Umm Kulthum

Tuning in…

desert is.land

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

The listing

Transmission

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

Umm Kulthum — Artist · desert is.land

Artist

4 episodes

Chosen over the decades

Total castaways

2010s

Peak decade

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Ash Atalla
Ash Atalla on his father preparing him for life with a wheelchair at age five
Castaway · 13 July 2025Lauren Laverne
Dame Zaha Hadid
Zaha Hadid on learning that buildings can't float
Castaway · 21 February 2016Kirsty Young

desert is.land

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

The listing

Transmission

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

Ahdaf Soueif on watching friends die to gain metres at Tahrir

Castaway · 17 June 2012Kirsty Young

14°01′S 075°56′W

John Stefanidis on landing a seaplane on the Nile as a child

Castaway · 20 July 2008Kirsty Young