John Denver — Artist · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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Tuning in…

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

John Denver — Artist · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Artist

John Denver

11 episodes

Chosen over the decades

11

Total castaways

2010s

Peak decade

5

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Alan Pascoe
Barry Hearn
Ben Saunders
Gordon Buchanan
John Motson
Josephine Cox
Katharine Whitehorn
Lord Richards of Herstmonceux
Lyse Doucet
Nigel Hawthorne
Ray Mears

Gordon Buchanan
Gordon Buchanan on crying himself to sleep in Sierra Leone aged 17
Castaway · 30 November 2025Lauren Laverne
Barry Hearn
How making up stories saved Barry Hearn's business in 1989
Castaway · 20 November 2022Lauren 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

Lyse Doucet on coming home to Canada after months in Afghanistan

Castaway · 30 January 2022Lauren Laverne

19°11′S 056°32′W

John Motson

John Motson on Brian Clough giving him both barrels

Castaway · 17 June 2018Kirsty Young

20°50′S 126°39′W

Ben Saunders

Ben Saunders on his father's biscuit tin of press cuttings

Castaway · 14 February 2016Kirsty Young

Lord Richards of Herstmonceux

19°43′S 043°52′W

Lord Richards of Herstmonceux

Richards on adapting his orders to fight back in Sierra Leone

Castaway · 9 March 2014Kirsty Young

19°40′S 013°06′W

Ray Mears

Ray Mears on the sound of aluminium grinding in his helicopter crash

Castaway · 5 January 2014Kirsty Young

07°26′S 057°40′W

Josephine Cox

Josephine Cox on writing her first novel while confined to bed

Castaway · 8 May 2005Sue Lawley

Katharine Whitehorn

17°51′S 156°03′W

Katharine Whitehorn

Katharine Whitehorn on her husband telling her to get a job on a Hampstead Heath bench

Castaway · 1 May 2005Sue Lawley

Nigel Hawthorne

08°01′S 108°02′W

Nigel Hawthorne

Nigel Hawthorne on looking at people upside down through his legs

Castaway · 30 November 1986Michael Parkinson

20°14′S 177°33′W

Alan Pascoe

Alan Pascoe on why he switched to the 400m hurdles rather than take drugs

Castaway · 10 July 1976Roy Plomley