A “bone marrow love for the Labour party” Lord Kinnock remembers Lord Hattersley
Lord Roy Hattersley, the former Deputy Leader of the Labour party. He was born and brought up in Sheffield. In his book A Yorkshire Boyhood,...
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Last Word
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently
Last Word Podcast Guide
Listen to Last Word, a Society & Culture podcast by BBC. Stream 573 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.
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20 of 573 episodesFounder of the ‘MOBOs’ and champion of black music – Kanya King
For thirty years, Kanya King was a champion of Black music. She was the founder and guiding light of the Music of Black Origin Awards, the ‘...
Larry King: The man behind Billie Jean King’s feminist tennis revolution
Larry King teamed up with his wife Billie Jean King to start the women’s professional tennis circuit in the USA. Baroness Ramsay was MI6 Hea...
Clarence B Jones, Judith Chalmers, Dr Anna Ritchie, Professor Frank Land
Matthew Bannister on Clarence B Jones the American lawyer and civil rights campaigner who helped Martin Luther King to write his famous I Ha...
Michael Pennington, Cynthia Shange, Scott Hastings, Beverley Martyn
Kirsty Lang on Michael Pennington, the Shakespearean actor who preferred a life on stage to the glamour of Hollywood. For Dame Judi Dench, h...
Ruth Slenczynska, Dame Bridget Ogilvie, Tony Worthington, Russell Tyner KC
The virtuoso pianist, Ruth Slenczynska was the last living student of Sergei Rachmaninoff. She began performing at the age of four, and was...
Dr Ittai Gradel, Dame Shirley Porter, Professor Nigel Dunnett, María Nieves Rego
Dr Ittai Gradel, the Danish antiquities dealer who uncovered the theft of hundreds of artefacts from the British Museum. Katie Razzall recal...
Xia De-hong, Lord Hunt of Chesterton, Joan Burstein, Bill Leader
Xia De-hong, inspired her daughter Jung Chang to write the best selling book Wild Swans about her trials and tribulations at the hands of th...
Andy Kershaw, Dame Averil Cameron, Dr Judith Rapoport, Desmond Morris
Matthew Bannister on Andy Kershaw, the radio DJ who championed world music, traversing the globe to bring new and eclectic sounds to a mains...
Asha Bhosle, Sir Neil Cossons, Professor Harold Ellis, Daphne Selfe
Matthew Bannister on The Indian singer Asha Bhosle who soundtracked countless Bollywood films and collaborated with Boy George, Michael Stip...
Sir Craig Reedie, Bronwen Naish, Geoff Yeadon, Margareta Magnusson
Matthew Bannister on Sir Craig Reedie, the sports administrator who led London’s successful bid for the 2012 Olympics and went on to become...
Robert Fox, Mary Rand MBE, Sir Tony Hoare, Biruté Galdikas
John Wilson on Robert Fox the producer who had a career that spanned theatre, film and television. We have tributes from Colin Firth, Rupert...
Dame Jenni Murray, Len Deighton, Lynda Hale, Jurgen Habermas
Matthew Bannister on The Woman’s Hour presenter Dame Jenni Murray. Mark Steel joins us to recall her triumphant debut as a stand-up comedian...
Yanar Mohammed, MP Phil Woolas, Professor Robin Weiss, Jane Lapotaire
Matthew Bannister on Yanar Mohammed who campaigned for women’s rights in Iraq and set up a secret network of shelters for those fleeing abus...
Paul Conroy, Kenith Trodd, Astrid Llewellyn, Jo Purvis
Matthew Bannister on Paul Conroy, the photojournalist who worked extensively in war zones in the Middle East and the Balkans. He was with th...
Neil Sedaka, Drusilla Beyfus, Professor Dame Carole Jordan, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Matthew Bannister on Neil Sedaka the prolific songwriter who had Sixties hits with Oh Carol and Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen and made a Seve...
Martyn Butler, Allan Massie, Professor Nicola Fear, Willie Colón
Matthew Bannister on Martyn Butler who was a central figure in the UK’s early response to HIV and AIDS. He was a co-founder of the Terrence...
Reverend Jesse Jackson, Diane Munday, Philippe Gaulier, Lady Jean Wilson
Kirsty Lang on Reverend Jesse Jackson the leading American civil rights campaigner. Diane Munday who fought to make abortion legal and co-fo...
Meredith Hooper, David Young, Dorothy Solomon, Derek Kelly
Matthew Bannister on: Meredith Hooper, the prolific author who wrote several books about Antarctica. We have a tribute from her son, the Osc...
Sir Nicholas White, Lord Wallace, Professor Deborah Cameron, Sly Dunbar
Matthew Bannister on Sir Nicholas White, whose research on tropical diseases saved millions of lives. Lord Wallace, the Liberal Democrat who...