Diana Ross — Artist · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

Find a castaway Most requested Browse the archive About Report a fault

Tuning in…

desert is.land

“And if you could take only one…” — a semantic wireless tuned to the Desert Island Discs archive.

The listing

Find a castaway
Most requested
Browse the archive
About

Transmission

Broadcasting since 1942
Long wave 198 kHz
An unofficial archive companion
Report a fault

Not affiliated with the BBC · Built for the love of the long wave · Made by Daniel Hails

Diana Ross — Artist · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

Find a castaway Most requested Browse the archive About Report a fault

Artist

Diana Ross

14 episodes

Chosen over the decades

14

Total castaways

2010s

Peak decade

5

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Billie Jean King
Clive Oppenheimer
Dame Sue Campbell
Denise Lewis
Emma Grede
Gillian Lynne
Graham Norton
Kay Mellor
Maggie Alphonsi
Pat McGrath
Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu
Richard Curtis
Rt Hon Gillian Shephard MP
Tracey Thorn

Emma Grede
Emma Grede on making a full roast dinner for six by age 12
Castaway · 2 August 2026Lauren Laverne
Maggie Alphonsi
How a scrum hat helped Maggie Alphonsi get in the zone
Castaway · 17 August 2025Lauren Laverne

desert is.land

“And if you could take only one…” — a semantic wireless tuned to the Desert Island Discs archive.

The listing

Find a castaway
Most requested
Browse the archive
About

Transmission

Broadcasting since 1942
Long wave 198 kHz
An unofficial archive companion
Report a fault

Not affiliated with the BBC · Built for the love of the long wave · Made by Daniel Hails

Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu

Ijeoma Uchegbu on sobbing in the head teacher's office before moving to Nigeria

Castaway · 18 May 2025Lauren Laverne

Clive Oppenheimer

15°43′S 040°44′W

Clive Oppenheimer

Clive Oppenheimer on his grandfather painting Albert Einstein

Castaway · 18 February 2024Lauren Laverne

Dame Sue Campbell

16°39′S 167°23′W

Dame Sue Campbell

How Sue Campbell's mother gave her life twice

Castaway · 19 January 2020Lauren Laverne

06°46′S 126°23′W

Pat McGrath

Pat McGrath on the phone call that stopped her from quitting

Castaway · 19 May 2019Lauren Laverne

03°12′S 034°27′W

Tracey Thorn

How a wartime pen pal brought Tracey Thorn's parents together

Castaway · 18 November 2018Lauren Laverne

Billie Jean King

15°33′S 092°04′W

Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King on sleeping with her purple tennis racket

Castaway · 15 July 2018Kirsty Young

10°16′S 072°49′W

Kay Mellor

Kay Mellor on wearing heavy clothes to a slimming group

Castaway · 29 October 2017Kirsty Young

01°35′S 043°29′W

Denise Lewis

Denise Lewis on the emptiness she felt after winning Olympic gold

Castaway · 5 February 2012Kirsty Young

05°51′S 093°08′W

Graham Norton

Graham Norton on Joan Collins’s phone call with a glove fetishist

Castaway · 2 May 2004Sue Lawley

13°34′S 069°29′W

Richard Curtis

Richard Curtis on the film idea he conceived at a petrol station then threw away

Castaway · 28 February 1999Sue Lawley

Rt Hon Gillian Shephard MP

11°22′S 113°10′W

Rt Hon Gillian Shephard MP

Gillian Shephard on being stuck in a teaching routine she didn't enjoy

Castaway · 5 November 1995Sue Lawley

12°43′S 043°16′W

Gillian Lynne

Gillian Lynne on deciding to sing as well as dance after seeing South Pacific

Castaway · 11 July 1981Roy Plomley