Martha Kearney
1. When you were at Brighton & Hove High School, and what is your fondest memory of school?
I came from my primary school in Ditchling and was at BHHS for one year from 1969 to 1970. My father was teaching at the University of Sussex and then got a new job in Edinburgh. I was very sad to leave especially my good friends Karen Katz and Anna Fairbank.
2. Who was your favourite teacher and why?
I remember a teacher called Miss Starkey who taught us French – she was young and enthusiastic and passed on her passion.
3. What were the benefits of being in an all-girls school?
After being at a mixed primary school, I remember that I wanted to be at an all girls school, but I think that was because I had read too many boarding school stories about midnight feasts in the dorm. I now think there are advantages in girls and boys mixing.
4. What did you want to be when you ‘grew-up’?
I wanted to be an actress. I had taken part in plays with the Ditchling Players including Alice Through the Looking Glass. I was also in Comrade Jacob at the Gardner Arts Centre at the university. And Pride and Prejudice at BHHS.
5. What do you do now, and what are the most rewarding and challenging parts of your job?
I present the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. It’s hugely rewarding because of the sheer variety of items that we cover from politics – I recently interviewed Rishi Sunak about Northern Ireland – to the arts e.g. Cate Blanchett, Paul Mescal and Daniel Craig.
6. What are you most proud of so far?
That’s hard to say but we did a series of programmes live from Antarctica which focused on the work British scientists do there.
7. What was the best piece of advice you were given whilst at Brighton?
I am not sure this was good advice, but I was told off for eating an ice lolly in my school uniform on the way to the railway station!
8. What advice would you give to your 18 year old self?
Don’t worry too much about what other people think of you.
9. What book, film or piece of music would you recommend to your younger self and to your fellow alumnae?
The Odyssey. I studied Greek and Latin at university and it’s amazing how Homer’s work has lasted through the centuries.
10. How would you like to be remembered?
For being a fair and impartial journalist in my professional life and – I hope – for being a loyal friend.
