Great Lives Folgen

Hannah Rothschild champions the life of the jazz musician Thelonious Monk. Brilliant, eccentric and one of the true giants of jazz, Monk was an incredible pianist, the composer of jazz standards such as 'Round Midnight', the co-creator of bebop and a close friend of Hannah's great-aunt, the Jazz Baroness Nica Rothschild. Matthew Parris chairs as Hannah and music writer Richard Williams chart Monk's progress through the jazz clubs and recording studios of mid-twentieth century New York.Producer: Julia JohnsonFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

Sir Richard Francis Burton was an explorer, adventurer, soldier, author, poet, sexologist and translator. He brought us the Kama Sutra and spoke 29 languages. The author Monica Ali champions this racy character and tells Matthew Parris why this 19th-century explorer is a Great Life. They are also joined by historian and broadcaster Matthew Ward.Producer: Perminder Khatkar.First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.

George Washington Williams was an incredibly early, mould-breaking, self-made black intellectual who fought in the American civil war and went on to write the first history of African Americans. He met King Leopold of Belgium and exposed that country's treatment of Africans under Belgian colonial rule.Nominating the life of George Washington Williams is television presenter, and former Paralympic medallist, Ade Adepitan. The expert witness is Dr David Brown, Senior Lecturer in American Studies at the University of Manchester. The presenter is Matthew Parris.Producer: Perminder KhatkarFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015.