Radio Oldie

Roger McGough was one of the Liverpool or Mersey Poets alongside Brian Patten and the late Adrian Henry.  Today he’s known as the ‘godfather of modern poetry’ and continues to present BBC Radio 4’s Poetry Please, a role he’s held since 1979. He’s an OBE and CBE, the last awarded in 2004 for Services to Literature. On Radio Oldie he talks to Charlotte Metcalf about his latest book of The Collected Poems 1959-2024, growing up in Liverpool, performing with the Scaffold and his life as an author, playwright and poet.

Ben MacIntyre speaking about his new book, The Siege: the Remarkable Story of the Greatest SAS Hostage Drama, at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on March 11th 2025.

A. N. Wilson speaking about his new book, Goethe: His Faustian Life - the Extraordinary Story of Modern Germany, a Troubled Genius and the Poem that Made our World, at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on March 11th 2025.

Hugo Vickers speaking about his new book, Muse to Power: the Untold Story of Clarissa Eden, Countess of Avon, at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on March 11th 2025.

Charles Moore tells Harry Mount how Margaret Thatcher became Conservative leader 50 years ago - and how she got on with the Queen. Lady Thatcher would have been 100 on October 13th this year. In September, Charles Moore will publish The Authorised Biography of Margaret Thatcher: Single-volume Centenary Edition.

Matthew Norman, the Oldie’s Grumpy Old Man columnist, tells Harry Mount about creating the nickname ‘Mandy’ for Peter Mandelson – and Mandy’s outraged reaction. And he recalls meeting Bernard Manning – and his favourite Bernard Manning gag.

Britain’s greatest man of letters, A. N. Wilson, tells Harry Mount about the genius of Goethe, the decline of the Church of England and his addiction to journalism.

Sir Ben Okri, the Booker Prize-winning author and poet, talks to Charlotte Metcalf about his latest book, Madame Sosotris and the Festival for The Broken Hearted, and his collection of African stories for Everyman.  He talks to her about being broken hearted, how the Booker Prize changed his life, being homeless and the acclaimed poem he wrote in response to the Grenfell Tower fire, as well as sharing his views on the current state of our unsettled world. 

Victoria Hislop speaking about her new book, The Figurine, at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on February 11th 2025.

James Stourton speaking about his new book, Rogues & Scholars: Boom and Bust in the London Art Market, 1945-2000, at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on February 11th 2025.”