Desert Island Discs

Baroness Casey of Blackstock is a former civil servant specialising in social welfare, who has worked under five prime ministers. She has taken on some of UK society’s most difficult issues, including homelessness, anti-social behaviour and family breakdown, and has become known for her forthright views.She grew up in Portsmouth and her first job was working on reception at a branch of the Department of Health and Social Security in the late 1980s. At 27 she became the deputy director of the housing and homelessness charity, Shelter. In 1999 she was appointed head of Tony Blair’s new Rough Sleepers Unit, prompting the media to call her the ‘homelessness tsar’.She went on to run the Anti-Social Behaviour Unit at the Home Office where she became known as the ASBO Queen. David Cameron appointed her director general of the Troubled Families Programme in 2011.In 2016 she was awarded a DBE for services to families and vulnerable people. During the first COVID-19 lockdown she led the government’s Everyone In campaign which found emergency accommodation for rough sleepers.DISC ONE: Hanging on the Telephone by Blondie DISC TWO: What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong DISC THREE: G Puccini: La Boheme / Act 1: Che Gelida Manina by Luciano Pavarotti and Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Herbert Von Karajan DISC FOUR: Love Train by The O’Jays DISC FIVE: Abide With Me by Shirley Bassey and the Morriston Rugby Club Choir DISC SIX: Danny Boy by The Grimethorpe Colliery RJB Band DISC SEVEN: Nocturne No 2 in E flat Discogs title: Op. 9/2 in E flat major, composed by Frédéric Chopin, performed by Daniel Barenboim (piano) DISC EIGHT: Quanta Qualia composed by Patrick Hawes, performed by The Self-Isolation ChoirBOOK CHOICE: The collected works of Jane Austen LUXURY ITEM: A supply of wine CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Love Train by The O’Jays Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Mark Strong has appeared in more than 60 films, along with numerous TV dramas and plays. His career took off after he won a leading role in the landmark 1996 BBC series Our Friends in the North, and since then his screen work includes dramas such as Syriana, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Zero Dark Thirty and The Imitation Game, as well as the fantasy and comic book worlds of Stardust, Kick Ass and Shazam. In 2015 he won the Olivier best actor award for his London stage performance in A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller, in a production that also won him great acclaim in New York. Mark was born in London, the only child of an Austrian mother and an Italian father. His father left the family when Mark was a baby and has played no part in his life. Thanks to his mother, Mark is fluent in German, and he spent most of his school holidays with his Austrian grandmother. His mother had two jobs to support them both, and Mark attended state boarding schools in the UK from the age of six. His first taste of performing came in a punk rock band at school, but he began his further education by starting a law degree in Germany, before changing course and returning to the UK to study drama. Most recently he has been filming the TV drama Temple, in which he plays a rogue surgeon operating in abandoned tunnels beneath a London underground station.DISC ONE: Spanish Stroll by Mink DeVille DISC TWO: Are You Lonesome Tonight (Laughing Version) by Elvis Presley DISC THREE: Helden by David Bowie DISC FOUR: Police and Thieves by The Clash DISC FIVE: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by Devo DISC SIX: You’ve Got the Love by The Source featuring Candi Staton (Eren’s Bootleg Mix) DISC SEVEN: Peter Piper by Run DMC DISC EIGHT: Whole Lotta Love by Ike and Tina Turner BOOK CHOICE: Magnum Streetwise: The Ultimate Collection of Street Photography LUXURY ITEM: A wind up radio CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Helden by David Bowie Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Claire Horton is the former chief executive of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, and is currently director general of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.She joined Battersea in 2010 during its landmark 150th year, spearheading a campaign which transformed the animal rescue service into a UK top 10 charity brand. During her years in charge, income and volunteer numbers quadrupled; new facilities were developed and the charity successfully campaigned for changes in animal welfare legislation.As a teenager Claire volunteered for a number of organisations including Mencap and the Riding for the Disabled Association. At 18 she joined the police force as a special constable, patrolling the streets of Dudley where she lived.Her first position in the charity sector was at the NSPCC and she later worked for the Cats Protection League and the Variety Club of Great Britain. In 2020 she was appointed CBE for her services to animal welfare.DISC ONE: Howlin’ For You by The Black Keys DISC TWO: Drink, Drink, Drink by Mario Lanza DISC THREE: Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush DISC FOUR: Ghost Town by The Specials DISC FIVE: Agnus Dei, Op 11composed by Samuel Barber, conducted by Edward Higginbottom, performed by Choir of New College Oxford DISC SIX: Affirmation by Savage Garden DISC SEVEN: Heroes by David Bowie DISC EIGHT: Benedictus by Karl Jenkins BOOK CHOICE: A book by Dick Francis LUXURY ITEM: A piano and sheet music CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Sophia Loren is the first performer to win the Best Actress Academy Award for a role in a foreign language film. She won in 1962 for her performance in Vittorio De Sica’s film Two Women in which she played a mother trying to protect her 12-year-old daughter in war-torn Italy. In 1991, she picked up a second Oscar when the Academy presented her with an Honorary Award for her contribution to world cinema.Born Sofia Villani Scicolone in a hospital ward for unmarried mothers, she was brought up by a single mother in Pozzuoli near Naples during the war years. After success in her first beauty pageant at the age of 15 and starring in photo romance stories for popular magazines, she first came to wider attention in 1953 when she played the title role in the Italian film Aida.She played a pizza seller in De Sica’s The Gold of Naples which is regarded as her breakthrough performance and led to her working on Hollywood movies with a who’s who of co-stars including Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Gregory Peck and Paul Newman. Her most enduring on-screen partnership was with the Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni.In 1966 she married the film producer Carlo Ponti and went on to have two children. In her most recent film The Life Ahead, directed by her son Edoardo Ponti, she plays a holocaust survivor and ex-prostitute who cares for the children of local sex workers.DISC ONE: I’ve Got You Under My Skin by Ella Fitzgerald DISC TWO: Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L.75 - 3. Clair de lune composed by Claude Debussy, performed by Tamás Vásáry DISC THREE: Lara Says Goodbye to Yuri by Maurice Jarre DISC FOUR: Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) by Frank Sinatra with The Count Basie Orchestra, directed by Quincy Jones DISC FIVE: Oggi Sono Io by Mina DISC SIX: The Marketplace at Limoges composed by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, performed by Russian National Orchestra, conducted by Carlo Ponti DISC SEVEN: Io Sì by Laura Pausini DISC EIGHT: Caruso by Lucio Dalla BOOK CHOICE: Letters from a Young Father by Edoardo Ponti LUXURY ITEM: A pizza oven CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Caruso by Lucio Dalla Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Malala Yousafzai is an activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize when she was 17 - becoming the youngest winner in its history. Today she is known globally for her human rights advocacy and her ongoing campaign to ensure all children have equal access to education.She was born in the Swat Valley in northern Pakistan where her father Ziauddin was a prominent activist who believed boys and girls should sit side by side in the classroom and co-founded a school which Malala attended. After the Taliban began to establish its presence in the Valley, day-to-day life became synonymous with danger and fear – people were taken from their homes and killed for speaking out against the regime. Education for girls was forbidden and schools were shut down or bombed.In 2009 Malala began writing an anonymous blog for BBC Urdu in which she spoke out about what was happening in Swat Valley. This made her a target. In 2012 she was shot by a Taliban gunman as she sat on the school bus. Two girls sitting alongside her were also shot. What Malala calls ‘the incident’ generated headlines around the world. Her injuries were severe and she was airlifted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. After a long and painful recovery she settled in Birmingham with her family.Now 23, Malala graduated from the University of Oxford last year and continues to campaign globally for girls’ education through the Malala Fund which she co-founded with her father. DISC ONE: Rang by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan & Amjad Sabri DISC TWO: Shinwari Lawangeena by Zarsanga DISC THREE: Never Say Never by Justin Bieber DISC FOUR: Hum Dekhen Ge by Iqbal Bano DISC FIVE: All I Ask of You by Sarah Brightman and Steve Barton DISC SIX: Kaari Kaari by Qurat Ul Ain Balouch DISC SEVEN: Love Always Comes as a Surprise by Peter Asher DISC EIGHT: Bibi Sherina by Sardar Ali Takkar BOOK CHOICE: Plato: Complete Works LUXURY ITEM: Lip balm CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Hum Dekhen Ge by Iqbal Bano Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

George McGavin is an entomologist, explorer and broadcaster, who has spread the word about the importance of insects to audiences in their millions. Born in Glasgow, he grew up in Edinburgh where he studied zoology at university. Following a PhD in entomology, he went on to teach and research at the University of Oxford. He gave up his post as the assistant curator of the university’s Museum of Natural History after 25 years to follow his dream of becoming a television presenter. He has presented documentaries from far-flung locations including Borneo, Guyana and New Guinea. He has made it his life’s work to uncover the mysteries of the largely uncatalogued world of invertebrates which he says makes up close to 80% of life on earth.In 2018 he was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer and the following year he turned the camera on himself to present a very personal programme about his diagnosis and treatment.DISC ONE: Love Reign O’er Me by The Who DISC TWO: The Dark Island by The Pipes and Drums of The Black Watch DISC THREE: Cello Concerto in E minor Op. 85, composed by Edward Elgar, performed by Jacqueline du Pré and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli DISC FOUR: Night Lament by Kate Rusby DISC FIVE: To Begin at the Beginning read by Richard Burton, from Under Milk Wood DISC SIX: Keep Talking by Pink Floyd DISC SEVEN: Sola, Perduta, Abbandonata by Maria Callas and Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Tullio Serafin DISC EIGHT: The Bog by Einojuhani Rautavaara BOOK CHOICE: A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor LUXURY ITEM: Hot sauce CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Cello Concerto in E minor Op. 85, performed by Jacqueline du Pré and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Monica Galetti is a chef, restaurateur and cook book writer, who is also known as a judge on the television series MasterChef: the Professionals.Born on the island of Upolu in Western Samoa, she grew up on the family plantation where her earliest food memories are of collecting eggs and mangoes and peeling bananas for special suppers. When she was eight she moved to New Zealand where her mother and stepfather had emigrated a couple of years earlier.After studying hospitality management and enjoying success in numerous cooking competitions, she travelled around Europe before settling in London where she found work as a commis chef at the Roux family’s restaurant, Le Gavroche. Under the watchful eye of Michel Roux Jr, she rose through the ranks to become Le Gavroche’s first female sous chef.She opened her own restaurant in 2017 where she works alongside her husband David who is head sommelier and co-owner. DISC ONE: Three Little Birds by Bob Marley And The Wailers DISC TWO: Samoa Matalasi (My Beautiful Samoa) by The Five Stars DISC THREE: You Oughta Be in Love by Dave Dobbyn (ft. Ardijah) DISC FOUR: Hotel California by The Eagles DISC FIVE: La Vie en Rose by Louis Armstrong DISC SIX: My Girl by The Temptations DISC SEVEN: Purple Rain by Prince DISC EIGHT: Feeling Good by Nina SimoneBOOK CHOICE: The complete Works of Oscar Wilde LUXURY ITEM: Scuba diving gear CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Three Little Birds by Bob Marley And The Wailers Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Major Tim Peake, is an Army Air Corps officer and a European Space Agency astronaut. He was the first British astronaut to carry out a spacewalk. As a child, he became interested in aviation, visiting air shows with his father and learning to fly as a teenager, although space travel was not yet a passion. He joined the school Cadet Corps and found he was in his element. From there he progressed to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and then into the Army Air Corps in 1992. His military career included service in Northern Ireland and the former Yugoslavia, and he spent several years based in Germany where he met his wife Rebecca. He qualified as a helicopter pilot in 1992, and later became a helicopter instructor. He spent time in the USA, learning to fly the Apache attack helicopter, before becoming a test pilot in 2005.In 2008, he answered an advert from the European Space Agency looking for astronauts. The following year he became one of six successful candidates, chosen from more than 8000 hopefuls. Years of training followed, involving anything from basic dentistry to underwater 'spacewalking', and in December 2015 he headed to the International Space Station for six months.After his return, Tim moved back to the UK to work with industry and engage in outreach work while he awaits his next space mission. He lives in Hampshire with his wife and two sons.DISC ONE: Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen DISC TWO: It Must Be Love by Madness DISC THREE: Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks DISC FOUR: Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra DISC FIVE: Word Up! By Gun DISC SIX: I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith DISC SEVEN: Glycerine by Bush DISC EIGHT: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Monty PythonBOOK CHOICE: An atlas LUXURY ITEM: A telescope CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing by Aerosmith Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Samantha Power was the USA's youngest ever ambassador to the UN, during President Barack Obama’s second term, and is a writer and academic. She has just been invited to join president-elect Joe Biden's administration. Samantha was born in London but grew up in Ireland. At the age of nine, she moved to the US with her mother and younger brother following the breakdown of her parents’ marriage. Her first ambition was to be a sports broadcaster, but watching live footage of events in Tiananmen Square in 1989 led her to change course and she became a war correspondent instead, reporting on the conflict in Bosnia in the early 1990s. After returning to the US, she wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning book in which she examined what she saw as America’s repeated reluctance to confront genocide in the 20th century.In 2013 she was appointed ambassador to the UN. She stepped down in 2017 and became professor of global leadership, public policy and human rights at Harvard. Shortly after this edition of Desert Island Discs was recorded, she accepted the role of Administrator of the US Agency for International Development. DISC ONE: Dancing Queen by ABBA DISC TWO: Morning Has Broken by Cat Stevens DISC THREE: Thousands Are Sailing by The Pogues DISC FOUR: Crazy by Seal DISC FIVE: Boots of Spanish Leather by Mandolin Orange DISC SIX: Why? (The King of Love is Dead) by Nina Simone DISC SEVEN: Tonight Will Be Fine by Teddy Thompson DISC EIGHT: A Million Years by Alexander BOOK CHOICE: A guitar LUXURY ITEM: The Irish Times Book of Favourite Irish Poems by Colm Tóibín CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Tonight Will Be Fine by Teddy Thompson Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

David Olusoga is a historian, writer and broadcaster who has presented a range of programmes including the BBC’s A House Through Time and Civilisations. He is currently professor of public history at Manchester University.Born in Lagos, the second child to a Nigerian father and a British mother, David was brought up by his mother in Gateshead after his parents’ marriage broke down. As a child he and his siblings experienced sustained racism and he remembers school as a place of violence and cruelty. He credits his mother’s tenacity and her determination to educate her children for his later success in getting to university and establishing a career in television. His love of history developed from a young age, thanks to one of his teachers who taught him why an understanding of history matters. Watching television documentaries also opened up a world of possibility and David fondly recalls programmes from the 1980s presented by the historian Michael Wood, who made history seem cool in the eyes of the young schoolboy glued to the TV in his Gateshead council house.Last year David delivered the MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival in which he talked candidly about his loneliness at being the only black person on a production team and the difficulties he had trying to explain the racial implications of how, for example, people in Africa were often portrayed on screen. DISC ONE: Zombie by Fela Kuti DISC TWO: Roll on Buddy by Aunt Molly Jackson DISC THREE: Black Mountain Blues by Bessie Smith DISC FOUR: Just The Other Day by Dr Alimantado DISC FIVE: Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground by Blind Willie Johnson DISC SIX: Last Kind Words by Geeshie Wiley DISC SEVEN: You Can't Blame The Youth (Live At The Record Plant '73) by Bob Marley & The Wailers DISC EIGHT: Precious Lord, Take My Hand / You’ve Got a Friend by Aretha Franklin BOOK CHOICE: The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell: An Age Like This, 1920-40 LUXURY ITEM: Acoustic guitar CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground by Blind Willie JohnsonPresenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley