Podcasts about home secretary alan johnson

My guest in this week's Book Club podcast is the former Home Secretary Alan Johnson, who joins me to talk about his new biography of Harold Wilson. He tells me about Wilson's rocket-powered rise to the top, how he learned oratory on the hoof, why he might have been right to be paranoid… and what really went on with Marcia. This podcast is in association with Serious Readers. Use offer code 'TBC' for £100 off any HD Light and free UK delivery. Go to: www.seriousreaders.com/spectator

My guest in this week's Book Club podcast is the former Home Secretary Alan Johnson, who joins me to talk about his new biography of Harold Wilson. He tells me about Wilson's rocket-powered rise to the top, how he learned oratory on the hoof, why he might have been right to be paranoid… and what really went on with Marcia. This podcast is in association with Serious Readers. Use offer code 'TBC' for £100 off any HD Light and free UK delivery. Go to: www.seriousreaders.com/spectator

We talk to former Home Secretary Alan Johnson about his memoir Please Mister Postman, where he shares his experience as a postie and how the postal service has changed over the years. He also discusses his recent memoir on music, In My Life, and give us a flavour of his debut novel, Mascara. Owner of the Wigtown Post Office, Mary Wallace, tells us the story of her journey back to Wigtown after a nursing career in Australia. Award winning novelist Jan Carson is a dedicated user of the post to send new stories to readers near and far. She talks to us about how she got into writing stories on postcards and how Lockdown is having a chilling effect on her writing. She also reads a couple of her micro fictions - each of which fit nearly onto a postcard.

Pascale Petit’s collection of poetry, Mama Amazonica, which explores motherhood, illness and pain through the foliage and creatures of the Amazon rainforest, won the 2018 Prize. Peter Pomerantsev’s winning book in 2016, Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible, is a journey into the political and ethical landscape of modern Russia. In 2013, former Home Secretary Alan Johnson won the Prize with This Boy, a visceral memoir of growing up poor in 1950s and 60s London. Hisham Matar’s debut novel set within the highly charged political landscape of Libya, In the Country of Men, won in 2007. 2019 Ondaatje Prize shortlist as announced during the recording of this programme. Rania Abouzeid No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria (Oneworld) Aida Edemariam The Wife’s Tale: A Personal History (4th Estate) Aminatta Forna Happiness (Bloomsbury) Sarah Moss Ghost Wall (Granta) Guy Stagg The Crossway (Picador) Adam Weymouth Kings of the Yukon: A River Journey (Particular Books) The winner of this annual award of £10,000 for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place will be announced on May 13th 2019.

In a (sort of) music special, journalist and broadcaster Mark Kermode and former Home Secretary Alan Johnson talk us through their new memoirs - which focus on their fledgling music careers, stolen instruments and failed bands. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For the show 11 Matt is joined but is joined by former Home Secretary Alan Johnson. Recorded live at the St James Theatre. For more info on the show and future guests visit http://www.mattforde.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Labour MP and former Home Secretary Alan Johnson discusses how sometimes the best things that make us human emerge from the worst things that humans have to endure.

Whilst at school, a young Alan Johnson was given some money by a teacher and told to go and buy four copies of any book for the school library. He headed down the Kings Road in Chelsea, stopping only for a sly cigarette along the way. Having already read 'Animal Farm', he picked 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying' and yearned for the life of lead character Gordon Comstock. In conversation with Matthew Parris, former Home Secretary Alan Johnson explains why Orwell was crucial to his education and political development. He's surprised to learn that Orwell is not on the National Curriculum, and insists that Orwell would have hated I.D. cards. They're joined by Jean Seaton, Professor of Media History at the University of Westminster and Chair of the Orwell Prize. Orwell was in the news recently when the outgoing Director-General of the BBC, Mark Thompson, turned down a proposal to erect a statue of George Orwell outside BBC Broadcasting House, reportedly telling Joan Bakewell that it was 'far too Left-wing an idea.' Producers: Beatrice Fenton and Toby Field. From 2010.