Great Lives Folgen

Author and Journalist Sathnam Sanghera nominates a Great Life; a man dismissed as a fantasist and a liar in his own lifetime. Alexander Gardner was a Scottish-American soldier, a traveller, an explorer and adventurer - a white man with a tartan turban, who ended up in India in a Maharaja's Sikh Army in the 19th Century, just before the British Raj took over. Possibly a plagiarist and touted as a scoundrel, yet Sathnam claims he's worthy of a bigger place in history. If just a tiny portion of what we think we know about him is true, he is a genuinely remarkable figure.Historian John Keay is the expert witness to Gardner's life.Presented by Matthew Parris. Producer: Perminder Khatkar.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2017.

Mark Steel makes the case for Charlie Chaplin being one of the most radical comedians of his time. He reckons it's sad that most see Chaplin as that bloke who wore a bowler hat, had a funny walk, waved a cane around and wasn’t even that funny. Mark argues that the silent film star and his "Tramp" character make sense if you look at the upheavals in society that were occurring alongside his career.Mark is best known for the Mark Steel Lectures and Mark Steel's in Town. He says that while Chaplin was standing up for the working class, the irony was that he became the richest rebel. With Simon Louvish - author of ‘Chaplin: The Tramps Odyssey’. Presented by Matthew Parris. Producer: Perminder KhatkarFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Christmas Day 2018.

Tim Smit has admired Humphrey Jennings since seeing Danny Boyle’s Olympics Opening Ceremony in 2012. Jennings was a film maker, artist, and co-founder of the Mass Observation Movement. Many of the scenes in that memorable Olympic ceremony were inspired by his work. His films about ordinary British life during the Second World War are a poetic testament to the people of the British Isles.Tim Smit wants to know why Jennings isn’t better known?Tim Smit is founder of the Eden Project and talks to Matthew Parris. They're joined by curator Ros Cranston from the British Film Institute, with contributions from Jennings' biographer Kevin JacksonProducer: Maggie AyreFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2018.