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)

Sara Khan

Kirsty Young's castaway is Sara Khan.A British Muslim human rights activist, she's the director of Inspire, a counter-extremism and women's rights organisation which she co-founded in 2009.Born in Bra...

26 Juni 201635min

Barrie Rutter

Kirsty Young's castaway is the actor and theatre director Barrie Rutter.He is the founder and artistic director of the touring theatre company Northern Broadsides. There was nothing in his background ...

19 Juni 201633min

Warwick Davis

Kirsty Young's castaway is the actor Warwick Davis.His career began thanks to his grandmother who heard a radio advert calling for short people to be in the latest of George Lucas's Star Wars films. H...

12 Juni 201635min

David Nott

Kirsty Young's castaway is the surgeon, David Nott.He works across three London hospitals performing general, vascular, trauma & reconstructive surgery. In addition, for the past two decades, he's spe...

5 Juni 201636min

Professor Louise Richardson

Kirsty Young's castaway is the political scientist and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University Professor Louise Richardson.She was born in Ireland, is one of seven children and has gone on to have an int...

31 Maj 201634min

Berry Gordy

Kirsty Young's castaway is the producer Berry Gordy.He founded the Motown record label and his musical empire made worldwide stars of Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Jac...

22 Maj 201634min

Inga Beale

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the business woman, Inga Beale.She has been the CEO of Lloyd's of London since January 2014 and was the first woman to hold the post in the 325 years since the ins...

15 Maj 201636min

Tom Hanks, actor

Kirsty Young's castaway is Tom Hanks.From 'Big' to 'Sleepless in Seattle', 'Captain Phillips' to 'Apollo 13', his long and distinguished film-making career has brought him multiple awards and many pla...

8 Maj 201647min