Simon Woolley, Lord Woolley of Woodford, is principal of Homerton College at Cambridge University. He is the first black man to head an Oxbridge college.  He is a co-founder of Operation Black Vote, which campaigns for greater inclusivity in politics, and became a crossbench peer in 2019.   Simon spent his early years in an orphanage in Leicester before being fostered and then adopted by a white couple who also adopted his brother Mick.  He left school at 16 to work as a car mechanic and then moved to London where he embarked on a successful career in sales.  In 1988 he completed a one year access course which provided the pathway to university and a degree in English and Spanish.   In 1996 Simon was one of the co-founders of Operation Black Vote, a non-partisan organisation which encourages voter registration and community engagement, aiming to give a voice to all sections of society. He was awarded a knighthood for services to race equality in 2019 and took up his current role as principal of Homerton College in 2021.  DISC ONE: I Want You Back - The Jackson 5  
DISC TWO: Green Green Grass of Home - Tom Jones 
DISC THREE: Manhattan - Ella Fitzgerald
DISC FOUR: Titanium (Morten Future Rave Mix) - David Guetta (feat Sia)  
DISC FIVE: Hagamos Lo Que Diga El Corazón - Grupo Niche
DISC SIX: Dreamland – Composed and performed by Alexis Ffrench and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by James Morgan
DISC SEVEN: Cowboy bebop tank! - Niyari 
DISC EIGHT: For Once in My Life - Stevie Wonder  
   
BOOK CHOICE: Football in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano
LUXURY ITEM: A razor blade  
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: For Once in My Life - Stevie Wonder     Presenter  Lauren Laverne
Producer  Paula McGinley

Simon Woolley, crossbench peer

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

Personal Journals

Society & Culture

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Tim Spector is Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Head of the Department of Twin Research at King’s College London.   He was one of the co-founders of the ZOE Covid Symptom study, which for which he was awarded an OBE. He has also written best-selling books about the relationship between what we eat and our health and well-being.     Tim was born in London in 1958 into a medical family.  His mother was a physiotherapist and his father was an eminent pathologist, although Tim initially resisted his father’s encouragement to follow him into medicine.  Once qualified, Tim specialised in rheumatology before switching to epidemiology.  In 1992, he set up a large-scale research study of twins which now has more than 15,000 identical and non-identical twins taking part. After a health scare in 2011, Tim became more interested in how we can influence the microbes in our gut to help us stay well. He has published several books on the science of eating well and is a pioneer in personalised food nutrition. Tim lives in London with his wife, who is also a doctor.   DISC ONE: Life on Mars - David Bowie 
DISC TWO: Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 / Act 1 - 13. Dance Of The Knights Composed by Sergei Prokofiev and performed by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy
DISC THREE: Paint it, Black - The Rolling Stones
DISC FOUR: Dreams - Fleetwood Mac 
DISC FIVE: Puttin’ on the Ritz - Gene Wilder playing Dr Frankenstein, Peter Boyle as The Monster and Norbert Schiller as the announcer. Music conducted by John Morris from Young Frankenstein (Original Soundtrack) 
DISC SIX: All of Me (live) - Louis Armstrong 
DISC SEVEN: That’s Entertainment - The Jam 
DISC EIGHT: In the Ghetto - Elvis Presley  BOOK CHOICE:  A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
LUXURY ITEM: A fermenting set
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: All of Me (live) - Louis Armstrong 
 
Presenter  Lauren Laverne
Producer   Sarah Taylor

Professor Tim Spector, scientist

Professor Alice Roberts is one of the most popular science communicators in Britain today. As the presenter of the BBC archaeology programme Digging for Britain, she reveals the underground mysteries of our collective past to millions of viewers.   Alice was born in Bristol and developed an interest in science from an early age – examining insects under her microscope in order to draw them and digging up bits of pottery in her parents’ vegetable patch. At the age of eight she was entranced as she watched a live feed which showed researchers at Bristol University unwrapping an Egyptian Mummy.    Alice studied medicine in Cardiff and worked as a house officer doing paediatric surgery and then taught anatomy to students at Bristol University. She followed this up with a PhD in paleopathology, the study of disease in old bones, which led to her first television appearance as a bone expert on the Channel 4 series Time Team.  Alice has written several books that explore human evolution and history and in 2012 she was appointed the first Professor of Public Engagement in Science at the University of Birmingham.   DISC ONE: Monkey Gone to Heaven - Pixies
DISC TWO: Temple of Love - Sisters of Mercy 
DISC THREE: Apotheosis - Austin Wintory 
DISC FOUR: Cherub Rock (2011 Remaster) - The Smashing Pumpkins   
DISC FIVE: Times Like These (BBC Radio 1 Stay Home Live Lounge) - Live Lounge Allstars
DISC SIX: Sugar - System Of A Down  
DISC SEVEN: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. Composed by Ryuichi Sakomoto and performed by Phoebe Stevens
DISC EIGHT: Coins for the Eyes - Johnny Flynn & Robert Macfarlane  BOOK CHOICE: Middlemarch by George Eliot
LUXURY ITEM: A kayak       
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. Composed by Ryuichi Sakomoto and performed by Phoebe Stevens Presenter  Lauren Laverne
Producer  Paula McGinley

Professor Alice Roberts, scientist and broadcaster

Jenny Sealey has been the artistic director of Graeae Theatre Company since 1997: Graeae is a deaf and disabled-led company and a leader and innovator in accessible theatre. Jenny has directed opera as well as plays, and was the co-director of the 2012 Paralympic opening ceremony.  Jenny was born in Nottingham in 1963, the eldest of four sisters. She lost her hearing at the age of seven following a fall at school in which she banged her head. At that time, deaf children were not encouraged to use British Sign Language, and so she taught herself to lip read, and stayed in a mainstream school, although she often found it challenging. She also continued to take ballet lessons, helped by an inspirational teacher who encouraged her to follow the form and movements of the dancer in front of her. She went on to study dance and choreography at Middlesex Polytechnic. After graduation, Jenny worked as an actor before becoming the artistic director of Graeae. In 2022 she was awarded an OBE for services to disability arts. Most recently she returned to acting and toured the UK with Self Raising, her one-woman autobiographical play.  Jenny lives in London with her son and partner.  DISC ONE: Handel: Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 2: No. 44, Chorus. Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth. Composed by George Frideric Handel and performed by The Sixteen Choir, conducted by Harry Christophers 
DISC TWO: Yesterday - The Beatles       
DISC THREE: Teenage Kicks - The Undertones   
DISC FOUR: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack   
DISC FIVE: Because The Night - Patti Smith Group  
DISC SIX: Spasticus Autisticus – John Kelly and the cast of Reasons to be Cheerful 
DISC SEVEN: If It Can't Be Right Then It Must Be Wrong – John Kelly and the cast of Graeae’s stage production of Reasons To Be Cheerful   
DISC EIGHT: Days – Kirsty MacColl BOOK CHOICE: The Complete Works of Armistead Maupin 
LUXURY ITEM: A photography kit      
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Handel: Messiah, HWV 56, Pt. 2: No. 44, Chorus. Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth. Composed by George Frideric Handel and performed by The Sixteen Choir, conducted by Harry Christophers 
 
Presenter  Lauren Laverne
Producer   Sarah Taylor

Jenny Sealey, theatre director

James Graham is an award-winning dramatist whose plays include This House, Ink and Dear England starring Joseph Fiennes as the England football manager Gareth Southgate. His acclaimed television productions include Sherwood and Quiz, based on the story of the so-called coughing Major Charles Ingram who was found guilty of cheating on the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?  James was born in Kirkby-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire in 1982. He was a shy boy who was encouraged to perform in school plays by his teachers. He went on to study drama at Hull University where he wrote his first play Coal Not Dole! He took the play to the Edinburgh fringe and the reception it received from audiences encouraged him to carry on writing. After graduating he worked as a stage doorkeeper at the Theatre Royal in Nottingham where one of his personal highlights was looking after Danny La Rue, the star of the Christmas panto. His first London premiere came in 2005 at the Finborough Theatre in London with Albert’s Boy, which explored the arguments for and against nuclear weapons.   In 2020 James was awarded an OBE for services to drama and young people in British theatre.   DISC ONE: Disco 2000 - Pulp   
DISC TWO: Chatanooga Choo Choo - Glenn Miller 
DISC THREE: Up In Arms - Foo Fighters 
DISC FOUR: Syncopes - Gabriel Yared
DISC FIVE: Your Disco Needs You - Kylie Minogue  
DISC SIX: Where Are We Now? - David Bowie 
DISC SEVEN: If You Came To See Me Cry - Katie Brayben (from Tammy Faye: The Musical)  
DISC EIGHT: Going To A Town - Rufus Wainwright   BOOK CHOICE: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
LUXURY ITEM: A keg of Single Malt Scotch Whisky
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Where Are We Now? - David Bowie
 
Presenter  Lauren Laverne
Producer  Paula McGinley

James Graham, playwright

The Honourable Lady Rita Rae is a lawyer and judge, and the current Rector of the University of Glasgow. Early in her career she was a rare woman in the heavily male-dominated legal world. She went on to work on many high profile criminal cases over five decades as a solicitor, an advocate and subsequently a judge in Scotland’s Supreme Court. Rita grew up in Plains, Airdrie, to the east of Glasgow. She was a shy child but earned the nickname ‘The Last Word’ from her parents because of her need to argue her case when she felt something wasn’t right. She was inspired to become a lawyer by her maternal grandfather, a noted advocate and anti-fascist from Naples. Her parents met in a munitions factory in Italy where her mother was working. Her father was a Scottish bomb disposal expert helping to dismantle munitions after the war. They married and moved to Scotland, but Rita and her brother were not accepted by her Scottish family because of their Catholicism.  Rita became a solicitor in 1974, entering a world dominated by men. When told by a senior colleague that women were ‘emotionally unsuitable for court work’, she set about proving him wrong. She became a partner in her firm at the age of 27, and was called to the bar in 1982, one of just 13 female advocates in Scotland at the time. She was made a Sheriff in 1997 and a Judge of the Supreme Courts in 2014. In 2021 she was elected Rector of the University of Glasgow, the first female working rector in the university’s 570-year history. DISC ONE: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18 - III. Allegro scherzando. Composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff, performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano) and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by André Previn 
DISC TWO: “Ah! Dite alla giovine” from Act 2 of La Traviata. Composed by Giuseppe Verdi, performed by Angela Gheorghiu (soprano), Leo Nucci (baritone) and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Sir Georg Solti
DISC THREE: Mamma - Beniamino Gigli   
DISC FOUR: Aranjuez mon amour - Massimo Ranieri    
DISC FIVE: Cheap Flights  - Fascinating Aïda
DISC SIX: “The Flower Song” (“La fleur que tu m’avais jetee”), Carmen, Act II. Composed by Georges Bizet, performed by José Carreras (tenor) and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Jacques Delacôte
DISC SEVEN: Ave Maria. Composed by Giulio Caccini (Arr. Brinums) and performed by Inessa Galante (Soprano), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Aleksandrs Vilumanis  
DISC EIGHT: Climb Ev’ry Mountain - Peggy Wood BOOK CHOICE: The Pursuit of Italy: A History of a Land, its Regions and their Peoples by David Gilmour 
LUXURY ITEM: A solar powered car      
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Mamma - Beniamino Gigli    Presenter  Lauren Laverne
Producers   Paula McGinley and Tim Bano

Simon Woolley, crossbench peer

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