Radio Gorgeous

What did we expect our mothers to be in the 20th Century? Apron wearing, docile, tactile and never critical. But one day we find out that our mothers are people and they have dreams and expectations. Today I am welcomed onto Radio Gorgeous a woman who is an award winning producer and documentary maker, Sarah…

Stephanie broke away from her long term boyfriend and went to live in the all women camp Greenham Common in Berkshire in the 80s. The women’s wildness, irreverence and freedom influenced Stephanie greatly and she finally found out who she was.  Other Girls Like Me is published by Bedazzled and is up for an award…

Dinner with Edward by New York Post Journalist Isabel Vincent Edward had just lost the love of his life and his reason for living. In walks Isabel and their friendship blooms over his carefully and artfully prepared dinners. His extraordinary love affair – ongoing even after death – highlighted the cracks in Isabel’s faltering marriage….

  Mother Anguish – A Memoir by Basia Briggs with Josephine Pembroke GORGEOUS LIVES  How does one survive abuse, alcoholism and a wild mother? Listen to this tantalising life story of courage and grit. Mother Anguish, A Memoir is published by Quartet. Buy it here #HighSociety #Royals #Abuse #RadioGorgeous Never miss a podcast sign up…

Tracy Tynan WEAR & TEAR: The Threads of My Life GORGEOUS LIVES with Josephine Pembroke Tracy Tynan HOLLYWOOD Costume Designer talks to Josephine about her bohemian, alcohol fuelled upbringing with her wild self obsessed parents Kenneth Tynan, theatre critic and Elaine Dundy, author her parents. Tracy finds solace through her love of clothes which leads to…

The Wild Other by Clover Stroud – A Memoir on Radio Gorgeous with Donna Freed Clover’s country idyll of a childhood was shattered at 16 when her mother suffered a massive brain injury. She was propelled into a life of free fall adventure but also recreated the circumstances of her own upbringing for her 5…

3 generations of strong, creative women: Nadja Spiegelman, I’m Supposed to Protect You From All This, GORGEOUS READS with Donna Freed on Radio Gorgeous  An intensive exploration of three generations of strong, creative, forceful women in her family who not only shaped the next generation but reshaped the past. Nadja Spiegelman finds both forgiveness but…

Magda Szubanski RECKONING – A MEMOIR with Donna Freed on Radio GORGEOUS    Beloved Australian performer and actor (the wife in Babe), Magda Szubanski’s memoir Reckoning is a moving account and attempt to reconcile the traumatic effects of World War II on her Polish father as visited upon her childhood as well as an exuberant, joyful…

iO Tillet Wright DARLING DAYS a memoir Gorgeous Reads on RADIO GORGEOUS  Named after one of Jupiter’s moons iO Tillet Wright is an author, activist and photographer. In this honest memoir iO explains how it was being brought up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 80’s and 90’s where being eccentric or weird…

  A dancer a deb and a Socialite – Josephine Loewenstein WIND IN MY HAIR a Kaleidoscope of Memories Gorgeous Lives on Radio Gorgeous with Josephine Pembroke Josephine could have gone down the obvious route for a girl of her class born during the war; marriage at eighteen and a stultifying life in the country….

Brigid Keenan talks CONVENTS mini skirts MEASURING THE QUEEN and her book FULL MARKS FOR TRYING As a talented author and journalist, Brigid Keenan has worked at The Sunday Times and Nova magazine, written two fashion books and penned two memoirs about her life as a diplomat’s wife. She’s currently a Fashion Editor on The…

    The UNDERTAKER’S DAUGHTER – KATE MAYFIELD Kate Mayfield’s family could hardly shun death as it put food on the table. As The Undertaker’s Daughter she was fully steeped in the rituals of death amidst the stifling atmosphere of the rural American South, untouched by the encroaching Civil Rights Movement. She introduces us to…

Despite our best efforts to ignore the fact, this wonderful life we all share comes with an undisclosed sell-by date and none of us get out alive. Donna and Josephine discuss the idea of a ‘good death’ and Josephine outlines her funeral: think PINK!   Author Elizabeth Scarboro shares her boy meets girl story with…

Emma Bridgwater From the simple idea of wanting to create the perfect bowl and mug for her mum’s dresser, Emma Bridgewater built the pottery empire she always dreamed of. The colourful, cheerful and practical ceramics have the same design she drew 30 years ago in her Brixton squat. She’s come a long way since then…

Best of Radio Gorgeous You are in for a treat we have created an easy to digest ‘Best of Radio Gorgeous’ for you to enjoy. Firstly you will hear perky Jo Wood talking about hanging out with the Rolling Stones and then the happiness that came from getting of their cloud. Then meet Harriet Sergeant…

Gemma Levine Just One More She started her photographic career taking pictures in the parks of London and then of the Goons – a clear connection if you’re Gemma Levine! Jeremy Robson, then a young publisher, asked her to take snapshots for the covers of his books which ultimately led to a career defining 10…

Author of the Week: Elisa Segrave The Girl From Station X Elisa’s relationship with her mother, Anne Segrave, was blighted from the age of 7 when a family tragedy broke her mother’s spirit. Under this cloud, it was impossible for mother and daughter to be close. It was only when her mother was unknowable due…

  you don’t have to listen to the whole show…you can just scroll to your favourite bit… Gorgeous Gossip and Bitch Boxer What is a bitch? Are you a bitch?  And is it such a bad word? Josephine and Donna discuss this emotive word in their Gorgeous Gossip, which leads us into Donna’s interview with…

Josephine talks to Michele Hanson about her wonderfully evocative memoir What the Grown-ups Were Doing. We’re introduced to pets (past and present!), and find out that behind the suburban respectability of 1950s Ruislip, there lurked a world of oddball characters, unhappy marriages, hidden anxieties and suspected salacious goings on. Actress Siân Phillips’ CBE discusses her…