<description>&lt;p&gt;Lee Child is a writer who is best known for his series of bestselling novels featuring Jack Reacher. Reacher is an enigmatic 6ft 5in, 17-stone ex-military police major who rights wrongs before disappearing off into the sunset. The books have sold in their millions around the world and have inspired two films starring Tom Cruise and a television series.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lee Child was born James - Jim - Grant in 1954 and grew up in Birmingham. He studied Law at the University of Sheffield and then joined the presentation department at Granada Television where he was a shop steward and became a thorn in the side of the management. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At 40 he was made redundant and sat down to write his first Reacher novel Killing Floor. He found himself an agent and the novel was published in March 1997 - the franchise was up and running. In the UK Lee outsells both Stephen King and John Grisham and worldwide he sells between 12 and 15 million copies a year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In 2020 Lee announced that he was handing over the Reacher franchise to his younger brother Andrew Grant. The two brothers have worked on several novels since then and the thirtieth Reacher title features both brothers’ names on the cover.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lee Child was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He lives in the Lake District with his wife Jane. They have one daughter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;DISC ONE: She Loves You - The Beatles 
DISC TWO: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones 
DISC THREE: So What - Miles Davis 
DISC FOUR: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23: I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito. Performed by Stephen Hough (piano) and Minnesota Orchestra, conducted by Osmo Vänskä
DISC FIVE: Joe’s Blues - Joe Pass 
DISC SIX: The Lemon Song - Led Zeppelin 
DISC SEVEN: Für Elise (Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor) Composed by Ludwig Beethoven and performed by Lang Lang 
DISC EIGHT: Delibes: Lakmé / Act 1: \"Sous le dôme épais\" (Flower Duet) Performed by Renée Fleming (soprano), Susan Graham (mezzo soprano), Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Sebastian Lang-Lessing &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;BOOK CHOICE: Killing Floor by Lee Child
LUXURY ITEM: A mechanical wind-up watch 
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: So What - Miles Davis &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Lee Child, writer, shares the soundtrack of his life with Lauren Laverne.

Lee Child is a writer who is best known for his series of bestselling novels featuring Jack Reacher. Reacher is an enigmatic 6ft 5in, 17-stone ex-military police major who rights wrongs before disappearing off into the sunset. The books have sold in their millions around the world and have inspired two films starring Tom Cruise and a television series.Lee Child was born James - Jim - Grant in 1954 and grew up in Birmingham. He studied Law at the University of Sheffield and then joined the presentation department at Granada Television where he was a shop steward and became a thorn in the side of the management. At 40 he was made redundant and sat down to write his first Reacher novel Killing Floor. He found himself an agent and the novel was published in March 1997 - the franchise was up and running. In the UK Lee outsells both Stephen King and John Grisham and worldwide he sells between 12 and 15 million copies a year.In 2020 Lee announced that he was handing over the Reacher franchise to his younger brother Andrew Grant. The two brothers have worked on several novels since then and the thirtieth Reacher title features both brothers’ names on the cover.Lee Child was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours. He lives in the Lake District with his wife Jane. They have one daughter.DISC ONE: She Loves You - The Beatles 
DISC TWO: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones 
DISC THREE: So What - Miles Davis 
DISC FOUR: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23: I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito. Performed by Stephen Hough (piano) and Minnesota Orchestra, conducted by Osmo Vänskä
DISC FIVE: Joe’s Blues - Joe Pass 
DISC SIX: The Lemon Song - Led Zeppelin 
DISC SEVEN: Für Elise (Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor) Composed by Ludwig Beethoven and performed by Lang Lang 
DISC EIGHT: Delibes: Lakmé / Act 1: \"Sous le dôme épais\" (Flower Duet) Performed by Renée Fleming (soprano), Susan Graham (mezzo soprano), Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Sebastian Lang-Lessing BOOK CHOICE: Killing Floor by Lee Child
LUXURY ITEM: A mechanical wind-up watch 
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: So What - Miles Davis Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley

Lee Child, writer

<description>&lt;p&gt;Margaret Atwood is a Canadian writer. She has published more than sixty books spanning novels, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, children’s literature, and graphic novels, and has been called “one of the sharpest and most imaginative novelists writing in English”. She is one of only four writers to have won the Booker Prize twice: for The Blind Assassin in 2000 and for her 2019 follow-up to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Margaret was born in Ottawa in November 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II, the second of three children to Carl Atwood, an entomologist. During her early life, she would spend the warmer months in the remote forests of northern Quebec and Ontario where her father tracked insect infestations, and the winters in the city (first Ottawa, later Toronto). She didn’t attend school for a full year until the age of twelve.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Her childhood scribblings – a “novel” about an ant called Annie, a volume of rhyming poems about cats, and a play about a giant – turned into a more serious ambition to become a writer when Margaret was sixteen. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After studying English at the University of Toronto, where she began publishing poems in the college magazine, her first novel, The Edible Woman, came out in 1969, following five collections of poetry. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Her most famous work, The Handmaid’s Tale, was published in 1985 and depicted a dystopian vision of the United States as a patriarchal and totalitarian place called Gilead. Although it was written during the Reagan era, it has become eerily relevant again in the wake of the election of Donald Trump. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Margaret lost her life partner, the writer Graeme Gibson, in 2019. She lives in Toronto.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;DISC ONE: Anchors Aweigh - US Navy Band 
DISC TWO: Hearts of Stone - The Charms 
DISC THREE: Offenbach: Les contes d'Hoffmann, Giulietta Act: Barcarolle. Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour. Performed by Joan Sutherland (soprano) Huguette Tourangeau (soprano), Plácido Domingo (tenor), Andre Neury (bass), Pro Arte Choir, Lausanne, Choeur Du Brassus, Choeur de la Radio Suisse Romande, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Richard Bonynge 
DISC FOUR: Four Strong Winds - Ian &amp;amp; Sylvia 
DISC FIVE: Barrett’s Privateers - Stan Rogers 
DISC SIX: The Handmaid's Tale, Act I Scene 6: The Doctor. Composed by Poul Ruders and performed by Marianne Rorholm, Hanne Fischer (Mezzo-sopranos), Royal Danish Opera Chorus and Royal Danish Orchestra, conducted by Michael Schønwandt 
DISC SEVEN: We Praise the Tiny Perfect Moles - Orville Stoeber 
DISC EIGHT: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 "Pastoral": II. Scene am Bach. Andante molto moto. Composed by Beethoven and performed by Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Otto Klemperer &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;BOOK CHOICE: How to Survive on a Desert Island by Samantha Bell
LUXURY ITEM: A knife and matchbox 
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Hearts of Stone - The Charms &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Margaret Atwood, writer, shares the soundtrack of her life with Lauren Laverne.

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian writer. She has published more than sixty books spanning novels, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, children’s literature, and graphic novels, and has been called “one of the sharpest and most imaginative novelists writing in English”. She is one of only four writers to have won the Booker Prize twice: for The Blind Assassin in 2000 and for her 2019 follow-up to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments.Margaret was born in Ottawa in November 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II, the second of three children to Carl Atwood, an entomologist. During her early life, she would spend the warmer months in the remote forests of northern Quebec and Ontario where her father tracked insect infestations, and the winters in the city (first Ottawa, later Toronto). She didn’t attend school for a full year until the age of twelve.Her childhood scribblings – a “novel” about an ant called Annie, a volume of rhyming poems about cats, and a play about a giant – turned into a more serious ambition to become a writer when Margaret was sixteen. After studying English at the University of Toronto, where she began publishing poems in the college magazine, her first novel, The Edible Woman, came out in 1969, following five collections of poetry. Her most famous work, The Handmaid’s Tale, was published in 1985 and depicted a dystopian vision of the United States as a patriarchal and totalitarian place called Gilead. Although it was written during the Reagan era, it has become eerily relevant again in the wake of the election of Donald Trump. Margaret lost her life partner, the writer Graeme Gibson, in 2019. She lives in Toronto.DISC ONE: Anchors Aweigh - US Navy Band 
DISC TWO: Hearts of Stone - The Charms 
DISC THREE: Offenbach: Les contes d'Hoffmann, Giulietta Act: Barcarolle. Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour. Performed by Joan Sutherland (soprano) Huguette Tourangeau (soprano), Plácido Domingo (tenor), Andre Neury (bass), Pro Arte Choir, Lausanne, Choeur Du Brassus, Choeur de la Radio Suisse Romande, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Richard Bonynge 
DISC FOUR: Four Strong Winds - Ian &amp; Sylvia 
DISC FIVE: Barrett’s Privateers - Stan Rogers 
DISC SIX: The Handmaid's Tale, Act I Scene 6: The Doctor. Composed by Poul Ruders and performed by Marianne Rorholm, Hanne Fischer (Mezzo-sopranos), Royal Danish Opera Chorus and Royal Danish Orchestra, conducted by Michael Schønwandt 
DISC SEVEN: We Praise the Tiny Perfect Moles - Orville Stoeber 
DISC EIGHT: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 "Pastoral": II. Scene am Bach. Andante molto moto. Composed by Beethoven and performed by Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Otto Klemperer BOOK CHOICE: How to Survive on a Desert Island by Samantha Bell
LUXURY ITEM: A knife and matchbox 
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Hearts of Stone - The Charms Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor

Margaret Atwood, writer

<description>&lt;p&gt;Gordon Buchanan is a wildlife cameraman and TV presenter. He is best known for the Animal Family &amp;amp; Me series of BBC documentaries in which he gets up close to wild bears, Arctic wolves, elephants and reindeer among other species.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gordon was brought up in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull where he spent his days exploring the island and developed his lifelong love of the outdoors. In 1988, when he was 17, he met the charismatic wildlife cameraman Nick Gordon who invited him to become his assistant for a project to film primates on the island of Tiwai in Sierra Leone. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gordon spent 18 months in Sierra Leone working with Nick and after that the two of them worked in West Africa and South America. At 22 Gordon set up on his own – his first job was a year-long assignment to make three half-hour programmes for a 14-part wildlife series called Wild Islands. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In 2001 he made his debut as a presenter on the BBC’s Natural World strand. He was appointed an MBE for services to conservation and wildlife filmmaking in 2020. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Gordon lives in Glasgow with his wife Wendy. They have two children. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;DISC ONE: Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver 
DISC TWO: Brandy in the Airidh - Peat &amp;amp; Diesel 
DISC THREE: Purple Haze – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
DISC FOUR: Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana
DISC FIVE: High and Dry - Radiohead
DISC SIX: Last Nite - The Strokes
DISC SEVEN: Electrical Storm - U2 
DISC EIGHT: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) - Beyoncé &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;BOOK CHOICE: Teach Yourself Tap Dancing by Derek Hartley
LUXURY ITEM: A mask, snorkel and fins
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: High and Dry - Radiohead&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Desert Island Discs has cast many wildlife experts and broadcasters away including Dr George McGavin, Professor Carl Jones, Sir David Attenborough and Dr Jane Goodall. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Gordon Buchanan, film-maker, shares the soundtrack of his life with Lauren Laverne.

Gordon Buchanan is a wildlife cameraman and TV presenter. He is best known for the Animal Family &amp; Me series of BBC documentaries in which he gets up close to wild bears, Arctic wolves, elephants and reindeer among other species.Gordon was brought up in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull where he spent his days exploring the island and developed his lifelong love of the outdoors. In 1988, when he was 17, he met the charismatic wildlife cameraman Nick Gordon who invited him to become his assistant for a project to film primates on the island of Tiwai in Sierra Leone. Gordon spent 18 months in Sierra Leone working with Nick and after that the two of them worked in West Africa and South America. At 22 Gordon set up on his own – his first job was a year-long assignment to make three half-hour programmes for a 14-part wildlife series called Wild Islands. In 2001 he made his debut as a presenter on the BBC’s Natural World strand. He was appointed an MBE for services to conservation and wildlife filmmaking in 2020. Gordon lives in Glasgow with his wife Wendy. They have two children. DISC ONE: Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver 
DISC TWO: Brandy in the Airidh - Peat &amp; Diesel 
DISC THREE: Purple Haze – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
DISC FOUR: Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana
DISC FIVE: High and Dry - Radiohead
DISC SIX: Last Nite - The Strokes
DISC SEVEN: Electrical Storm - U2 
DISC EIGHT: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) - Beyoncé BOOK CHOICE: Teach Yourself Tap Dancing by Derek Hartley
LUXURY ITEM: A mask, snorkel and fins
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: High and Dry - RadioheadPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinleyDesert Island Discs has cast many wildlife experts and broadcasters away including Dr George McGavin, Professor Carl Jones, Sir David Attenborough and Dr Jane Goodall. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Gordon Buchanan, cameraman and presenter

<description>&lt;p&gt;Sir Salman Rushdie is a writer who has written over 20 books, seven of which have been nominated for the Booker Prize. In 1981 he won with his novel Midnight’s Children which also topped the polls for the 25th and 40th anniversaries of the prize, making it the most lauded novel in Booker history.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He was born in Bombay in 1947 and educated at Rugby School in Warwickshire. After studying history at the University of Cambridge he worked as a copywriter at various advertising agencies before publishing his first novel Grimus in 1975. His breakthrough came with Midnight’s Children and he was one of 20 writers named on Granta magazine’s inaugural list of Best Young British novelists alongside writers including Martin Amis and AN Wilson.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He attracted considerable controversy with his fourth novel the Satanic Verses which won the Whitbread Award and was shortlisted for the Booker. Some Muslims considered the subject matter blasphemous and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the death of Salman and the publishers of the book. Salman spent the following decade in hiding under police protection.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In 2022 he was stabbed multiple times while on stage at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. He had been invited there to talk about keeping writers safe from harm. He survived devasting injuries – including the loss of his right eye – and wrote about the attack and its aftermath in his memoir Knife.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That same year he was awarded a Companion of Honour for services to literature.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Salman is married to the poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths and they live in New York. He has two grown up sons and two grandchildren.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;DISC ONE: Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed 
DISC TWO: Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan - Mohammed Rafi and Geeta Dutt 
DISC THREE: Blowin’ in the Wind - Bob Dylan 
DISC FOUR: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones 
DISC FIVE: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) - Whitney Houston
DISC SIX: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - Paul Simon 
DISC SEVEN: Isn’t She Lovely – Stevie Wonder
DISC EIGHT: For the Love of You, Pts. 1 &amp;amp; 2 - The Isley Brothers &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;BOOK CHOICE: Homer’s Odyssey (Translated by Emily Wilson)
LUXURY ITEM: A bed with a mosquito net 
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: For the Love of You, Pts. 1 &amp;amp; 2 - The Isley Brothers &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Sir Salman Rushdie, writer, shares the soundtrack of his life with Lauren Laverne.

Sir Salman Rushdie is a writer who has written over 20 books, seven of which have been nominated for the Booker Prize. In 1981 he won with his novel Midnight’s Children which also topped the polls for the 25th and 40th anniversaries of the prize, making it the most lauded novel in Booker history.He was born in Bombay in 1947 and educated at Rugby School in Warwickshire. After studying history at the University of Cambridge he worked as a copywriter at various advertising agencies before publishing his first novel Grimus in 1975. His breakthrough came with Midnight’s Children and he was one of 20 writers named on Granta magazine’s inaugural list of Best Young British novelists alongside writers including Martin Amis and AN Wilson.He attracted considerable controversy with his fourth novel the Satanic Verses which won the Whitbread Award and was shortlisted for the Booker. Some Muslims considered the subject matter blasphemous and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the death of Salman and the publishers of the book. Salman spent the following decade in hiding under police protection.In 2022 he was stabbed multiple times while on stage at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. He had been invited there to talk about keeping writers safe from harm. He survived devasting injuries – including the loss of his right eye – and wrote about the attack and its aftermath in his memoir Knife.That same year he was awarded a Companion of Honour for services to literature.Salman is married to the poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths and they live in New York. He has two grown up sons and two grandchildren.DISC ONE: Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed 
DISC TWO: Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan - Mohammed Rafi and Geeta Dutt 
DISC THREE: Blowin’ in the Wind - Bob Dylan 
DISC FOUR: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones 
DISC FIVE: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) - Whitney Houston
DISC SIX: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - Paul Simon 
DISC SEVEN: Isn’t She Lovely – Stevie Wonder
DISC EIGHT: For the Love of You, Pts. 1 &amp; 2 - The Isley Brothers BOOK CHOICE: Homer’s Odyssey (Translated by Emily Wilson)
LUXURY ITEM: A bed with a mosquito net 
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: For the Love of You, Pts. 1 &amp; 2 - The Isley Brothers Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley

Sir Salman Rushdie, writer

<description>&lt;p&gt;Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a computer scientist and the inventor of the World Wide Web. 
He was born in 1955, a golden year for technology innovators. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were also born in the same year. 
A curious child, he learned about electronics from his train set and spent his pocket money on transistors. His first significant connecting invention was building an intercom as a teenager for the family home before moving on to build his first computer. 
His parents were both mathematicians and coders who met whilst building one of the first commercially available computers in the early nineteen fifties. 
Sir Tim came up with the idea of the World Wide Web whilst working at CERN and insisted that the technology be released to the world without commercial reward so that it would be free for everyone to use. 
He was knighted for his world changing invention and also appointed to the Order of Merit. In 2016 he was given the Turing Award.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee divides his time between the US, the UK and Canada with his wife Rosemary, who is also a technology entrepreneur.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Desert Island Discs has cast many computer scientists away over the years including Dame Wendy Hall and Sir Demis Hassibis. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, computer scientist, shares his music with Lauren Laverne.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a computer scientist and the inventor of the World Wide Web. 
He was born in 1955, a golden year for technology innovators. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were also born in the same year. 
A curious child, he learned about electronics from his train set and spent his pocket money on transistors. His first significant connecting invention was building an intercom as a teenager for the family home before moving on to build his first computer. 
His parents were both mathematicians and coders who met whilst building one of the first commercially available computers in the early nineteen fifties. 
Sir Tim came up with the idea of the World Wide Web whilst working at CERN and insisted that the technology be released to the world without commercial reward so that it would be free for everyone to use. 
He was knighted for his world changing invention and also appointed to the Order of Merit. In 2016 he was given the Turing Award.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee divides his time between the US, the UK and Canada with his wife Rosemary, who is also a technology entrepreneur.Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah TaylorDesert Island Discs has cast many computer scientists away over the years including Dame Wendy Hall and Sir Demis Hassibis. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Computer Scientist

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Desert Island Discs

Details

Recent Episodes