Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Prolific writer and historian known for over fifty books and thousands of articles on modernity, morality, art, and philosophy.
On the island
Eight records
Vienna Choir Boys and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Helmut Froschauer
Corpus Christi is the great feast of transubstantiation, the great Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist. And we celebrated at school, not only by singing this, but we had a sovereign's guard of honour from the officer training corps of the school. And my last year at school I commanded this.
this is a song by Tchaikovsky, uh, which my mother used to sing to me. She had a beautiful voice, and she taught me how to sing None But the Lonely Heart. And it's incredibly sad because Tchaikovsky led a very sad life and in the end he was forced to commit suicide by a court of honor because he'd made a pass at the Czar's nephew.
Leslie Hutchinson had the most wonderful voice. Uh it had a terrific range. The trouble was, he was so attractive, the ladies could never uh leave him alone, they have more or less killed him.
She was one of the heroines of my childhood. My mother approved of her. She said she's a very good little girl, and you'll learn good manners from her. So I was allowed to see her movies. And then, as it happened, later on when she grew up and became, I think, a diplomat, I once had the privilege of meeting her. And she was absolutely adorable.
the piano accordion. The piano accordion is really the essential instrument of France. And of course, it was General de Gaulle's favourite instrument.
This is what I think the best short record ever made. It's Patsy Klein singing Crazy. I hate pop music, but I love a popular song well sung. Here is a superb song, brilliantly performed by a gifted singer, and technically an outstanding recording.
When I was a little boy, we lived on the Fyld. He lived at Anstill. Of course, he was the most famous entertainer in Britain. This was in the thirties. Everyone knew him. He used to go for little walks by himself, and occasionally I'd run into him. Once he gave me sixpence, which was a lot of money in those days. He's a generous man. And my mother, who disapproved of him, she said he's a very vulgar, low-down comedian.
Look for the Silver LiningFavourite
This is my view of life. It's called Look for the Silver Lining. And curiously enough, I once sang this on the BBC.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:35Do you think we all really crave a world like that, where it's easy to define the difference between right and wrong?
Uh well, of course, that's what you're taught. I mean, the most important thing in my life was being born a Catholic. And I was given a very good Catholic education by my parents, and then later by Dominican nuns, and above all the Jesuits at Stonyhurst, which was the boarding school I went to. They teach you the difference between right and wrong, and it's very clear.
Presenter asks
2:21What do you make of the coalition government and how they're handling things?
Well, they're doing better than I thought because, you know, they have to keep the votes of the Liberals, and Liberals are always a poison in the government liquid.
Presenter asks
5:01Are you drawn towards trying to understand what it is that has made men great?
Well, I write books to educate myself. I'm a very ignorant person, and if you write a book about somebody, you have to organise your reading very systematically, take notes, organize your thoughts, and so on. So you learn that way.
The keepsakes
The book
I take an atlas. I love atlases. And of course, an atlas can allow you to travel, in your imagination, all over the world.
The luxury
Watercolour paints and a lifetime supply of paper
if I was allowed to take my watercolour paints and lots of paper, I'd never be bored.
Presenter asks
5:15Do you aspire to greatness yourself? Do you have an idea of how you'd like to be remembered?
No, I don't aspire to greatness because I did have a few years of power when I was an editor of the New Statesman in the nineteen sixties, and it was a very important paper in those days, and I found, at the end of six years, I really didn't enjoy power. And I think for that sort of greatness you have to enjoy power.
Presenter asks
14:20What happened [to make you leave the Labour Party]?
I revolted against that in the nineteen seventies because of the tr behaviour of the trades unions. They were ruining the country. And then when Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Tory party, ousted that useless fellow Heath, I attached myself to her because she promised that she'd reform the unions, and by golly, she did too.
Presenter asks
15:02Do you ever feel like a man out of time that your views really now are the views of yesteryear?
Well, no. I mean, the fact is, you know, I'm nearly eighty three. Time moves on. Time moves on and uh you can't always move with it. Um there's lots of things uh that Cameron does and says and believes that I don't particularly like. But he's entitled to his views and I don't want to stop progress.
“I remember everything my mother said to me, and I've always tried to take her advice.”
“I write books to educate myself. I'm a very ignorant person, and if you write a book about somebody, you have to organise your reading very systematically, take notes, organize your thoughts, and so on. So you learn that way.”
“When you're painting watercolour, you have to concentrate every fibre of your being on what you're doing. So whatever worries you have, they're driven out of your mind by the art you're exercising.”
“All my life I have been impatient. All my life I have struggled against impatience, because it leads to all kinds of things like bad temper and so forth. And I still struggle against it.”