Collected Poems — Book · 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.

The listing

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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

Collected Poems — Book · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Book

Collected Poems

16 episodes

Chosen over the decades

16

Total castaways

2000s

Peak decade

5

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Alan Parker
Anne Fine
Carl Djerassi
David Walliams
John Banham
Michael Rosen
Miklos Rozsa
Monty Don
Natalie Wood
Nicole Kidman
Paul Farmer
Rod Steiger
Rowan Williams
Rt Hon Shirley Williams
Tennessee Williams

Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer on the moment he saw his wife's yellow eyes
Castaway · 12 July 2026Lauren Laverne
David Walliams
David Walliams on signing autographs in a hospice as his father died
Castaway · 22 February 2009Kirsty Young

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 Rosen

How a 200-yard walk made Michael Rosen realise he'd been fired from the BBC

Castaway · 6 August 2006Sue Lawley

22°18′S 124°30′W

Monty Don

Monty Don on the moment he felt at home while sowing carrots

Castaway · 9 July 2006Sue Lawley

Rt Hon Shirley Williams

11°25′S 099°36′W

Rt Hon Shirley Williams

How hiding behind a curtain reunited Shirley Williams with her mother

Castaway · 29 January 2006Sue Lawley

02°43′S 175°18′W

Rowan Williams

Rowan Williams on nearly becoming a monk in his early twenties

Castaway · 22 December 2002Sue Lawley

08°51′S 123°56′W

Carl Djerassi

Carl Djerassi on finding his daughter's body in the woods

Castaway · 20 October 2002Sue Lawley

22°55′S 089°02′W

Anne Fine

How the tabloid response to child murders inspired Anne Fine's The Tulip Touch

Castaway · 16 December 2001Sue Lawley

15°13′S 045°56′W

Rod Steiger

Rod Steiger on fetching his mother from pubs at age eight

Castaway · 25 July 1999Sue Lawley

21°40′S 006°08′W

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman on her naked handshake deal with Sam Mendes

Castaway · 15 November 1998Sue Lawley

15°17′S 106°52′W

John Banham

John Banham on surviving a freak hurricane in the 1979 Fastnet race

Castaway · 15 September 1991Sue Lawley

Rt Hon Shirley Williams

14°33′S 084°21′W

Rt Hon Shirley Williams

How a tip-off about concentration camps sent Shirley Williams to America

Castaway · 23 March 1986Michael Parkinson

02°04′S 082°46′W

Alan Parker

How a question from his son led Alan Parker to Bugsy Malone

Castaway · 5 January 1986Michael Parkinson

09°19′S 143°13′W

Miklos Rozsa

Miklos Rozsa on writing pop songs under the pseudonym Nick Tomei

Castaway · 1 December 1984Roy Plomley

10°31′S 103°32′W

Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood on being renamed from Natalia Nikolaevna Zaharinko at age five

Castaway · 10 May 1980Roy Plomley

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