give that a try. I felt like it was the only option.’Just as it worked for Lady Godiva, so it has for Hannah Bourne-Taylor, the campaigner, naturalist and writer who has spent years fighting for change to help Britain’s bird population — and particularly the swift.• Listen to Country Life podcast on Apple Podcasts• Listen to Country Life podcast on Spotify• Listen to Country Life podcast on Audible After spending years overseas in places where she was surrounded by birds and nature, Hannah was dismayed on her return to see how little is being done to help preserve wildlife — and particularly with regard to her favourite bird, the swift. And after deciding to do something about it, she launched the campaign which has now taken years of her life — and which, as she tells James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast, has seen her enjoy a blaze of publicity by marching up and down Whitehall without a stitch on, in a desperate, yet wildly successful, publicity stunt.She tells James about the swift, their plight, and how the simple introduction of one or two ‘swift bricks’ added to each new build house could have an enormous impact at negligible cost, by providing safe nesting for birds whose former favourite spots have increasingly disappeared due to modern construction techniques.Hannah also talks about her love of nature in general and the struggles she’s faced, from battling apathy and indifference to hastily adjusting a stick-on G-string in the House of Lords toilets. She also tells a tale from an earlier time in her life, when a tiny lost fledgling nested in her hair as it recuperated before rejoining its family.It’s a fascinating glimpse in to the mind of a woman who is in equal measure strong, brave, eccentric and passionate. Once you’ve listened, we’d highly recommend Hannah’s books for more: her latest, Nature Needs You, about her battle to save the swift, and Fledgling, her story that rewrites ‘the conventional boundaries of the relationships people have with animals’.Episode creditsHost: James FisherGuest: Hannah Bourne-TaylorEditor and producer: Toby KeelMusic: JuliusH via Pixabay Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.