Professor Carl Jones is a conservation biologist who is best known for saving the Mauritius kestrel from extinction. He is the scientific director of Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, chief scientist at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and an honorary professor in ecology and conservation biology at the University of East Anglia.He was born in Carmarthen in Wales and was fascinated with animals from an early age, rearing rescued common kestrels, owls and hawks in his back garden. He studied biology at North-East London Polytechnic and, after learning about the plight of the Mauritius kestrel, he was determined to go out to the country to try to save the bird.He arrived in Mauritius in 1979 when there were only two known breeding pairs left in the wild. By the time he left in 1999 he’d established a captive breeding programme and today hundreds of Mauritius kestrels fly over the islands where he spent decades pioneering his, sometimes controversial, methods. Today the Mauritius kestrel is the national bird. He is also responsible for saving from extinction three species of reptiles, a fruit bat and several plants.He was appointed an MBE for his work in 2004 and in 2016 he won the prestigious Indianapolis Prize – the world’s leading award for animal conservation.Carl lives in Carmarthen with his wife and two children and assorted animals including two Andean condors called Carlos and Baby. DISC ONE: Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf Opus 67 - The London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
DISC TWO: Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas. Narrated by Richard Burton and performed by Meredith Edwards, Gwenllian Owen and Gwenyth Petty
DISC THREE: Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll - Ian Dury
DISC FOUR: La Rivière Noire - John Kenneth Nelson
DISC FIVE: Asimbonanga - Johnny Clegg & Savuka
DISC SIX: Sega lakordeon – Rene oule bwar mwa - La Troupe de l’Union
DISC SEVEN: Londonderry Air - Beatrice Harrison
DISC EIGHT: Clear Sky - Catrin FinchBOOK CHOICE: The Collected Works of Dylan Thomas
LUXURY ITEM: Binoculars
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Asimbonanga - Johnny Clegg & Savuka Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley
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52:52
Cyndi Lauper, singer-songwriter
Cyndi Lauper is a multi-award winning singer and songwriter. She has sold more than fifty million records, won an Emmy for acting and her musical Kinky Boots earned her a Tony and an Oliver award. Born in 1953, Cyndi grew up in a blue collar neighbourhood in New York. Her mother loved music and art and took her children to free exhibitions in New York which inspired Cyndi. As a very young girl, Cyndi listened to her mother’s extensive record collection and mimicked the voices she heard from musicals and operas.After a difficult family home life due to her mother’s turbulent marriages, Cyndi found solace in music and began writing songs when she was ten. She left home at seventeen determined to make it in the music industry. She started out as a singer in bands, whilst supporting herself doing a series of jobs. Early in her career, she lost her voice for almost a year after trying to make herself heard over amps which were too loud. Success eventually came when she released her debut solo album She’s So Unusual in 1983 – the first album by a female artist to spawn four consecutive US Top 5 singles.Cyndi lives in New York with her husband, David who is an actor. They met on a set of a film and rock legend Little Richard officiated their wedding.DISC ONE: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. Composed by Claude Debussy and performed by The Orchestre National de Lyon
DISC TWO: All That Meat and No Potatoes - Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars
DISC THREE: Puccini, “Un bel di, vedremo” (“One fine day, we shall see”) from Act II of Madame Butterfly. Performed by Maria Callas with Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, conducted by Herbert von Karajan
DISC FOUR: Getting to Know You - Marni Nixon
DISC FIVE: I Want Hold Your Hand - The Beatles
DISC SIX: A Sailboat in the Moonlight - Billie Holiday And Her Orchestra
DISC SEVEN: One Way or Another - Blondie
DISC EIGHT: Hound Dog - Big Mama ThorntonBOOK CHOICE: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
LUXURY ITEM: A luxury hotel
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Puccini, “Un bel di, vedremo” (“One fine day, we shall see”) from Act II of Madame Butterfly. Performed by Maria Callas with Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, conducted by Herbert von KarajanPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor
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49:15
William Boyd, writer
William Boyd is the author of eighteen novels, five short story collections and numerous screenplays. His first published novel, A Good Man in Africa, was inspired by his childhood in West Africa. He is well known for writing ‘whole life’ novels including Any Human Heart which he adapted as a BAFTA-winning television series. He was born in Accra in Ghana where his Scottish father worked as a doctor, specialising in tropical medicine. In 1964 the family moved to Ibadan, Nigeria where he witnessed the Nigerian Civil War – the Biafran War – which had a profound effect on him both personally and professionally.He read English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Glasgow and became a lecturer in English at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. During this period he wrote novels and short stories on the side until his breakthrough novel, A Good Man in Africa, was published in 1981. In 2005 he was appointed CBE for services to literature.William lives in London with his wife Susan and over 10,000 books.DISC ONE: Sunday - Mandy Patinkin (George), Sunday in the Park with George Original Broadway Cast Ensemble and Orchestra
DISC TWO: Sorry Sorry - Femi Kuti
DISC THREE: Away Down the River - Alison Krauss
DISC FOUR: Que reste-t-il de nos amours - Charles Trenet
DISC FIVE: Daniel - Elton John
DISC SIX: Britten: Violin Concerto, Op. 15: 1. Moderato con moto. Performed by Janine Jansen (violin) London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paavo Järvi
DISC SEVEN: Brahms: Horn Trio In E Flat, Op. 40 - 1. Andante - Poco più animato. Performed by György Sebök (piano) Arthur Grumiaux (violin), Francis Orval (horn)
DISC EIGHT: Al Otro Lado del Río - Jorge DrexlerBOOK CHOICE: Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
LUXURY ITEM: A piano
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Daniel - Elton JohnPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley
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50:52
Sir Jony Ive, designer
Sir Jony Ive is a designer who is best known for his pioneering work at Apple alongside his friend and colleague, the late Steve Jobs. Jony’s creative vision is behind some of the company’s seminal products which have transformed the way we live today including phones, music players and watches. He was born in Chingford in east London and loved drawing and spending time in his father’s workshop where the two of them made the young Jony’s Christmas presents including a go-kart, a treehouse and a toboggan. He studied Industrial Design at Newcastle Polytechnic and moved to San Francisco to work for Apple in 1992. In 1997 Steve Jobs returned to the company, having been ousted several years earlier, and the two of them set about revolutionising the landscape for home computers with the creation of the iMac.
In 2019 Jony set up his own company LoveFrom with the industrial designer Marc Newson. In 2023 Jony and his team designed a foldable Red Nose for Comic Relief and in the same year the company launched a scholarship programme aimed at increasing representation in the design industry.In 2012 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to design and enterprise.DISC ONE: Really Saying Something (US Extended Version) - Bananarama, Fun Boy Three
DISC TWO: De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da - The Police
DISC THREE: Main Theme - Carter Takes a Train - Roy Budd
DISC FOUR: Singin’ in the Rain - Harry Ive
DISC FIVE: Don’t You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
DISC SIX: Define Dancing - Thomas Newman
DISC SEVEN: Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L.75: 3. Clair de lune. Composed by Claude Debussy and performed by Claudio Arrau (piano)
DISC EIGHT: "40" - U2 BOOK CHOICE: The complete set of Jeeves & Wooster novels by P G Wodehouse
LUXURY ITEM: A bed
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: "40" - U2
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley
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51:41
Mina Smallman, activist
Wilhelmina – Mina – Smallman is an activist who campaigns for the safety of women and girls and police reform. She is a former teacher and priest who was the first woman of colour to be an archdeacon in the Church of England.In 2020 her daughters Bibaa and Nicole were murdered as they celebrated Bibaa’s 46th birthday in Fryent Country Park. It later came to light that two policemen, who were guarding the crime scene, had posed for and posted selfies with Bibaa and Nicole’s bodies in the background. They were later jailed for misconduct. When friends first reported her daughters missing the police didn’t launch an official search for them and it was their loved ones who eventually found Bibaa and Nicole. Mina’s anger at the failings of the Metropolitan Police, led her to start her fight for justice. In 2021 an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) report, highlighted the Met’s failings and advised the force to apologise to Mina and her family.Mina was brought up in London. She was a drama teacher for over 20 years before training for the priesthood. She was ordained in 2006 and took up her first job as vicar at Christ Church on the Thames View estate in Barking. In 2013 she was appointed the first woman archdeacon of Southend in the Diocese of Chelmsford. She retired as an archdeacon in 2016. DISC ONE: Silly Games – Janet Kay
DISC TWO: Handel: Messiah, HWV 56 / Pt. 3 - 43. Air: I know that my Redeemer liveth
Performed by Dame Joan Sutherland (Soprano), London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
DISC THREE: Easy Terms - Barbara Dickson
DISC FOUR: Amazing Grace - The Pipes And Drums Of The Military Band Of The Royal Scots Dragoon
DISC FIVE: We Are The World - USA for Africa
DISC SIX: Miss Independent - Ne-Yo
DISC SEVEN: Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
DISC EIGHT: I Look To You - Whitney Houston
BOOK CHOICE: Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
LUXURY ITEM: Hair moisturiser
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Look To You - Whitney Houston Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley
Ireland