Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.
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Sep 29, 2026 · 2:46
The singer-songwriter Lily Allen was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2014. Although her school reports painted a mixed picture of Lily's academic achievements, a singing teacher…
Sep 28, 2026 · 3:33
The film director Steven Spielberg was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2022. He gave the world Jaws, ET and Jurassic Park, but Steven Spielberg got his start in the film business…
Sep 25, 2026 · 3:07
The writer Malorie Blackman was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2013. Although she has published more than 70 books for children and young adults - among them her hugely popular…
Sep 24, 2026 · 2:59
The World Snooker Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2023. He remembers being dropped off unaccompanied at snooker halls across East London by his…
Sep 23, 2026 · 3:09
The cookery writer Delia Smith was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2023. She fell in love with her husband, the editor Michael Wynn-Jones, over a shared love of food and football…
Sep 22, 2026 · 3:06
The model Kate Moss was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2022. Her career began after a chance encounter with a model agent on a flight. She describes attending castings on her own…
Sep 21, 2026 · 4:05
The Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2015. He recalls the moment he bumped into his primary school friend Mick Jagger at Dartford train…
Sep 13, 2026 · 51:13
Chaka Khan’s unmistakeable voice and musical versatility have made her one of the most influential musicians of the past six decades, with an estimated 70 million records sold.…
Sep 6, 2026 · 52:10
Professor Dame Pamela Shaw is a pioneering Neurologists and a leading figure in tackling motor neurone disease or MND. She is the founder and Director of SITran – the World…
Aug 29, 2026 · 51:53
Emma Grede is the businesswoman behind major fashion brands including Skims and Good American, which she co-founded with Kim Kardashian and Khloé Kardashian, respectively. Last…
Aug 23, 2026 · 50:53
Sir Roger Deakins is an acclaimed cinematographer who is known for his visual artistry on films including The Shawshank Redemption, 1917, Fargo, Skyfall and Blade Runner 2049.…
Aug 16, 2026 · 50:14
Shania Twain is a singer and songwriter and one of only two artists in history to have three consecutive diamond albums. By the time she was eight years old, she had a repertoire…
Aug 8, 2026 · 50:29
Paul Farmer is a charity leader who has spent his life campaigning, fundraising and changing the national conversation around some of the most challenging issues in our society.…
Aug 2, 2026 · 51:14
Professor Liz Morris is a glaciologist whose work in some of the earth’s most inhospitable environments has broadened humanity’s understanding of climate change and polar…
Jul 25, 2026 · 51:21
Norman Cook is a musician and DJ also widely known as Fatboy Slim. As a DJ, he has played everywhere from Bondi Beach and the Great Wall of China to the House of Commons and a…
Jul 18, 2026 · 50:49
Jo Nesbø is a writer, known as the king of 'Nordic Noir'. His internationally bestselling crime thrillers following the exploits of detective Harry Hole have been translated into…
Jul 12, 2026 · 51:04
Anna Maxwell Martin is an award-winning actor whose versatility is evident from the breadth of parts she has played in popular television programmes including Motherland, Ludwig…
Jul 5, 2026 · 51:17
Peter Layton is a pioneering British glass artist and the founder of London Glassblowing, one of the most influential glass studios and galleries in the United Kingdom. He played…
Jun 28, 2026 · 50:43
Guy Martin is a television presenter, mechanic and former motorcycle racer. During his career he achieved 17 podium finishes at the Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) Races – one of…
Jun 20, 2026 · 52:44
Emily Watson is an award-winning actor, widely regarded as one of the finest character actors of her generation. She began her career on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company…
Jun 14, 2026 · 51:12
Journalist Gary O’Donoghue is the Chief North America Correspondent for BBC News. Last year his coverage of the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump won the Royal…
Jun 6, 2026 · 51:26
David Morrissey is an actor who grew up in Liverpool. His screen work ranges from playing a ruthless survivor of the zombie apocalypse in The Walking Dead to a troubled police…
Apr 25, 2026 · 49:54
Si King is a broadcaster and cook, best known as one half of the duo The Hairy Bikers. Together with his onscreen cooking partner and real-life best friend Dave Myers, the pair…
Apr 19, 2026 · 50:31
Sara Pascoe is a comedian and writer who has appeared on programmes including QI, Taskmaster and the Great British Sewing Bee. She is also a screenwriter and the author of three…
Apr 12, 2026 · 50:50
Professor Stephen Westaby is a former heart surgeon and writer. During his career he performed over 11,000 operations and pioneered the use of life long artificial hearts as an…
Apr 5, 2026 · 50:32
Jessie Buckley is an actor and singer. She recently won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe Award for her critically acclaimed role playing Shakespeare’s wife Agnes in Chloé Zhao’s film…
Mar 29, 2026 · 51:19
Dwayne Fields is an explorer and broadcaster who was appointed the UK’s Chief Scout in 2024. He is the first black Briton to reach the Magnetic North Pole. His television work…
Mar 22, 2026 · 50:57
Roula Khalaf is a journalist and the first woman to serve as editor of the Financial Times in its 138‑year history. She joined the paper in 1995 as North Africa correspondent,…
Mar 15, 2026 · 50:15
Richard Young is a photographer who was once known as the “king of the paparazzi”. His portfolio is a who’s who of some of the biggest stars in film, music, stage and popular…
Mar 8, 2026 · 50:57
Tahra Zafar is a costume and creature effects designer. She designed the Paddington Bear puppet featured in the hit West End production Paddington: The Musical. Born into a…
Mar 1, 2026 · 52:15
Professor Michele Dougherty is President of the Institute of Physics and Professor of Space Physics at Imperial College London. She was appointed Astronomer Royal last year – the…
Feb 22, 2026 · 51:09
Kemi Badenoch is the Conservative MP for North West Essex and the Leader of the Opposition. Since winning her seat in 2017, she has held cabinet positions as Minister of State…
Feb 15, 2026 · 50:16
Adeel Akhtar is an award-winning actor whose breakthrough role came in 2010 when he starred in Chris Morris’s black comedy Four Lions. He won his first BAFTA for Best Actor in…
Feb 8, 2026 · 48:48
Jesse Armstrong is a British author, screenwriter, and producer. He has written several award-winning TV comedies and satirical dramas and won many accolades for his work…
Jan 25, 2026 · 50:30
Jojo Moyes is a British novelist and screenwriter. She began her writing career as a journalist and worked at the Egham and Staines News, Independent and South China Morning…
Jan 18, 2026 · 52:08
Kate Winslet is an actor who achieved global fame playing Rose DeWitt Bukater, opposite Leonard DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, in the 1997 James Cameron epic Titanic. During her career…
Jan 11, 2026 · 52:59
Lee Child is a writer who is best known for his series of bestselling novels featuring Jack Reacher. Reacher is an enigmatic 6ft 5in, 17-stone ex-military police major who rights…
Jan 4, 2026 · 53:41
Margaret Atwood is a Canadian writer. She has published more than sixty books spanning novels, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, children’s literature, and graphic novels, and…
Dec 28, 2025 · 49:52
Gordon Buchanan is a wildlife cameraman and TV presenter. He is best known for the Animal Family & Me series of BBC documentaries in which he gets up close to wild bears, Arctic…
Dec 21, 2025 · 50:17
Sir Salman Rushdie is a writer who has written over 20 books, seven of which have been nominated for the Booker Prize. In 1981 he won with his novel Midnight’s Children which…
Dec 14, 2025 · 51:13
Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a computer scientist and the inventor of the World Wide Web. He was born in 1955, a golden year for technology innovators. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were…
Dec 7, 2025 · 51:34
Sally Mann is a photographer and a New York Times bestselling writer. She is best known for making large-format black and white photographs of the people and places in her…
Nov 30, 2025 · 50:12
Lorraine Kelly is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a mainstay of daytime television for over 40 years. She has hosted her own show Lorraine since its launch in 2010 and…
Nov 23, 2025 · 51:32
Lennie James is a British actor and writer. In 2025, he received the BAFTA for Leading Actor for his portrayal of Barrington Walker in the TV adaptation of Bernadine Evaristo’s…
Nov 16, 2025 · 48:37
Mary Greenwell is a makeup artist who has worked with some of the most famous faces in the world including Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, David Bowie and Cate Blanchett.…
Nov 9, 2025 · 50:36
Ronnie Wood is a musician and artist who has been a major player on the UK music scene for over 60 years. In 1975 Ronnie became a member of the Rolling Stones, one of the most…
Nov 2, 2025 · 52:15
Angela Harding is an artist, printmaker and illustrator. Based in Rutland, Angela’s work is inspired by the countryside of the British Isles, and in particular British birds.…
Oct 26, 2025 · 51:25
Michael Sheen is an award-winning actor. After finding his love for the stage with the West Glamorgan Youth theatre as a teenager, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art…
Sep 14, 2025 · 49:21
Maggie Alphonsi is a broadcaster and former rugby player. She was part of the England team which took home the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup and by the time she retired she’d won…
Sep 7, 2025 · 50:20
Professor Dame Carol Robinson is a scientist who was the first female professor of Chemistry at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities. She has been awarded scientific prizes…
Aug 31, 2025 · 50:48
Harry Hill is a comedian, writer and broadcaster best known for presenting popular television shows including You’ve Been Framed, Junior Bake Off and the multi award-winning TV…
Aug 23, 2025 · 50:58
Monica Dolan is a BAFTA and Olivier award winning actor. She is equally at home playing a wrongfully accused postmistress in Mr Bates Vs the Post Office as she is playing the…
Aug 16, 2025 · 51:19
Gustavo Dudamel is a Venezuelan conductor, violinist and composer. He is known for bringing humour and joy to the podium. He is currently director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic…
Aug 10, 2025 · 50:03
Ash Atalla is a television producer whose first hit was the BBC sitcom The Office, starring Ricky Gervais. He followed it up with the IT Crowd, People Just Do Nothing, Big Boys…
Aug 2, 2025 · 50:47
Carol Klein is a gardener, broadcaster and longtime contributor to BBC Gardeners’ World. She is a six time Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner, a certified RHS Horticultural…
Jul 26, 2025 · 53:01
Sir Gregory Doran is the former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He spent a total of thirty five years with the RSC directing fifty productions in the UK and…
Jul 20, 2025 · 51:06
Norma Percy is a documentary film-maker. She has been making programmes for over three decades and her productions have featured a range of political leaders from Tony Blair and…
Jul 13, 2025 · 52:38
Lord Alf Dubs is a Labour peer and former MP. He came to the UK from Prague in 1939 on one of the Kindertransport trains organised by Sir Nicholas Winton which rescued mostly…
Jul 5, 2025 · 51:36
Professor Lucy Easthope is an adviser on disaster recovery and planning. She’s an expert in planning for and reacting to major incidents: natural disaster, terrorist attacks,…
Jun 29, 2025 · 50:23
Romesh Ranganathan is a comedian and BAFTA-winning broadcaster who has been a fixture on British television screens for the past decade. In addition to his TV shows and stand-up…
Jun 22, 2025 · 51:17
Abdulrazak Gurnah is emeritus Professor of Post-Colonial Literatures at the University of Kent and the 2021 Nobel Prize winner in Literature. Born in Zanzibar in 1948, the second…
Jun 15, 2025 · 50:58
Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu is Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience at University College London and President of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. She has devoted…
Jun 8, 2025 · 49:54
Actor Danny Dyer became a household name when he joined the cast of EastEnders as Mick Carter, landlord of the Queen Victoria pub. He recently stole the show from some stiff…
Apr 27, 2025 · 50:59
Lindsey Hilsum is a multi-award-winning journalist who has been a foreign correspondent for the past four decades. She has been Channel 4’s international editor for the past 22…
Apr 20, 2025 · 50:58
Donna Ockenden is a former clinical midwife who led the Ockenden Review which revealed, at the time, the biggest maternity scandal in NHS history. Published in 2022, the review…
Apr 13, 2025 · 52:52
Professor Carl Jones is a conservation biologist who is best known for saving the Mauritius kestrel from extinction. He is the scientific director of Mauritian Wildlife…
Apr 6, 2025 · 49:15
Cyndi Lauper is a multi-award winning singer and songwriter. She has sold more than fifty million records, won an Emmy for acting and her musical Kinky Boots earned her a Tony…
Mar 30, 2025 · 50:52
William Boyd is the author of eighteen novels, five short story collections and numerous screenplays. His first published novel, A Good Man in Africa, was inspired by his…
Mar 23, 2025 · 51:41
Sir Jony Ive is a designer who is best known for his pioneering work at Apple alongside his friend and colleague, the late Steve Jobs. Jony’s creative vision is behind some of…
Mar 16, 2025 · 50:55
Wilhelmina – Mina – Smallman is an activist who campaigns for the safety of women and girls and police reform. She is a former teacher and priest who was the first woman of…
Mar 9, 2025 · 50:40
Actor Stephen Mangan is castaway by Lauren Laverne in an extended edition. Stephen is an award-winning actor who is also a presenter and writer. His prolific career includes…
Mar 2, 2025 · 50:59
Nemone Lethbridge is a barrister who was called to the bar in 1956. One of very few female barristers working at the time, she encountered misogyny and was one of the…
Feb 23, 2025 · 48:58
Nick Cave is a singer and writer who, with his band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, has released emotionally intense and provocative music since the mid-Eighties. He is also a…
Feb 16, 2025 · 50:54
Harriet Wistrich is one of the country’s most prominent human rights lawyers. In 2016 she founded the Centre for Women’s Justice and over the course of her career, she has won…
Feb 9, 2025 · 49:52
Laurie Anderson is an artist and performer who came to fame in the UK with her 1981 hit O Superman. Her work spans music, film and multimedia projects which interrogate our…
Feb 2, 2025 · 52:14
Mark-Anthony Turnage is a composer of contemporary classical music. Once called “Britain’s hippest composer”, he has been in a rock band, got drunk with Francis Bacon, and…
Jan 26, 2025 · 50:33
Marianela Núñez is a Principal dancer of the Royal Ballet and Opera. Born in Argentina in 1982, Marianela knew she wanted to be a ballet dancer from the age of five and joined…
Jan 19, 2025 · 50:54
Gareth Southgate OBE is the most successful England men’s football manger in the modern game. He holds the record as the man who has represented England in more games than anyone…
Jan 12, 2025 · 48:56
Cher has been a global star for over six decades. Her career has spanned music, television and film and throughout that time her outfits have made flamboyant fashion statements.…
Jan 5, 2025 · 50:03
Former cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent is the first Black woman to play for England and she was part of the team which won the Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2009. Today she is a…
Dec 29, 2024 · 50:17
Mark Steel is a writer, comedian and radio presenter. His performing career began as a poet in the alternative comedy scene in the early eighties at the Comedy Store. A regular…
Sep 7, 2024 · 50:03
Steven Knight CBE is a screenwriter, producer, and director for film and television. He is best known for creating the TV series Peaky Blinders but he has also turned his hand to…
Aug 31, 2024 · 48:04
Mark Knopfler OBE is one of the UK’s most successful rock musicians and composers. He co-founded the band Dire Straits and their album Brothers in Arms is one of the bestselling…
Aug 25, 2024 · 51:51
Sarah Raven is one of Britain’s best known gardeners. Since her debut book, The Cutting Garden in 1996 she has written for national newspapers and magazines and shared her…
Aug 17, 2024 · 49:46
The writer David Nicholls is best known for his 2009 novel One Day which has sold 6 million copies, been made into a film and a Netflix series which reached the top 10 in 89…
Aug 11, 2024 · 52:23
Errollyn Wallen is one of the world’s most performed living composers. Her work, which includes 22 operas, orchestral, chamber and vocal works, was played at the opening ceremony…
Aug 4, 2024 · 50:16
Rob Delaney is a comedian, writer and actor who is best known for the television series Catastrophe, which he co-wrote and co-starred in alongside Sharon Horgan. He has also…
Jul 28, 2024 · 51:48
Professor Patricia Wiltshire is a forensic ecologist who specialises in palynology – the study of pollen. Her expertise has led her to work with every police force in Britain and…
Jul 20, 2024 · 51:47
Anthony Joshua MBE is a British heavyweight boxer, Olympic gold medallist and two-time former unified world heavyweight champion. Anthony was born in 1989 and grew up in Watford.…
Jul 14, 2024 · 52:05
Clive Myrie is an award-winning journalist and news presenter who is one of the BBC’s most experienced foreign correspondents. In 2021 he took over from John Humphrys as Question…
Jul 7, 2024 · 49:42
Shirine Khoury-Haq is the chief executive officer of the Co-op Group – the first female chief executive in its 180-year history and the first from an ethnic minority background.…
Jun 30, 2024 · 48:36
The Australian actor Rebel Wilson became an international star with a breakthrough part in the 2011 Hollywood comedy Bridesmaids, opposite Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy. She…
Jun 22, 2024 · 51:31
The Irish writer John Boyne is best known for his 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which became a literary phenomenon, selling more than 11 million copies around the…
Jun 15, 2024 · 50:33
Dame Sarah Storey is Great Britain’s most successful Paralympian, winning 17 gold, eight silver and three bronze medals. She was just 14 when she took two weeks off school to…
Jun 9, 2024 · 49:38
Greg Davies is a familiar face on television as the host of Taskmaster, the BAFTA-winning game show, and he has achieved sell out national arena tours as a stand-up. His…
Apr 27, 2024 · 49:17
Tim Spector is Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Head of the Department of Twin Research at King’s College London. He was one of the co-founders of the ZOE Covid Symptom…
Apr 21, 2024 · 36:56
Professor Alice Roberts is one of the most popular science communicators in Britain today. As the presenter of the BBC archaeology programme Digging for Britain, she reveals the…
Apr 13, 2024 · 34:47
Jenny Sealey has been the artistic director of Graeae Theatre Company since 1997: Graeae is a deaf and disabled-led company and a leader and innovator in accessible theatre.…
Apr 7, 2024 · 50:35
James Graham is an award-winning dramatist whose plays include This House, Ink and Dear England starring Joseph Fiennes as the England football manager Gareth Southgate. His…
Mar 31, 2024 · 38:15
The Honourable Lady Rita Rae is a lawyer and judge, and the current Rector of the University of Glasgow. Early in her career she was a rare woman in the heavily male-dominated…
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