Great Lives

Writer Jonathan Meades nominates the English artist Edward Burra, who died in 1976, for "great life" status, arguing that he deserves to be better known. Burra painted sailors, drinkers and prostitutes in Toulon; jazz musicians in Harlem; surreal wartime pictures of soldiers in terrifying bird masks; and, in his later years, landscapes in which anthropomorphic and malevolent machines bite chunks out of the countryside. Disabled with rheumatoid arthritis from an early age, Burra barely went to school and so escaped the Edwardian upper class upbringing that would otherwise have been his destiny. At once camp yet apparently celibate, Burra was intensely private and disliked talking about either himself or art - or, as he called it, "fart". Matthew Parris chairs the discussion, and is joined by Burra's biographer Jane Stevenson. Producer: Jolyon JenkinsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Michael Palin first came across his Great Life when he was studying for school exams, and his love of Ernest Hemingway has never gone away. He, along with expert Naomi Wood, tells Matthew Parris why this twentieth century legend is a Great Life.Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

Countryfile presenter John Craven proposes Victorian Engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, as a great life. He's joined by engineering historian Julia Elton and presenter Matthew Parris.And where better to discuss Brunel's achievements than by the harbour in Bristol in the shadow of his magnificent steam ship the SS Great Britain. But should his creator of great machines himself be considered a great man or is finest achievement the engineering of his own reputation?Recorded at the Food Connections Festival in Bristol.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Jake Thackray hated being known as the north country Noel Coward, but at the height of his fame the description stuck. His songs are very British, but his influences were European - Georges Brassens and Jacques Brel. Nominating Jake Thackray is Isy Suttie, Dobby from Peep Show and star of the A-Z of Mrs P. The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer Miles Warde.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Soprano Emma Kirkby discusses the life of English composer Henry Purcell with Matthew Parris. Despite dying at the age of 36, Purcell was arguably the first composer to become a national figure, as shown by his funeral at Westminster Abbey. Living through turbulent times, and through the reign of three monarchs, Purcell had to cope with shifting Catholic and Protestant regimes while producing a steady output of religious music. But he also did some of his most memorable and enduring work for the commercial theatre. Few composers have set the English language to music so felicitously. After his death, Britain produced few world class composers for 200 years. To discuss his legacy, Emma and Matthew are joined by Purcell scholar Michael BurdenProducer: Jolyon Jenkins First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Novelist and screenwriter, Deborah Moggach, nominates the Potteries writer Arnold Bennett, whose work she thinks has been wrongly overlooked, as he was considered as being too popular. Moggach believes that because he was a working writer who earned his living writing both serious and light fiction, he was not taken seriously until after his death in 1931, despite his books being hugely popular during his lifetime. Bennett wrote many novels including ‘Anna of the Five Towns’ and ‘The Old Wives Tale’. As a journalist, Bennett also wrote self-help and lifestyle articles for magazines including 'How to Bathe a Baby Part One' and 'Do Rich Women Quarrel More Frequently Than Poor?' Gyles Brandreth has been a lifelong Bennett fan and believes him to be one of the greatest writers of the 20th century who deserves to be rediscovered. Presenter: Matthew Parris.Producer: Maggie Ayre.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014.

Mathematician Marcus de Sautoy champions the blind Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. He is fascinated by the connection between the creator of 'The Library of Babel' and science - did Borges really understand notions of infinity and space? Biographer Jason Wilson adds colourful detail to the life of a great writer whom he insists was just being impish when it came to the weighty matters that have excited more than one mathematician over the years. The programme includes beautiful recordings of Borges in conversation in 1971. Marcus du Sautoy is the Charles Simonyi Professor for the Understanding of Science. Presented by Matthew Parris.Produced by Miles Warde.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2014.

Sir Mark Walport, the government's Chief Scientific Advisor champions the life of Sir Hans Sloane, founder of the British Museum. Along with expert Marjorie Caygill they tell Matthew Parris why they think Sloane is the mother and father of all collectors.Producer : Perminder Khatkar.

Series of biographical discussions with Matthew Parris.Poet Simon Armitage nominates Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, who took his own life in 1980 at the age of 23. Curtis's fellow band member Peter Hook remembers his friend.

"Whenever I have too much to drink, I bang on about Dante ...." Sarah Vine makes a choice from the heart - the great Italian writer Dante Alighieri, father of the Italian language and author of the Divine Comedy. "I'm not an expert," she says, "mine is more of a romantic infatuation." As well as the outspoken Daily Mail columnist, Matthew Parris is joined by Claire Honess, professor of Italian studies at Leeds University. Together they piece together an extraordinary life. Includes extracts from Radio 4's production of the Divine Comedy starring John Hurt Producer: Miles WardeFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2014.