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Last Word

BBC Radio 4 749 - “A powerful wordsmith and artist” – remembering the playwright and cultural critic Bonnie Greer

Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently

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Published 18 Sep 2026

Duration 27:46

Episodes

749-

“A powerful wordsmith and artist” – remembering the playwright and cultural critic Bonnie Greer

Listened

18 Sep 2026

748-

Gloria Steinem: The journalist and activist who rewrote the rules for women

Listened

11 Sep 2026

747-

Yayoi Kusama: The artist who painted infinity

Listened

04 Sep 2026

746-

Dolly Parton: From the Smoky Mountains to Glastonbury Legend

Listened

28 Aug 2026

745-

Zhu Rongji: The reformist Chinese Premier who ordered 100 coffins

Listened

21 Aug 2026

744-

William Orbit: The pioneering DJ who reinvented Madonna

Listened

14 Aug 2026

743-

Rod Liddle: Part-time punk turned professional provocateur

Listened

07 Aug 2026

742-

Gunther von Hagens: The life of "Dr Death" the man who founded Body Worlds

Listened

31 Jul 2026

741-

Brenda Fricker: The first Irish woman to win an Oscar

Listened

24 Jul 2026

740-

Sam Neill: The silent child with a stutter who became a movie star

Listened

17 Jul 2026

739-

Bonnie Tyler: How the "sweet soul singer" found her growl

Listened

10 Jul 2026

738-

The Good Life of Dame Penelope Keith

Listened

03 Jul 2026

737-

"He became one of the most powerful men in the world” - the story of the man who shaped modern economics

Listened

26 Jun 2026

736-

A “bone marrow love for the Labour party” Lord Kinnock remembers Lord Hattersley

Listened

19 Jun 2026

735-

Founder of the ‘MOBOs’ and champion of black music – Kanya King

Listened

12 Jun 2026

734-

Larry King: The man behind Billie Jean King’s feminist tennis revolution

Listened

05 Jun 2026

733-

Clarence B Jones, Judith Chalmers, Dr Anna Ritchie, Professor Frank Land

Listened

29 May 2026

732-

Michael Pennington, Cynthia Shange, Scott Hastings, Beverley Martyn

Listened

22 May 2026

731-

Ruth Slenczynska, Dame Bridget Ogilvie, Tony Worthington, Russell Tyner KC

Listened

15 May 2026

730-

Dr Ittai Gradel, Dame Shirley Porter, Professor Nigel Dunnett, María Nieves Rego

Listened

08 May 2026

729-

Xia De-hong, Lord Hunt of Chesterton, Joan Burstein, Bill Leader

Listened

01 May 2026

728-

Andy Kershaw, Dame Averil Cameron, Dr Judith Rapoport, Desmond Morris

Listened

24 Apr 2026

727-

Asha Bhosle, Sir Neil Cossons, Professor Harold Ellis, Daphne Selfe

Listened

17 Apr 2026

726-

Sir Craig Reedie, Bronwen Naish, Geoff Yeadon, Margareta Magnusson

Listened

10 Apr 2026

725-

Robert Fox, Mary Rand MBE, Sir Tony Hoare, Biruté Galdikas

Listened

10 Apr 2026

724-

Dame Jenni Murray, Len Deighton, Lynda Hale, Jurgen Habermas

Listened

03 Apr 2026

723-

Yanar Mohammed, MP Phil Woolas, Professor Robin Weiss, Jane Lapotaire

Listened

20 Mar 2026

722-

Paul Conroy, Kenith Trodd, Astrid Llewellyn, Jo Purvis

Listened

13 Mar 2026

721-

Neil Sedaka, Drusilla Beyfus, Professor Dame Carole Jordan, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Listened

06 Mar 2026

720-

Martyn Butler, Allan Massie, Professor Nicola Fear, Willie Colón

Listened

27 Feb 2026

719-

Reverend Jesse Jackson, Diane Munday, Philippe Gaulier, Lady Jean Wilson

Listened

20 Feb 2026

718-

Meredith Hooper, David Young, Dorothy Solomon, Derek Kelly

Listened

13 Feb 2026

717-

Sir Nicholas White, Lord Wallace, Professor Deborah Cameron, Sly Dunbar

Listened

06 Feb 2026

716-

Sir Mark Tully, Dame Gillian Wagner, Dr Gladys West, Richard Larn OBE

Listened

30 Jan 2026

715-

Molly Burkett, Sir James Munby, Edith Flanigen, Aldrich Ames

Listened

23 Jan 2026

714-

Claudette Colvin, Ian Balding, Gerry Gable, Bob Weir, Juliet Robertson

Listened

16 Jan 2026

713-

Molly Parkin, Kristina Gjerde, Michael Barton, Eva Schloss

Listened

09 Jan 2026

712-

Brigitte Bardot, Sir Alec Reed, Alwyn Crawshaw, Dame Shân Legge-Bourke

Listened

02 Jan 2026

711-

Antony Price, Sister Stan Kennedy, Ena Collymore Woodstock, John Carey

Listened

26 Dec 2025

710-

Rob Reiner, Joanna Trollope, Stanley Baxter, Sophie Kinsella

Listened

19 Dec 2025

709-

Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Vera Weisfeld, Frank Gehry, Martin Parr

Listened

12 Dec 2025

708-

Sir Tom Stoppard, Pam Hogg, Yanxin He, Jack Shepherd

Listened

05 Dec 2025

707-

Jimmy Cliff, Charlotte Bingham, Skye Gyngell, David Bellos

Listened

28 Nov 2025

706-

Baroness Newlove, Zoe Wicomb, Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC, Professor Roland Paxton

Listened

21 Nov 2025

705-

James Watson, Pauline Collins, Judith Vidal-Hall, Dugald Ross

Listened

15 Nov 2025

704-

Dick Cheney, Yvonne Brewster, Mary McGee, Peter Watkins

Listened

07 Nov 2025

703-

Prunella Scales CBE, Gillian Tindall, Roger Smith, Anthony Grey

Listened

31 Oct 2025

702-

SPECIAL EDITION: Prunella Scales

Listened

31 Oct 2025

701-

Raila Odinga, Bill Colley, Baroness Rosalind Howells, Sister Marion Irvine

Listened

24 Oct 2025

700-

Peter Gurney, Diane Keaton, Peter Hall, Angela Bond

Listened

17 Oct 2025