Radio Oldie

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.

Journalist and broadcaster Rachel Johnson tells Harry Mount about her competitive upbringing, her imposter syndrome and the collapse of The Lady magazine. 

Amanda Barrie speaking about her new book, I'm Still Here: My 90 Years, at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on September 9th 2025

Paula Byrne speaking about her new book, Six Weeks by the Sea: The Summer Jane Austen Fell in Love , at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on September 9th 2025.”

Eleanor Doughty speaking about her new book, Heirs and Graces: A History of the Modern British Aristocracy, at the Oldie Literary Lunch, held at London’s National Liberal Club, on September 9th 2025.

At 93, Antonia Fraser, one of our leading historians, has written her 40th book – The House that Spoke: The History of a Home. She tells Harry Mount about 70 years of writing, going all the way back to her 1954 debut, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. And she talks about her west London house, where she wrote her 1969 bestseller, Mary, Queen of Scots – and her late husband, Harold Pinter, wrote Betrayal in 1978.

Joshua Levine, one of our leading Second World War historians, talks to Harry Mount about the 85th anniversary of the Blitz - which began on September 7 1940. Levine's book The Secret History of the Blitz led to him advising film director Steve McQueen for his 2024 film Blitz.  His book Forgotten Voices of Dunkirk inspired Christopher Nolan to make Dunkirk (2017), for which Levine was the historical advisor.