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Richard Hoggart

Sue Lawley's castaway is academic and writer Richard Hoggart.

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the academic and author Richard Hoggart. Nearly 40 years ago, he wrote the hugely influential Uses of Literacy. In it, he argued that the working classes were being short changed - both by rampant consumerism and by the dross he felt was being churned out by the mass media.

Cast well away from materialism and the media on the desert island, he'll be talking about how he now feels about his original thesis and about his own working-class background in Leeds, where he was orphaned at an early age.

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

Favourite track: Fidelio: The Prisoner's Chorus From Act One by Ludwig van Beethoven
Book: Essays by Michel de Montaigne
Luxury: Fountain pen and paper

Available now

40 minutes

Last on

Sun 10 Mar 1996 12:15

Music Played

  • Ella Fitzgerald

    Slumming On Park Avenue

    • The Irving Berlin Songbook Vol 2.
    • Verve.
  • Giuseppe Verdi

    La traviata Prelude to Act 1

    Orchestra: The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra

    • La Traviata.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Jake Thackray

    The Castleford Ladies Magic Circle

    • The Castleford Ladies Magic Circle.
    • EMI.
  • Edward Elgar

    Cello Concerto in E minor

    Soloist: Jacqueline Du Pre

    • Elgar Cello Concerto.
    • CBS.
  • Clarence β€œFrogman” Henry

    I Don't Know Why I Love You But I Do

    • You Always Hurt The One You Love.
    • Pye.
  • W. H. Auden

    The Shield Of Achilles

    • Spoken Arts.
  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Ludwig van Beethoven

      Prisoners' Chorus (from Fidelio)

      Orchestra: The Vienna Opera Orchestra

      • Fidelio.
      • Decca.
  • Philip Larkin

    An Arundel Tomb

    • The Whitsun Weddings.
    • Listen Music.
  • Book Choice

    • Essays - Michel de Montaigne

  • Luxury Choice

    • A bird feeder

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest Richard Hoggart

Broadcasts

  • Sun 15 Oct 1995 12:15
  • Fri 20 Oct 1995 09:05
  • Sun 10 Mar 1996 12:15

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