Life Sentences Podcast

Caroline Baum
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Life Sentences Podcast

What is the secret to writing a really juicy biography? Author Caroline Baum interviews seasoned players and persistent newcomers who share their experience of navigating sensitive territory in the search for the real story behind a person’s life. Whether they are writing about the famous or the forgotten, whether their version of events is authorised or unauthorised, biography is a high-stakes quest full of twists and turns.

  1. JUL 11

    Lucky

    Donald Horne was Australia’s leading public intellectual in the sixties and seventies and coined the phrase The Lucky Country in his bestselling book of the same title. The phrase has entered the Australian vernacular, and is often misused and interpreted as a sign of national complacency.   Before he became an author, Horne had tried on many hats: as a journalist, ad man, and editor; later he became an academic and a bureaucrat. The big story in his life was his political shift from the conservative right to the progressive left, thanks to his enthusiasm for Gough Whitlam’s vision of Australia’s potential.   Famous for his love of a long lunch (especially when he was the editor of the Bulletin), he was indeed lucky to find in his second wife Myfanwy a partner who was a true collaborator in all his ideas.   Ryan Cropp’s energetic debut biography captures the paradoxes and many-faceted ambitions of the man and his times. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    44 min

  2. JUL 4

    The Impresario

    There has never been anyone like Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev.   The Russian impresario shook up the dusty world of ballet, making it the centre of the avant garde in the early part of the twentieth century, especially in Paris where the premieres of L’Apres Midi ‘D’un Faune and the Rite of Spring caused shock and scandal.   Born in a provincial backwater, Diaghilev made his way to St Petersburg with ambitions as a painter and composer, but failed at both. Eventually he discovered that his talents were more curatorial and, after bringing Russian art to Paris, he returned with The Ballets Russes, a troupe of brilliant dancers, including Nijinski, and gorgeous sets and costumes, taking the city by storm.   Collaborating with artists like Picasso and Stravinsky, Diaghilev changed the face of dance forever. He defined the word impresario in a unique way, discovering talent, finding the money to stage lavish productions and generating huge audience excitement, in a dizzying feat of risk-taking and flair.   In this episode, British cultural critic Rupert Christensen discusses his book Diaghilev’s Empire, about the impact, influence and legacy of a larger than life individual who loved Russia but was condemned by history to a life in exile. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    51 min

  3. JUN 27

    Superboy

    Recorded in the lead up the UK election of 2024, this is a conversation with Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer’s biographer, journalist and former Labour insider Tom Baldwin. He explains how the biography was written with Starmer’s co-operation but was not authorised by him and how Starmer learns things from the book that he did not expect, but feels uncomfortable with some of the details about his complex family relationships.   What emerges is a portrait of a relentless, hardworking details man, who consults, listens and is outcome focussed. A man who is not political in the traditional sense, but who has leadership skills and who values of integrity and decency but is not always good at playing the media game. He’d much rather play football with his old mates. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    58 min

  4. JUN 20

    Brief Lives

    Most people are unaware of the existence of the Australian Dictionary of National Biography, a remarkable effort of scholarship by an army of volunteer historians and specialist contributors committed to documenting significant and representative Australians. It’s a challenging task in terms not only of scale but because previous entries need to be revised in the light of fresh historical evidence and interpretation. Women and First Nations figures were overlooked when the project began, but that is now being addressed.   The Director of the National Dictionary of Biography is historian Dr Melanie Nolan. She tells Life Sentences how the Dictionary differs from its British counterpart, how entries are selected and how the Dictionary is trying to move with the times. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    37 min

  5. JUN 13

    Two Bob's Worth

    To fully enjoy this episode, it is recommended that you watch the documentary Turn Every Page about the unique working relationship between biography giant Robert Caro and his editor of fifty years, Robert Gottlieb.   Robert Caro is regarded by many as the greatest biographer of his generation, thanks to the ambition, scope and meticulous detail of his 1974 best selling biography The Power Broker, about Robert Moses, the unscrupulous developer who built the New York we know today.   Now 88, he is currently at work on the eagerly awaited fifth volume of his biography of President Lyndon Johnson.   Robert Gottlieb is a former editor of the New Yorker and has edited many of the greats of twentieth century American literature from Joseph Heller to Toni Morrison. His partnership with Robert Caro was a unique relationship between author and editor that never translated into a personal friendship outside of work.   Lizzie Gottlieb, Robert Gottlieb’s daughter, was given unprecedented access to the very shy, modest and private Robert Caro. Her observational documentary tells the story of his research methods, of how he uncovered the racism inherent in Robert Moses’ approach to urban development and of the secrets and lies buried within the Johnson family that Caro’s unflagging patience and active listening uncovered in Texas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    33 min

  6. JUN 6

    After The Dream

    This content is from BIO, The US based Biographers International Organisation, which promotes and champions the practice of biography to writers and readers.   You can read more about BIO here: https://biographersinternational.org/   In this episode award-winning biographer Jonathan Eig talks about why it was time, after more than three decades, for a new biography of Martin Luther King that explored his flawed humanity.    Benefitting from the release of previously unavailable documents from the White House and the FBI, this is a biography of King written for the generation that came of age with Black Lives Matter, that may know little of King and his dream. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    27 min

  7. MAY 30

    Biography Backwards

    Historian Kate Fullagar tells the story of the intertwined destinies of Governor Phillip and First Nations leader Bennelong, beginning with their deaths and spooling gradually back to their first encounter.   This bold, unconventional approach allows for a wider lens and different perspective on their respective personalities and achievements, and on the events which brought them together at a time when Britain’s colonial ambitions were to shape Australia for the next century.   Understanding, misunderstanding, conflict and a remarkable journey together to Britain give this double-headed biography a compelling and sometimes poignant narrative.   Life Sentences is produced by David Roach for Two Heads Media and edited by Kirra Jordan for PipeWolf Media. We live and work on Dharawal country and pay our respects to elders past and present. Music is composed and performed by Amanda Brown. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 1m

  8. APR 4

    Talking About A Revolution

    An elegant Trotskyist, Michael Pablo grew up in Greece to become an urbane revolutionary, who made his presence felt at many of the most significant uprisings of the 20th century in an attempt to build what he called self-managed socialism.   Partnered by his dynamic and fearless wife Elli Dyovoumoti, Pablo was often in great danger, spent time in prison, and made enemies among fellow socialists. But when it came to the Algerian uprising of 1962 against the French, he rolled up his intellectual sleeves and got his hands dirty, helping the Algerians to arm themselves by setting up a gun factory. The story of this venture is worth a movie in its own right.   Clashing with Castro, supporting Solidarity in Poland, Pablo was an influential force without ever becoming a leader. He was ahead of his time in his support for fully-fledged feminism and maintained a strong circle of friends throughout his life.   Hall Greenland’s biography, The Well-Dressed Revolutionary, is an admiring portrait of a man and a time when socially progressive ideas had real momentum and it felt as if the world were tilting towards a raised consciousness on equality and human rights. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    55 min
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What is the secret to writing a really juicy biography? Author Caroline Baum interviews seasoned players and persistent newcomers who share their experience of navigating sensitive territory in the search for the real story behind a person’s life. Whether they are writing about the famous or the forgotten, whether their version of events is authorised or unauthorised, biography is a high-stakes quest full of twists and turns.

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