Desert Island Discs: Archive: 2016-20182 Okt 2016

Christiane Amanpour

Kirsty Young's castaway is the journalist and broadcaster Christiane Amanpour. Her career as a reporter was forged in some of the world's most hostile environments from Bosnia to Rwanda and Iraq to Israel. From the early '90s onwards she was so ubiquitous on screen that her peers in the press pack coined the darkly comic phrase "where there's a war, there's Amanpour."

Born to an Iranian father and a British mother, she initially wanted to be a doctor, but the Revolution in Iran in 1979 galvanised her political consciousness and she turned to journalism. Her first major assignment was in Saudi Arabia where she covered the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. She describes her time in Bosnia as a life-changing experience which made her determined to tell the stories of ordinary people caught up in the chaos of conflict.

During her career she has interviewed some of the biggest names on the world stage from Bill Clinton and Tony Blair to Robert Mugabe and Colonel Gaddafi. The winner of 11 Emmy Awards, she now anchors her own nightly television show on CNN although she can be whisked away at a moment's notice to cover major disasters around the globe. She has borne witness to some of history's worst atrocities but what gets her through is her eternal optimism and the courage and dignity of humanity.

Producer: Paula McGinley.

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Avsnitt(126)

Wayne McGregor

Kirsty Young's castaway is the choreographer Wayne McGregor. Despite his background in contemporary dance, he has been resident choreographer at the Royal Ballet - the first from outside the company -...

15 Jan 201736min

Pinky Lilani

Pinky Lilani, who was awarded a CBE in 2015 for services to women in business, is the founder of the annual Asian Women of Achievement Awards and the Women of the Future Awards. She also runs her own ...

8 Jan 201734min

Sir Kenneth Grange

Sir Kenneth Grange is a designer. He's been designing elements of our everyday lives for the past six decades. Born in London in 1929, he went to Willesden art school aged fourteen and four years late...

1 Jan 201737min

Gareth Malone

Gareth Malone is a choirmaster who has coaxed and cajoled people from nervous adults to reluctant teenagers to open their mouths and sing for the pure joy of it - in front of television cameras. Garet...

25 Dec 201635min

Bruce Springsteen

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is Bruce Springsteen.His career has brought him 20 Grammys, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award and his albums sell in their millions around the world. He grew up in ...

18 Dec 201648min

Sir Philip Craven

Sir Philip Craven is the President of the International Paralympic Committee and a former wheelchair basketball athlete.Craven represented Great Britain in wheelchair basketball at five editions of th...

14 Dec 201633min

Davina McCall

Davina McCall is an English television presenter. She began her career on MTV before moving to Channel 4 with the cult hit Streetmate.She was the presenter of Big Brother during its run on Channel 4 b...

11 Dec 201635min

Emma Bridgewater

Emma Bridgewater is a British ceramic designer and businesswoman. She set up her pottery business in 1985 in Stoke-on-Trent, when many other manufacturers in the city were either closing down or going...

27 Nov 201635min