Desert Island Discs

Jens Stoltenberg is the Secretary General of NATO and a former Prime Minister of Norway. Although he was born into a political family in Norway, he grew up thinking he would become a statistician, before turning to a career in politics. He served as the Prime Minister of Norway twice. During his second term, Norway experienced one of the darkest days in its recent history, when 77 people were murdered in a bomb attack in Oslo and a mass shooting on a nearby island.Before becoming the Secretary General of NATO, a post he has held since 2014, he spent time as a UN Special Envoy on climate change. His term in office as Secretary-General has been extended until September 2022. DISC ONE: Lift Me by Madrugada and Ane Brun DISC TWO: No Harm by Smerz DISC THREE: So Long, Marianne by Leonard Cohen DISC FOUR: Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen DISC FIVE: Make You Feel My Love by Ane Brun DISC SIX: Til Ungdommen by Ingebjørg Bratland DISC SEVEN: Free Nelson Mandela by The Special A.K.A. DISC EIGHT: From Up Here by Ingrid OlavaBOOK CHOICE: A statistics textbook LUXURY ITEM: A pair of skis CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Til Ungdommen by Ingebjørg Bratland Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah TaylorPhoto credit: NATO

Helen Fielding, writer and journalist, is best known for creating Bridget Jones, who first appeared in a newspaper column in the Independent in 1995, in the form of a diary detailing the single 30-something’s exploits in London as she tried to make sense of life and love. The column soon acquired a wider following, and Helen turned Bridget’s story into a best-selling book the following year.Born in 1958, Helen grew up in Yorkshire with an older sister and two younger brothers. Her father was a manager at the textile mill next door to where they lived. She read English at Oxford where she became friends with Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson. After graduating, she became a BBC trainee, travelling to Africa for Comic Relief. She later made documentaries for Thames TV before moving into print journalism.To date, Helen has written four Bridget Jones novels, three of which have been turned into feature films starring Renée Zellweger. She spent a decade in Los Angeles at the start of the new millennium and had two children with Kevin Curran, who was a scriptwriter for The Simpsons. She now lives in London.DISC ONE: Fly Me to the Moon by Julie London DISC TWO: The Windmills of Your Mind by Noel Harrison DISC THREE: It Must Be Love by Madness DISC FOUR: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, Op. 30, composed by Sergei Rachmaninov, conducted by Valery Gergiev and performed by Denis Matsuev (piano) and Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra DISC FIVE: La Isla Bonita by Madonna DISC SIX: I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor DISC SEVEN: I’ve Got the World on a String by Frank Sinatra DISC EIGHT: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered by Stan Getz & The Oscar Peterson Trio BOOK CHOICE: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen LUXURY ITEM: A magical tree CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: It Must Be Love by MadnessPresenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Cathy Drysdale

Helen McCrory shares the eight tracks, book and luxury she would want to take with her if cast away to a desert island. Helen McCrory OBE is one of the most versatile and critically acclaimed actresses working today. On screen she has played Anna Karenina, Cherie Blair (twice), Harry Potter's Narcissa Malfoy and the Peaky Blinders matriarch Aunt Polly. Her theatre roles range from Yelena in Uncle Vanya to Euripides' Medea. A diplomat's daughter, she spent her early childhood in Africa before continuing her education in the UK. After a bruising and unsuccessful audition at the Drama Centre in London - she was instructed to find out more about life before learning to act - she travelled to Italy where she discovered art and love and came back to try again. This time she passed the audition. In 1993 she made her mark in Richard Eyre's production of Trelawny of the Wells at the National Theatre and went on to perform leading roles on some of London's most prestigious stages, winning two Olivier Award nominations. She was awarded an OBE for services to drama in 2017.She met her husband, fellow actor Damian Lewis, when they both starred in a play called Five Gold Rings. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic Helen and Damian, together with the comedian Matt Lucas, co-founded the Feed NHS campaign which raises money to provide hot meals to frontline NHS workers. Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Racehorse trainer Mark Johnston is a lynchpin of British flat racing. In August 2018 - when 20-1 shot Poet's Society, ridden by Frankie Dettori, streaked to victory at York - Mark became the most prolific winning trainer in British racing history, saddling 4,194 winners. Based in a 300-acre training yard in Yorkshire, he has never trained fewer than 100 winners each season for the last 26 years including champions such as Attraction, Mister Baileys, Double Trigger and Shamardal.Mark grew up on a council estate in East Kilbride and learned to ride when he was a child. His father was a horse lover who enjoyed a flutter and took the young Mark to the bookies when he placed his bets - although Mark was too young to go inside. As a 14-year-old Mark raced whippets and later studied veterinary medicine at Glasgow University but his dream was always to become a racehorse trainer.In 1986, together with his wife and business partner Deirdre, Mark bought his first yard. He had no money or connections in the racing world and had three-and-a-half paying horses rather than the 12 he needed under the terms of his trainer's licence. In these early days, the horses trained on a nearby beach that doubled up as an MOD bombing range. Johnston horses are known for their front-running style - he believes races aren't won by horses accelerating and passing the other runners, but when the horses in front slow down. He says: "I tell my jockeys to bowl along at the speed the horse is happiest."DISC ONE: Get Down and Get With It by Slade DISC TWO: Pencil Full of Lead by Paolo Nutini DISC THREE: You May Be Right by Billy Joel DISC FOUR: You're Still The One by Deirdre and Angus Johnston DISC FIVE: Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits DISC SIX: I Knew the Bride Dave Edmunds DISC SEVEN: Not Ready to Make Nice by Dixie Chicks DISC EIGHT: Don't Stop by Fleetwood Mac BOOK CHOICE: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas LUXURY ITEM: A pair of binoculars CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Don't Stop by Fleetwood MacPresenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Joe Wicks, professionally known as The Body Coach, is a fitness and nutrition coach. Since the lockdown, he has been running daily free virtual PE lessons for children and adults stuck at home. In March he became a Guinness World Record holder after his second PE with Joe class was watched by 955,158 people around the world, a record number of viewers for a live streamed YouTube workout. Getting children to be more active has been a long-held ambition and in 2019 he went on a tour of fifteen schools around the UK delivering High Intensity Interval Training workouts as part of his mission to get school children working out for 15 minutes a day.Born in 1985, Joe’s mother was nineteen when she gave birth to him while his father was in and out of his life with a heroin addiction. He was a hyperactive child whose salvation at school was channelling his excess energy into PE lessons.With a Sports Science degree under his belt, he briefly became a teaching assistant himself, but found it wasn’t for him and set himself up as a personal trainer instead, preaching the importance of combining training with the right nutrition. With the advent of the video function on Instagram, he started posting free 15-second recipes using the name The Body Coach, building up a following of first hundreds, then thousands and eventually millions.His phenomenally successful business began when he created a commercial 90-day plan with workouts and meals. He published Lean in 15 in 2015 which became the bestselling non-fiction book of the year, and he has since written eight further cook books.He married his wife, Rosie, in 2019 and the couple have two children, Indie and Marley.DISC ONE: Shotgun by George Ezra DISC TWO: Bright Side of the Road by Van Morrison DISC THREE: Three Little Birds by Bob Marley And The Wailers DISC FOUR: When You Were Young by The Killers DISC FIVE: Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen DISC SIX: River by Leon Bridges DISC SEVEN: Nothing Can Change This Love by Sam Cooke DISC EIGHT: You’re Welcome by Dwayne Johnson BOOK CHOICE: Lord of the Flies by William Golding LUXURY ITEM: An acoustic guitar CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: River by Leon BridgesPresenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Cathy Drysdale

Martin Lewis is a financial journalist, campaigner and broadcaster. His high-profile campaigns on bank charges, student finance, and mental health and debt have made headlines, and millions of people subscribe to his weekly money tips email. He founded the Money Saving Expert website in 2003 with just £100 and sold it less than a decade later for £87 million, although he calls himself an 'accidental entrepreneur'. He has since supported numerous groups and causes through charitable donations, most recently setting up a Coronavirus Poverty Emergency Fund to help small local charities. He has also campaigned for financial help and guidance for self-employed people who are unable to work during the current pandemic. Martin grew up in Cheshire and studied at the London School of Economics. After a brief spell working in financial PR, he took a postgraduate course in broadcast journalism with the aim of becoming a commentator on money matters, and he initially worked as a producer and presenter on radio and TV, DISC ONE: Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin DISC TWO: Stand and Deliver by Adam And The Ants DISC THREE: Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off by Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald DISC FOUR: The Circle Game by Joni Mitchell DISC FIVE: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones DISC SIX: The Blue Danube, composed by Johann Strauss II, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent and performed by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra DISC SEVEN: I Fought the Lloyds by Oystar DISC EIGHT: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons BOOK CHOICE: A Game of Thrones: The Story Continues: The complete boxset of all 7 books (A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin LUXURY ITEM: Solar powered electric carving knife CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky MartinPresenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Elizabeth Anionwu is a retired nurse, campaigner and Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London. A fellow of the Royal College of Nursing, she spent 40 years in the profession and has been named one of the most influential nurses in the history of the NHS. Her career was distinguished by her pioneering work in the understanding of sickle cell disease - bringing better treatment and support to the thousands living with it. She was the first sickle cell and thalassaemia nurse counsellor in the UK.Her decades of dedication, care and service are a contrast to her own disrupted childhood as a mixed race child born out of wedlock in the 1940s, though it was the kindness of a nurse when she was just five that sparked a nascent interest in what would become her life’s work. After leaving school at 16, with seven O-levels, Elizabeth was made a Professor of Nursing in 1998.She left her day job behind in 2007, but as she puts it “it has not turned out to be a quiet retirement”. She spent nine years fundraising and campaigning for a statue to British-Jamaican nurse Mary Seacole. Unveiled in 2016 in the grounds of St Thomas’ Hospital, London, the statue is the first in the UK to represent a named black woman. Elizabeth received the DBE in 2017 for services to nursing and the Mary Seacole Statue Appeal.DISC ONE: Faith’s Song by Amy Wadge DISC TWO: The Rakes of Mallow, Girl I Left Behind by The Gallowglass Ceili Band DISC THREE: Manman by Leyla McCalla DISC FOUR: A Te,O Cara by Andrea Bocelli DISC FIVE: Missa Bilban by The Jamaican Folk Singers DISC SIX: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free by Nina Simone DISC SEVEN: Nnekata by Flavour N'abania DISC EIGHT: My Girl by Otis Redding BOOK CHOICE: Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama LUXURY ITEM: A trampoline CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free by Nina Simone Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Cathy Drysdale

Charles Hazlewood is a conductor and the founder of Paraorchestra, the world's first professional ensemble of disabled musicians. Once described as the Heston Blumenthal of orchestral music, Charles has spent his career challenging Britain’s musical palate, exploding boundaries and expanding our ideas about what an orchestra can be - and do. His repertoire encompasses Beethoven, Bruckner and Barry White, and his critically-acclaimed projects include more than 100 world premieres and the first orchestral headline performance at Glastonbury. Paraorchestra, the ensemble he established in 2011, reached a global audience at the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Paralympics. He also co-founded an opera company in South Africa, and its production of Carmen, with a mainly black cast, won international acclaim. He studied music at Keble College, Oxford and was the Organ Scholar there. He won the EBU conductor's competition in 1995 and has had an international career as a conductor. DISC ONE: Somebody’s Gonna Off The Man by Barry White & The Love Unlimited Orchestra DISC TWO: A Rainbow in Curved Air by Terry Riley DISC THREE: Ach, ich fühls, composed by Mozart, conducted by Otto Klemperer and performed by Gundula Janowitz and Philharmonia Orchestra DISC FOUR: R. Strauss: 4 Lieder, Op. 27 - 4. Morgen! by Richard Strauss, conducted by Kurt Masur, performed by Jessye Norman and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra DISC FIVE: Improvisation by Olivier Latry DISC SIX: Kraftwerk-Rewerk, composed by Charlotte Harding and Lloyd Coleman, conducted by Charles Hazlewood DISC SEVEN: Ndisakuthanda Mna, composed by Georges Bizet, performed by Pauline Malefane, Andile Tshoni and Dimpho Di Kopane, conducted by Charles Hazlewood DISC EIGHT: The Last Time/Ultima Vez by Pauline Oliveros BOOK CHOICE: A book of poetry by Ivor Cutler LUXURY ITEM: An espresso machine CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Ach, ich fühls, composed by Mozart, conducted by Otto Klemperer and performed by Gundula Janowitz and Philharmonia Orchestra Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Sinead Burke is a disability rights activist and teacher. She has combined her love of education and style to campaign for more representation of diversity in the fashion industry. Born in Dublin, Sinead has achondroplasia – a genetic condition which causes restricted growth – and is 3’ 5” tall. She refers to herself as a “little person” and knew she wanted to be a teacher after her first day at school. She has used the classroom environment to discuss openly with her pupils the issues surrounding disability. She believes openness and kindness are the ways forward to develop understanding and respect.As a child she collected the September issues of Vogue and later on started writing a blog in which she held the fashion industry to account about diversity and representation. She continues to work towards greater inclusivity in fashion and her mission is to encourage people from diverse backgrounds to realise the industry is open to them whether as editors, designers or models. Last year she was selected as one of 15 trailblazing women to appear on the cover of the September issue of British Vogue. In 2018 Sinead spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos – the only Irish female delegate. She has taken her message to the White House at the invitation of the Obamas and was appointed to Ireland’s Council of State to advise the president about disability rights.DISC ONE: Like A Girl by Lizzo DISC TWO: Awoo by Sofi Tukker, feat. Betta Lemme DISC THREE: Small Town Boy by Bronski Beat DISC FOUR: You Should See Me in a Crown by Billie Eilish DISC FIVE: I Put a Spell on You by Nina Simone DISC SIX: The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel DISC SEVEN: Vogue by Madonna DISC EIGHT: Samhradh Samhradh by The Gloaming BOOK CHOICE: Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde LUXURY ITEM: A necklace CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Like A Girl by Lizzo Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Simon Armitage was appointed Poet Laureate in 2019. His poems celebrate the everyday and the ordinary with wit and affection. But beyond the wood chip and washing lines he addresses the complexities and the profound feelings that underpin daily life. Born in Huddersfield, Simon Armitage grew up in the village of Marsden in West Yorkshire. Marsden has informed and inspired much of his work and as a boy he would look out of his bedroom window at night to watch the comings and goings of village life. He vividly remembers as a teenager discovering the work of fellow laureate Ted Hughes, recalling an almost electrical surge of excitement when he realised the power of words on a page. Hughes grew up in the next valley and Simon admits to thinking "If Ted Hughes can do it why can't I?" He worked as a probation officer in Manchester for several years, writing poetry in the evenings and at weekends. His first collection Zoom! was published in 1989 and a few years later he left the probation service to write full time. Prolific and popular, he was named the Millennium poet and in 2015 was appointed Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford. Three years later he was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.Today he lives not far from Marsden where, when he's not writing poems, plays and novels, he still looks out of his window and daydreams.DISC ONE: Moonage Daydream by David Bowie DISC TWO: The Lamb by William Blake, composed by John Tavener, conducted by Andrew Nethsingha and performed by The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge DISC THREE: You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two by Jonathan Pryce and the 1994 London Palladium Cast Of Oliver! DISC FOUR: Icecrust and Snowflake by Ted Hughes DISC FIVE: Atmosphere by Joy Division DISC SIX: Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go? by Soft Cell DISC SEVEN: Holmfirth Anthem by Jon Rennard DISC EIGHT: My Heart’s in the Highlands by Else Torpe and Christopher Bowers-Broadbent BOOK CHOICE: The Oxford English Dictionary LUXURY ITEM: A tennis ball CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Moonage Daydream by David Bowie Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley