Country Life

Country Life magazine has been celebrating the best of life in Britain for over 126 years, from the castles and cottages that dot the land to the beautiful countryside around us.

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Top 10 Country Life Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Country Life episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Country Life for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Country Life episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Why does Wales exist, and 46 more questions about the borders of the world, with Jonn Elledge

Country Life

06/03/24 • 33 min

Some time between the formation of the earth, and now, some human beings decided to draw some lines on the sand somewhere to define ‘our bit’ of the earth and ‘their bit’ of the earth. We now refer to these lines as borders.

Journalist and author Jonn Elledge has always been fascinated by why and how this happens, and in this episode he joins the Country Life Podcast to talk about borders and his new book, The History of the World in 47 Borders.

Jonn's fascination with borders made him think that the smart thing to do would be to write a book about them. 47 of them, specifically, which he claims can tell us ‘the history of the world’. We invited him on to the Country Life podcast to discuss just how the border came to be, what they mean, some weird ones, and the somewhat disturbing truth about why a lot of them are simply just straight lines.

We answer important questions such as ‘why does Wales exist’, what happened during the partition of India, and why most borders are a bit nonsensical, when you think about it.

And at the heart of it all lies the great question: are national identities defined by their borders, or vice versa? To find out the answer, you’ll just have to listen — and if you get to the end and still want to know more (including the answer to the question ‘why does landlocked Bolivia still have a navy?’), you can buy his book, which is available at all good bookshops (and some bad ones).

'The History of the World in 47 Borders' can be bought online here. Follow Jonn on X/Twitter here

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Jonn Elledge

Editor and Producer: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the King and Queen edited Country Life, by the editor who guided them every step of the way

Country Life

05/06/24 • 35 min

Paula Lester has been running the features desk at Country Life magazine for over a decade. So when His Majesty The King — Prince Charles, as he was at the time — agreed to guest edit the magazine, she was the obvious choice to guide him and his team through the process.

The result, as Paula tells James Fisher on this week's Country Life Podcast, could never have been foreseen: after months of work and literally thousands of emails, the magazine became Country Life's best-selling issue of all time. A second guest edit came; then The Princess Royal took the helm as well; and in 2022, it was the turn of Queen Camilla, while still Duchess of Cornwall, to try her hand at it.

Paula talks through those extraordinary experiences, and what it was like to work with His Majesty and Their Royal Highnesses on putting together an issue of the magazine. Everything from commissioning features to arrange a photo shoot carried out by none other than The Duchess of Cambridge (now Princess of Wales) — who phoned Paula while she was at the hairdresser!

As well as the royal guest edits, Paula explains how the magazine's features come together each week, looking at where ideas come from, how they're brought to life, and the amazing team around her who make sure that it happens 52 weeks a year.

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Paula Lester

Editor and Producer: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Spice Girls, The Stage and the state of the Arts, with Alistair Smith

Country Life

08/26/24 • 33 min

If it wasn’t for The Stage, there’s every chance that Britain and, indeed, the world may have been deprived of such great names as Kenneth Brannagh, Harold Pinter, Michael Caine, Sharon D Clarke, Idris Elba, The Spice Girls and Steps.

It goes to show the importance of trade publications, especially those that work in the Arts. I was very lucky to be joined this week on the Country Life by The Stage’s editor Alistair Smith to talk about all things theatre and the performing arts, as well as the Edinburgh Fringe. Full disclosure, he is also my friend and neighbour, and sometimes he feeds my cat while I’m on holiday.

Nevertheless, he is an expert in his field, having started working at the newspaper 20 years ago on work experience, before rising through the ranks to the top job. Over the years, he’s seen it all, from mime shows to the Kit Kat club to a Fringe performance that took place entirely in a lift.

We talked about The Fringe, the state of the Arts in the UK and what can be done to help them, his work for the charity Get Into Theatre, how he got his big break in journalism thanks to a juggler and how to get Ian McKellen to take your picture.

As always, it’s a supremely engaging listen and you can download it wherever you get your podcasts.

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Alistair Smith

Editor and producer: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special Thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to live like a Tudor, and other stories, with Ruth Goodman

Country Life

08/19/24 • 26 min

It’s important to think about the past. I think about it often. Usually when I’m lying in bed and my brain decides that’s the best time to think of mistakes I’ve made, loves that have been lost, and, of course, the Roman Empire.

A lot of history is about kings, queens and battles. Which is very interesting in its own way. But is it real history? After all, most of history doesn’t involve kings or queens or battles. Most of history is just normal people going about their business, trying not to be too hungry, too cold, or too sick. That’s real history.

That’s why it’s important to talk to people such as Ruth Goodman, who is less interested in kings and queens and battles. She likes to learn about normal people, doing normal things, in the past and what that says about us.

She came on the Country Life Podcast to talk to us about normal people doing normal things in the past, and how she learns so much about them. The secret is to put yourself in their shoes. She cooks dinners over an open fire. She once lived according to a ‘Tudor body-cleansing regime’ for three months and apparently it wasn’t so bad. To her, the study of the people of the past is a type of anthropology; after all, to us, the Tudor is a different society altogether.

It was extremely eye opening and interesting. We also discussed her work around restoring a former ‘ragged school’ in Fulham that has been redeveloped into something called KYN Hurlingham. It’s an interesting focal point of how working-class people worked together to improve their own lives, in the face of indifference from the wealthy and the government.

It was a wide-ranging and interesting chat. You’ll love it. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Ruth Goodman

Editor and producer: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special Thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do leopards hunt in packs, and other frequently asked questions on travel, with Rosie Paterson

Country Life

10/21/24 • 34 min

When it comes to travel, few know more than our very own Rosie Paterson. She has been to many places, and seen many things. And that’s just this year.

She also has her finger on the pulse when it comes to places people might like to go in the future. Imagine how smug you would feel telling friends at a drinks party that, actually, ‘Japan is a bit overdone at the moment; south-west China is where it’s at’. These are the kinds of insights you could gain if you listen to this week’s episode.

Other insights include, but are not limited to, hiking with leopards in Sri Lanka, walking with wolves in Montana with a man named Randy, plus some of the best spots in New York City, Greece, Rome and the UK.

It’s a must listen if your thoughts are already turning towards where to spend some time next week. Below is a bunch of links to all the establishments mentioned, so you can check them out for yourself. And we very much hope you enjoy the episode.

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher
Guest: Rosie Paterson
Editor and Producer: Toby Keel
Music: JuliusH via Pixabay; Another Pineapple Please - The Fly Guy Five via Epidemic Sound

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The accidental invention of the teenager and other stories from the history of the home, with Sonia Solicari

Country Life

07/08/24 • 31 min

Look around you. You might be reading this in your home. Or perhaps someone else’s home. The point is we spend a lot of time in our homes, more so now than ever before (apart from that year we don’t talk about).

They are our own private spaces — reflections on ourselves, our styles, our opinions, our choices, our ideas. Every choice you make when it comes to your home, from the wallpaper to who you choose to share it with, is both an extension of yourself and often an extension of the world around you. Homes are something we look at most days, and yet something that we probably don’t often think about all that often.

I know this now because I spent 30 minutes talking to Sonia Solicari, the director of the Museum of the Home, who opened my eyes to what ‘the home’ really means. At her museum, based in Hoxton in East London, the home is used to understand and explain history in a fascinating way. Through rooms, from a parlour in 1695 to what the living room of the future may look like, we can understand the world around us.

These are just some of the fascinating insights from our talk. Another one is how Sonia explained to me how everyday objects often found in the home changed our lives. Did you know that the invention of the thermostat may have given rise to the moody teenager? There’s a free little tidbit for you.

It’s been one of my favourite podcasts we’ve done and I would highly recommend you listen to the rest. There’s even a bit where a squirrel interrupts me by staring at me through the window, but at the time of writing I've not yet heard the final cut, so I’m not sure if Toby left that bit in. The only way you'll find out now is to have a listen for yourself. And in doing so, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did (the podcast, not the squirrel).

— James Fisher

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Sonia Solicari of the Museum of the Home

Editor and Producer: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What you need to know before you move house, by property expert Annabel Dixon

Country Life

06/17/24 • 27 min

From the rollercoaster of mortgage rates to the calling of a surprise election, the economic landscape of Britain never seems to sit still these days.

Thankfully, award-winning property journalist Annabel Dixon writes regularly for Country Life to help us make sense of what's going on and we're delighted that this week she joins James Fisher on the Country Life podcast.

Annabel talks about whether now is a good time to buy, the best places to look, what you can expect if you move across the North-South divide and much more — including her own dream house and part of the country.

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Annabel Dixon

Editor and Producer: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The truth about growing up in a castle, with Cosmo Linzee Gordon

Country Life

10/07/24 • 30 min

I suppose we all remember the house, or houses, we grew up in. Where we learned to walk, or first explore the garden, or climb some stairs.

Most houses are quite small. Some are quite big. And then there are houses like Cluny Castle in Abderdeenshire.

I was joined on the podcast this week by its owner, Cosmo Linzee Gordon, who grew up there. Cosmo agreed to answer the questions that I imagine I am not alone in wondering: what exactly is it like to grow up in a big castle? What is hide and seek like when you have more than 20 rooms to get lost in? And is it really freezing all year around?

Not only did Cosmo grow up at Cluny, he also took over running the house and estate in his early 20s, meaning that he is also well placed to answer another important question — what’s it like to keep it going? Because big houses — just like small houses — love nothing more than breaking, and are tremendously expensive to fix. They are more than just homes, they are monuments to architecture and the Arts that need preserving, a task that is easier said than done.

For Cosmo, it meant diversifying into a wedding business, that means that people from the UK and abroad can fulfil their fantasy of a fairytale wedding (I mean seriously, look at the pictures of this place: it is the very definition of ‘castle’).

There's something else too: what’s it like to know that there is a certain future set in stone for you? Maybe Cosmo would have wanted to become an astronaut, or a rock star. Sadly, he never really got the choice. I mean, there are worse things in life to be lumped with than a castle and estate in one of the most beautiful parts of the country, but it’s not everyone’s dream.

These are just some of the many questions we discuss in this week’s podcast, which basically boils down to ‘the secret stories of growing up and living in a big castle’. We like to ask the important questions here at Country Life. We hope you’ll enjoy listening to the important answers.

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher
Guests: Cosmo Linzee Gordon
Editor and Producer: Toby Keel
Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Henrietta Spencer-Churchill: My life at Blenheim Palace

Country Life

11/18/24 • 25 min

Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill, the only daughter of the 11th Duke of Marlborough, has by any measure led an extraordinary life. As a girl she moved from the family home in Oxfordshire to Blenheim Palace, the family seat and — by any measure — one of the finest buildings not just in Britain, but the world (it has UNESCO World Heritage Site status to prove it).

Ever since then, first as a resident, then as a world-renowned interior designer who has played a leading role in the conservation of this 18th century masterpiece, her life has revolved back and forth around Blenheim, and we were thrilled that she agreed to talk to James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast this week.

Living at Blenheim, as she explains, brings great privilege: she tells how her father bought a speedboat, and taught Henrietta and her brother to waterski on the lake. Yet living in a house of global stature, and which opens its doors to visitors every day of the year, also brings unique pressures: everything from where to park and struggling to find a spot of lawn on a sunny day, to wondering how on earth they'll raise £10 million to replace a leaking roof that is three centuries old.

Lady Henrietta also discusses Woodstock Designs, her hugely successful interior design company, and talk about her latest book, Blenheim: 300 years of Life in a Palace (Rizzoli, £57.50), a truly sumptuous publication which tells the tales of those who have lived in the palace over the centuries, illustrated with beautiful images taken by Hugo Rittson-Thomas.

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher
Guest: Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill
Producer and editor: Toby Keel
Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Isabella Tree: How rewilding took the Knepp Estate from a ruin in the red to a miracle of Nature

Country Life

05/13/24 • 38 min

At the turn of the millennium, Isabella Tree and her husband Charlie Burrell faced a crisis. They were £1.5 million in debt after spending 17 years trying to run a farm that simply wouldn't grow the crops they needed for it to be sustainable.

With all their efforts to effect change and introduce diversification failing, they took a drastic decision: to return the farm to Nature — a decision which Isabella tells James Fisher all about on the Country Life Podcast.

Rewilding might be a buzzword in the 2020s, but at the time was almost unheard of in Britain. Only a few projects on the Continent showed that there might be a potential alternative that could save the estate. Charlie and Isabella pushed ahead — and were staggered at how, within months, Nature began to recover and restore this heavy clay farmland that simply refused their attempts at agriculture.

'Suddenly it felt like the land was breathing a sigh of relief, and everything was coming to live,' Isabella tells James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast. Even things which scientists had told them could take a century began happening within the first year, and they've never looked back.

'We knew we were on to something,' she adds, 'and it's just got better and better.'

Isabella went on to write a bestselling book about her experiences — a book which has now been turned into a documentary film, out in June 2024 (you can watch the trailer at the Country Life website).

You can find out more about Isabella, Charlie and the Knepp Estate at knepp.co.uk

Episode credits

Host: James Fisher

Guest: Isabella Tree

Producer and Editor: Toby Keel

Music: JuliusH via Pixabay

Special thanks: Adam Wilbourn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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FAQ

How many episodes does Country Life have?

Country Life currently has 54 episodes available.

What topics does Country Life cover?

The podcast is about Culture, Leisure, Home & Garden, Society & Culture, Society, History, Country, Design, Home, Documentary, Nature, Podcasts, Garden, Books, Travel, Food and Life.

What is the most popular episode on Country Life?

The episode title 'Emma Sims-Hilditch and the re-invention of the country house aesthetic' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Country Life?

The average episode length on Country Life is 33 minutes.

How often are episodes of Country Life released?

Episodes of Country Life are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Country Life?

The first episode of Country Life was released on Nov 17, 2023.

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Country Life

Country Life

Top 10 Country Life Episodes

Episode credits

FAQ

How many episodes does Country Life have?

What topics does Country Life cover?

What is the most popular episode on Country Life?

What is the average episode length on Country Life?

How often are episodes of Country Life released?

When was the first episode of Country Life?

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