Nina Simone

This episode will be available to listen to for free on 31st August 2026. You can listen to it right away by subscribing to Noiser+. Head to www.noiser.com/subscriptions for more information.

Nina Simone was not only renowned for her powerful, groundbreaking music; she also became an icon of the civil rights movement at a crucial point in its evolution. And while she lived with the spotlight of fame trained firmly upon her, she struggled to keep her tempestuous personal life out of the public eye.

How did she use her bountiful talent to become a champion of political causes? Why did she ultimately spend so much of her life in self-imposed exile? And how much did private struggle impact her role as a public figure and her personal search for happiness?

This is a Short History Of Nina Simone.

A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Alan Light, a music journalist and author of the biography What Happened, Miss Simone?

Written by Dan Smith | Produced by Kate Simants | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Matt Peaty | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Dorry Macaulay | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact check: Sean Coleman