Award-winning broadcaster Edi Stark has picked a selection from her collection of interviews with hundreds of writers, artists, politicians, celebrities for a new BBC Sounds podcast and a retrospective series for BBC Radio Scotland.
There are over 400 guests who have appeared on her Stark Talk show since it launched in 2000 and now Edi reveals her favourite one.
Edi says: “I’ve been asked many times down the years who has been my favourite person to interview and I’ve always been reluctant to single out one guest.
“But now that I’ve listened back to so many shows to put together these collections, I think it’s an appropriate time to finally reveal that the great Scottish poet Norman MacCaig was my favourite.
“I was so excited at the prospect I could hardly breathe but I settled down enough to conduct an interview which I enjoyed enormously and which I think has stood the test of time.
“He was such a twinkling presence, full of mischief and dry humour, it was impossible not to fall for his charisma and charm. And that’s before he read his poetry.”
Edi recorded MacCaig in 1993 and Stark Talk was first broadcast in April 2000. It began with politician Dr John Reid and other guests included a broad range of personalities.
Speaking about going through the recordings to choose the highlights, Edi says: “It has been fascinating to go back through the recordings and re-live so many memorable moments. The archive is a treasure trove of the recent social and cultural history of Scotland and beyond and it’s a privilege to share it more widely.
“There’ll be added value with the podcast series as I’ll be updating some of the interviews, catching up with guests such as Janey Godley who I first interviewed in 2008.”
Other guests will include include author Irvine Welsh, actor James Cosmo, singer Sharleen Spiteri and Steve Begg, Bond movies special effects artist from Muirhouse in Edinburgh.
There will also be interviews with some former guests who are now deceased including author Iain Banks and Iain Hutchinson, Battle of Britain fighter pilot from Govan.
One interview included was recorded in March this year and of it, Edi says: “When I interviewed Dr Tommy Curry, newly appointed head of Africana Philosophy and Black Male studies at Edinburgh University, neither of us could anticipate how much the world would radically change within weeks.
“A global pandemic and of course, the tragic death of George Floyd in police custody which precipitated outrage and campaigning made the programme dated. Dr Curry, who was targeted and threatened by white supremacists while working at A and M University in Texas gave an electrifying interview and in the podcast I will speak to him again.”
The Stark Talk podcast launches on BBC Sounds today (Thursday 6 August) and the first episode of the archive series is on BBC Radio Scotland on Sunday 9 August at 7am.
