Radio Oldie

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 Bergen-Belsen, his father to a Siberian gulag – and shares his views on politics, Israel, multi-culturalism, the state of Britain and much, much more with openness and candour.

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 andVictoria: 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 and in 2024 a knighthood for services to Literature, Academia and Charity.