Jessye Norman — Artist · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

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desert is.land

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

The listing

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Most requested
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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

Jessye Norman — Artist · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Artist

Jessye Norman

15 episodes

Chosen over the decades

15

Total castaways

1990s

Peak decade

4

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Alan Yentob
Charles Hazlewood
Charles Jencks
Dorothy Byrne
Germaine Greer
Gloria Steinem
Ian Hislop
James Bowman
Jane Somerville
Julia McKenzie
Michael Grade
Professor James Fenton
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter
Roger Vadim
Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter
David Spiegelhalter on the flash photograph that revealed his son's cancer
Castaway · 6 February 2022Lauren Laverne
Charles Hazlewood
Charles Hazlewood on revealing his childhood sexual abuse for the first time
Castaway · 24 May 2020Lauren 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

Dorothy Byrne

How standing on a table taught Dorothy Byrne to keep talking through abuse

Castaway · 1 March 2020Lauren Laverne

20°51′S 100°54′W

Gloria Steinem

Gloria Steinem on realising she wanted to adopt herself

Castaway · 20 March 2016Kirsty Young

Jane Somerville

08°52′S 022°44′W

Jane Somerville

Jane Somerville on burning her husband’s shirt to avoid ironing

Castaway · 7 July 2013Kirsty Young

11°37′S 118°23′W

Charles Jencks

Charles Jencks on the 3:32 demolition that killed modernism

Castaway · 1 July 2012Kirsty Young

Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP

06°33′S 088°38′W

Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP

How a rugby injury cost Gordon Brown parts of three university years

Castaway · 3 March 1996Sue Lawley

00°39′S 081°33′W

Alan Yentob

Alan Yentob on his mother's objection to the term 'immigrant family'

Castaway · 8 October 1995Sue Lawley

20°44′S 160°01′W

James Bowman

James Bowman on his voice packing up in the studio

Castaway · 9 April 1995Sue Lawley

Professor James Fenton

21°02′S 093°16′W

Professor James Fenton

James Fenton on the Les Misérables song that made him a millionaire

Castaway · 2 October 1994Sue Lawley

18°02′S 153°48′W

Ian Hislop

How Ian Hislop's lawyer passed a note doubting Robert Maxwell's tears

Castaway · 9 January 1994Sue Lawley

21°18′S 012°49′W

Michael Grade

Michael Grade on being shocked by anti-Semitism and bullying at public school

Castaway · 17 May 1992Sue Lawley

15°02′S 090°55′W

Germaine Greer

Germaine Greer on changing a tyre in four minutes flat

Castaway · 30 October 1988Michael Parkinson

01°30′S 069°00′W

Roger Vadim

Roger Vadim on sending the wrong child to the wrong mother

Castaway · 27 July 1986Michael Parkinson

06°38′S 129°05′W

Julia McKenzie

Julia McKenzie on her first job as an understudy after only seeing the show three times

Castaway · 10 April 1982Roy Plomley