Claudia Kalb on the origins of greatness, from child prodgies Yo-Yo Ma & Picasso to those who achieved greatness later in life like Maya Angelou & Alexander Fleming.

What are the origins of genius? How do luck, failure, personality and serendipity play into the arc of discovery? And why do some people reach extraordinary creative heights early in life while others achieve greatness decades later?

New York Times bestseller Claudia Kalb joins us live from the US to answer these questions and more, as in her latest book Spark, via the lives of 13 extraordinary individuals, from child prodgies Shirley Temple, Yo-Yo Ma and Pablo Picasso to those who achieved greatness later in life like Maya Angelou, Alexander Fleming and the creator of Roget’s Thesaurus.

In conversation with journalist and The Oldie editor Harry Mount.

After first broadcast this stream will be available to watch on demand until Thu 31 Mar.

Claudia Kalb is an award-winning journalist who blends biography, science, and first­hand reporting to illuminate the lives of great minds. Spark builds on a series of cover stories she wrote for National Geographic about the origins of genius. Her first book, Andy Warhol Was a Hoarder: Inside the Minds of History’s Great Personalities, was a New York Times bestseller.

Harry Mount is editor of The Oldie and the author of eight books. He was a leader writer and New York correspondent at the Daily Telegraph and is a former barrister.