Leonard Cohen — Composer · 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

Leonard Cohen — Composer · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Composer

Leonard Cohen

20 episodes

Chosen over the decades

20

Total castaways

2000s

Peak decade

4

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Allan Ahlberg
Armistead Maupin
Ben Elton
Betty Jackson
David Gilmour
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Clarke
Imtiaz Dharker
Jeremy Deller
Jeremy Irons
John Cale
Kim Cattrall
Lubaina Himid
Peter Layton
Samantha Power
Sarah Doukas
Satish Kumar
Sigrid Rausing
Sir Trevor Nunn
Terence Stamp

Peter Layton
Peter Layton on his year in Israel with Habonim
Castaway · 7 June 2026Lauren Laverne
Samantha Power
Samantha Power on the last time she saw her father, on Christmas Eve
Castaway · 17 January 2021Lauren Laverne
Lubaina Himid

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

Lubaina Himid on returning to Zanzibar for the first time

Castaway · 2 June 2019Lauren Laverne

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Jeremy Deller

Jeremy Deller on walking away from his Battle of Orgreave reenactment to buy a chocolate bar

Castaway · 6 January 2019Lauren Laverne

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Sigrid Rausing

How her brother's addiction led Sigrid Rausing to check into rehab

Castaway · 24 January 2016Kirsty Young

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Imtiaz Dharker

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Castaway · 12 July 2015Kirsty Young

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Gillian Clarke

Gillian Clarke on saying no to becoming National Poet of Wales

Castaway · 15 December 2013Kirsty Young

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Sarah Doukas

Sarah Doukas on spotting a potential model in a Waitrose queue

Castaway · 10 October 2010Kirsty Young

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Allan Ahlberg

How a girl in the street told Allan Ahlberg he was adopted

Castaway · 14 November 2008Kirsty Young

Armistead Maupin

22°08′S 158°58′W

Armistead Maupin

Armistead Maupin on learning of the gay plague from a sobbing friend

Castaway · 25 November 2007Kirsty Young

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Terence Stamp

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Castaway · 12 March 2006Sue Lawley

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Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons on writing to Granada to pitch himself for Brideshead Revisited

Castaway · 5 February 2006Sue Lawley

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Satish Kumar

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Castaway · 29 May 2005Sue Lawley

08°33′S 148°51′W

Kim Cattrall

Kim Cattrall on her childhood ambition to sing Jingle Bells in a Christmas pageant

Castaway · 26 December 2004Sue Lawley

18°37′S 099°16′W

John Cale

John Cale on his grandmother blaming him for his mother's illness

Castaway · 22 February 2004Sue 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

Sir Trevor Nunn

17°41′S 148°54′W

Sir Trevor Nunn

Trevor Nunn on the fragment about Grizabella that inspired the song Memory

Castaway · 26 January 2003Sue Lawley

Gillian Anderson

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Gillian Anderson

Gillian Anderson on going into therapy at 14 for drugs, alcohol, and promiscuity

Castaway · 12 January 2003Sue Lawley

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Betty Jackson

Betty Jackson on driving into a tree after her car's steering failed

Castaway · 28 April 2002Sue Lawley

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Ben Elton

Ben Elton on his teenage plan to leave school and sweep up backstage

Castaway · 29 September 1996Sue Lawley