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Dame Joan Bakewell

Kirsty Young's castaway is broadcaster Dame Joan Bakewell.

Kirsty Young's castaway is the broadcaster Dame Joan Bakewell. Born in Stockport in 1933, it was in the 1960s that she first started to shape the cultural agenda, interviewing the likes of Kingsley Amis and Stockhausen for the radical Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ TV show Late Night Line-Up. It was also during the 1960s that she had an affair with Harold Pinter, a relationship which inspired his play Betrayal. Looking back on it now from the age of 76, she says, "We always said we had a damn good time".

Now appointed as the Voice of Older People by Gordon Brown, her passion for debate and social change is as strong as ever. She says she has always regarded the world to be improved and is not afraid of being called a wishy-washy liberal. "It's a good thing to do," she says, "you feel you can be part of change."

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: String Quintet in C Major by Franz Schubert
Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Luxury: An abundance of paper and pencils.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 14 Aug 2009 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Music Played

  • Jimi Hendrix

    Voodoo Chile

    • The Old Gold Collection - 70s Number Ones Vol. 4.
    • Old Gold.

  • Thomas Tallis

    Spem In Alium

    Choir: Tallis Scholars Conductor: Peter Phillips

    • Thomas Tallis: Spem in Alium.
    • Gimell.

  • Richard Strauss

    Marie Theres'! Hab' mir's gelobt (Act 3 Trio) (from Der Rosenkavalier)

    Soloist: Christa Ludwig, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf & Teresa Stich-Randall

    • Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier:.
    • EMI.

  • Peggy Lee

    Where Or When (from Babes In Arms)

    Artist: The Benny Goodman Sextet

    • Peggy Lee: In the Beginning.
    • Flapper.

  • Bob Dylan

    Blowin' In The Wind

    • Bob Dylan: Greatest Hits.
    • Columbia.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Franz Schubert

      String Quintet in C Major

      Soloist: Mstislav Rostropovich Orchestra: Emerson String Quartet

      • Schubert: String Quartet: Emerson String Quartet/Mstislav Rostropovich.
      • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • William Shakespeare

    Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day? (Sonnet 18)

    Performer: Judi Dench

    • The Nation’s Love Poems.
    • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.

  • Benjamin Britten

    Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes - Dawn

    Orchestra: The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Convent Garden Conductor: Benjamin Britten

    • Peter Grimes.
    • Decca.

  • Book Choice

    • War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

  • Luxury Choice

    • An abundance of paper and pencils

Credits

Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Joan Bakewell

Broadcasts

  • Sun 9 Aug 2009 10:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 LW
  • Sun 9 Aug 2009 11:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM
  • Fri 14 Aug 2009 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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