Tom Waits — 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

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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

Tom Waits — Artist · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Artist

Tom Waits

21 episodes

Chosen over the decades

21

Total castaways

2000s

Peak decade

4

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Adam Kay
Anne Enright
Colin Firth
Dame Jo da Silva
David Gilmour
David Harewood
David King
David McVicar
Emma Thompson
Gavin Bryars
Guy Garvey
John Malkovich
John Sutherland
Jon Ronson
Liz Morris
Oz Clarke
Raymond Briggs
Sonita Alleyne
Terry Gilliam
Victoria Wood
William Gibson

Professor Liz Morris
Liz Morris on a polar bear sniffing around her crate at night
Castaway · 5 July 2026Lauren Laverne
Adam Kay
Adam Kay on being told he was gay by a classmate running a pornography library
Castaway · 18 June 2023Lauren Laverne
Jon Ronson

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

Jon Ronson on getting on buses alone in London as a child

Castaway · 5 June 2022Lauren Laverne

07°47′S 111°14′W

David Harewood

David Harewood on being told 'get out of my country' aged seven

Castaway · 29 May 2022Lauren Laverne

Dame Jo da Silva

07°20′S 102°16′W

Dame Jo da Silva

Jo da Silva on mistaking dead bodies for hippos in a Rwandan river

Castaway · 19 November 2021Lauren Laverne

14°20′S 005°39′W

Sonita Alleyne

Sonita Alleyne on bringing free jazz to the maternity ward

Castaway · 2 February 2020Lauren Laverne

03°00′S 176°31′W

Anne Enright

Anne Enright on men being personally insulted by her Booker win

Castaway · 26 January 2020Lauren Laverne

01°07′S 154°18′W

Guy Garvey

Guy Garvey on smuggling a case of Guinness into the Olympic closing ceremony

Castaway · 3 August 2014Kirsty Young

18°59′S 014°05′W

Terry Gilliam

How Terry Gilliam's jokes about God ended his missionary ambitions

Castaway · 10 April 2011Kirsty Young

12°11′S 049°41′W

Emma Thompson

Emma Thompson on her parents laughing at her snowflake ballet performance

Castaway · 28 March 2010Kirsty Young

12°43′S 092°12′W

David McVicar

David McVicar on being hospitalised mid-opera run

Castaway · 5 October 2008Kirsty Young

18°31′S 013°30′W

Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood on her childhood home crammed with junk from bombsites

Castaway · 23 December 2007Kirsty Young

John Sutherland

00°05′S 090°28′W

John Sutherland

John Sutherland on putting his nose in a book after his father's death

Castaway · 22 January 2006Sue Lawley

19°41′S 028°32′W

Colin Firth

Colin Firth on his first stage role as Jack Frost at age five

Castaway · 4 December 2005Sue Lawley

05°07′S 075°56′W

David King

David King on being interrogated on the seventh floor of the Grays building

Castaway · 22 May 2005Sue Lawley

03°25′S 069°43′W

Raymond Briggs

How a shaken duster brought Raymond Briggs's parents together

Castaway · 20 March 2005Sue Lawley

13°36′S 062°49′W

David Gilmour

David Gilmour on ignoring his parents' advice to have something to fall back on

Castaway · 6 April 2003Sue Lawley

02°54′S 175°44′W

John Malkovich

John Malkovich on falling asleep under a makeup table before shows

Castaway · 1 December 2002Sue Lawley

01°45′S 160°35′W

Oz Clarke

Oz Clarke on weeping at 13 because he didn't want to grow up

Castaway · 12 December 1999Sue Lawley

00°24′S 065°37′W

William Gibson

William Gibson on the Sony Walkman that inspired cyberspace

Castaway · 19 November 1999Sue Lawley

07°48′S 141°35′W

Gavin Bryars

Gavin Bryars on finding a tramp's recording that became Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet

Castaway · 5 April 1998Sue Lawley