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Episode details

Radio 4,24 May 2024,28 mins

Sir Tony O'Reilly, President Ebrahim Raisi, Penny Simkin, Professor Alasdair Geddes

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Matthew Bannister on The Irish rugby star and businessman Sir Tony O’Reilly. He made billions but ended up bankrupt. The hardline President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi. Penny Simkin, who championed the role of birth doulas to help mothers during and after labour. Professor Alasdair Geddes, the infectious diseases expert who diagnosed the world’s last ever case of smallpox – in Birmingham. Producer: Ed Prendeville Archive used: Penny Simkin, YouTube upload, PSfromPenny, 27/10/2009; Penny Simkin, YouTube upload, PSfromPenny, 22/03/2011; Today Programme, Radio 4, BBC, 20/05/2024; Newshour, BBC World Service, 20/05/2024; News report by Philip Hayton, Sound Archive, BBC Radio 4, 11/02/1979; Ebrahim Raisi interviewed by Lesley Stahl, CBS Interactive Inc., YouTube upload, 60 Minutes, 19/05/2024; BBC profile on Tony O’Reilly, 24/01/1975; Conversation Piece, Radio 4, 02/12/1985; People in profile, Radio Ulster, 06/09/1980; The Last Case of Smallpox in the UK, BBC News, 31/08/2016

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