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 Seventies comeback with Solitaire and Love Will Keep Us Together. Graham Gouldman pays tribute. Drusilla Beyfus, the journalist best known for her books on etiquette. Her daughter Alexandra Shulman shares her memories. Professor Dame Carole Jordan, the leading astronomer who was an authority on the coronae of the sun and cool stars. And Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran for over thirty years who was killed in an air strike. Interviewee: Nazila Fathi Interviewee: Lisa Verrico Interviewee: Graham Gouldman Interviewee: Professor Mike Lockwood Interviewee: Alexandra Shulman Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Glyn Tansley Archive used: Revolution In Iran, BBC News, 11/02/1979; The death of Ayatolla Khomeni, BBC News, 04/06/1989; Iran street protests, BBC News, 1999 and 2009; Protests in Iran, BBC News, 29/06/2023; BBC News report, 01/03/2026; Neil Sedaka: King of Song, BBC Four, 28/10/2018; The Sky at Night: Exploring the ultraviolet sky, BBC 1, 07/05/1989; Drusilla Beyfus, recorded by Susan Irvine, 08/08/2018; Drusilla Beyfus interview, Castle in the Country, BBC Two, 18/03/2005; Drusilla Beyfus interview, Eight for Eight fifteen, BBC Radio 4, 12/06/1988;

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Neil Sedaka, Drusilla Beyfus, Professor Dame Carole Jordan, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is an episode from Last Word by BBC.

This episode is 27:46 long.

This episode was published on Mar 6, 2026.

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