Desert Island Discs
5.0/5
Critic Rating
4.5/5
Listener Rating
Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Hua Hsu • New Yorker • Mar 19, 2020
"It’s now one of the BBC’s best-known and most cherished shows, hailed by some as one of the greatest radio programs of all time. I love hearing about the path-altering memories of others—what it was like to experience Beatlemania or Motown or punk before they were settled narratives."
Score: 5
Catherine Nixey • The Times UK • Aug 17, 2018
"Desert Island Discs is always impressive. After listening to podcast interviews it’s a balm. Its tone is so adult. Podcasts, like eager teenagers, tend to shower interviewees with gratitude and platitude. By contrast Desert Island Discs, despite having a not-too-bad guest list (Bill Gates, David Attenborough, Tony Blair to name a few), is never awed by its interviewees. On the contrary, it tends to treat them all with a headmistressy disdain."
Listener Reviews
Score: 5
Imran A. • Mar 15, 2021
"Malala's episode was a delight and full of optimism knowing what we know about her. Her happiness and learning while striving to fight for girls education is admirable. Not to mention she's a Justin Bieber fan! Loved it. "
Score: 4.5
Imran A. • Jun 15, 2020
"Tom Hanks is just plain nice. He gives a well rounded history lesson of his life. Real talk and some good choices in music that for his soundtrack of life. I'm a fan of old hollywood storytelling from actors we like and their connections. His friendship with Speilberg and the divorce of his parents early on. I didn't even know he was divorced either! Nice guy. Nice episode."
Score: 4
Cara L. • Jun 1, 2020
"I like this series but don't always know of the interviewees. Everyone knows Tom Hanks, though, and this episode kept my attention throughout. I learned about Tom's childhood and his finding fame in his twenties. He made a very eclectic choice of music including some Dusty Springfield, LL Cool J and some classical thrown in there, too. If you haven't listed to this series before, this is a good episode to start with."
