Big Lives

He screamed, shimmered and rewrote popular music and then disappeared from the throne he built. This episode reveals Little Richard’s unstoppable rise, painful erasure, and lifelong battle between the divine and the profane. A vivid, funny and heartbreaking meditation on race, queerness, faith and why rock and roll history still gets its origin story wrong. Additional archive: Tutti Frutti by Little Richard, Speciality, 1957 Connect with the team!  Follow our hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X  Follow BBC Podcasts on YouTube and Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when a black icon refuses to make white audiences comfortable? This episode traces Muhammad Ali’s BBC interviews—full of swagger and wit, fury and fallout—to reveal how he reshaped media, protest and public speech. Along the way: Vietnam, the Nation of Islam, Joe Frazier, and a blueprint every outspoken Black celebrity still wrestles with today. Additional archive: When We Were Kings, PolyGram Film Productions, 1996  Connect with the team!  Follow our hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X  Follow BBC Podcasts on YouTube and Instagram  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Born into a spotlight she never asked for, Liza Minnelli didn’t only survive her inheritance—she made it into her own art. Using BBC archive, iconic performances, and her complicated bond with her mother Judy Garland, we reveal why her vulnerability is her superpower. From Broadway to Hollywood, nepo baby discourse to Cabaret breakout, we explore her raw emotional magnetism, impossible childhood, legendary resilience, and that indefinable spark you can’t look away from. Additional archive: New York, New York (Original Motion Picture Score), United Artists Records, 1977  Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, Live At The London Palladium, Capitol Records, 1965  Connect with the team!  Follow our hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X  Follow BBC Podcasts on YouTube and Instagram  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sir David Attenborough turns 100 this year—and no one has done more to shape how humanity sees our planet. But for years, there was one issue he didn’t talk about. Emmanuel & Kai chart the story of how one nerdy rock-collecting kid became one of TV’s biggest stars, and took on the most important mission of his life. Additional archive: Our Planet II, Netflix 2023 Connect with the team!  Follow our hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X  Follow BBC Podcasts on YouTube and Instagram  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

LL Cool J didn’t conquer hip‑hop by being the toughest or the slickest, he did it by being unabashedly himself. Kai & Emmanuel break down the charisma, contradictions, and carefully crafted showmanship that turned a Queens teenager into a global cultural force. Through BBC archive gems and Kai’s own teenage misadventures, revisit the chaotic early days of Def Jam Records and the Soft Boy anthem that shook hip‑hop. Connect with the team!  Follow our hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X  Follow BBC Podcasts on YouTube and Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amy Winehouse rewrote the rules of modern songwriting by refusing to fake a single feeling. In this episode, Kai and Emmanuel explore the BBC archive and find how a teenage jazz obsessive became a generational storyteller. Someone who insisted on truth over polish, grit over gloss, and emotional precision over pop perfection. Through her own words and early performances, we trace how Amy crafted songs that felt like conversations, confrontations, and confessions all at once - and why her radical honesty still reverberates. Connect with the team!  Follow our hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X  Follow BBC Podcasts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Pryor redefined comedy by telling the truth, even when it scorched him. In this raw, riveting episode, Kai and Emmanuel unearth BBC archival tape to explore how Pryor rose from a Peoria, Illinois brothel to become comedy’s GOAT, only to then wrestle with racism, fame, desire, and self‑destruction. From Cosby‑clean beginnings to volcanic honesty, this is the story of a man who changed culture by refusing to lie — even to save himself. A Note to Our Listeners: This episode includes a sensitive discussion regarding attempted suicide. We encourage you to listen with care and prioritize your well-being. If you need support, free and confidential help is available 24/7. Call or text 988 (US/Canada) or 111 (UK) for professional assistance. Connect with the team!  Follow our hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X  Follow BBC Podcasts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

George Michael was more than scandal headlines and tabloid punchlines. He was one of the defining pop artists of his generation. Through rare BBC interviews, Kai and Emmanuel unspool the emotional arc behind the hits:  teen heart‑throb, closeted superstar, grieving partner, activist, and ultimately a gay icon who reclaimed the narrative with wit, rage, and dazzling talent. A moving reexamination of fame, queerness, and survival in a decade that preferred not to look too closely. Connect with the team!  Follow our hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X  Follow BBC Podcasts on YouTube and Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jane Fonda didn’t just change Hollywood; she rattled American politics, beauty standards, and the birth of modern fitness culture. Kai and Emmanuel dig into the BBC archives to trace how the Oscar-winning “nudie cutie” became a firebrand activist, conservative boogeyman, and unlikely fitness mogul. From the 1960s Barbarella sex symbol to “Hanoi Jane” to the  face of the VHS home workout revolution, we unravel the woman who kept reinventing herself — and became one of the most polarizing figures in American history. Connect with the team!  Follow our hosts Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X  Follow BBC Podcasts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Big Lives is a show about the cultural giants we think we know - until the archive proves we don’t. Each episode, acclaimed journalists Kai Wright and Emmanuel Dzotsi dive into the BBC’s century‑deep vault of interviews, performances, and forgotten tape to rediscover the humans buried beneath the headlines. Jane Fonda, George Michael, Richard Pryor, Amy Winehouse and more: the people who shaped modern culture, but were flattened into punchlines, scandals, or single defining images. New episodes release on Mondays, starting March 23. Listen ad-free with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up on the Big Lives show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Follow Pushkin on Instagram, LinkedIn or X.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.