I'm Rory Stewart and I grew up wanting to be a hero and I'm still fascinated by the ideas of heroism.

In my new series, I'm taking in the long sweep of history from Achilles to Zelensky and asking, what is a hero?

Simply doing your job, being a decent human being.

A true hero is someone who just kind of shines by

their own light and that light is to be recognised by others. The long history of heroism with me,

Rory Stewart. Listen on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

Yeah, Mark. Yeah, son. How wet are you? How, I'm absolutely drenched. I've changed. I've changed because I came off. Did you wear inappropriate clothing today? No, no, well, very appropriate clothing. Because, right, there's a festival going on that I'm doing something at, which is a long way away. I mean, not as far away as it's possible. Not like, is it, well, there's only one festival on this weekend. So, I'm, I just, I don't know if I'm allowed to say it, so. Well, yeah, well, it's up, it rhymes with. And, um, so I went up yesterday to set up the caravan. Yes. You. To get everything sort of all set on. An actual caravan? Yeah, the caravan. I haven't got a caravan. We get the caravan for the thing. You been sleeping in a caravan? Last, yeah. Last night I slept in a caravan, yes. Limey. Exactly. It was like sights is. And so I slept in a caravan. And then morning at, you know, crack of Sparrafar, I got to the train.

Crack of what?

You've heard that expression.

No.

Yeah, you have.

I have not.

Okay, yes, well, you've argued me into it.

Oh, yeah, I've heard that expression.

So I got the train down.

Firstly, you have to get the train to Ipswich,

and then from Ipswich to London, right?

All fine, but I figured, you know what? If I put my suit on, like something is going to happen between here and, and of course, it did. So I put on, I did the alternate. I didn't do the suit. I put the suit in a brief, in a, not brief case, and I put on the Green Harrington and the Levi's, and then I got the train, and then I got

off the train at Liverpool Street a couple of hours later, and I was poured upon as if the

Lord himself were attempting to reenact Noe's flood, and I was aided on my way by a chirupy

gentleman in an HGV who timed it just so that as I was aided on my way by a chirupy gentleman in an HGV

who timed it just so that

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