I’m delighted to welcome author and explorer Levison Wood to Highclere, where we talk about my great love; trees and his book, The Great Tree Story: how forests have shaped our world.

Levison shares how studying the Grand Tour at university inspired his lifelong passion for travel and storytelling, from hitchhiking across Europe and Central Asia to serving as an officer in the Parachute Regiment and deploying to Afghanistan. He recalls founding a production company and undertaking extraordinary long-distance walks, including nine months walking the White Nile from its farthest source to the Mediterranean, followed by the length of the Himalayas and other epic routes.

We explore what drew him to write about trees, especially an experience with the Asháninka in the Amazon and we discuss ancient yews, cedars, redwoods, Highclere’s planting of 22,000 trees and his plans to adapt The Great Tree Story into a feature documentary.

01:05 Grand Tour Roots

03:26 Modern Travel Risks

04:56 Army Years and Afghanistan

05:49 From Soldier to Storyteller

07:31 Walking the Nile

09:06 More Epic Expeditions

10:33 Planning and Logistics

12:31 Highclere Explorer Heritage

14:30 Why Trees Matter

17:32 Ancient Trees and Estate Planting

19:42 Redwoods and Tree Lore

23:29 Trees in Culture and Craft

24:33 Green Man and Next Film

You can hear more episodes of Lady Carnarvon's Official Podcasts at https://www.ladycarnarvon.com/podcast/

New episodes are published on the first day of every month.

I welcome Dutch historian Rutger Bregman to the podcast after first messaging him on Instagram and we talk about what I took from his book Humankind and my own wish to bring people together to remember friendship and kindness.

Rutger reflects on Dutch directness and equality shaped by living with water, from the 1953 flood to the Delta Works, and shares why he writes for a general audience about big questions of human nature.

We discuss his challenge to the “veneer theory” and his belief in “survival of the friendlies,” alongside a real shipwreck story near Tonga where six boys survived 15 months through cooperation. Our conversation turns to bullying, family and attachment, the Second World War and Rutger’s research for Moral Ambition on how resistance spreads simply by asking others to help.

01:10 Dutch Culture and Directness

04:01 Water Engineering and Delta Works

05:41 Early Civilizations and Conflict

06:58 Why Bregman Writes Big History

08:12 Debunking Human Nature Myths

10:07 Cooperation at Highclere Today

12:49 Tempest and Amoral People

13:55 Real Lord of the Flies Story

19:00 Bullying Attachment and Family

21:41 Victorian Fathers Revisited

22:40 Reform Politics And Women

23:28 Why Study War

24:04 Resistance Myth Debunked

25:24 Heroes Are Asked

27:29 Unconventional Organizers

30:25 Kindness After Loss

32:19 Kindness Is Contagious

35:03 Lessons From Animals

36:18 Veneer Theory And Dickens

37:59 British Indirectness

You can hear more episodes of Lady Carnarvon's Official Podcasts at https://www.ladycarnarvon.com/podcast/

New episodes are published on the first day of every month.

I’m delighted to welcome historical novelist Caroline Montague to the castle, where we talk about how writing offers a refuge from everyday life and how she protects her creative time in her office with her dogs. Caroline shares the remarkable history of Burnt Norton, its links to T.S. Eliot’s “Four Quartets,” and the dramatic tale of Sir William Kite, whose scandal, bankruptcy, and death by fire helped give the house its name, alongside stories of the “white lady” said to haunt the top floor.

We discuss her path from law and interior design to writing, her planning process shaped by a firm agent, shifting titles and covers, and her current rewrite of a book about a famous royal swap. We also chat about spaniels, horses and the comfort animals bring.

00:49 Writing Routine and Space

01:35 Career Path to Author

02:41 Burnt Norton and TS Eliot

04:42 William Kite House Tragedy

07:02 Ghost Stories White Lady

09:51 House History and Hauntings

11:25 Plotting Process and Ideas

13:16 Deadlines Output and Titles

15:18 Rewriting The Hook

16:08 Jigsaw Writing Method

17:17 Past Healing Present

18:17 Woods And Creativity

18:35 Spaniel Life And Social Media

19:59 Dressage Highs And Loss

21:09 New Horse Gio

22:33 Italy And Spanish Stallions

25:08 Books Animals And Imagination

You can hear more episodes of Lady Carnarvon's Official Podcasts at https://www.ladycarnarvon.com/podcast/

New episodes are published on the first day of every month.