Last Word Podcast
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently
Episodes to download
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Luc Hoffmann, Sylvia Peters, Joe Powell, William Smethurst, Sandy Pearlman
Fri 5 Aug 2016
Matthew Bannister on a naturalist, an announcer, a stuntman, an editor, a rock manager.
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Gary S Paxton, Sally Beauman, Thomas Sutherland, Frank Dickens, Marni Nixon
Fri 29 Jul 2016
Matthew Bannister on a hostage, a singer, songwriter and producer, an author, a cartoonist
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Abdul Sattar Edhi, Professor Suzanne Corkin, Bernardo Provenzano, Garry Marshall
Fri 22 Jul 2016
Matthew Bannister on a humanitarian, a neuroscientist, a mafia don, a comedy director.
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Sydney Schanberg, Beatrice de Cardi, Lord Evans of Temple Guiting, Alvin Toffler, Jimmy Gilbert
Fri 15 Jul 2016
Matthew Bannister on a journalist, an archaeologist, a publisher, a futurist, a producer.
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Caroline Aherne, Elie Wiesel, Sir Geoffrey Hill, Lord Mayhew, Michael Cimino
Fri 8 Jul 2016
Matthew Bannister on a comedian, a holocaust survivor, a poet, a politician, a director.
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Amjad Sabri, Lorna Kelly, Jerome Bruner, Bob Holman, Scotty Moore
Fri 1 Jul 2016
Matthew Bannister on a singer, an auctioneer, a psychologist, a campaigner, a guitarist.
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Dr Sylvia Meek, Sam King MBE, Chips Moman, Ethel Bush GM, Harry Rabinowitz
Fri 24 Jun 2016
Matthew Bannister on a parasitologist, a conductor, a police officer, a mayor, a producer.
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Jo Cox MP, Dave Swarbrick, Viktor Korchnoi, Wendy Leigh
Fri 17 Jun 2016
Reeta Chakrabarti on an MP, a musician, a chess player and a writer.
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Sir Peter Shaffer, Sir Denys Wilkinson, Peggy Spencer and Muhammad Ali
Fri 10 Jun 2016
Julian Worricker on a playwright, a physicist, a dancer and a boxer.
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Carla Lane, Sir Denys Henderson, Jane Fawcett, Alan Devereux and Buster Cooper
Fri 3 Jun 2016
Matthew Bannister on a comedy writer, a businessman, a conservationist, an actor.
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Professor Robert McNeill Alexander, Reg Grundy, Sally Brampton, Tony Cozier, Madeleine LeBeau
Fri 20 May 2016
Matthew Bannister on a zoologist, a TV producer, an editor, a cricket commentator.
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Gareth Gwenlan, Sir Harry Kroto, Michael 'Dandy Kim' Caborn-Waterfield, Lilly Dubowitz, Papa Wemba
Fri 13 May 2016
Matthew Bannister on a TV producer, a chemist, a wheeler dealer, a paediatrician, a singer
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Reverend Daniel Berrigan, Lord Walton of Detchant, Jenny Diski, Guy Woolfenden
Fri 6 May 2016
Matthew Bannister on a peace campaigner, an author, a neurologist and a composer.
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Lord Peston, Ruth Prideaux, Patricio Aylwin, Professor Sir David Mackay, Gareth Thomas
Fri 29 Apr 2016
Matthew Bannister on an economist, a cricketer, a Chilean President, a physicist, an actor
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Prince, Ray Fitzwalter, Victoria Wood, June Jolly, Phil Sayer
Fri 22 Apr 2016
Matthew Bannister on a rock star, an editor, a comedian, a nurse and an announcer.
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Arnold Wesker, Howard Marks, Peggy Fortnum, Merle Haggard and Rachel Johnson
Fri 15 Apr 2016
Matthew Bannister on a playwright, a drug smuggler, an illustrator and a country singer.
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Mother Angelica, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, DJ Derek, Doreen Massey and Joe Medicine Crow
Fri 8 Apr 2016
Matthew Bannister on a nun, a German politician, a DJ, a geographer, a native American.
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Dame Zaha Hadid, Ronnie Corbett, General Meir Dagan, Joan Loraine, Gary Shandling
Fri 1 Apr 2016
Matthew Bannister on an architect, two comedians, a Mossad chief, a gardener.
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Paul Daniels, Anita Brookner, Sylvia Anderson, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Cliff Michelmore
Fri 18 Mar 2016
Matthew Bannister on a broadcaster, a producer, a composer, an author and a magician.
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George Martin, Nancy Reagan, Ray Tomlinson, Gillian Avery
Fri 11 Mar 2016
Reeta Chakrabarti on a music producer, a US first lady, an internet pioneer and an author.
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Tony Warren, Louise Rennison, Lord Chorley, George Kennedy, John Chilton
Fri 4 Mar 2016
Reeta Chakrabarti on a TV writer, an author, a conservationist, an actor and a musician
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Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Edmonde Charles-Roux, Norman Hudis, Antonin Scalia, Harper Lee
Fri 19 Feb 2016
Matthew Bannister on a UN Secretary General, an editor, a screenwriter, a judge
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Marvin Minsky, Margaret Forster, Peter Powell, Sir Brian Tovey, Joe Alaskey
Fri 12 Feb 2016
Matthew Bannister on a computer scientist, a writer, a kite inventor, a GCHQ director
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Terry Wogan, Lord Lucan, Frank Finlay, Denise St Aubyn Hubbard, Maurice White
Fri 5 Feb 2016
Matthew Bannister on a broadcaster, an earl, an actor, a sailor, a musician
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Lord Parkinson, Bill Mitchell, Paddy Doherty, Henry Worsley, Dr Gladys-Marie Fry
Fri 29 Jan 2016
Matthew Bannister on a politician, an editor, an activist, an explorer, a folklorist
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Glenn Frey, Lord Weidenfeld, Jeanne Cordova, Haskell Wexler, Gilbert Kaplan.
Fri 22 Jan 2016
Matthew Bannister on a rock star, a publisher, a lesbian campaigner, a cinematographer.
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David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Olwyn Hughes and Ed Stewart
Fri 15 Jan 2016
Matthew Bannister on a rock star, an actor, a literary agent, a DJ
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Robert Stigwood, Patricia Torrens, Pierre Boulez, Lord Ezra, Natalie Cole
Fri 8 Jan 2016
Obituary series, analysing and celebrating the lives of people who have recently died.
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Eric Tomlinson, Elsie Tu, Peter Dickinson, Lillian Vernon and Lemmy
New Year's Day 2016
Julian Worricker on a sound engineer, a campaigner, a writer, a businesswoman, a musician.
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Some of the most memorable lives of the past twelve months
Christmas Day 2015
A scientist, a diver, a marchioness and a singer - memorable lives from 2015 are recalled.
