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Sir Howard Stringer

Chairman of Sony Sir Howard Stringer is interviewed by Kirsty Young.

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is Sir Howard Stringer. Now Chairman of the Board and formerly CEO of Sony, he was surely the only Chief Executive who was a decorated Vietnam vet as he knelt before the Queen to be knighted. It gives you something of an idea of the breadth and height of his achievements.

Born in Cardiff he went to 11 different schools before his 16th birthday and it clearly gave him restless feet. In the mid-sixties he headed to America where his first job was answering phones for the Ed Sullivan Show. He loved TV and it felt the same about him. He's won a raft of Emmys for his productions and worked with all the big beasts of the broadcasting jungle including Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and David Letterman.

He has spent the last few years commuting between New York, Tokyo, London and Hollywood - the first and so far only westerner to run the Japanese giant Sony.

He says - "I think I'm a bit prone to new adventures. The same damned impulse that got me in trouble by sending me to America in the first place compels me to take challenges when offered them."

Producer: Cathy Drysdale.

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 11 Jan 2013 09:00
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM

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Music Played

  • Adele

    Skyfall

    • Skyfall.
    • Beggars Banquet.

  • Georges Bizet

    The Pearl Fishers’ Duet

    Performer: Bryn Terfel & Andrea Bocelli

    • Bryn.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • George Frideric Handel

    The Trumpet Shall Sound from Messiah

    Performer: The London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis with Alastair Miles

    • Handel Messiah.
    • LSO Live.

  • Barbra Streisand

    Don’t Rain On My Parade

    • Funny Girl – Original Soundtrack.
    • SONY.

  • The Animals

    We Gotta Get Out Of This Place

    • The Animals Retrospective.
    • ABKCO.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 6 in B minor 'PathΓ©tique'

    Performer: Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa

    • Tchaikovsky Symphonie No 6 β€œPathetique”.
    • Erato.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Kelly Bishop, Kay Cole and Nancy Lane

      At the Ballet

      • A Chorus Line.
      • Universal Music Catalogue.

  • AntonΓ­n DvoΕ™Γ‘k

    β€œSong To The Moon” from Rusalka

    Performer: Renee Fleming

  • Book Choice

    • Short Stories - F. Scott Fitzgerald

  • Luxury Choice

    • An easy chair

Credits

Presenter Kirsty Young
Interviewed Guest Howard Stringer

Broadcasts

  • Sun 6 Jan 2013 11:15
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 11 Jan 2013 09:00
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM

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