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Desert Island Discs

George McGavin, entomologist and broadcaster

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.413.7K Ratings

🗓️ 7 February 2021

⏱️ 37 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

George McGavin is an entomologist, explorer and broadcaster, who has spread the word about the importance of insects to audiences in their millions. Born in Glasgow, he grew up in Edinburgh where he studied zoology at university. Following a PhD in entomology, he went on to teach and research at the University of Oxford. He gave up his post as the assistant curator of the university’s Museum of Natural History after 25 years to follow his dream of becoming a television presenter. He has presented documentaries from far-flung locations including Borneo, Guyana and New Guinea. He has made it his life’s work to uncover the mysteries of the largely uncatalogued world of invertebrates which he says makes up close to 80% of life on earth. In 2018 he was diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer and the following year he turned the camera on himself to present a very personal programme about his diagnosis and treatment. DISC ONE: Love Reign O’er Me by The Who DISC TWO: The Dark Island by The Pipes and Drums of The Black Watch DISC THREE: Cello Concerto in E minor Op. 85, composed by Edward Elgar, performed by Jacqueline du Pré and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli DISC FOUR: Night Lament by Kate Rusby DISC FIVE: To Begin at the Beginning read by Richard Burton, from Under Milk Wood DISC SIX: Keep Talking by Pink Floyd DISC SEVEN: Sola, Perduta, Abbandonata by Maria Callas and Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Tullio Serafin DISC EIGHT: The Bog by Einojuhani Rautavaara BOOK CHOICE: A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor LUXURY ITEM: Hot sauce CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Cello Concerto in E minor Op. 85, performed by Jacqueline du Pré and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts

0:04.9

Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Desert Island Disks Podcast.

0:08.8

Every week I ask my guests to choose the 8 tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take

0:13.4

with them if they were cast away to a desert island.

0:16.9

And for right reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.

0:21.4

I hope you enjoy listening.

0:45.0

My castaway this week is the entomologist, explorer and broadcaster George McGavin, a naturalist

0:50.6

for over 40 years, he's enjoyed a lifetime of adventures that are the stuff of childhood

0:55.6

dreams.

0:56.6

He's lodged up a tree with Gibbons in Thailand, discovered new species in the rainforests

1:01.3

of Borneo and observed the nocturnal jaunts of Chilean vampire bats.

1:06.0

Yet, unlike others in his line of work, he is equally happy on expeditions that rather

1:11.2

than taking him away, take him within.

1:14.2

He spent a year exploring the mysteries contained in a single English oak tree, created a mock

1:19.4

house full of decomposing rubbish at Edinburgh Zoo to study the cosmos of bacterial life.

1:24.7

He's made it his life's work to uncover the mysteries of the largely uncataloged animals

1:29.6

that make up an amazing 77% of life on Earth, invertebrates.

1:34.7

He says, everyone wanders around looking for the black birds and owls, but the interesting

1:39.1

stuff is the things you can barely see.

1:41.8

If I had a load of money, I would buy hand lends for every child under the age of 10,

1:46.5

so they could look at insect, bark and flowers.

1:49.6

George McAvin welcomed to desert island discs.

...

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