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By all accounts, a cruel, cold, remote, and physically and psychologically abusive man.

The WW2 boom and the subsequent two decades of unprecedented wealth in the US was based upon the fact that all the rival nations were in ruins or bombed into rubble completely. With the USSR entirely separate America had no economic opposition. 90% of the entire disposable wealth on the planet was in the hands of Americans.

CHRISTMAS 2024 just happened and I'm watching Bing

I loved Radio 4 in rhe days of programmes of the calibre of Letter From America. Today I couldn't listen to any BBC output as its so biased & woke. All I listen to is the old programmes on Radio 4 Extra Its a shame old Letters From America aren't repeated on Radio 4 Extra?

I thought that surely Ustinov would rise above the British outright refusal to pronounce foreign words corrrectly. ( For example, Don Juan is called Don Jew-un by the British. Ugh. The entire world knows how to pronounce Don Juan.). But no. When he referred to Don Quixote as Don Qwix-ott my hopes were dashed. And if you’re British, FYI: Quixote is a Spanish name, and Cervantes’s world famous character, for centuries now. . The name is pronounced Kee-ho-tay.

Delightful. RIP dear Jesse Matthews

Incredible to think the man behind the musical sensation of 1911/12, Alexander's Ragtime Band, lived into the post-modern age of hip-hop, hair metal, and early grunge. How bewildering, strange, and not a little disconcerting it must have been for Berlin to witness the sea change in culture, music, and technology that transpired in his elder years. Perhaps it was owing to this mid-century socio-cultural revolution that Berlin gave up his trade in the early 1960s and entered into a long, notoriously reclusive retirement where he saw little to no visitors. It's a real pity Berlin's life ended in self-imposed isolation brought about by bitter, depressive feelings of being outmoded, passé, and tweedly old-fashioned in a culture that valued above all else youth, newness, and innovation. Had he been more open to change in musical trends as in earlier days, and less curmudgeonly about the post-war youth boom that swept aside the musical fashion, tastes, and values of Tin Pan Alley, his name would likely be better recognized by the younger generations today!

Peter gives SO much , in conversations. His storytelling is so entertaining😊, And yet, still can be absolutely serious about UNICEF, etc. I read his book, " Dear Me", and have just found a recording Peter reading it, on TH-cam😊📖. Recommended.👍. 🇬🇧⭐💙🦉🎼🌈🇬🇧

The sheer bliss is when Ian became the perfect Lord Peter Wimsey in the series we so adored. I'm sure Dorothy Sayers, the author of the Wimsey novels, would have loved his stellar performance.

I have this recording on a reel to reel tape I got on ebay. It includes numerous newspaper clippings about the recordings.

Though the intended audience was britain, I listened to this from the time I was a kid in the US. Is perspective is always valued and never seems dated.

What a delightful half hour. Thanks, JS. So nice to hear the inimitable Bobby Short sing Geo. Gershwin's Oh Gee! -- Oh Joy! at 14:03 Cheers.

Timeless.... Thank you, Mr. Wodehouse! God rest your dear soul. Thank you to the channel for uploading . G Ire

One of America's greatest and best composers. You have only to listen to All The Things You Are, Long Ago and Far Away, People Will Say We're in Love, and Showboat!

And to think what horrible conditions duddly moore died under it just so sad.

Just love his voice.

Thank you so much for this 💗

Hello from Canada. What a treat! Thank you, truly, for posting this. Cheers…

Fred Astaire also sang the original 1929 version brilliantly. Your version was from Blue Skies in 1946 which had different lyrics.

Ahhh the absolute JOY of listening to Wodehouse, narrated by the brilliant Martin Jarvis ❤ adored this recording, thank you, thank you!

Thanks for posting my favourite episode

Wonderful 🎉 Anyone have a copy of “The Unseen Alistair Cooke”? I looked on TH-cam with no success. Think it was originally on PBS several years ago. Also checked the PBS shop but nothing. 😔

Allister Cooke presents a great presentation of Hoagy and his musical talent.

This has pictures.

I still miss letter from America, it used to make my week.

what year was this?

What struck me by watching her movies was that she had the most perfect athletic body of any actress, English or American, in the 1930's. That gave her dancing a great amount of sex appeal, though it was not overt but understated.

If this brilliant, if somewhat curtailed biography of The Master by another master has whetted your appetite, check out the book by Laurence Bergreen named after the musical , As Thousands Cheer. Irving Berlin was a very complex character, much troubled towards the end of his life with bitterness and self-doubt but no one was a more prolific composer of American Music in the first half of the 20th century. Jerome Kern said it thus, " Irving Berlin has no place in American music. He IS American music."

I saw this when it was broadcast and couldn't believe how spry and bright 88 year old Chesney was.

A great man. Most young people will never have heard him or heard of him. That is their loss.

From relatively humble beginnings he grew to be a friend of the great and the good. He studied history and appreciated the light it could shed on the present. His eye fell on people, places and subjects far and wide. His knowledge showed in his writing and monologues but, he was never preachy or boring. His sharp wit, logical mind and excellent storytelling kept you engaged. He is very sadly missed. We have only a handful of people like this now and none perhaps have that human link to history.

You can understand Ethel Merman's words perfectly.

My viewpoint is this: I love his voice and his performances. Extremely talented and versatile. He does seem to be very humble. Another huge plus. You want to like him. Seems like someone who would be a very loyal pal. Do I idolize the man? No. He was flawed as we all are. There is only one who walked the earth in perfection. Jesus.

One of Americas treasures

Bing did it all and he did it first yeah and way way better hes the real King👑👑👑👑👑 of song📀📀📀📀📀

Nice man ,and cat.

Thanks for sharing this. It is longer than the ones with visuals. A brilliant man and a class interviewer.

Love this stuff!!!

Coal Porter was fabulous, best song writer and very clever! 1:44

No matter where I was in the world (British army) I always listened to letters on the world service a wonderful speaker

The King of American Music!

Interesting stuff, but it is curious he mentions junkies living off the state. USA has never been much of a welfare state. Social programs are practically non existent compared to the rest of G8. USA was early with social security, but it is hardly a handout as it is simply the current working generation paying a bare minimum pension for the previous generation. The only real handouts, as in getting something for nothing have gone to bankers, who every few years in a tsunami of unchecked greed causes economic collapse and forces big daddy to either bail them out or cover their losses, as well as being forced to issue massive government dept to recover the economy.

I've always adored Hoagy Carmichael. Thanks for this. Yesterday I had Alistair Cooke on Cole Porter.

My Richard sang so much like Bing!

I think this was from 1977, this interview is about his Autobiography Dear Me, which came out that year.

LOOKING AT YOU IS WRITTTEN WITH THIS MONOTONOUS OMM PAHH BASE. NOT ONE OF MY FAVORITE COLE´S SONGS.

Savannah , GA can't capture all this Great man did. But it sure captures a Big chunk. Love seeing the family plot at , Bonaventure Cemetary! Worth the whole trip

I still love his voice , even at this age.

Alistair is long gone but after hearing his "tributes" of Marx and Crosby...did he really know either one well enough? I laughed when he said Crosby kept an even keel during the hard times of his life...how could he keep an even keel when he was a known drunk?

Thèse are gems. Thank you for discovering and posting them.