Alle afleveringen
2.000 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
-
Sir Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition
15 november 2020 · 37 min
Beluister deze afleveringSir Keir Starmer is the leader of the Labour Party, and the leader of the opposition. Lees meer
Named after Keir Hardie, a founding father of the Labour party, he was elected leader seven months ago in the wake of Labour’s heavy defeat in the 2019 general election.
He stood for, and won, the leadership on a platform of party unity but his resolve has been tested recently by factionalism and infighting. Following the publication of the highly critical Equality and Human Rights Commission report, he has vowed to tackle the issue of anti-Semitism in the party and heal division within the party ranks.
He grew up in Oxted, Surrey, the son of a toolmaker and a nurse. His formative years were clouded by his mother’s debilitating illness: she suffered from Still’s disease, an autoimmune disease, and as a young boy he spent a lot of his time at her hospital bedside.
His political awakening came at 16 when he joined the East Surrey Young Socialists and later he was one of the editors of the radical magazine Socialist Alternatives. After university he had a high-profile career as a human rights lawyer representing prisoners on death row and advising the new Police Service of Northern Ireland which was set up as part of the Good Friday Agreement. In 2008 he changed tack and became the director of Public Prosecutions before switching to politics. In 2015 he was elected to the House of Commons as MP for Holborn and St Pancras.
DISC ONE: Out on the Floor by Dobie Gray
DISC TWO: Symphony No. 6 in F major, op. 68 “Pastoral” (5th) Movement by Beethoven, conducted by Herbert von Karajan, performed by Berlin Philharmonic
DISC THREE: Welcome to My World by Jim Reeves
DISC FOUR: Falling and Laughing by Orange Juice
DISC FIVE: Oh Happy Day by The Edwin Hawkins Singers
DISC SIX: Three Lions by Baddiel, Skinner & The Lightning Seeds
DISC SEVEN: Piano Concerto No.5, 2nd movement, Adagio un pocco mosso by Beethoven, performed by Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (pianist and director) and Swedish Chamber Orch… -
David Mitchell, novelist
13 november 2020 · 37 min
Beluister deze afleveringDavid Mitchell has published eight novels, two of which – number9dream and Cloud Atlas – have been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Lees meer
He has also translated two books on autism from Japanese, working with his Japanese wife: their son is on the autistic spectrum. While his work also includes writing for the screen and opera libretti, his main occupation has been, as one critic put it, “quietly pottering away at the frontier of fiction” for more than two decades.
David is the son of two artists, and grew up near the Malverns, where his father worked in the art department of the Royal Worcester porcelain factory. After studying at the University of Kent, he worked in a bookshop, and moved to Japan in the mid-1990s to teach English. Here he met his wife and put his mind to writing. His first two novels were published while still living in Hiroshima.
With each standalone novel, David is also adding to what he calls an uber-novel in which all of his books are part of a larger narrative, with characters flitting from one story to another, transported to a different time and place, but bringing a familiarity and a backstory with them.
He now lives in County Cork, Ireland, with his wife and two children.
DISC ONE: Sunset by Kate Bush
DISC TWO: Requiem Op. 33b, For Mixed Choir A Cappela / Fyrir Blandadan Kór A Capella.
Performed by Motet Choir Of The Hallgrím's Church, chorus Master: Hörður Áskelsson
DISC THREE: Mercury by Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhli, James McAlister
DISC FOUR: Un Dia De Noviembre by Zsofia Boros
DISC FIVE: Anima by Milton Nascimento
DISC SIX: Stylo by Gorillaz, featuring Bobby Womack and Mos Def
DISC SEVEN: In a Sentimental Mood by Duke Ellington and John Coltrane
DISC EIGHT: Sonata in F minor, K466, composed by Domenico Scarlatti, performed by
Yevgeny SudbinBOOK CHOICE: A book of Chinese characters (Kanji)
LUXURY ITEM: A complete archive of Desert Island Discs
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Anima by Milton NascimentoPresenter Lauren Laverne
Pr… -
Hilary McGrady, Director General of the National Trust
1 november 2020 · 35 min
Beluister deze afleveringHilary McGrady is Director General of the National Trust. Lees meer
She was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, in 1966, where her father was a builder while her mother looked after Hilary and her two older siblings. She spent her childhood roaming the fields near her home, 20 miles outside Belfast. She went to art college after school where she met her husband, Frank. Their relationship initially caused difficulty for her family who were staunch Protestants and unionists, while Frank’s came from a Catholic, nationalist area.
After finishing her degree in Graphic Design, Hilary worked as a designer before moving into marketing and then into the charity sector for an organisation called Arts & Business. After working on Belfast’s ultimately unsuccessful bid to become European Capital of Culture she joined the National Trust in 2006 as regional director for Northern Ireland. She moved around the organisation, taking on ever bigger roles with every move, becoming Chief Operating Officer in 2014. She succeeded Dame Helen Ghosh as Director General in March 2018. Her major priority for the National Trust over the next decade is to tackle climate change and biodiversity, and she set out a ten-year plan in January 2020 to coincide with the Trust’s 125th anniversary.
Hilary lives in County Antrim with her husband. They have three grown-up children, a dog and 16 ducks. She lists her interests as the arts, gardening and hill walking.
DISC ONE: The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, performed by Tasmin Little (violin) and BBC Symphony Orchestra
DISC TWO: How Great Thou Art by Chris Rice
DISC THREE: Blue Monday by New Order
DISC FOUR: She Moved Through The Fair by Cara Dillon
DISC FIVE: One by U2
DISC SIX: Just Say Yes by Snow Patrol
DISC SEVEN: Gabriel's Oboe by Ennio Morricone
DISC EIGHT: Paradise by George EzraBOOK CHOICE: A Poem for Every Day of the Year by Allie Asiri
LUXURY ITEM: Painting set and easel
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: She Moved Throu… -
Chris Boardman, cyclist
25 oktober 2020 · 35 min
Beluister deze afleveringChris Boardman is an Olympic cyclist, businessman and the Cycling and Walking Commissioner for Greater Manchester.
Both his parents were keen competitive amateur cyclists and they backed Chris as he gradually became interested in the sport as a teenager. He left school at 16, and trained as a carpenter to fund his cycling, and his love of making things has never left him. He met his wife Sally when they were teenagers and she supported him when he took time off work to train and compete.
He became a household name in 1992 at the Olympics in Barcelona, as the first British cyclist to win a gold medal in 72 years. He moved on to road racing and wore the yellow jersey in the Tour de France on three occasions. After retiring from racing, he was instrumental in the success of Team GB cycling at subsequent Olympics, with his focus on how improvements could be made in all aspects of design.
He also launched his own range of bicycles catering for elite and everyday cyclists, and as Greater Manchester's Cycling and Walking commissioner, he is finding ways to help people leave their cars at home. Lees meerDISC ONE: Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra
DISC TWO: Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrmann
DISC THREE: Hurt Feelings by Flight of the Conchords
DISC FOUR: The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) by Simon and Garfunkel
DISC FIVE: Barcelona by Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé
DISC SIX: Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones
DISC SEVEN: Embrace Me, You Child by Carly Simon
DISC EIGHT: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton JohnBOOK CHOICE: Feersum Endjinn by Iain M. Banks
LUXURY ITEM: Butter
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) by Simon and GarfunkelPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor -
Professor Averil Mansfield, retired surgeon
18 oktober 2020 · 38 min
Beluister deze afleveringAveril Mansfield is a retired vascular surgeon and was the first female Professor of Surgery in the UK when she was appointed in 1993. Lees meer
She was born in 1937 in Blackpool, where her father worked as a welder on the attractions at the Pleasure Beach. She was an only child and an avid reader when young. After perusing a library book on early advances in surgery, she decided, at the age of eight, that she wanted to become a surgeon. She studied at the University of Liverpool and spent her early working life in the city. Appointed a consultant surgeon in 1972, she moved to London eight years later with her second husband. She became a consultant vascular surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital in 1982 and remained there until her retirement in 2002.
One of the leading vascular surgeons in the country in the 1990s, she was a key figure in proving the safety of vital life-saving vascular operations: the stroke-preventing carotid endarterectomy, an intricate procedure to unblock the carotid artery, and surgery to repair a thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm. These surgeries have helped save thousands of lives by reducing the risk of strokes by 50%.
In the early 1990s, she set up an initiative called Women in Surgical Training to encourage more women to take up the profession. In addition to becoming the first female Professor of Surgery in Britain, she was also the first elected Chairman of the Court of Examiners at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, served as Chair of the Stroke Association for five years following her retirement, and as President of the British Medical Association.
She lives in London and has three step-children and six grandchildren from her late husband.
DISC ONE: II. Waltz by Dmitri Shostakovich, conducted by Steven Sloane, performed by Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin
DISC TWO: A Transport of Delight by Donald Swann & Michael Flanders
DISC THREE: Piano Concerto No. 2in B Flat. Op.83 – 3. Andante – Piu adagio by Johannes Brahms, conducted by Andris Ne… -
Baroness Floella Benjamin, DBE
15 oktober 2020 · 36 min
Beluister deze afleveringBaroness Floella Benjamin DBE is a Trinidadian-British broadcaster, writer and politician. She became a familiar face to millions of viewers through her work on children's television, most notably on Play School, which she first presented in 1976. Lees meer
She was born in Trinidad in 1949, the second of six children. When her parents emigrated to the UK, she and her siblings were initially left behind with foster parents. After 16 months, the family was able to reunite, when the children travelled to England by sea. At first they all lived in one room in south London. Eventually her parents were able to buy a house in Beckenham, where they lived for 40 years - which is why Floella decided on the title Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham when she entered the House of Lords in 2010 as a Liberal Democrat peer.
There was no hint of her later high public profile when she left school at 16 to work in a bank, until she dared to audition for a West End musical during her lunch break. She was successful, going on to appear in numerous London shows, before her move into television. Along with her work in front of the camera, she set up her own TV production company, as well as publishing books and working closely with charities for children and young people. She has also campaigned for high standards in children's broadcasting and more diversity in the creative industries.
She was the Chancellor of Exeter University for a decade, starting in 2006, and earlier this year she received a Damehood for her services to charity.
DISC ONE: The Greatest Love of All by George Benson
DISC TWO: Waiting in Vain by Bob Marley and the Wailers
DISC THREE: Puttin’ on the Ritz by Ella Fitzgerald
DISC FOUR: Once by Stan Getz
DISC FIVE: Begin the Beguine by Julio Iglesius
DISC SIX: The Prince of Denmark’s March by Jeremiah Clarke, performed by the London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble
DISC SEVEN: Are You Gonna Go My Way by Lenny Kravitz
DISC EIGHT: Smile by Nat King ColeBOOK CHOICE: Dreams From My Father by Ba…
-
Samantha Morton, actor
4 oktober 2020 · 45 min
Beluister deze afleveringSamantha Morton is an actor and director. She has appeared in films directed by Woody Allen and Steven Spielberg, and is also known for her work on independent productions, often with serious themes such as prostitution and bereavement. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards and won many accolades including a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. Lees meer
Born in Nottingham in 1977, she had a difficult childhood. She was first taken into care as a baby, then spent the next decade between foster parents and her father’s home before being taken into care permanently at the age of 11. She was sexually abused in one of the homes, and left school at the age of 13.
She discovered acting when a teacher recommended she apply to the Central Junior Television Workshop which lead to her appearing in TV series including Soldier Soldier, Cracker, and Band of Gold. She went onto appear in the films, Emma and Jane Eyre and received her first Academy Award nomination for her role as a mute laundress in Woody Allen’s 1999 film Sweet and Lowdown. Her second was for her portrayal of a grieving mother in the 2003 film In America.
Other roles have ranged from Mary, Queen of Scots, in Elizabeth: The Golden Age to a war widow in The Messenger and the wife of a serial killer in Rillington Place. She made her directorial debut with The Unloved in 2009, a film based on her own experience of the care system. It won the BAFTA Award for Best Single Drama.
Sam lives in Sussex with her husband, Harry Holm. They have two children together, Edie and Teddy. Sam also has a daughter, Esme, from her relationship with Charlie Creed-Miles.
DISC ONE: Burden of Shame by UB40
DISC TWO: Flower by The Charlatans
DISC THREE: The Town I Loved So Well (Live) by Luke Kelly And The Dubliners
DISC FOUR: Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody) by Talking Heads
DISC FIVE: Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space by Spiritualized
DISC SIX: Blume (French version) by Einstürzende Neubauten
DISC SEVEN: Dream Baby Dream by Suicide
… -
Yusuf Cat Stevens, musician
27 september 2020 · 35 min
Beluister deze afleveringYusuf Cat Stevens is a singer-songwriter who first enjoyed success more than 50 years ago. Lees meer
He was born Steven Demetre Georgiou in July 1948. His Greek Cypriot father and his Swedish mother ran a restaurant in the West End of London, and he helped out there from an early age. He also became interested in music, writing and singing his own songs, partly inspired by the success of The Beatles.
Under the name Cat Stevens, he was just 18 when he had his first hit, and soon found himself on tour with Engelbert Humperdinck and Jimi Hendrix. His career came to a sudden halt in 1969, when he contracted tuberculosis and was forced out of the limelight for a year of recuperation. It was also a time of reflection. He emerged a changed man in 1970 - a sensitive singer-songwriter whose albums, including Tea for the Tillerman, and Teaser and the Firecat, sold millions of copies around the world.
While enjoying fame and success, he also thought more deeply about religious faith, an interest which increased after he nearly drowned while swimming in the Pacific. He became a Muslim in 1977, changed his name to Yusuf Islam and walked away from music. He soon became one of the UK's most high-profile Muslims, and was often asked to comment about aspects of Islam. For two decades, he didn’t touch his guitar, but in 2006 he made a comeback with an album entitled An Other Cup. He has released three more albums since then and has recently recorded a new version of perhaps his best-known work, Tea for the Tillerman.
Yusuf lives in Dubai with his wife Fawziah. They have four daughters and one son who has followed in his father's musical footsteps.
DISC ONE: America from West Side Story by Anita (Rita Moreno), Bernado (George Chakiris), The Sharks And Girls
DISC TWO: Tutti Frutti by Little Richard
DISC THREE: Twist and Shout by The Beatles
DISC FOUR: March From A Clockwork Orange (Beethoven: Ninth Symphony: Fourth Movement, abridged) by Wendy Carlos
DISC FIVE: The Wind by Cat Stevens
DISC… -
Bernardine Evaristo, writer
20 september 2020 · 37 min
Beluister deze afleveringBernardine Evaristo won the Booker Prize in 2019 for her novel, Girl, Woman, Other. She is Professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University London. Lees meer
Bernardine was born in May 1959, the fourth of eight children, to an English mother and a Nigerian father. She grew up in Woolwich in south London, and was educated at Eltham Hill Girls’ Grammar School. She spent her teenage years at the Greenwich Young People’s Theatre and, after deciding that she wanted to be a professional actor at the age of 14, did a Community Theatre Arts course at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama.
After graduation she founded the Theatre of Black Women with two fellow students in the early 1980s and they began to write roles for themselves. By the late 1980s, she had decided that it was the writing she enjoyed most.
Her first poetry collection was published in 1994, followed by a semi-autobiographical verse novel called Lara three years later. More books followed, experimenting with form and narrative perspective, often merging the past with the present, prose with poetry, the factual with the speculative, and reality with alternate realities. Girl, Woman, Other is her eighth book.
A longstanding activist and advocate, Bernardine has initiated several successful schemes to ensure increased representation of artists and writers of colour in the creative industries.
She is married to David, who she met in 2006, and lives in London.
DISC ONE: Malaika by Angélique Kidjo
DISC TWO: Zombie by Fela Kuti
DISC THREE: Breaths by Sweet Honey in the Rock
DISC FOUR: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free by Nina Simone
DISC FIVE: Woyaya by Osibisa
DISC SIX: Köln, January 24, 1975, part I by Keith Jarrett
DISC SEVEN: Things Have Changed by Bob Dylan
DISC EIGHT: Fight The Power by Public EnemyBOOK CHOICE: The Norton Anthology of Poetry by Margaret Ferguson), Tim Kendall and Mary Jo Salter
LUXURY ITEM: A hologram of Bernardine's husband
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Köln, January 24, 1975, part … -
Your Desert Island Discs
11 augustus 2020 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringListeners choose the music that has been special to them during the weeks of lockdown. With Jane Moss, Hugh Mullally, Ailish Douglas, Professor Jason Warren, Niti Acharya, Margery Hookings, Simon Spiller, Clare Raybould and Garry Greenland. Lees meer
DISC ONE: Amazing Grace by Judy Collins
DISC TWO: Who Knows Where The Time Goes? by Sandy Denny
DISC THREE: The Whole of The Moon by The Waterboys
DISC FOUR: Heimweh op. 57 Nr. 6: Homesickness, composed by Edvard Grieg, performed by Emil Gilels
DISC FIVE: Ab Saunp Diya by Om Vyas
DISC SIX: Prelude and The Sound of Music by Julie Andrews & Orchestra of St. Luke's
DISC SEVEN: Over The Rainbow / What A Wonderful World by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
DISC EIGHT: Six Million Steps (West Runs South) by Rahni Harris & F.L.OPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale -
Maria Balshaw, Director of Tate
10 augustus 2020 · 35 min
Beluister deze afleveringMaria Balshaw is the Director of Tate, overseeing four major art galleries: Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate Modern and Tate St Ives. Lees meer
Maria was born in 1970 in Birmingham, and grew up in Northampton, where her father, Walter, was a parks officer, and her mother, Colette, was a teacher. She read English and Cultural Studies at the University of Liverpool and fell in love with the newly opened Tate Liverpool at Albert Dock.
After working as an academic for almost a decade, she changed career and headed a government campaign to inspire creativity in schools.
In 2006, she became director of the Whitworth gallery in Manchester, where she promoted works by women artists and oversaw a major redevelopment and expansion of the building. The Whitworth won the Art Fund Museum of the Year award in 2015. Maria also took on the roles of Director of Manchester City Galleries, and Director of Culture for Manchester City Council. The Observer called her “a northern powerhouse in her own right”.
She took over leadership of the four Tate galleries from Sir Nicholas Serota in June 2017, and is the first woman to hold this role.
Maria has two children from her first marriage and lives in Kent and London with her second husband, Nick Merriman, Director of the Horniman Museum.
DISC ONE: Ghost Town by The Specials
DISC TWO: Wild is the Wind by David Bowie
DISC THREE: It's a Sin by Pet Shop Boys
DISC FOUR: Love Hurts by Emmylou Harris with Gram Parsons
DISC FIVE: Hope There's Someone by Antony and the Johnsons
DISC SIX: Cantelowes by Toumani Diabaté
DISC SEVEN: Waiting for the Great Leap Forward by Billy Bragg
DISC EIGHT: Crown by StormzyBOOK CHOICE: Vickery’s Folk Flora: an A-Z of the Folklore and Uses of British and Irish Plants by Roy Vickery
LUXURY ITEM: A full set of flower and vegetable seeds
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Waiting for the Great Leap Forward by Billy BraggPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale -
Steve Backshall, explorer
2 augustus 2020 · 36 min
Beluister deze afleveringSteve Backshall is an explorer, naturalist and broadcaster. Lees meer
His BAFTA-winning programmes bring viewers of every generation closer to nature – from the children's series Deadly 60, featuring close encounters with the most dangerous and venomous creatures on earth, to Blue Planet Live and Springwatch.
His interest in the natural world began at a young age, after his parents decided to swap their terraced house for a smallholding with goats, ducks and geese.
His big break as a broadcaster arrived when National Geographic offered him the post of Adventurer in Residence and he’s been taking on the most arduous challenges and toughest environments on earth ever since. He ran a marathon in the Sahara and has swum cage-free with great white sharks.
His adventures have also brought him many near-death moments. He broke his back while rock climbing and recently almost drowned while kayaking in Bhutan.
Steve is married to the Olympic champion rower Helen Glover, and they have a two year old son and twins born earlier this year.
DISC ONE: Beautiful War by Kings of Leon
DISC TWO: The Wind by Cat Stevens
DISC THREE: Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead
DISC FOUR: Even After All by Finley Quaye
DISC FIVE: I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Ash Cutler and Rachael Hawnt
DISC SIX: Last Goodbye by Jeff Buckley
DISC SEVEN: 6 Words by Wretch 32
DISC EIGHT: This Life by Vampire WeekendBOOK CHOICE: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
LUXURY ITEM: A guitar
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Ash Cutler and Rachael HawntPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor -
Sharon Horgan, writer, actor, producer
26 juli 2020 · 36 min
Beluister deze afleveringSharon Horgan is a writer, actor and producer best known for co-writing and co-starring in the Channel 4 series Catastrophe with US comedian Rob Delaney. Lees meer
Sharon was born in 1970 in east London, where her parents Ursula and John were running a pub. They moved to Ireland when Sharon was three and eventually set themselves up as turkey farmers.
Sharon went to a convent school, then art college in Dublin, before moving to London in 1990, hoping to become an actor. Following six years working at a job centre, she decided to get a degree and enrolled on an English course at Brunel University. She reconnected with Dennis Kelly, who she had acted with previously, and they started writing together. Their breakthrough was the BBC Three series Pulling, first broadcast in 2006, which chronicled the lives of three single women leading unfulfilling lives in an unfashionable part of London.
Sharon appeared in films while continuing to write and, in 2014, set up her own production company. In 2015, together with Rob Delaney, she co-wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed Catastrophe, about a couple who discover they're expecting a child after a short affair. Sharon was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Female Comedy Performer and she and Rob won the BAFTA TV Craft Award for Best Comedy Writer in 2016. Catastrophe ran for four series, ending in 2019.
Sharon's other writing credits include the acclaimed series Motherland, Divorce and This Way Up, while her most recent film role was in Military Wives, opposite Kristin Scott Thomas. Sharon is divorced from her husband, Jeremy Rainbird, and lives in London with her two daughters.
DISC ONE: Rock n Roll Suicide by David Bowie
DISC TWO: The Queen is Dead by The Smiths
DISC THREE: Kid's Song by Mic Christopher
DISC FOUR: Telephone Thing by The Fall
DISC FIVE: The Only One I Know by The Charlatans
DISC SIX: Everything Goes My Way by Metronomy
DISC SEVEN: The Suburbs (continued) by Arcade Fire
DISC EIGHT: Moments of Pleasure by… -
Annie Nightingale, DJ
19 juli 2020 · 35 min
Beluister deze afleveringAnnie Nightingale was BBC Radio 1’s first female presenter and is its longest-serving DJ, celebrating her 50th anniversary at the station this year. Lees meer
Born and brought up in south west London, she fell in love with the romance and mystery of radio through her father’s meticulous tuning of their home set to broadcasts from exotic places like Prague and Hilversum. On leaving school at 17, she spent a year on a journalism course in central London.
After relocating to Brighton, she worked her way up through local newspapers to the national press and magazines and eventually, by the mid-1960s, to TV. She interviewed the Beatles as a young journalist, and gave early support to artists including David Bowie, Ian Dury, Eminem and Primal Scream. In 1970, she was the first woman DJ to join Radio 1 with a Sunday evening show. From 1978 to 1982, Annie was the sole female presenter on the BBC TV music show The Old Grey Whistle Test, the only woman to have held the job. Her excitement for new music and musical genres from acid house to grime, hasn’t wavered.
She currently hosts a weekly Radio 1 show called Annie Nightingale Presents… (on air on Wednesdays between 1 and 3 am) and has received countless awards from Caner of the Year to Commander of the Order of the British Empire, which she received this year for services to radio.
Annie has a son and a daughter from her first marriage. She is twice divorced and lives in London.
DISC ONE: Bury a Friend by Billie Eilish
DISC TWO: Some People by Ethel Merman
DISC THREE: Instant Karma! by John Lennon
DISC FOUR: Too Many Fish in the Sea by Marvelettes
DISC FIVE: Space Oddity by David Bowie
DISC SIX: Freedom by Beyoncé Featuring Kendrick Lamar
DISC SEVEN: Gymnopédies No. 1, composed by Erik Satie, conducted by Peter Breiner, performed by Gerald Garcia (guitar) and Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Košice
DISC EIGHT: My Way by Sid ViciousBOOK CHOICE: Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
LUXURY ITEM: A saxophone
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Space … -
Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO
12 juli 2020 · 35 min
Beluister deze afleveringJens Stoltenberg is the Secretary General of NATO and a former Prime Minister of Norway. Lees meer
Although he was born into a political family in Norway, he grew up thinking he would become a statistician, before turning to a career in politics.
He served as the Prime Minister of Norway twice. During his second term, Norway experienced one of the darkest days in its recent history, when 77 people were murdered in a bomb attack in Oslo and a mass shooting on a nearby island.
Before becoming the Secretary General of NATO, a post he has held since 2014, he spent time as a UN Special Envoy on climate change. His term in office as Secretary-General has been extended until September 2022.
DISC ONE: Lift Me by Madrugada and Ane Brun
DISC TWO: No Harm by Smerz
DISC THREE: So Long, Marianne by Leonard Cohen
DISC FOUR: Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen
DISC FIVE: Make You Feel My Love by Ane Brun
DISC SIX: Til Ungdommen by Ingebjørg Bratland
DISC SEVEN: Free Nelson Mandela by The Special A.K.A.
DISC EIGHT: From Up Here by Ingrid OlavaBOOK CHOICE: A statistics textbook
LUXURY ITEM: A pair of skis
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Til Ungdommen by Ingebjørg BratlandPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah TaylorPhoto credit: NATO
-
Helen Fielding, author
5 juli 2020 · 38 min
Beluister deze afleveringHelen Fielding, writer and journalist, is best known for creating Bridget Jones, who first appeared in a newspaper column in the Independent in 1995, in the form of a diary detailing the single 30-something’s exploits in London as she tried to make sense of life and love. The column soon acquired a wider following, and Helen turned Bridget’s story into a best-selling book the following year. Lees meer
Born in 1958, Helen grew up in Yorkshire with an older sister and two younger brothers. Her father was a manager at the textile mill next door to where they lived.
She read English at Oxford where she became friends with Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson. After graduating, she became a BBC trainee, travelling to Africa for Comic Relief. She later made documentaries for Thames TV before moving into print journalism.To date, Helen has written four Bridget Jones novels, three of which have been turned into feature films starring Renée Zellweger. She spent a decade in Los Angeles at the start of the new millennium and had two children with Kevin Curran, who was a scriptwriter for The Simpsons. She now lives in London.
DISC ONE: Fly Me to the Moon by Julie London
DISC TWO: The Windmills of Your Mind by Noel Harrison
DISC THREE: It Must Be Love by Madness
DISC FOUR: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30, composed by Sergei Rachmaninov, conducted by Valery Gergiev and performed by Denis Matsuev (piano) and Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra
DISC FIVE: La Isla Bonita by Madonna
DISC SIX: I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
DISC SEVEN: I’ve Got the World on a String by Frank Sinatra
DISC EIGHT: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered by Stan Getz & The Oscar Peterson TrioBOOK CHOICE: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
LUXURY ITEM: A magical tree
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: It Must Be Love by MadnessPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale -
Helen McCrory, actress
28 juni 2020 · 39 min
Beluister deze afleveringHelen McCrory shares the eight tracks, book and luxury she would want to take with her if cast away to a desert island. Lees meer
Helen McCrory OBE is one of the most versatile and critically acclaimed actresses working today. On screen she has played Anna Karenina, Cherie Blair (twice), Harry Potter's Narcissa Malfoy and the Peaky Blinders matriarch Aunt Polly. Her theatre roles range from Yelena in Uncle Vanya to Euripides' Medea.
A diplomat's daughter, she spent her early childhood in Africa before continuing her education in the UK. After a bruising and unsuccessful audition at the Drama Centre in London - she was instructed to find out more about life before learning to act - she travelled to Italy where she discovered art and love and came back to try again. This time she passed the audition.
In 1993 she made her mark in Richard Eyre's production of Trelawny of the Wells at the National Theatre and went on to perform leading roles on some of London's most prestigious stages, winning two Olivier Award nominations. She was awarded an OBE for services to drama in 2017.
She met her husband, fellow actor Damian Lewis, when they both starred in a play called Five Gold Rings. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic Helen and Damian, together with the comedian Matt Lucas, co-founded the Feed NHS campaign which raises money to provide hot meals to frontline NHS workers.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley -
Mark Johnston, racehorse trainer
21 juni 2020 · 39 min
Beluister deze afleveringRacehorse trainer Mark Johnston is a lynchpin of British flat racing. In August 2018 - when 20-1 shot Poet's Society, ridden by Frankie Dettori, streaked to victory at York - Mark became the most prolific winning trainer in British racing history, saddling 4,194 winners. Lees meer
Based in a 300-acre training yard in Yorkshire, he has never trained fewer than 100 winners each season for the last 26 years including champions such as Attraction, Mister Baileys, Double Trigger and Shamardal.
Mark grew up on a council estate in East Kilbride and learned to ride when he was a child. His father was a horse lover who enjoyed a flutter and took the young Mark to the bookies when he placed his bets - although Mark was too young to go inside. As a 14-year-old Mark raced whippets and later studied veterinary medicine at Glasgow University but his dream was always to become a racehorse trainer.
In 1986, together with his wife and business partner Deirdre, Mark bought his first yard. He had no money or connections in the racing world and had three-and-a-half paying horses rather than the 12 he needed under the terms of his trainer's licence. In these early days, the horses trained on a nearby beach that doubled up as an MOD bombing range.
Johnston horses are known for their front-running style - he believes races aren't won by horses accelerating and passing the other runners, but when the horses in front slow down. He says: "I tell my jockeys to bowl along at the speed the horse is happiest."
DISC ONE: Get Down and Get With It by Slade
DISC TWO: Pencil Full of Lead by Paolo Nutini
DISC THREE: You May Be Right by Billy Joel
DISC FOUR: You're Still The One by Deirdre and Angus Johnston
DISC FIVE: Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits
DISC SIX: I Knew the Bride Dave Edmunds
DISC SEVEN: Not Ready to Make Nice by Dixie Chicks
DISC EIGHT: Don't Stop by Fleetwood MacBOOK CHOICE: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
LUXURY ITEM: A pair of binoculars
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Don't Stop by… -
Joe Wicks, fitness trainer and author
14 juni 2020 · 38 min
Beluister deze afleveringJoe Wicks, professionally known as The Body Coach, is a fitness and nutrition coach. Since the lockdown, he has been running daily free virtual PE lessons for children and adults stuck at home. In March he became a Guinness World Record holder after his second PE with Joe class was watched by 955,158 people around the world, a record number of viewers for a live streamed YouTube workout. Getting children to be more active has been a long-held ambition and in 2019 he went on a tour of fifteen schools around the UK delivering High Intensity Interval Training workouts as part of his mission to get school children working out for 15 minutes a day. Lees meer
Born in 1985, Joe’s mother was nineteen when she gave birth to him while his father was in and out of his life with a heroin addiction. He was a hyperactive child whose salvation at school was channelling his excess energy into PE lessons.
With a Sports Science degree under his belt, he briefly became a teaching assistant himself, but found it wasn’t for him and set himself up as a personal trainer instead, preaching the importance of combining training with the right nutrition. With the advent of the video function on Instagram, he started posting free 15-second recipes using the name The Body Coach, building up a following of first hundreds, then thousands and eventually millions.
His phenomenally successful business began when he created a commercial 90-day plan with workouts and meals. He published Lean in 15 in 2015 which became the bestselling non-fiction book of the year, and he has since written eight further cook books.
He married his wife, Rosie, in 2019 and the couple have two children, Indie and Marley.
DISC ONE: Shotgun by George Ezra
DISC TWO: Bright Side of the Road by Van Morrison
DISC THREE: Three Little Birds by Bob Marley And The Wailers
DISC FOUR: When You Were Young by The Killers
DISC FIVE: Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen
DISC SIX: River by Leon Bridges
DISC SEVEN: Nothing Can Change This Love by … -
Martin Lewis, financial campaigner
7 juni 2020 · 36 min
Beluister deze afleveringMartin Lewis is a financial journalist, campaigner and broadcaster. Lees meer
His high-profile campaigns on bank charges, student finance, and mental health and debt have made headlines, and millions of people subscribe to his weekly money tips email. He founded the Money Saving Expert website in 2003 with just £100 and sold it less than a decade later for £87 million, although he calls himself an 'accidental entrepreneur'.
He has since supported numerous groups and causes through charitable donations, most recently setting up a Coronavirus Poverty Emergency Fund to help small local charities. He has also campaigned for financial help and guidance for self-employed people who are unable to work during the current pandemic.
Martin grew up in Cheshire and studied at the London School of Economics. After a brief spell working in financial PR, he took a postgraduate course in broadcast journalism with the aim of becoming a commentator on money matters, and he initially worked as a producer and presenter on radio and TV,
DISC ONE: Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin
DISC TWO: Stand and Deliver by Adam And The Ants
DISC THREE: Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off by Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald
DISC FOUR: The Circle Game by Joni Mitchell
DISC FIVE: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
DISC SIX: The Blue Danube, composed by Johann Strauss II, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent and performed by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
DISC SEVEN: I Fought the Lloyds by Oystar
DISC EIGHT: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli And The Four SeasonsBOOK CHOICE: A Game of Thrones: The Story Continues: The complete boxset of all 7 books (A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin
LUXURY ITEM: Solar powered electric carving knife
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky MartinPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor -
Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu, former nurse
31 mei 2020 · 37 min
Beluister deze afleveringElizabeth Anionwu is a retired nurse, campaigner and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London. A fellow of the Royal College of Nursing, she spent 40 years in the profession and has been named one of the most influential nurses in the history of the NHS. Her career was distinguished by her pioneering work in the understanding of sickle cell disease - bringing better treatment and support to the thousands living with it. She was the first sickle cell and thalassaemia nurse counsellor in the UK. Lees meer
Her decades of dedication, care and service are a contrast to her own disrupted childhood as a mixed race child born out of wedlock in the 1940s, though it was the kindness of a nurse when she was just five that sparked a nascent interest in what would become her life’s work. After leaving school at 16, with seven O-levels, Elizabeth was made a Professor of Nursing in 1998.
She left her day job behind in 2007, but as she puts it “it has not turned out to be a quiet retirement”. She spent nine years fundraising and campaigning for a statue to British-Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole. Unveiled in 2016 in the grounds of St Thomas’ Hospital, London, the statue is the first in the UK to represent a named black woman. Elizabeth received the DBE in 2017 for services to nursing and the Mary Seacole Statue Appeal.
DISC ONE: Faith’s Song by Amy Wadge
DISC TWO: The Rakes of Mallow, Girl I Left Behind by The Gallowglass Ceili Band
DISC THREE: Manman by Leyla McCalla
DISC FOUR: A Te,O Cara by Andrea Bocelli
DISC FIVE: Missa Bilban by The Jamaican Folk Singers
DISC SIX: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free by Nina Simone
DISC SEVEN: Nnekata by Flavour N'abania
DISC EIGHT: My Girl by Otis ReddingBOOK CHOICE: Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama
LUXURY ITEM: A trampoline
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free by Nina SimonePresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale -
Charles Hazlewood, conductor
24 mei 2020 · 38 min
Beluister deze afleveringCharles Hazlewood is a conductor and the founder of Paraorchestra, the world's first professional ensemble of disabled musicians. Lees meer
Once described as the Heston Blumenthal of orchestral music, Charles has spent his career challenging Britain’s musical palate, exploding boundaries and expanding our ideas about what an orchestra can be - and do.
His repertoire encompasses Beethoven, Bruckner and Barry White, and his critically-acclaimed projects include more than 100 world premieres and the first orchestral headline performance at Glastonbury. Paraorchestra, the ensemble he established in 2011, reached a global audience at the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Paralympics. He also co-founded an opera company in South Africa, and its production of Carmen, with a mainly black cast, won international acclaim.
He studied music at Keble College, Oxford and was the Organ Scholar there. He won the EBU conductor's competition in 1995 and has had an international career as a conductor.
DISC ONE: Somebody’s Gonna Off The Man by Barry White & The Love Unlimited Orchestra
DISC TWO: A Rainbow in Curved Air by Terry Riley
DISC THREE: Ach, ich fühls, composed by Mozart, conducted by Otto Klemperer and performed by Gundula Janowitz and Philharmonia Orchestra
DISC FOUR: R. Strauss: 4 Lieder, Op. 27 - 4. Morgen! by Richard Strauss, conducted by Kurt Masur, performed by Jessye Norman and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
DISC FIVE: Improvisation by Olivier Latry
DISC SIX: Kraftwerk-Rewerk, composed by Charlotte Harding and Lloyd Coleman, conducted by Charles Hazlewood
DISC SEVEN: Ndisakuthanda Mna, composed by Georges Bizet, performed by Pauline Malefane, Andile Tshoni and Dimpho Di Kopane, conducted by Charles Hazlewood
DISC EIGHT: The Last Time/Ultima Vez by Pauline OliverosBOOK CHOICE: A book of poetry by Ivor Cutler
LUXURY ITEM: An espresso machine
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Ach, ich fühls, composed by Mozart, conducted by Otto Klemperer and performed by Gundula Janowitz and Philharmon… -
Sinead Burke, disability rights activist and teacher
17 mei 2020 · 38 min
Beluister deze afleveringSinead Burke is a disability rights activist and teacher. She has combined her love of education and style to campaign for more representation of diversity in the fashion industry. Lees meer
Born in Dublin, Sinead has achondroplasia – a genetic condition which causes restricted growth – and is 3’ 5” tall. She refers to herself as a “little person” and knew she wanted to be a teacher after her first day at school. She has used the classroom environment to discuss openly with her pupils the issues surrounding disability. She believes openness and kindness are the ways forward to develop understanding and respect.
As a child she collected the September issues of Vogue and later on started writing a blog in which she held the fashion industry to account about diversity and representation. She continues to work towards greater inclusivity in fashion and her mission is to encourage people from diverse backgrounds to realise the industry is open to them whether as editors, designers or models. Last year she was selected as one of 15 trailblazing women to appear on the cover of the September issue of British Vogue.
In 2018 Sinead spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos – the only Irish female delegate. She has taken her message to the White House at the invitation of the Obamas and was appointed to Ireland’s Council of State to advise the president about disability rights.
DISC ONE: Like A Girl by Lizzo
DISC TWO: Awoo by Sofi Tukker, feat. Betta Lemme
DISC THREE: Small Town Boy by Bronski Beat
DISC FOUR: You Should See Me in a Crown by Billie Eilish
DISC FIVE: I Put a Spell on You by Nina Simone
DISC SIX: The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel
DISC SEVEN: Vogue by Madonna
DISC EIGHT: Samhradh Samhradh by The GloamingBOOK CHOICE: Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde
LUXURY ITEM: A necklace
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Like A Girl by LizzoPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley -
Simon Armitage, Poet Laureate
10 mei 2020 · 40 min
Beluister deze afleveringSimon Armitage was appointed Poet Laureate in 2019. His poems celebrate the everyday and the ordinary with wit and affection. But beyond the wood chip and washing lines he addresses the complexities and the profound feelings that underpin daily life. Lees meer
Born in Huddersfield, Simon Armitage grew up in the village of Marsden in West Yorkshire. Marsden has informed and inspired much of his work and as a boy he would look out of his bedroom window at night to watch the comings and goings of village life.
He vividly remembers as a teenager discovering the work of fellow laureate Ted Hughes, recalling an almost electrical surge of excitement when he realised the power of words on a page. Hughes grew up in the next valley and Simon admits to thinking "If Ted Hughes can do it why can't I?"
He worked as a probation officer in Manchester for several years, writing poetry in the evenings and at weekends. His first collection Zoom! was published in 1989 and a few years later he left the probation service to write full time. Prolific and popular, he was named the Millennium poet and in 2015 was appointed Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford. Three years later he was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.
Today he lives not far from Marsden where, when he's not writing poems, plays and novels, he still looks out of his window and daydreams.
DISC ONE: Moonage Daydream by David Bowie
DISC TWO: The Lamb by William Blake, composed by John Tavener, conducted by Andrew Nethsingha and performed by The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge
DISC THREE: You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two by Jonathan Pryce and the 1994 London Palladium Cast Of Oliver!
DISC FOUR: Icecrust and Snowflake by Ted Hughes
DISC FIVE: Atmosphere by Joy Division
DISC SIX: Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go? by Soft Cell
DISC SEVEN: Holmfirth Anthem by Jon Rennard
DISC EIGHT: My Heart’s in the Highlands by Else Torpe and Christopher Bowers-BroadbentBOOK CHOICE: The Oxford English Dictionary
LUXUR… -
Brian Cox, actor
29 maart 2020 · 34 min
Beluister deze afleveringBrian Cox CBE is a Scottish actor whose career spans almost 60 years, from his early days sweeping the stage at his local theatre in Dundee to his current Golden Globe-winning role as the media patriarch Logan Roy in the HBO series Succession. He has appeared in more than 100 films, many television series, and has won two Olivier awards for his work on stage. Lees meer
Brian Cox was born in 1946, the youngest of five children, and grew up in a working-class household in Dundee. His father died of cancer when he was eight and his mother, who was receiving regular psychiatric treatment, was unable to take care of him. He moved in with his sister Betty and her family.
He left school aged 14 with no qualifications, and started out as a stage hand and stage cleaner at Dundee Rep, before winning a place at drama school. Years of theatre work followed, alongside actors such as Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud and Albert Finney. His later stage roles include acclaimed performances as King Lear at the National Theatre, and Titus Andronicus for the Royal Shakespeare Company. On film, his work includes the first screen portrayal of Hannibal Lecter - renamed Lecktor - in Manhunter, and blockbusters such as The Bourne Identity, X-Men 2, Braveheart and Troy.
He received a CBE in 2002, and lives in New York City with his second wife Nicole Ansari.
DISC ONE: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Johnny Cash
DISC TWO: Saturday Night at the Movies by The Drifters
DISC THREE: The Air That I Breathe by KD Lang
DISC FOUR: Get Back by The Beatles
DISC FIVE: La quête by Jacques Brel
DISC SIX: Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
DISC SEVEN: God Only Knows by The Beach Boys
DISC EIGHT: Don’t Get Me Wrong by The PretendersBOOK CHOICE: In Search of the Miraculous by P.D. Ouspensky
LUXURY ITEM: A sewing kit
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: God Only Knows by The Beach BoysPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor -
Dame Helena Morrissey, financier and campaigner
22 maart 2020 · 36 min
Beluister deze afleveringDame Helena Morrissey is a former City fund manager and chief executive of a major investment company, who has also campaigned to boost the number of women in the boardroom. Newspapers regularly describe her as 'Superwoman', because alongside her many professional achievements, she's the mother of nine children. Lees meer
Helena Morrissey is the daughter of two teachers, and her drive was evident from an early age. She was - by her own admission - a 'manic Brownie', striving to gain the maximum number of badges, and she also played the piano to a high standard. She won a place at Cambridge University from her comprehensive school in Chichester, and on graduating, joined an asset management company in their New York office. On her return to London, she felt that she was denied promotion because she had a young baby.
She moved to Newton Investment Management, and at the age of 35 she was appointed the CEO - a role she was not expecting to take. Under her leadership, the company's assets grew from £20 billion to £50 billion. In 2010 she established the 30% Club, campaigning for better female representation on the boards of British companies, and in 2017 she received a DBE for services to diversity in the financial sector.
She lives in London with her husband Richard, who gave up full time work to look after their many children.
DISC ONE: My Sweet Lord by George Harrison
DISC TWO: Polonaise in A Flat, Op. 53, Heroic, composed by Frédéric François Chopin and performed by Arthur Rubenstein
DISC THREE: We've Only Just Begun by The Carpenters
DISC FOUR: Being Boring by Pet Shop Boys
DISC FIVE: Moon River by Audrey Hepburn
DISC SIX: Calm Down by The Clementines
DISC SEVEN: Condolence by Benjamin Clementine
DISC EIGHT: God Is by Kanye WestBOOK CHOICE: Much Obliged, Jeeves by P. G .Wodehouse
LUXURY ITEM: A grand piano
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: My Sweet Lord by George HarrisonPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale -
Daniel Radcliffe, actor
15 maart 2020 · 55 min
Beluister deze afleveringDaniel Radcliffe reached a global audience in the title role of the hugely successful Harry Potter films. He has also appeared on Broadway and in the West End, as well as in over a dozen films since the final part of the Harry Potter series was released in 2011. Lees meer
Born in 1989, the only child of Alan and Marcia Radcliffe, Daniel made his acting debut aged 10 in a BBC adaptation of David Copperfield. The following year he was cast as Harry Potter, and he and his co-stars, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, would spend ten years filming the series. Daniel made a point of taking other roles before it had finished, and he appeared on stage in Peter Shaffer’s play Equus in 2007, a role which involved prolonged full frontal nudity.
Since then he has appeared on screen, on stage and on television, playing characters from the beat poet Allen Ginsberg to a cop going undercover as a neo-Nazi, and his recent films include Guns Akimbo and Escape from Pretoria. In the theatre, he is appearing in Samuel Beckett’s Endgame in London.
He supports the Trevor Project which works to prevent suicides among LGBTQ youth and which Daniel first became aware of during the Broadway run of Equus in 2008. Daniel has been in a long-term relationship with fellow actor Erin Darke who he met on a film set in 2012.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale -
Chris Riddell, illustrator, author and political cartoonist
8 maart 2020 · 38 min
Beluister deze afleveringChris Riddell is an illustrator, author of children’s books and a political cartoonist. From 2015 to 2017, he was the Children’s Laureate, and he has won three Greenaway Medals for his work – more than any other illustrator. Lees meer
He was born in 1962 in Cape Town, South Africa, where his parents were both anti-apartheid activists. They moved to the UK when Chris was a year old. He grew up first in rural England, and later in south London where his father, a vicar, became chaplain of Brixton Prison.
He started drawing as a young boy when he was given paper and pencils by his mother to keep him quiet during his father’s sermons. After school, he studied illustration under Raymond Briggs at Brighton Polytechnic and received his first commission while still at art school. As a writer his work ranges from picture books to chapter book series including Ottoline and Goth Girl, and as an illustrator he has frequently collaborated with authors such as Paul Stewart and Neil Gaiman.
He started as a political cartoonist in the late 1980s and has drawn the Observer’s weekly cartoon since 1995, celebrating 25 years at the paper this year. As Children's Laureate, he encouraged children to draw, and championed the importance of school libraries and librarians.
Chris is married to Jo, a fellow illustrator and printmaker, with whom he has three grown-up children, among them Katy, another illustrator.
DISC ONE: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis, composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli, performed by Sinfonia of London
DISC TWO: The Funeral: September 25, 1977 (Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika) by Thuli Dumakude
DISC THREE: Smoke Signals by Phoebe Bridgers
DISC FOUR: Final Day by Young Marble Giants
DISC FIVE: Suzanne by Leonard Cohen
DISC SIX: Horace in Brighton by Bird in the Belly
DISC SEVEN: Klarinettenkonzert A-Dur K. 622 - 2. Adagio - I. Allegro. Composed by Mozart, directed by János Rolla, performed by Kálmán Berkes (clarinet) and Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orches… -
Dorothy Byrne, journalist
1 maart 2020 · 39 min
Beluister deze afleveringDorothy Byrne is the head of News and Current Affairs at Channel 4, and has worked in journalism for more than four decades. Lees meer
In 2018 she received the Outstanding Contribution Award at Royal Television Society Journalism Awards, and her recent commissions include the Channel 4 News investigation into Cambridge Analytica, the Michael Jackson expose Leaving Neverland and the BAFTA-winning documentary For Sama, about one family’s life under siege in Aleppo, which also won an Oscar nomination.
She began her career in journalism in her mid 20s on the Waltham Forest Guardian, after writing a cheeky letter to 50 local newspaper editors - just one responded. She later moved into television, joining the acclaimed World in Action team at Granada, where she argued that the programme's agenda was male-dominated and needed to change.
Dorothy gave the MacTaggart Lecture at the 2019 Edinburgh International Television Festival, in which she argued that the scrutiny of politicians through broadcast interviews is important for the health of democracy. She also described herself as 'just about the oldest female TV executive working for a broadcaster'.
DISC ONE: Greatest Living Creature by John Grant
DISC TWO: Non-Alignment Pact by Per Ubu
DISC THREE: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth, composed by George Frideric Handel, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult and performed by Dame Joan Sutherland and London Symphony Orchestra
DISC FOUR: Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense by Fela Kuti
DISC FIVE: Dido's Lament: When I'm Laid In Earth, composed by Hendry Purcell, conducted by Raymond Leppard and performed by Jessye Norman and English Chamber Orchestra
DISC SIX: World in Action by Matt Berry
DISC EIGHT: The People United Will Never Be Defeated by Igor LevitBOOK CHOICE: Physics text books
LUXURY ITEM: The back catalogue of In Our Time / the voice of Melvyn Bragg
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth, composed by George Frideric Handel, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult and performed by Da… -
Melanie C
23 februari 2020 · 41 min
Beluister deze afleveringMelanie Chisholm - known as Melanie C - is a singer and songwriter who found global fame as one fifth of the Spice Girls, the most commercially successful female group ever. Lees meer
Melanie was one of 400 other hopefuls who answered an advertisement to form a new girl band in 1994 - little knowing how her life would be turned upside down by fame and worldwide success. She was given the nickname Sporty Spice and presented what she calls a "gobby' persona to the outside world, but inside she was a shy girl who preferred to stay in the background.
She grew up in Merseyside and as a child she loved performing. At 16 she attended the Doreen Bird College of Arts, aiming for a career in musical theatre. By her early 20s, she was an international star: Spice world was a high-octane life of constant recording and touring and the accompanying press scrutiny contributed to a stressful environment. As the pressure intensified Melanie suffered from eating disorders and in 2000 she was diagnosed with depression. Her recovery was long and painful but she says finally getting a diagnosis enabled her to begin the process of getting better.
When the Spice Girls went their separate ways for a while Melanie began a career as a successful solo artist. In 2009 she played Mrs Johnstone in the West End production of Willy Russell's musical Blood Brothers, earning five star reviews and standing ovations. Recently she has been back on stage with the Spice Girls on their stadium tour.
DISC ONE: I Wish by Stevie Wonder
DISC TWO: The Chain by Fleetwood Mac
DISC THREE: Prince Charming by Adam and the Ants
DISC FOUR: Into the Groove by Madonna
DISC FIVE: Girls and Boys by Blur
DISC SIX: Everything I Wanted by Billie Eilish
DISC SEVEN: Heaven on Their Minds by Tim Minchin
DISC EIGHT: You'll Never Walk Alone by Gerry & The PacemakersBOOK CHOICE: Dancing with Demons: The Authorised Biography of Dusty Springfield by Penny Valentine and Vicki Wickham
LUXURY ITEM: A Martin acoustic guitar
CASTAWAY'S FAV… -
Ian Wright, former footballer and broadcaster
16 februari 2020 · 47 min
Beluister deze afleveringIan Wright is a former professional footballer and now a football pundit on TV and radio. He began his career at Crystal Palace before moving to Arsenal where he became their highest goal scorer of all time, a record only surpassed eight years later by Thierry Henry. Lees meer
Born to a Jamaican couple in south-east London, Ian grew up with his mother and step-father. His biological father had left the family when Ian was under two years old. Things at home were difficult and Ian spent as much time as possible outside playing football.
At his primary school a teacher, Mr Pigden, took him under his wing and Ian would later credit him with changing his life. He left his secondary school at the age of 14 to get a job. Although he took part in trials for many professional football clubs as a teenager, he was never selected. He continued to play for amateur sides. By the age of 21, he had three children to provide for, so when Crystal Palace came calling in 1985, he turned them down three times before accepting a two-week trial, followed by a three-month contract. His football career had finally begun.
After impressing as a forward at Palace, he was bought by Arsenal for a record fee in 1991. He was called up to the England squad the same year and would go on to collect 33 caps. He spent his last couple of years in professional football at a number of clubs around the country and in total, he played 581 league games, scoring 387 goals for seven clubs in England and Scotland. Since his retirement from football in 2000, he has had a career as a pundit on both TV and radio.
He has eight children and has been happily married to his second wife, Nancy, since 2011.
DISC ONE: The Marriage of Figaro: Duettino - Sull'aria by Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, composed by Lorenzo Da Ponte and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
DISC TWO: Looking For You by Kirk Franklin
DISC THREE: River Deep Mountain High by Ike and Tina Turner
DISC FOUR: Redemption Song by Bob Marley & The Wailers
DISC FIVE… -
Zoe Ball, broadcaster
9 februari 2020 · 38 min
Beluister deze afleveringZoe Ball is a radio and television presenter. She became the first woman to present the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show in 1997, and then the first woman to present the Radio 2 Breakfast Show in 2019. Lees meer
Zoe grew up in Buckinghamshire with her father – TV presenter Johnny Ball – and her stepmother. After working behind the scenes in TV as a runner and researcher, she first moved into the spotlight hosting children's programmes, including the very successful BBC Saturday morning show Live & Kicking, with Jamie Theakston. In the late 1990s, coinciding with her move to the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, she found herself described in the press as a 'ladette', enjoying the partying culture of the time. Further headlines followed her marriage to superstar DJ Norman Cook - Fatboy Slim - in 1999. She decided to leave Radio 1 in 2000, and her first child, Woody, was born later that year. She and Norman announced their separation in 2016.
Zoe was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, and has presented Strictly: It Takes Two since 2011. In 2018, she cycled 350 miles from Blackpool to Brighton as part of Sport Relief, and to raise awareness of mental health, after her partner Billy Yates took his own life. She began presenting the Radio 2 Breakfast Show just over a year ago.
She lives in Sussex with her two children, Woody and Nelly.
DISC ONE: Where Am I Going? by Barbra Streisand
DISC TWO: Georgy Porgy (Disco Version) by Toto feat. Cheryl Lynn
DISC THREE: Righteous by Ocean Wisdom feat. Rodney P & Roots Manuva
DISC FOUR: Shoot You Down by The Stone Roses
DISC FIVE: Love Having You Around by First Choice
DISC SIX: Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) by Frank Wilson
DISC SEVEN: Truth by Kamasi Washington
DISC EIGHT: You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling StonesBOOK CHOICE: A dictionary
LUXURY ITEM: A potting shed, gardening tools and seeds
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Truth by Kamasi WashingtonPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor -
Sonita Alleyne, Master of Jesus College, Cambridge
2 februari 2020 · 40 min
Beluister deze afleveringSonita Alleyne is the Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, the first woman to hold the post and - more significantly - the first black master of any Oxbridge college. In her previous career in the media, she was the co-founder and former CEO of the production company Somethin’ Else. Lees meer
Born in Barbados, she came to England aged three and grew up in East London, the youngest of three children. She was an able reader by the time she started primary school, and her potential was spotted at her secondary school, where she was encouraged to apply to Cambridge.
She read philosophy at Fitzwilliam College and, after a brief and unfulfilling spell selling life insurance, she followed her passion for jazz by starting to write for music magazines. In 1989 she joined the radio station Jazz FM. When she was made redundant a couple of years later, she and two former Jazz FM colleagues set up a production company they called Somethin’ Else.
Sonita stepped down as CEO in 2009 to concentrate on other boardroom roles. She served on the BBC Trust for nearly five years, sits on the board of the London Legacy Development Corporation, and founded the Yes Programme to show primary school pupils their future career options. She is a fellow of the Radio Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts.
Sonita began her ten year tenure as Master of Jesus College in October 2019. She lives in Cambridge with her partner, the screenwriter James McCarthy, and their teenage son.
DISC ONE: I’ve Known Rivers by Gary Bartz & NTU Troop
DISC TWO: Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton
DISC THREE: Key To The World by L J Reynolds
DISC FOUR: Martha by Tom Waits
DISC FIVE: Tennessee by Arrested Development
DISC SIX: To Forgive But Not Forget by Outside
DISC SEVEN: Last Train to Clarksville by Cassandra Wilson
DISC EIGHT: Swing Low Sweet Chariot by Marvin “Hannibal” PetersonBOOK CHOICE: Coming Through Slaughter by Michael Ondaatje
LUXURY ITEM:A genie in a lamp which would only work withi… -
Anne Enright, writer
26 januari 2020 · 37 min
Beluister deze afleveringAnne Enright won the Booker Prize for her fourth novel, The Gathering, in 2007, and was appointed the inaugural Laureate for Irish Fiction in 2015. She has written seven novels, two collections of short stories and a book of essays about motherhood and her work has been widely translated. Lees meer
Born in Dublin in 1962, Anne is the youngest of five children. She was a voracious reader from an early age, finishing every children's book at her local library. When she was 16, she won a scholarship to study at a school in Canada, and then returned to Ireland for a degree in English and Philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin. After taking an MA in Creative Writing at University of East Anglia, with teaching from Angela Carter and Malcolm Bradbury, she worked for six years as a TV producer for the Irish broadcaster RTE. When her TV work left her feeling burned out, she began her writing career in earnest. Her book of short stories, The Portable Virgin, won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 1991, and she published her first novel, The Wig My Father Wore, in 1995. Her latest novel, The Actress, is published in February 2020.
She is also now a Professor at University College Dublin and teaches creative writing. She met her theatre director husband, Martin Murphy, at university and they have two children.
DISC ONE: Brahms Intermezzos: Op. 117, No.1 by Glenn Gould
DISC TWO: Jersey Girl by Tom Waits
DISC THREE: A Case Of You by Joni Mitchell
DISC FOUR: Then You’ll Remember Me by Dé Danann
DISC FIVE: The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash
DISC SIX: Hiawatha by Laurie Anderson
DISC SEVEN: Tower of Song by Leonard Cohen
DISC EIGHT: Soave sia il vento from Cosi fan Tutte, composed by Mozart, conducted by Karl Böhm, performed by Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Walter Berry, Christa Ludwig and Philharmonia Orchestra.BOOK CHOICE: 'In Search of Lost Time’ by Marcel Proust
LUXURY ITEM: High thread-count cotton sheets
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Soave sia il vento from Cosi fan Tutte, composed by Moza… -
Dame Sue Campbell, Director Women's Football at the FA
19 januari 2020 · 53 min
Beluister deze afleveringDame Sue Campbell is the Director of Women’s Football at the Football Association. The women’s game has become increasingly popular recently and last year the England team - the Lionesses - made it to the World Cup semi-finals. Lees meer
Born in 1948, just outside Nottingham, Sue was sporty from an early age, even changing schools to allow her to play football. She became a PE teacher in Manchester and realised how transformative sport could be, increasing self-esteem, motivation and self-belief.
In the mid-1980s, after learning about excellence in sport at Loughborough University and playing netball for England as well as dabbling in the pentathlon, Sue became deputy chief executive (and a year later chief executive) of the National Coaching Foundation, which provided education for coaches at both ends of the spectrum, from parent volunteers to elite coaches.
Ten years later, in 1995, she co-founded the Youth Sport Trust to set up a sports activity programme for every primary school in the country. It was hugely successful: in 2003 only 23% of school children were getting two hours of PE a week. By 2008, this figure had risen to 95%. In 2010, the coalition government cut their funding.
By this time, back at the elite end of the sporting spectrum, Sue was also in charge of UK Sport, where she presided over Team GB's biggest Olympic medal haul in living memory, at the London 2012 games. In 2016, she took her current job as head of Women’s Football at the FA. She has also been a cross-bench peer in the House of Lords since 2008.
BOOK CHOICE: The Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
LUXURY ITEM: A photo album
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Music Of My Heart by Gloria Estefan And *N SYNCPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale -
Michael Lewis, writer
12 januari 2020 · 37 min
Beluister deze afleveringMichael Lewis is a best-selling non-fiction writer and journalist. He initially worked for an investment bank, and his experiences of Wall Street excess in the 1980s informed his acclaimed first book, Liar’s Poker. Three of his later books – Moneyball, The Blind Side and The Big Short – have been adapted into Hollywood feature films. Lees meer
He was born in New Orleans in 1960, where his father was fond of quoting the family motto: 'Do as little as possible, and that unwillingly, for it is better to receive a light reprimand than perform an arduous task.' After studying at Princeton and the LSE, he joined an American bank in London, and wrote articles about the quirks of the industry under a pseudonym. In spite of his father’s opposition, he decided to quit his highly-paid job to become a writer.
In Moneyball, he examined how a struggling baseball team used intensive data analysis to find undervalued players overlooked by richer clubs. The Big Short focused on the sub-prime mortgage crisis, and his most recent book, The Fifth Risk, is about the Trump administration’s approach to government.
Michael lives in California with his wife, Tabitha Soren, and their three children.
BOOK CHOICE: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
LUXURY ITEM: A photo album
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Old Days by ChicagoPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor -
Rupert Everett, actor
9 januari 2020 · 38 min
Beluister deze afleveringRupert Everett is an actor, writer and director whose breakthrough came in 1981 when he was cast as a gay schoolboy in Another Country, Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film. Lees meer
Rupert later starred in Dance with a Stranger before making a splash in Hollywood playing Julia Roberts's gay confidante in My Best Friend's Wedding. But his movie career took a dive after The Next Best Thing - in which he played the gay father of Madonna's baby - flopped. After a period out of the limelight he turned his attention to writing and won great acclaim for his witty and illuminating memoirs about his life in showbusiness.
In 2018 Rupert starred in his directorial debut, The Happy Prince - a film about Oscar Wilde's final years in exile. The film was a decade-long labour of love for Rupert from writing the screenplay to securing the funding and persuading his friends Colin Firth and Emily Watson to join the cast. The film was well-received, with one critic calling it a 'deeply felt, tremendously acted tribute to courage'.
Later this year Rupert is starring in the Broadway revival of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
BOOK CHOICE: Travels with my Aunt by Graham Greene
LUXURY ITEM: Vegetables
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Being Boring by Pet Shop BoysPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley -
Stephen Merchant, writer, comedian and actor
22 december 2019 · 47 min
Beluister deze afleveringStephen Merchant first came to fame with the TV sitcom The Office, which he co-wrote and co-directed with Ricky Gervais. He continued to work with Gervais on the series Extras, Life is Short and An Idiot Abroad. His comedy hero as a young man was John Cleese and as a fellow tall West Country boy, he felt he would try his hand at a comedy career. Lees meer
As a teenager, he worked at Radio Bristol, was a wedding DJ and enjoyed drama at school. While at Warwick University, he created his own radio programme, The Steve Show. Those radio production skills encouraged him to send in his CV to a new London radio station, XFM, where the head of speech was Ricky Gervais. Following a successful interview – conducted in a pub – Stephen became Ricky’s assistant.
Stephen left XFM to join a BBC training scheme. It was the short film he made with Ricky as part of his course which would eventually lead to the creation of The Office.
Alongside his successful comedy partnership with Gervais, Stephen has pursued his acting and writing ambitions and this year wrote and directed his first film, Fighting with my Family, based on a family of wrestlers. His performance as a stand-up led to his HBO series Hello Ladies, and he starred in his first stage play, Richard Bean's The Mentalists, in London in 2015.
His work has earned him two Golden Globe Awards, three BAFTAs, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four British Comedy Awards.
DISC ONE: Whole of The Moon by The Waterboys
DISC TWO: Raspberry Beret by Prince
DISC THREE: Babies by Pulp
DISC FOUR: Regulate (Jammin' Remix) by Warren G featuring Nate Dogg and Michael McDonald
DISC FIVE: Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen
DISC SIX: A Case of You by Joni Mitchell
DISC SEVEN: Change of the Guard by Kamasi Washington
DISC EIGHT: Love Letter by Nick Cave And The Bad SeedsBOOK CHOICE: Roger's Profanisaurus by Viz and Roger Mellie
LUXURY ITEM: A piano
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Thunder Road by Bruce SpringsteenPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale -
Heidi Thomas, screenwriter
15 december 2019 · 53 min
Beluister deze afleveringHeidi Thomas is a screenwriter and playwright best known for Call the Midwife. The BBC TV series, which began in 2012, was originally a six part adaptation of a trilogy of memoirs by Jennifer Worth, recalling her experiences as a midwife in the East End of London. It was an immediate hit, with 10 million viewers a week, becoming one of BBC One’s most popular dramas and a fixture in the Christmas schedules. Lees meer
Born in 1962, Heidi Thomas grew up as the eldest of three children in the leafy suburbs of Liverpool. Her father ran a drain cleaning business while her mother looked after the children, including Heidi’s youngest brother David, who was born with Down’s Syndrome.
Heidi studied English at Liverpool University, supporting herself by selling ladies’ underwear at a department store. During a bout of viral hepatitis, which left her unable to apply for jobs when she graduated, she entered a competition for new plays and won a prize for her debut, All Flesh is Grass. During the production,of her next play, Shamrocks and Crocodiles, she met the actor Stephen McGann. They went on to marry, and many years later Stephen was cast as the GP in Call the Midwife.
After nearly a decade in the theatre, Heidi made the leap into television, first writing on existing series such as Soldier, Soldier and Doctor Finlay. Her other screenwriting credits include Lilies, based on her grandmother’s recollections, and adaptations of classic novels including Elizabeth Gaskell’s Cranford, Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes and Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.
DISC ONE: You Belong to Me by The Duprees
DISC TWO: Penny Lane by The Beatles
DISC THREE: Gentle on my Mind by Dean Martin
DISC FOUR: Who Will Sing Me Lullabies? by Kate Rusby
DISC FIVE: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack
DISC SIX: Finishing The Hat by Josh Groban
DISC SEVEN: Agnus Dei from Requiem, op. 48, conducted by Nigel Short and performed by London Symphony Orchestra Chamber Ensemble and Tenebrae
DISC EIGHT: Bot… -
Professor Russell Foster, professor of circadian neuroscience
8 december 2019 · 42 min
Beluister deze afleveringProfessor Russell Foster is head of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute at the University of Oxford, professor of circadian neuroscience and the director of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology. An expert in sleep, he describes it as 'the single most important health behaviour we have'. Lees meer
Born in 1959, as a child he loved his toy microscope and digging up fossils. Despite being labelled “entirely non-academic” by his headmaster and attending remedial classes for some years, he achieved three science A levels which won him a place at the University of Bristol.
There, he developed an early interest in photo-receptors - cells which convert light into signals that can stimulate biological processes. This eventually led to his post-doctoral discovery, in 1991, of a previously unknown type of cell – photosensitive retinal ganglion cells – in the eyes of mice. His proposition that these ganglion cells – which are not used for vision, but to detect brightness – exist in humans too initially met with scepticism from the ophthalmological community.
Russell’s research has made a significant impact, proving that our eyes provide us with both our sense of vision and our sense of time, which has changed the clinical definition of blindness and the treatment of eye disease. He has published several popular science books.
Russell is married to Elizabeth Downes, with whom he has three grown-up children.
DISC ONE: Ode to Joy from the 4th movement of Symphony No. 9, conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler, performed by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth Höngen, Hans Hopf, Otto Edelman and the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra
DISC TWO: Die Walkϋre Act 3, Finale, from Der Ring des Nibelungen, sung by Hans Hotter and performed by Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and Vienna State Opera Chorus
DISC THREE: Don Giovanni, K. 527: Mi tradi quell'alma ingrata by Kiri Te Kanawa
DISC FOUR: Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by Eurythmics
DISC FIVE: (Nimrod): Adagio by BBC Symphony Orchestra
DISC S… -
Asif Kapadia, film director
1 december 2019 · 39 min
Beluister deze afleveringAsif Kapadia is an Academy Award-winning film director, renowned for his documentaries about the musician Amy Winehouse, the Brazilian motor racing star Ayrton Senna, and the Argentinian footballer, Diego Maradona. Lees meer
Born in 1972, Asif is the youngest of five children. His parents emigrated from Gujarat in the mid-1960s. His father’s ambition to seek his fortune took the family to the US for a short time in the late 70s, but by 1980 they had returned to London. Asif grew up in Hackney, and describes his all-boys secondary school as tough. His mother was ill while he was taking his GCSEs, and he vowed never to sit exams again. At 17, he worked as a runner on a film and so enjoyed feeling part of a crew that he decided he wanted to make a career in the industry.
He studied film at the Newport Film School, going on to the Polytechnic of Central London where his graduation film, Indian Tales, was highly regarded. His 1997 Royal College of Art graduation film, The Sheep Thief, shot in Rajasthan in the Hindi language, won a prize at Cannes. He made two feature films, The Warrior which won two Baftas, and Far North, which was filmed close to the North Pole.
His first documentary was Senna, which was widely acclaimed and won two Baftas. Asif used the same collage technique - drawing on camcorder snippets, TV news, and entertainment specials – on Amy, his film about Amy Winehouse. It won an Oscar, a Bafta and a Grammy Award and surpassed Senna to become the highest grossing documentary of all time in the UK. His latest documentary is about the footballer Diego Maradona: he calls it “the third part of a trilogy about child geniuses and fame”.
Asif is married to Victoria Harwood with whom he has two sons.
DISC ONE: Tears Dry On Their Own by Amy Winehouse
DISC TWO: Good Times by Chic
DISC THREE: Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein by Lata Mangeshka And Mukesh
DISC FOUR: Rebel Without a Pause by Public Enemy
DISC FIVE: No Good (Start The Dance) by The Prodigy
DISC SIX: Man With A Harm… -
Isabella Tree, writer and conservationist
24 november 2019 · 41 min
Beluister deze afleveringIsabella Tree is a conservationist and writer of the award-winning book Wilding: the Return of Nature to a British Farm, which tells the story of rewilding a 3,500 acre farm estate in Sussex, which she oversaw with her husband Charlie. Lees meer
The adopted daughter of Michael Tree and Lady Anne Cavendish, Isabella grew up in Mereworth Castle in Kent, and then in Shute House, a vicarage in Dorset. Following her expulsion from two secondary schools, she attended Millfield School as a sixth former, where mutual friends introduced her to her future husband. After reading classics at the University of London, she went on to work as a journalist and travel writer for the Evening Standard and The Sunday Times. Her first book, The Bird Man, about the Victorian ornithologist John Gould, was published in 1991. She married Charles Burrell in 1993 and settled at Knepp, a dairy and arable farm in Sussex. She continued to travel, writing books about Papua New Guinea, Nepal and Mexico.
In 2000 Isabella and Charlie closed the farm business at Knepp, and turned the estate into a conservation project, letting the land develop on its own, and eventually introducing free-roaming animals – cattle, pigs, deer and ponies. Two decades later, the project has seen extraordinary increases in wildlife, fungi, and vegetation with extremely rare species like turtle doves, nightingales, peregrine falcons and purple emperor butterflies breeding there. The soil is richer in micro-organisms which help to recapture carbon from the air and promote a functioning ecosystem where nature is given as much freedom as possible.
She lives at Knepp with her husband Charlie and has two children, Ned and Nancy.
DISC ONE: ‘The Whole of the Moon’ by The Waterboys
DISC TWO: ‘These Foolish Things’ by Billie Holiday
DISC THREE: ‘Life’s a Gas’ by T. Rex
DISC FOUR: ‘Where’s the Telephone Bill? by Bootsy’s Rubber Band
DISC FIVE: ‘Three Little Birds’ by Bob Marley
DISC SIX: Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, played by the Brindisi S… -
Stephen Graham, actor
17 november 2019 · 35 min
Beluister deze afleveringStephen Graham is an actor, whose credits include key roles in films including This is England and The Irishman, and in TV dramas such as Boardwalk Empire and Line of Duty. Lees meer
Stephen was born in Kirkby just outside Liverpool in 1973. He discovered acting at school, where a starring role in a production of Treasure Island at the age of 10 was a turning point: local actor Andrew Schofield was in the audience and suggested that Stephen should join the Everyman Youth Theatre in Liverpool.
After leaving school, Stephen won a place to study drama in London, but left after a year. His first roles as a professional actor, when he once pretended to be his own agent to talk his way into an audition, gave little indication of the success to come. In 2006, his performance as Combo the skinhead in This is England, directed by Shane Meadows, won widespread critical acclaim. More recently, he has played Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire, and the undercover policeman Corbett in the most recent series of Line of Duty.
Stephen, who lives in Leicestershire, is married to fellow actor Hannah Walters, who he met at drama school.
DISC ONE: Kasabian - Fire.
DISC TWO: Marvin Gaye - Save the Children
DISC THREE: Young MC - Know How
DISC FOUR: Pink Floyd – Shine on You Crazy Diamond
DISC FIVE: Rufus and Chaka Khan – Ain’t Nobody
DISC SIX: Maverick Sabre – I Need
DISC SEVEN: Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds - Talk Tonight
DISC EIGHT: DJ Fresh and High Contrast, featuring Dizzee Rascal – How Love Begins (The Hardcore will Never Die Edit)BOOK: Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach
LUXURY: His own pillow
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Ain’t Nobody - Rufus and Chaka KhanPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor -
Lauren Laverne picks some of her favourite episodes
13 november 2019 · 38 min
Beluister deze afleveringHear stories & track choices from castaways including Len Goodman, Maya Angelou and Stephen Hawking.
-
Kimberley Motley, lawyer
10 november 2019 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringKimberley Motley is an American attorney and the first foreign lawyer to practise in Afghanistan. Lees meer
Born in 1975 to an African-American father and a North Korean mother, she grew up in a poor neighbourhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where hers was the only mixed-race family - and the only family with two parents. Education was very important to her parents, who sent their four children to private schools and also paid for extra tutoring.
After completing degrees in Criminal Justice and Law, Kimberley spent five years working as a Public Defender before taking up the opportunity in 2008 to go to Afghanistan for a year to train local lawyers. Her husband, Claude, stayed in the US to take care of their three children. When her one-year contract in Afghanistan came to an end, she decided to stay and started her own private legal practice.
Initially she only took on foreign clients, but once she had familiarised herself with the intricacies of local laws and customs, she accepted her first Afghan client. She has gone on to build a thriving practice, with a 70-30% ratio of paid to pro-bono work. Her practice now extends to other parts of the world including Uganda, Ghana and the UAE and earlier this year she published a book about her working life.
DISC ONE: Will Smith - A Nightmare on My Street
DISC TWO: Elton John - I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues
DISC THREE: LL Cool J - I'm Bad
DISC FOUR: KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See
DISC FIVE: Dizzee Rascal featuring Calvin Harris - Dance Wiv Me
DISC SIX: Ed Sheeran - I See Fire
DISC SEVEN: The Black Eyed Peas - Pump It
DISC EIGHT: Kendrick Lamar - DNABOOK CHOICE: 1984 by George Orwell
LUXURY ITEM: Business card holder with photo of her children
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Pump It by Black Eyed PeasPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale -
Russell T Davies, screenwriter
3 november 2019 · 46 min
Beluister deze afleveringRussell T Davies is one of the U.K.’s most successful television writers. He spent his teenage years learning his dramatic craft with the West Glamorgan Youth Theatre, and his career in television began in the children’s department at the BBC. Lees meer
His first solo hit TV series was the ground-breaking, sexually frank drama Queer as Folk, first broadcast on Channel 4 in 1999.
A lifelong Doctor Who fan, he relaunched the series in 2005 for a new generation of viewers. Such was its success, he found himself working around the clock.
More recently, he wrote the highly-acclaimed series A Very English Scandal, starring Hugh Grant as Jeremy Thorpe, and the dystopian drama Years and Years.
DISC ONE: Julie Covington, Charlotte Cornwell, Rula Lenska - Sugar Mountain
DISC TWO: Hora Staccato (1950 version) performed by Jascha Heifetz and Emanuel Bay
DISC THREE: The New Christy Minstrels - Three Wheels on My Wagon -
DISC FOUR: Leonard Bernstein's Gloria in excelsis, performed by The Norman Scribner Choir
DISC FIVE: Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
DISC SIX: The OT Quartet - Hold That Sucker Down (Builds Like A Skyscraper Mix)
DISC SEVEN: Neil Hannon - Song For Ten
DISC EIGHT: Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue SkyBOOK CHOICE: Asterix and the Roman Agent by by René Goscinny with illustrations by Albert Uderzo
LUXURY ITEM: A black Ball Pentol Pen
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Leonard Bernstein's Gloria in excelsisPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor -
Wendell Pierce, actor
27 oktober 2019 · 1 uur 2 min
Beluister deze afleveringWendell Pierce is an American actor best known for his role as Bunk Moreland in the television series The Wire. Since the series ended in 2008, he has made around 40 film and television appearances, including Treme, Selma and the legal drama Suits, in which he played Robert Zane, the father of Rachel Zane, played by Meghan Markle. His theatre credits range from The Cherry Orchard to Death of a Salesman. Lees meer
Born in 1963, the youngest of three sons, Wendell grew up in the Pontchartrain Park area of New Orleans, which was the first middle-class African-American suburban-style development in the city. He graduated from the prestigious Juilliard School in New York and his career got off to a flying start with a small part opposite Tom Hanks in a film called The Money Pit. He hasn’t been out of work since.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed Wendell’s childhood home in New Orleans and he was instrumental in rebuilding his parents’ house in Pontchartrain Park. He also built 40 new homes and staged a production of Waiting for Godot on an empty street corner in one of the most devastated districts of the city.
He is currently reprising his role as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman on stage in London.
DISC ONE: Jim Henson - Bein' Green (Featuring Kermit The Frog)
DISC TWO: Wynton Marsalis - Green Chimneys
DISC THREE: Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove (Part 1)
DISC FOUR: Mahalia Jackson - Take My Hand, Precious Lord
DISC FIVE: Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now
DISC SIX: Solomon Burke - Don't Give Up on Me
DISC SEVEN: Aaron Copland - Appalachian Spring (Doppio Movimento), performed by New York Philharmonic
DISC EIGHT: John Coltrane - A Love Supreme Part I: AcknowledgementBOOK CHOICE: The Omni-americans: Black Experience And American Culture by Albert Murray.
LUXURY ITEM: A multi-burner barbecue grill
CASTAWAY'S CHOICE: Take My Hand, Precious Lord by Mahalia JacksonPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale -
Dame Glenys Stacey, former Chief Inspector of Probation
20 oktober 2019 · 40 min
Beluister deze afleveringDame Glenys Stacey has spent 40 years in public service, including high profile work as a regulator in key areas of national life. She has just stepped down after her five year term as Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation during which she criticised the decision to privatise the Probation service calling it “irredeemably flawed”. Lees meer
Glenys was born in Walsall Wood in the West Midlands, where her father was a painter and decorator for the council and her mother worked full time in Union Locks. She left school at 16 and her first job was in an explosives factory. She became a legal executive before deciding to take A levels and then study law at the University of Kent. She was the founding CEO of the Criminal Cases Review Commission, set up by the government in January 1997, after the miscarriages of justice in the cases of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four. As Chief Executive of Animal Health, she oversaw the management of the outbreak of foot and mouth in 2007 and then led Ofqual for five years, during the reform of GCSEs and A levels.
She was awarded a Damehood in 2016 for her services to education and earlier this year she became a founding Board Member of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, an advisory body established by the government.
DISC ONE: Loch Lomond – Sir Harry Lauder
DISC TWO: Harry Belafonte - Scarlett Ribbons (For Her Hair)
DISC THREE: T.REX –Ride a White Swan
DISC FOUR: Peter Gabriel – Solsbury Hill
DISC FIVE: Wagner - The Ride of the Valkyries
DISC SIX: Second movement of Saint Saen’s Piano concerto number 2 in G minor
DISC SEVEN: Bob Marley and the Wailers - I Shot the Sherriff
DISC EIGHT: Soave sia Il vento from Mozart’s Cosi fan tutteBOOK CHOICE: Oxford Book of English Short Stories
LUXURY ITEM: A selection of seeds
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Solsbury Hill by Peter GabrielPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Cathy Drysdale
Photo: BBC / Amanda Benson -
Baroness Arminka Helić
14 oktober 2019 · 38 min
Beluister deze afleveringBaroness Arminka Helić is credited with persuading William Hague, the former foreign secretary, and the actor and director Angelina Jolie to launch the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI) to campaign against rape as a weapon of war. Lees meer
Born in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Arminka fled her home country as violence escalated in the former Yugoslavia and her family appeared on a Serbian death list. Following the intervention of Lady Miloska Nott, wife of the former secretary of state for defence Sir John Nott, she arrived in London as a refugee in October 1992.
She completed a master’s degree in international history at the LSE which ignited her interest in politics. Her first Westminster job was filing press cuttings in the House of Commons Library where she was spotted and started working for MPs including Robert Key, Liam Fox and William Hague. When William Hague became foreign secretary in 2010, she joined him as a special adviser and made it her mission to bring compassion and humanity to foreign policy.
After watching Angelina Jolie’s directorial debut In the Land of Blood and Honey, the story of an inter-ethnic love affair set against the backdrop of the war in Bosnia, Arminka persuaded the foreign secretary to join forces with the Hollywood star. The PSVI highlights how sexual violence in conflict zones is often a hidden crime in which the perpetrators go unpunished.
In 2014 the PSVI held a global summit in London which brought together activists and policy-makers with the aim of recognizing this crime and bringing about successful prosecutions. In the same year, Arminka Helić entered the House of Lords as a Conservative Life Peer.
DISC ONE: Tereza Kesovija - Prijatelji Stari Gdje Ste
DISC TWO: Kim Wilde - Cambodia
DISC THREE: Zaim Imamović - Kraj Tanana Šadrvana
DISC FOUR: Tracy Chapman - Fast Car
DISC FIVE: Bijelo Dugme - Pljuni i zapjevaj moja Jugoslavijo
DISC SIX: Madonna - True Blue
DISC SEVEN: Vivaldi - Concerto in F minor, RV 297 “Winter”,… -
Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer & lyricist
6 oktober 2019 · 44 min
Beluister deze afleveringLin-Manuel Miranda is best known as the composer, lyricist and original star of the multi-award-winning Broadway musical, Hamilton. It won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, 11 Tony Awards and Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album. The London production won seven Olivier Awards in 2018. Lees meer
Lin-Manuel was brought up in New York by his Puerto Rican parents, and his creativity and sensitivity to music began when he was a child: he performed in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance as a teenager and created films using his father’s camcorder. He attended the elite Hunter school for gifted children and spent his summer holidays in Puerto Rico with his extended family.
His first musical, In the Heights, opened on Broadway in 2008, directed by his long-time collaborator, Thomas Kail. It received four Tony Awards including Best Score as well as a Grammy Award for its Original Broadway Cast Album. Among his TV and film acting credits are Fosse/Verdon, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Mary Poppins Returns, and he is currently filming the second series of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials for the BBC. He recently collaborated with J.J. Abrams on the song Dobra Doompa, for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens and he contributed music, lyrics and vocals to several songs in the Disney animated feature film Moana.
Lin-Manuel supported the relief efforts in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in September 2017, performing Hamilton there and raising funds for arts and culture on the island. He co-founded the hip-hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme in 2003 and they have just begun a debut run on Broadway.
He lives in New York City with his wife, sons and dog.
DISC ONE: Liza Minelli - Cabaret
DISC TWO: The Decemberists - The Crane Wife Part 2
DISC THREE: Rubén Blades and Seis del Solar - El Padre Antonio y el Monaguillo Andrés
DISC FOUR: The Pharcyde - Passin’ Me By
DISC FIVE: Ali Dineen - What You Know
DISC SIX: Regina Spektor - On the Radio
DISC SEVEN: Gilberto Santa Ro…