Eric Bibb is a blues music legend.

In this conversation he talks about his teenage life growing up in the middle of the New York civil rights movement.

The people he knew... Paul Robeson, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger ..... and how his father Leon Bibb continues to be an inspiration.

In the middle of an increasingly wayward world Eric Bibb is a voice of sanity and inspiration.

Nina Simone was born on February 21st 1933.

There has been news recently of a plan to buy Nina Simone's childhood home in Tryon North Carolina and make it into a museum celebrating the life and work of the girl who was born Eunice Waymon.

I interviewed Nina in December 1998 just before her last ever show at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

She was talking to me for a programme on the radio station Jazz fm, which would promote the concert.

Nina had a reputation for being a tricky interviewee but on the day she was delightful and during the conversation she was eager to give her views on sexism, racism and feminism.

After the interview I was asked to introduce Nina on stage at the Albert Hall. It was a memorable day.

The future of democracy is a popular talking point at the moment. It seems some democratically elected leaders would like to change the system that gave them the job in the first place.

History records that we have been here before! When I talked to Dr Steve Kershaw about his book about battles in ancient Greece. it seemed that the human desire for conflict is unchanged through history.

Three Epic Battles that Saved Democracy is an entertaining and instructive read - now published in the US by Pegasus Books.

Great review in the Wall Street Journal.

Will it be read in the White House?