Radio Oldie

The Oldie magazine’s podcast featuring discussion and debate around the lead features in the latest magazine, plus live recordings from our famous Literary Lunches. Presented by Harry Mount.

Subscribe Listen in podnod RSS feed Show website

494 episodes
Updated Thursday

Episodes494

Newest first

Nov 19, 2019 · 30 min
Scott of the Antarctic: hero or bungler?
The Oldie's editorial assistant, Ferdie Rous, talks to acclaimed author and travel-writer Sara Wheeler about 200 years of Antarctic exploration. Sara Wheeler's new book, Mud and Stars: Travels in Russia with Pushkin and Other Geniuses of the Golden Age, published by Jonathan Cape, is out now.
Nov 7, 2019 · 13 min
Lloyd George nearly lost us the war
Simon Heffer speaks at an Oldie literary lunch about the Staring at God: Britain during the Great War. He tells of the political class's inability to deal with the pressures of the war, how women were far more than the munitionettes of popular imagination and the extent of the cultural changes brought on by the war.
Nov 7, 2019 · 12 min
A Sparrow's Life as Sweet as Ours
John McEwen and Carry Akroyd talk about the bird-infested history of the Douglas Home family, the sex life of the Great Bustard and how best to portray birds in art.
Nov 7, 2019 · 17 min
What were the three traumas of London's history?
Simon Jenkins speaks at the Oldie Literary Lunch about the three traumas of London's history, how London was shaped by the free market and the city corporation and the importance of separating money from power.
Oct 23, 2019 · 21 min
Troy – the cradle of a thousand heroes and heroines
The Oldie's Editor Harry Mount talks to Times and Telegraph regular Hannah Betts about Troy, Homer and the mixed legacy of Heinrich Schliemann, who rediscovered it. Troy: Myth and Reality is on at the British Museum between 21st November and 8th March 2020
Oct 16, 2019 · 15 min
34: Gamesmanship and other Potterisms
Welcome to the Oldie podcast with Harry Mount, the editor of The Oldie. This month we have a fantastic piece by Damian Thompson in the magazine about Stephen Potter, the inventor of Gamesmanship. Damian is a senior journalist who has worked at the Telegraph and the Catholic Herald, and is the associate editor of the Spectator.
Oct 10, 2019 · 49 min
Wiliam Dalrymple – The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company
Historian, travel-writer and bestselling author William Dalrymple, talks to the Oldie's Editorial Assistant Ferdie Rous about the rise of The East India Company, corporate violence and imperial nostalgia. Dalrymple's new book, The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company, is published by Bloomsbury. The book tells two stories: the rise of the East India Company and the fall of the Mughal Empire. The latter had dominated the subcontinent for over three centuries by the time that the company arrived on Indian shores. Note: the Diwani, referenced at (22:45), later known as the Treaty of Allahabad, was a permit granted by Shah Alam, in 1764, to the East India Company that allowed them to tax the provinces of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.
Oct 10, 2019 · 16 min
Was Maggie Thatcher a prude? asks Charles Moore
Charles Moore talks about the third and last part of his biography of Margaret Thatcher at the Oldie's October lunch. Moore talked about Thatcher's innocence of matters sexual, her run in with Monty Python and her meeting with Nelson Mandela.
Oct 10, 2019 · 8 min
A N Wilson on the man who saved the Monarchy
A N Wilson talks about Prince Albert: The Man Who Saved The Monarchy at the Oldie's October lunch. We don't appreciate how much Britain owes Albert. From Albertopolis to the Great Exhibition and beyond, Wilson gives a fascinating insight into this short-lived royal.
Sep 20, 2019 · 37 min
33: Peter Hitchens: we won the war, or did we?
Welcome to this edition of the Oldie podcast. Ferdie Rous, The Oldie's Editorial Assistant, speaks to author, commentator and Mail on Sunday columnist, Peter Hitchens, about his new book, The Phoney Victory: The World War II Delusion, which challenges some of our most deeply held beliefs about the Second World War, which began 80 years ago this month.
Sep 12, 2019 · 31 min
32: October Issue: Abbey Road – The Beatles's Best Studio Album?
Welcome to the Oldie’s October podcast. 50 years ago, on the 26th September, The Beatles’s Abbey Road album was first released. Today, we are joined by veteran-journalist and the Beatles’s only authorised biographer, Hunter Davies, who shadowed the Beatles as they wrote and recorded what many consider to be their best studio album.
Sep 10, 2019 · 12 min
31: October Issue: Dominic Green's Downton Abbey Suit
Oldie Editor, Harry Mount, speaks to Dominic Green – Life & Arts Editor at the Spectator USA and regular contributor to The Oldie's Letter from America Column – about his new suit, which made from the same material used for Lord Grantham's valet in the new Downton Abbey film.
Aug 20, 2019 · 13 min
September Issue: Toffs vs Servants in Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey
Welcome to the Oldie's September podcast with Harry Mount the editor of The Oldie and the actor, Simon Williams, who played Captain Bellamy in Upstairs, Downstairs and has written a piece about the class dynamic in Downton Abbey for the latest issue of The Oldie.
Aug 16, 2019 · 13 min
30: David Kynaston and Francis Green on Britain's educational apartheid
What is the funding gap between private and state schools? Is there equal educational opportunity? How can we end Britain's educational apartheid? David Kynaston and Francis Green ask the questions and they have an answer. They examine the impact of private schools on public life. They spoke at the Oldie's August lunch about their book Engines of Privilege: Britain's Private School Problem, published by Bloomsbury.
Aug 16, 2019 · 11 min
29: Douglas Carswell's manifesto for optimism
The world is getting better. Amid the doom and gloom of the news, things are actually pretty good, says Douglas Carswell. In this talk, Carswell charts the history of human progress and explains how we have held ourselves back. Douglas Carswell spoke at the Oldie's August lunch about his new book Progress vs Parasites: A Brief History of the Conflict That's Shaped Our World, published by Head of Zeus.
Aug 16, 2019 · 11 min
29: Anne de Courcy on Chanel's saucy secrets
What is the difference between Old Masters and old mistresses? Where did Chanel put her No. 5? Whose yacht was called the 'floating double-bed'? Anne de Courcy examines life in the French Riviera before and during the war. Her new book, Chanel's Riviera: Life, Love and the Struggle for Survival on the Côte d’Azur, 1930–1944, is published by W&N.
Jul 12, 2019 · 15 min
28: August Issue: Granny, I hardly knew you
Welcome to August Issue of the Oldie podcast. George Courtauld, a former Queen's messenger and bestselling writer of The Travels of a Fat Bulldog, has penned a delightful piece about discovering his grandmother Daisy Dobell's diaries in his attic. He speaks to The Oldie's editorial assistant Ferdie Rous about his grandmother: her childhood, why she earned the nickname – 'Naughty Daisy' – and her close friendship with her cousin the poet, Eva Dobell. Courtauld's book, a collection of his grandmother's diaries, Daisy's Diary 1888-1900 was published in April.
Jul 12, 2019 · 12 min
27: Tim Waterstone on how he built his brand
Introduced by Barry Cryer, Sir Tim Waterstone spoke at the Oldie's July lunch about what inspired him to create Waterstones, the difficulty of getting funding for it and a set-to with a journalist in the 90s. His book is The Face Pressed Against a Window: A Memoir.
Jul 12, 2019 · 14 min
Antony Beevor on the British obsession with Operation Market Garden
Introduced by Barry Cryer, Sir Antony Beevor spoke at the Oldie's July lunch about the British fascination with defeat, the disaster at Arnhem bridge and Field Marshal Montgomery's appalling behaviour before, during and after the battle. Antony Beevor's book is Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944.
Jul 12, 2019 · 12 min
26: Anna Pasternak speaks about the kindhearted Wallis Simpson
Introduced by Barry Cryer, Anna Pasternak speaks at the Oldie's July lunch. Looking past the steely scheming facade that is so familiar the public, Pasternak praised the better side of one of the most hated royals. Anna Pasternak's book is Untitled: The Real Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor.