Sir Craig Reedie, Bronwen Naish, Geoff Yeadon, Margareta Magnusson

·28 min·2 clips

Seb Coe and Craig Reedie await the 2012 Olympic host city decision, with London's victory surprising everyone.

The episode begins with an obituary for Sir Craig Reedie, a Scottish sports administrator born in 1941. He was instrumental in getting badminton included in the Olympics and later chaired the British Olympic Association. Reedie played a crucial role in London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympics, leveraging his understanding of International Olympic Committee politics. The segment includes archival audio of the bid announcement and reflections from Lord Coe. Reedie later became president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, where he advocated for banning Russian athletes due to systematic doping, facing criticism and safety concerns. He was also passionate about golf. The second obituary is for Bronwen Naish, a double bassist who grew up on a farm in North Wales. She studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music and was inspired by double bass player Gary Carr to explore the instrument's full range. Naish created shows like Lady on a Double Bass for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and developed educational programmes for children, such as Bartholomew the Bass. She faced gender bias in orchestras and later took up playing the musical saw due to a hip injury. Naish was also skilled in DIY, linking it to her musical craft. The third obituary is for Geoff Yeadon, a cave diver from Yorkshire. He started caving in school and became a pioneering diver, holding world records for the longest through dives in flooded cave systems. Yeadon described the activity as weightless flying and explored tunnels with low visibility, sometimes for five hours. He was part of rescue operations and emphasized camaraderie in the sport. The final obituary is for Margareta Magnusson, a Swedish author who wrote The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. Her book, written in her 80s, advises on decluttering to avoid burdening children. Magnusson began death cleaning after her husband died, downsizing from a family home to an apartment. She used a shredder for paperwork and gave away items, maintaining a cozy but uncluttered home. The book became an international success, sold in over 30 countries. The episode concludes with a promo for a series on changing attitudes to death.

As heard by us

A memorial hour that keeps widening into the odd, useful work of a public life.

Last Word opens with Sir Craig Reedy and then keeps widening its frame around lives shaped by skill, scrutiny, and steady usefulness. Bronwyn Nash is the standout thread: the prejudice she met in orchestras, the hip injury that led her to the musical saw, and the toolkit saw…

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Why you'd press play

For when you want a Last Word obituary hour with a double bass, a cave diver, and a saw from the toolkit.

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