Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth

This is episode 6 of Gyles reading from his schoolboy diaries. He's still at Bedales, and settling in - getting his newspaper delivered every morning, dining like a king at Sunday breakfast (soft white rolls with honey and marmite) and being entered into poetry reading competitions. He also carries on with his hobbies - theatre-going, reading and politics. We hope you enjoy these snapshots of a different time - if you've only just discovered these, go back to episode 1 of the diaries to hear it from the start. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the start of a big new year of podcasts from Rosebud, and we're beginning with a real treat for you - an interview with one of Britain's most successful actors: Hugh Bonneville. During his ordinary childhood in a comfortable, middle class home in Blackheath, in which showing off was strongly discouraged, Hugh plundered the family dressing-up box and made his schoolfriends put on plays. At school he joined the drama club and eventually got a place in the National Youth Theatre. We find out about how Hugh got into the industry, but also about his parents, his first dog, and his interest in theology. With huge thanks to Hugh for his time, energy and wonderful stories. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the eve of the beginning of a brand new year, so we're asking the most fundamental question: what is happiness? How can we try to live a happy life? In this episode, which was recorded at a live event at Grosvenor House, Gyles talks about his book, 'The Seven Secrets of Happiness'. He describes his work with the psychiatrist Dr Antony Clare to find the seven things we each need to try and do to live a happy and fulfilled life. He also talks about mindfulness, the Queen and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. And we finally meet the Rosebud composer, Phil Lepherd. Don't miss this! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today it's time to put away the Christmas chocolates and instead feast on this Rosebud Selection Box. Forget the Celebrations, this is the Christmas treat you've been waiting for. It's a chance to catch up on the best bits of Rosebud so far, and to indulge in some funny, moving and fascinating moments from some of our favourite guests: including Dame Judi Dench, Rupert Everett, Dame Mary Berry, Sir Michael Palin, David Mitchell, Stephen Fry, Dame Maureen Lipman, Miriam Margolyes, Dame Joanna Lumley, Sir Keir Starmer, Richard Ayoade, Prue Leith, Rick Stein, Clare Balding, Pam Ayres and Terry Pendry. If you know someone who you'd like to introduce to Rosebud - this could be the episode for them! Or if you'd just like to listen again to some of our most memorable moments - enjoy this... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Christmas Eve, the most magical day of the year, and we have an episode full of poetry and music for you. This features: Gyles reading a classic Christmas poem. Next is an interview with Igor Gudjalov, the amazing Grosvenor House pianist, and the premier of his 'Rosebud Christmas Rhapsody' on the piano. Then we have a moving conversation with the Very Reverend Dr Mark Oakley, Dean of Southwark Cathedral, about his first memories, and he also gives us a Christmas reading. Finally it's Voxcetera, the chamber choir which includes Harriet the Rosebud producer, with their rendition of Winter Wonderland (arranged by Paul Ayres). We end with lots of Christmas thank yous, and, most importantly, we'd like to thank you, for listening. Happy Christmas to the whole Rosebud family! Thank you to Paul Ayres for allowing us to feature his arrangement of Winter Wonderland www.paulayres.co.uk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we tell you that today's guest brought a delicious coffee cake along to the Rosebud recording, you'll know it could only be one woman: Dame Mary Berry. In this wide-ranging and frequently very touching conversation, Gyles and Dame Mary talk about her life and times - from her childhood as a naughty schoolgirl nicknamed 'Scruffy' to her success as a cook, writer and educator. Gyles finds out about the inspirational teacher who encouraged Mary to start cooking, he hears about Mary's days starting out in her career, living in London with a flat full of girlfriends, and he tells Mary about his love for Bargain Hunt. Gyles also hears about some of the sad moments in Mary's life, and about being made a dame. This is a delicious, tender and deep conversation - just like one of Dame Mary's cakes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest on More Rosebud today is James Rebanks, sheep-farmer and writer of best-selling books 'The Shepherd's Life' and 'English Pastoral', as well as a brand new book 'The Place of Tides'. James has lived and worked on the Cumbrian Lakeland fells since he was a boy, and farms the same hillside at Matterdale as his family have for the past 600 years. In this conversation he tells Gyles about his boyhood, being inspired to read The Odyssey and Hemingway by his mum and headteacher, about dropping out of school and his rebellious teenagehood, and about how he went back to night school and ended up going to university as a mature student. He also tells Gyles about his love for his sheepdogs and his thoughts on the government's plan to introduce inheritance tax on family farms. Enjoy this episode with one of the most interesting writers working today, who is also a dedicated and passionate farmer. James's latest book, The Place of Tides, is out now published by Allen Lane at £22. Highly recommended, as are all of James's books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tom Holland, co-host of The Rest Is History, is Gyles's guest this week. And, fittingly, this episode is full of history - Augustus, Napoleon III, Bram Stoker, Byron, Jesus and Cecil Beaton all get a mention. Yes, there's name-dropping of a historical kind. One of the interesting things about Rosebud is the distinctive ways in which our guests' childhoods reflect the adults they become, and Tom was thinking about history as soon as he started to read - and this episode exudes that.Tom isn't just one of the hosts of the world's biggest history podcast, he's also the writer of multiple best-selling history books, largely about the ancient world, which he's brought to life for a wide audience. His latest book, Pax, is out now. We hope you enjoy this interview with one of the best, brightest and most brilliant communicators around. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another foray into Gyles's schoolboy diaries today, and this time it's the second half of 1961. In this chapter we find out what happens when Gyles starts at his new secondary school, Bedales, a pioneering liberal arts boarding school near Petersfield in Hampshire. How will Gyles cope with the ardous programme of 'outdoor work' which is part of his new timetable? Will he get a girlfriend? What will his new teachers make of him? Gyles and Harriet discuss all this and more... and they uncover the identity of a mysterious coat which has been at Gyles's house for over twenty years. Enjoy this. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Boris Johnson is on the Rosebud couch, and Gyles tries to get him off the usual political topics and instead talking about where it all began. We find out about Boris's early years, spent fighting with his siblings and playing violent physical games in school playgrounds. We find out about his schooldays, his first crush and his parents' divorce. We also hear about what he got up to on his first night at No. 10, and about his deep admiration for the late Queen. This is Boris - as you've never heard him before. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.