Harry Belafonte — Artist · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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desert is.land

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

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Transmission

Broadcasting since 1942
Long wave 198 kHz
An unofficial archive companion
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Not affiliated with the BBC · Built for the love of the long wave · Made by Daniel Hails

Harry Belafonte — Artist · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Artist

Harry Belafonte

15 episodes

Chosen over the decades

15

Total castaways

2010s

Peak decade

5

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Adeel Akhtar
Brian Greene
Dame Glenys Stacey
Diane Abbott
Edna Adan Ismail
Guy Singh-Watson
Harry Belafonte
Len Goodman
Lord Indarjit Singh
Michael Pollan
Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin
Shirine Khoury-Haq
Sir Leonard Hutton
Tennessee Williams
Wangari Maathai

Adeel Akhtar
Adeel Akhtar on being handcuffed at JFK
Castaway · 18 January 2026Lauren Laverne
Shirine Khoury-Haq
Shirine Khoury-Haq on losing her daughter 11 minutes after birth
Castaway · 9 June 2024Lauren Laverne
Michael Pollan

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

Michael Pollan on his ego dissolving into blue post-it notes

Castaway · 22 January 2023Lauren Laverne

03°20′S 068°43′W

Brian Greene

Brian Greene on spending Saturday afternoons multiplying 30-digit numbers

Castaway · 16 May 2021Lauren Laverne

Dame Glenys Stacey

11°13′S 128°26′W

Dame Glenys Stacey

Glenys Stacey on the shock of learning her father hated his job

Castaway · 20 October 2019Lauren Laverne

Guy Singh-Watson

13°14′S 109°20′W

Guy Singh-Watson

Guy Singh-Watson on lying to a competitor during a consulting interview

Castaway · 1 July 2018Kirsty Young

Edna Adan Ismail

21°36′S 081°57′W

Edna Adan Ismail

Edna Adan Ismail on delivering the first baby at her own maternity hospital

Castaway · 22 October 2017Kirsty Young

Lord Indarjit Singh

21°02′S 045°37′W

Lord Indarjit Singh

How Indarjit Singh refused to be a token Sikh in the House of Lords

Castaway · 13 November 2015Kirsty Young

Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin

02°26′S 087°32′W

Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin

Rose Hudson-Wilkin on fetching water from a standpipe as a child in Jamaica

Castaway · 19 January 2014Kirsty Young

01°18′S 034°16′W

Len Goodman

Len Goodman on his childhood Saturday night sing-songs by the fireplace

Castaway · 19 June 2011Kirsty Young

10°01′S 086°58′W

Diane Abbott

Diane Abbott on her civil service interview answer: 'Because I want power'

Castaway · 18 May 2008Kirsty Young

Wangari Maathai

20°52′S 153°15′W

Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai on redefining her name after being given Christian names

Castaway · 1 July 2007Kirsty Young

Tennessee Williams

20°18′S 046°21′W

Tennessee Williams

How seeing Ibsen's Ghosts moved Tennessee Williams out of his seat

Castaway · 9 September 1978Roy Plomley

Sir Leonard Hutton

14°36′S 051°04′W

Sir Leonard Hutton

Leonard Hutton on walking through the W G Grace gates at Lord's before his first Test

Castaway · 7 September 1959Roy Plomley

Harry Belafonte

20°56′S 022°45′W

Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte on his childhood dream of becoming a jockey

Castaway · 6 October 1958Roy Plomley