In all likelihood, Conrad Black does not need an introduction to NR readers. He is one of ours — one of our writers. I’ll introduce him anyway.

As I say in my latest Q&A podcast, Conrad has lived a “big and tumultuous life.” He has been a publisher, an investor, a magnate. He is an intellectual and a historian. He’s a member of the British house of lords. He spent long, difficult years in the U.S. legal system, including three and a half years in prison. Among his many books are biographies of FDR and Nixon. His latest book is a history of Canada (his native land).

He has a lot to talk about, obviously, and we talk about some of it in the course of an hour.

We begin with Obama, move on to the British elections, and then to Canada: Are American attitudes toward that country sniffy? What does Black make of the PM, Stephen Harper? Then we talk about prison. Black did some teaching of his fellow inmates, and I consider those inmates very lucky indeed.

We talk about the media, naturally, and in particular the passing of newspapers. Something to mourn? What does Black think of Jeremy Paxman, the legendary BBC man? How about Rupert Murdoch?

Years ago, Black told WFB and some others of us that we really needed a better understanding of what FDR did at Yalta. I ask him to get into that. He does. Then we get into Israel. And we end on the subject of America, about which Conrad has mixed feelings, understandably.

Like many people, Conrad Black has admirers and detractors. Unlike many people, I would say, he is in a category of his own. There’s no one else like him. Give a listen here.