Desert Island Discs

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Ann Patchett, writer Nov 08, 2026

Show notes

Ann Patchett is an American writer. She is the author of ten novels, several works of non-fiction and three children’s books. Her breakout hit, Bel Canto, won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2002. It was her first bestseller and made her name around the world.

Ann was born in Los Angeles in 1963, the youngest of two daughters to Frank and Jeanne Patchett. Her parents divorced when she was just four, and her mother moved Ann and her sister to Nashville where she eventually married her second husband.

Ann’s stories are often about family and are sometimes inspired by her own experience of growing up with her biological parents, two stepfathers, a stepmother and numerous siblings. She says, “We weren’t the products of our parents’ happy marriages; we were the flotsam of their divorces.”

Ann started publishing journalism and short stories in the 1980s. Her debut novel, The Patron Saint of Liars, followed in 1992, but it wasn’t until her fourth, Bel Canto, which came out in 2001, that she began to make a name for herself.

She is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Joe Biden and has been honoured by the Library of Congress.

She owns a bookshop in her hometown of Nashville where she lives with her husband, Karl, and their dog, Nemo.

DISC ONE: Burning Down the House - Talking Heads DISC TWO: Annie’s Song - John Denver DISC THREE: I Get a Kick out of You - Bobby Short DISC FOUR: Rainy Night House - Joni Mitchell DISC FIVE: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Glenn Gould DISC SIX: Aria From "La Wally". Composed by Alfredo Catalini and performed by Wilhelmenia Fernandez (soprano) and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Cosma DISC SEVEN: Saint-Saëns: Le carnaval des animaux, R. 125: VII. Aquarium. Composed by Camille Saint-Saëns and performed by Alfons Kontarsky, Aloys Kontarsky (piano) and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Karl Böhm DISC EIGHT: Dvořák: Rusalka, Op. 114, Act I: O Silver Moon / Song to the Moon. Performed by Renée Fleming, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti

BOOK CHOICE: Middlemarch by George Eliot LUXURY ITEM: Notebooks and pens CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Glenn Gould

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Christine Pawlowsky

T C Fairbairn Nov 02, 2026

Show notes

Plomley's castaway is impresario T C Fairbairn.

Favourite track: Prize Song by Richard Wagner Book: The complete works by John Milton Luxury: Tape recorder

Professor Dame Parveen Kumar Nov 01, 2026

Show notes

Professor Dame Parveen Kumar is a gastroenterologist and co-author of one of the most influential medical textbooks in the world - Kumar & Clark’s Clinical Medicine. She was born in Lahore (then still in British India) in June 1942, one of three children to Cyril and Grace Kumar. When Parveen was four and her hometown was gripped by violence ahead of the 1947 Partition of the country into India and Pakistan, her mother packed up the family and fled to Delhi, then on to Simla, and later still to China before returning to India. Parveen was educated at the Lawrence School in Sanawar and then, following her mother’s decision to move to England, at Paddington and Maida Vale High School before she began studying at Barts Medical School. She specialised in gastroenterology, with a particular interest in coeliac disease, and, in 1982, was appointed one of the first women consultants at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. In 1987, Parveen published Kumar & Clark’s Clinical Medicine, co-edited with her supervisor, Mike Clark. She is a former President of the British Medical Association and the Royal Society of Medicine, a founding non-executive director of NICE, former chair of the Medicines Commission UK, and the recipient of many honours including a Dame Grand Cross (GBE). Professor Dame Parveen Kumar lives in Epsom, Surrey, and has two daughters with her late husband, David Leaver.

DISC ONE: Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo. Composed by Pietro Mascagni and performed by Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Herbert von Karajan DISC TWO: Abide with Me performed by Ian Wells (organist) Liverpool Cathedral Choir and Massed Choirs from Merseyside, conducted by Ian Tracey DISC THREE: Never Give In - The pupils of The Lawrence School, Sanawar DISC FOUR: Ce Monde - Richard Anthony DISC FIVE: Verdi: Un ballo in maschera / Act 2: \"Teco io sto...M'ami, m'ami\". Composed by Giuseppe Verdi and performed by Luciano Pavarotti (tenor), Margaret Price (soprano) National Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Georg Solti DISC SIX: The Gendarmes Duet ('We run them in') from Genéviève de Brabant. Composed by Jacques Offenbach and performed by André Previn, Benjamin Luxon (baritone), Robert Tear (tenor) DISC SEVEN: Der Rosenkavalier, Op. 59, Act 3: "Marie Theres'! Hab' mir's gelobt". Composed by Richard Strauss and performed by Felicity Lott (soprano), Natalie Dessay (soprano), Angelika Kirchschlager (mezzo soprano) and Royal Opera House Orchestra, conducted by Antonio Pappano DISC EIGHT: Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto In D, Op. 35, TH. 59: 3. Finale (Allegro vivacissimo) Performed by Maxim Vengerov (violin) London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich

BOOK CHOICE: The Complete Jane Austen LUXURY ITEM: Dark chocolate and Claret CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo. Composed by Pietro Mascagni and performed by Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Herbert von Karajan

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Tom Alban and Christine Pawlowsky

Desert Island Discs has cast away many doctors and medical professionals over the years including Stephen Westaby, Professor Dame Pamela Shaw and David Nott.

Matt Haig, writer Oct 24, 2026

Show notes

Matt Haig is the bestselling writer, whose work ranges from magical realism to memoir. His novel The Midnight Library became a global phenomenon, selling 15 million copies, while his memoir Reasons to Stay Alive has provided comfort to millions around the world.

He grew up in Newark-on-Trent in a loving family, though his mother struggled with post-natal depression. Difficulties at school and the death of his grandmother led to a period of teenage rebellion. Matt met his future wife, Andrea, at university and credits her with helping him through the most dangerous period of his life. In their early twenties they spent summers in Ibiza, culminating in Matt’s mental breakdown, and an intense three-year recovery.

In 2015 he published Reasons to Stay Alive, a memoir based on his breakdown. It became a bestseller and transformed his public profile, though the way he handled his newfound success has become one of his biggest regrets. Further literary success came in 2020 with his novel The Midnight Library, which has been published in 56 languages and is being adapted into a film starring Florence Pugh. His children’s book, A Boy Called Christmas, was also turned into a film starring Maggie Smith, Sally Hawkins, and Jim Broadbent.

Matt Haig lives in Brighton with his wife, Andrea, and they have two children.

DISC ONE: Here, There and Everywhere - The Beatles DISC TWO: The flying theme from E.T. - John Williams DISC THREE: A Forest – The Cure DISC FOUR: Adagio for Strings.(Ferry Corsten Mix) Composed by Samuel Barber and performed by William Orbit DISC FIVE: The Boys of Summer - Don Henley DISC SIX: O-o-h Child - The Five Stairsteps DISC SEVEN: The Mother We Share – CHVRCHES DISC EIGHT: You Make It Easy – Air

BOOK CHOICE: The Diaries of Samuel Pepys LUXURY ITEM: An unlimited A4 refill pad and pens CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Here, There and Everywhere - The Beatles

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Hannah Hufford

Desert Island Discs has cast away other writers to the island over the years including David Nicholls, Kate Atkinson and Bernardine Evaristo. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Details of organisations offering help and support with mental health or feelings of distress are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Richard Osman on managing his eating disorder Oct 23, 2026

Show notes

The writer and broadcaster Richard Osman was cast away by Lauren Laverne.

He is the author of the Thursday Murder Club series and has presented popular BBC shows including Pointless and Richard Osman's House of Games. When he appeared on Desert Island Discs in 2021, he revealed that at a time when his career was going well, he was struggling with an eating disorder. It's something he continues to manage day by day, but says he no longer feels any shame about.