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Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

BBC Radio 4


Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.


Desert Island Discs

The writer Malorie Blackman was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2013.

Although she has published more than 70 books for children and young adults - among them her hugely popular Noughts and Crosses series - getting her start as a published author was hard - 82 rejection letters had thudded onto her door mat before she had her first manuscript accepted for publication. She still remembers the day that 83rd letter arrived.

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Malorie Blackman on receiving 82 rejection letters from publishers

The World Snooker Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2023.

He remembers being dropped off unaccompanied at snooker halls across East London by his father as a young boy and learning to play grown men at adult tables - and beating them.

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

How snooker halls became Ronnie O'Sullivan's "creche" from a young age

The cookery writer Delia Smith was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2023.

She fell in love with her husband, the editor Michael Wynn-Jones, over a shared love of food and football and recalls how she came to be known for her catchphrase, "Let's be havin' you!"

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Delia Smith on her catchphrase - "Let's be havin' you!"

The model Kate Moss was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2022.

Her career began after a chance encounter with a model agent on a flight. She describes attending castings on her own as a teenager, which led to some inappropriate requests. Although unpleasant at the time, she says that they have sharpened her instincts, enabling her to "tell a wrong 'un a mile away".

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

How Kate Moss's modelling break came at an unexpected moment

The Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2015.

He recalls the moment he bumped into his primary school friend Mick Jagger at Dartford train station in 1961, years after losing touch with him. They bonded over a shared love of American blues, which came to define their own sound. Keith Richards laid down the guitar riff for one of the biggest hits, "Satisfaction", on a tape machine in his sleep.

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Keith Richards on writing "Satisfaction" in his sleep

Chaka Khan’s unmistakeable voice and musical versatility have made her one of the most influential musicians of the past six decades, with an estimated 70 million records sold. Whether fronting the band Rufus or performing as a solo artist, she's moved effortlessly between funk, soul, jazz, and pop, creating era-defining hits including I'm Every Woman, Ain't Nobody and I Feel For You. 

She grew up in Chicago, in an artistic family where she was surrounded by music. As a teenager, she became involved with the Affro-Arts Theater, where she was given the Yoruba name Chaka, and a political awakening led her to join the Black Panther Party. 

By her late teens, she had joined Rufus, whose breakthrough hit Tell Me Something Good launched the band to international success and marked the beginning of her recording career. She has since won 11 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2026, been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and collaborated with some of music’s modern greats, including Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell and Prince. 

Chaka lives on a farm in Georgia, surrounded by family.

DISC ONE: What Is and What Should Never Be - Led Zeppelin 
DISC TWO: Good Times - Aretha Franklin 
DISC THREE: Tomaas - Miles Davis 
DISC FOUR: California - Joni Mitchell 
DISC FIVE: Tell Me Something Good - Rufus, Chaka Khan 
DISC SIX: A Woman in a Man's World - Chaka Khan 
DISC SEVEN: Cool Water - Joni Mitchell (duet with Willie Nelson)
DISC EIGHT: Precious Is Your Name - Richard Smallwood featuring Chaka Khan 
 
BOOK CHOICE: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
LUXURY ITEM: A gigantic sandalwood and oud candle 
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Precious Is Your Name - Richard Smallwood featuring Chaka Khan 

Presenter: Lauren Laverne 
Producer: Hannah Hufford & Tim Bano

Desert Island Discs has cast away other music legends to the island over the years including Nile Rogers and Cher. Chaka Khan’s records have been chosen by previous castaways including Simon Pegg and David Harewood. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Chaka Khan, singer and songwriter

Professor Dame Pamela Shaw is a pioneering Neurologists and a leading figure in tackling motor neurone disease or MND. She is the founder and Director of SITran – the World leading Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience, which is slowly but surely unlocking the secrets of MND and other devastating neurological conditions. 

Pam was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, in 1955, and at three moved to Kuwait when her father took up the position of harbour master. She lived there until she was eleven, but with no suitable secondary school available locally, she was sent back to Northumberland to board at Our Lady's Convent High School in Alnwick. 

She studied medicine at Newcastle University and began her clinical training in the North-east. Following her appointment as a consultant neurologist she developed an interest in Motor Neurone Disease. 

A chance meeting with a recently dignosed MND patient led to Pam founding the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience in 2010. She was made a Dame in 2014. 

Pam lives in Sheffield with her husband Paul. They have a grown-up daughter, Sophie. 

 DISC ONE: Messiah HWV 56, "Hallelujah Chorus". Composed by George Frideric Händel and performed by The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The London Philharmonic Chorus, conducted by Douglas Gamley
DISC TWO: Somethin’ Stupid - Frank Sinatra / Nancy Sinatra 
DISC THREE: Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell 
DISC FOUR: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K.622: II. Adagio. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Thea King (clarinet), English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Alun Francis 
DISC FIVE: Sweet and Dandy - Toots and the Maytals 
DISC SIX: The Marriage of Figaro / \"Duettino\" Sull 'Aria. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Edith Mathis, Gundula Janowitz (sopranos) The Orchestra of Deutsche Oper Berlin, conducted by Karl Böhm 
DISC SEVEN: Ashokan Farewell - The Band of H.M. Royal Marines 
DISC EIGHT: The Lucky One - Alison Krauss & Union Station

BOOK CHOICE: Kristin Hannah Collection 
LUXURY ITEM: Roses 
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K.622: II. Adagio. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Thea King (clarinet), English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Alun Francis 

Presenter: Lauren Laverne 
Producer: Tom Alban 

Desert Island Discs has cast away many medical scientists over the years, including Stephen Westaby, Professor Dame Lesley Regan and David Nott. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Professor Dame Pamela Shaw

Emma Grede is the businesswoman behind major fashion brands including Skims and Good American, which she co-founded with Kim Kardashian and Khloé Kardashian, respectively. Last year Forbes included her on their list of America's Richest Self-Made Women, with an estimated net worth of $405 million.

She grew up in Plaistow, East London, the eldest of four daughters. Her parents separated when she was five and she was raised by her mum, who worked long hours as a trader at an investment bank. Emma took on a lot of the responsibility at home caring for her sisters. Dyslexia meant she struggled at school, but she found satisfaction in a string of part-time jobs, from delivering newspapers to making sandwiches in a deli. She later dropped out of the London College of Fashion to pursue a career in the industry, and by her mid-twenties she had founded her first company. 

She made her name brokering deals between celebrities and brands that included signing Natalie Portman as the face of Dior. In 2016 she founded an inclusive denim brand called Good American with Khloé Kardashian, and in 2019 she launched the shapewear brand Skims with Kim Kardashian. 

Lately her success has led her out of the boardroom and into the spotlight with guest appearances on Dragon’s Den, and the US equivalent Shark Tank, as well as launching a podcast and writing a memoir. 

Emma lives in Los Angeles with her husband and business partner Jens, and they have four children.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne 
Producer: Hannah Hufford and Christine Pawlowsky

Desert Island Discs has cast away many fashion leaders to the island over the years including Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood and Paul Smith. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Emma Grede, businesswoman

Sir Roger Deakins is an acclaimed cinematographer who is known for his visual artistry on films including The Shawshank Redemption, 1917, Fargo, Skyfall and Blade Runner 2049. His talents have been acknowledged with a knighthood, five BAFTAs and two Oscars. 

Roger was born in Torquay, Devon in 1949. In 1968 he attended the Bath Academy of Art where he was inspired by one of his tutors, the street photographer Roger Mayne, to go out with his camera and capture what he saw. Roger Deakins followed this advice and spent his weekends shooting people and places in British seaside towns.

In 1975 Roger graduated from the National Film School in Beaconsfield and started work as a cameraman – making documentaries and music videos. His first feature film was Cruel Passion which came out in 1977. In 1984 he worked on Michael Radford’s film adaptation of George Orwell’s novel 1984, starring Richard Burton and John Hurt. 

The first of Roger’s collaborations with filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen started in 1991 with the film Barton Fink. The three of them went on to make 12 films together including O Brother, Where Art Thou? Fargo and The Big Lebowski. 

In 2018 Roger won his first Academy Award for Blade Runner 2049, directed by Denis Villeneuve. He was knighted for services to film in 2021. 

Roger lives in California with his wife James. They also have a home in Devon. 

DISC ONE: One of Us Cannot Be Wrong - Leonard Cohen
DISC TWO: Aqaba - June Tabor
DISC THREE: 21st Century Schizoid Man - King Crimson
DISC FOUR: Soldier’s Song - Lucinda Williams 
DISC FIVE: Bat Out of Hell - Meat Loaf
DISC SIX: The Island - Paul Brady
DISC SEVEN: Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning - Cowboy Junkies
DISC EIGHT: Isn’t it a Pity - Nina Simone

BOOK CHOICE: Moby Dick by Herman Melville
LUXURY ITEM: Fishing tackle
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Aqaba - June Tabor 

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley

Sir Roger Deakins, cinematographer

Shania Twain is a singer and songwriter and one of only two artists in history to have three consecutive diamond albums. 

By the time she was eight years old, she had a repertoire of one hundred songs which she would sing in bars. She began to write her own songs at the age of ten. Her mother was convinced that she was going to be a star and took her to perform in smoky clubs. 

Off stage, all was not well in the family home and Shania grew up in a turbulent household where there was much fighting. When she was thirteen years old, she persuaded her mother to drive Shania and her sisters to Toronto to a women’s shelter. 
 
Her parents eventually reunited and then were both killed in a car accident when Shania was twenty-two years old. She then became the guardian of her younger siblings and put her music dreams on hold to look after them. 

Eventually she got a job in a golf resort singing and came to the attention of a Nashville music executive and was offered a recording contract when she was thirty. 

She was enjoying a record-breaking global musical career when disaster struck. She was bitten by a tick and contracted Lyme disease which prevented her from singing for the best part of a decade. She announced her return in 2011 and returned to the stage in 2012.

Shania lives in Switzerland with her second husband. 

DISC ONE: We’ve Only Just Begun - Carpenters
DISC TWO: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John 
DISC THREE: Dust in the Wind - Kansas
DISC FOUR: El Paso - Marty Robbins
DISC FIVE: Gabriel’s Oboe - Ennio Morricone 
DISC SIX: Gentle on my Mind - Glen Campbell 
DISC SEVEN: Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder 
DISC EIGHT: Ode to Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry 
 
BOOK CHOICE: Life is Fair by Brian Hines
LUXURY ITEM: Insect Repellent
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Dust in the Wind - Kansas

Presenter Lauren Laverne 
Producer Sarah Taylor 

Desert Island Discs has cast other musicians away over the years including Adele, Cher, Kylie Minogue and Cyndi Lauper. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Shania Twain, musician

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the novelist and critic A S Byatt. Winner of the 1990 Booker prize for her novel 'Possession' - the story of a clandestine romance between two Victorian poets - she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the isolation of her school days as a highly academic child, the release of university life at Cambridge and her subsequent life at the forefront of the British literary world.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] 

Favourite track: Jetzt Fand Ich's by Richard Wagner
Book: A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust
Alternative to Bible: King James Bible
Luxury: Large filing cabinet full of A4 paper & pens

A S Byatt

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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