Last Word - Derek Mahon, Professor Gerta Vrbová, Ang Rita Sherpa, Helena Shenel
Download Derek Mahon, Professor Gerta Vrbová, Ang Rita Sherpa, Helena Shenel
Pictured: Derek Mahon
Matthew Bannister on
Derek Mahon, one of Ireland’s greatest poets of recent times, whose work 'Everything’s Going To Be Alright' was read on Irish TV and radio at the start of the Covid lockdown.
Professor Gerta Vrbová, who spent her youth fleeing Nazi persecution, then carried out pioneering work on the interaction between muscles and nerves.
Ang Rita Sherpa, the only person to have climbed Mount Everest ten times without using supplemental oxygen.
Helena Shenel, the voice coach who helped many celebrated performers – including Shirley Bassey, Annie Lennox and Peter Gabriel – to overcome problems with their singing.
Interviewed guest: Sean O’Brien Interviewed guest: Peter Hilton Interviewed guest: Uma Shahani Interviewed guest: Ang Tshering Sherpa Interviewed guest: Bhadra Sharma Interviewed guest: Nikki Slade
Producer: Neil George
Archive clips from: Derek Mahon, Radio Ulster 15/01/1984; Arts Extra Special - Derek Mahon: A Celebration, Radio Ulster 16/12/2008; Poetry Please, Radio 4 28/01/2007; New Poems, Radio 3 19/08/1974; Gerta Vrbová: Oral History, Imperial War Museum 15/04/2003; 60 Minutes Australia, Nine Network 05/10/2018; Last Rites of Ang Rita Sherpa, Nepal Tourism TV 23/09/2020; Slate: Shirley Bassey, BBC One Wales 16/09/1993; Saturday Live, Radio 1 06/04/1985.
Published on Friday, 16th October 2020.
Available Podcasts from Last Word
We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the Last Word webpage.