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Jessie Ware on Donna Summer

The singer and podcaster, Jessie Ware, chooses the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer.

• 28 mins

Ernie Bevin, forgotten political giant

Frances O'Grady nominates Ernie Bevin

• 28 mins

Tom Allen on Kenneth Williams

Comedian Tom Allen chooses the entertainer Kenneth Williams.

• 28 mins

Sir David Adjaye on Okwui Enwezor

Curator and educator Okwui Enwezor championed by the architect Sir David Adjaye.

• 28 mins

James Graham on John Maynard Keynes

The acclaimed playwright tells Matthew Parris why he's inspired by Keynes' life and work.

• 28 mins

Xuanzang, Chinese monk and traveller

Michael Wood on the great Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang.

• 28 mins

Katherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII

Who would marry a serial killer? Katherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII

• 28 mins

David Spiegelhalter on Frank Ramsey

Statistician David Spiegelhalter champions the short, brilliant life of Frank Ramsey.

• 28 mins

The Great Lives of Great Lives

After 450 episodes, Matthew Parris thinks it's time to find out what makes a great life.

• 28 mins

Diane Morgan on Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding

Comedian and actor Diane Morgan chooses the life of Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding

• 28 mins

Rob Rinder on Jessica Mitford

Jessica Mitford is championed by Robert Rinder.

• 28 mins

David Jonsson on Jean Michel Basquiat

Actor David Jonsson champions artist Jean-Michel Basquiat

• 28 mins

Caroline Catz on Delia Derbyshire

Actor Caroline Catz chooses Delia Derbyshire, who realised the theme to Doctor Who.

• 28 mins

Rights activist Cesar Chavez nominated by Cori Crider

Human rights lawyer Cori Crider explains why she is inspired by the life of Cesar Chavez.

• 28 mins

The Talented Mr Ripley author, Patricia Highsmith

Sometimes known as 'the stalker's balladeer', she is director Jonathan Kent's choice.

• 28 mins

Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown picks Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe.

• 28 mins

Black and British pioneer Kenny Lynch

Veteran black and British entertainer Kenny Lynch.

• 28 mins

KT Tunstall on Ivor Cutler

Singer-songwriter KT Tunstall nominates Scottish humorist Ivor Cutler

• 28 mins

Jonathan Dimbleby on Harry Hopkins

President Roosevelt's right hand man in World War Two, Harry Hopkins.

• 28 mins

Arlo Parks on Elliott Smith

Singer-songwriter Arlo Parks nominates the young life of singer Elliott Smith.

• 28 mins

Ben Miller on William Hazlitt

Actor and comedian Ben Miller nominates essayist William Hazlitt.

• 28 mins

Rosie Millard on Edward III

Rosie tells Matthew Parris that Edward III was a cultural hero who deserves greater fame.

• 28 mins

The Surprise Lives

A runaway rollercoaster of Great Lives.

• 28 mins

Hans Christian Andersen

Author of The Little Mermaid and The Emperor's New Clothes, he was 'a very strange orchid'

• 28 mins

Yehudi Menuhin

Violinist Tasmin Little on her hero, Sir Yehudi Menuhin.

• 28 mins

Althea Gibson

The first black tennis player to win Wimbledon is the choice of Professor Devi Sridhar.

• 28 mins

Frantz Fanon

The anti-colonial writer and psychiatrist from Martinique is the choice of Lindsay Johns

• 28 mins

Josiah Wedgwood, master potter

Tristram Hunt on Josiah Wedgwood, vase maker general to the universe!

• 28 mins

Peggy Seeger on her husband Ewan MacColl

Ewan MacColl - folk singer and labour activist - was born Jimmy Miller in Salford in 1915.

• 28 mins

Dorothy Byrne on Catherine of Siena

The president of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge champions the life of the Italian saint

• 28 mins