Desert Island Discs
BBC Radio 4
Categories: Society & Culture
Listen to the last episode:
Tim Spector is Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Head of the Department of Twin Research at King’s College London. He was one of the co-founders of the ZOE Covid Symptom study, which for which he was awarded an OBE. He has also written best-selling books about the relationship between what we eat and our health and well-being.
Tim was born in London in 1958 into a medical family. His mother was a physiotherapist and his father was an eminent pathologist, although Tim initially resisted his father’s encouragement to follow him into medicine. Once qualified, Tim specialised in rheumatology before switching to epidemiology. In 1992, he set up a large-scale research study of twins which now has more than 15,000 identical and non-identical twins taking part.
After a health scare in 2011, Tim became more interested in how we can influence the microbes in our gut to help us stay well. He has published several books on the science of eating well and is a pioneer in personalised food nutrition.
Tim lives in London with his wife, who is also a doctor.
DISC ONE: Life on Mars - David Bowie DISC TWO: Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 / Act 1 - 13. Dance Of The Knights Composed by Sergei Prokofiev and performed by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy DISC THREE: Paint it, Black - The Rolling Stones DISC FOUR: Dreams - Fleetwood Mac DISC FIVE: Puttin’ on the Ritz - Gene Wilder playing Dr Frankenstein, Peter Boyle as The Monster and Norbert Schiller as the announcer. Music conducted by John Morris from Young Frankenstein (Original Soundtrack) DISC SIX: All of Me (live) - Louis Armstrong DISC SEVEN: That’s Entertainment - The Jam DISC EIGHT: In the Ghetto - Elvis Presley
BOOK CHOICE: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens LUXURY ITEM: A fermenting set CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: All of Me (live) - Louis Armstrong Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor
Previous episodes
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2503 - Professor Tim Spector, scientist Sat, 27 Apr 2024
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2502 - Professor Alice Roberts, scientist and broadcaster Sun, 21 Apr 2024
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2501 - Jenny Sealey, theatre director Sat, 13 Apr 2024
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2500 - Desert Island Discs at 75 Sat, 28 Jan 2017
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2499 - Caitlin Moran Sun, 22 Jan 2017
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2498 - Wayne McGregor Sun, 15 Jan 2017
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2497 - Pinky Lilani Sun, 08 Jan 2017
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2496 - Sir Kenneth Grange Sun, 01 Jan 2017
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2495 - Gareth Malone Sun, 25 Dec 2016
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2494 - Bruce Springsteen Sun, 18 Dec 2016
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2493 - Sir Philip Craven Wed, 14 Dec 2016
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2492 - Davina McCall Sun, 11 Dec 2016
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2491 - Emma Bridgewater Sun, 27 Nov 2016
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2490 - Nicola Adams Sun, 20 Nov 2016
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2489 - Yotam Ottolenghi Fri, 18 Nov 2016
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2488 - Ali Smith Sun, 06 Nov 2016
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2487 - Michael Bublé Tue, 01 Nov 2016
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2486 - Jackie Kay Sun, 23 Oct 2016
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2485 - Dr Robert Langer Sun, 16 Oct 2016
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2484 - Stephen Hough Sun, 09 Oct 2016
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2483 - Christiane Amanpour Sun, 02 Oct 2016
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2482 - Joyce DiDonato Sun, 25 Sep 2016
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2481 - Nadiya Hussain Sun, 14 Aug 2016
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2480 - Michael Heath Sun, 07 Aug 2016
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2479 - Jilly Cooper Sun, 31 Jul 2016
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2478 - Professor Dame Ann Dowling Sun, 24 Jul 2016
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2477 - Levi Roots Sun, 17 Jul 2016
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2476 - Nicole Farhi Sun, 10 Jul 2016
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2475 - Matthew Barzun Sun, 03 Jul 2016
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2474 - Sara Khan Sun, 26 Jun 2016
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2473 - Barrie Rutter Sun, 19 Jun 2016
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2472 - Warwick Davis Sun, 12 Jun 2016
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2471 - David Nott Sun, 05 Jun 2016
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2470 - Professor Louise Richardson Tue, 31 May 2016
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2469 - Berry Gordy Sun, 22 May 2016
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2468 - Inga Beale Sun, 15 May 2016
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2467 - Tom Hanks, actor Sun, 08 May 2016
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2466 - John Timpson Sun, 27 Mar 2016
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2465 - Gloria Steinem Sun, 20 Mar 2016
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2464 - Yinka Shonibare Sun, 13 Mar 2016
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2463 - Dr Dame Sue Ion Sun, 06 Mar 2016
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2462 - Hugh Bonneville Sun, 28 Feb 2016
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2461 - Dame Zaha Hadid Sun, 21 Feb 2016
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2460 - Ben Saunders Sun, 14 Feb 2016
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2459 - Professor Dame Carol Black Sun, 07 Feb 2016
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2458 - Bill Gates Thu, 04 Feb 2016
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2457 - Sigrid Rausing Sun, 24 Jan 2016
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2456 - Sir Anthony Seldon Sun, 17 Jan 2016
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2455 - Alex Crawford Sun, 10 Jan 2016
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2454 - Colm Toibin Sun, 03 Jan 2016