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Desert Island Discs

Martin Lewis, financial campaigner

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.413.7K Ratings

🗓️ 7 June 2020

⏱️ 36 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Martin Lewis is a financial journalist, campaigner and broadcaster. His high-profile campaigns on bank charges, student finance, and mental health and debt have made headlines, and millions of people subscribe to his weekly money tips email. He founded the Money Saving Expert website in 2003 with just £100 and sold it less than a decade later for £87 million, although he calls himself an 'accidental entrepreneur'. He has since supported numerous groups and causes through charitable donations, most recently setting up a Coronavirus Poverty Emergency Fund to help small local charities. He has also campaigned for financial help and guidance for self-employed people who are unable to work during the current pandemic. Martin grew up in Cheshire and studied at the London School of Economics. After a brief spell working in financial PR, he took a postgraduate course in broadcast journalism with the aim of becoming a commentator on money matters, and he initially worked as a producer and presenter on radio and TV, DISC ONE: Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin DISC TWO: Stand and Deliver by Adam And The Ants DISC THREE: Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off by Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald DISC FOUR: The Circle Game by Joni Mitchell DISC FIVE: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones DISC SIX: The Blue Danube, composed by Johann Strauss II, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent and performed by Royal Philharmonic Orchestra DISC SEVEN: I Fought the Lloyds by Oystar DISC EIGHT: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli And The Four Seasons BOOK CHOICE: A Game of Thrones: The Story Continues: The complete boxset of all 7 books (A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R.R. Martin LUXURY ITEM: Solar powered electric carving knife CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Livin’ La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

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.

0:08.6

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

0:13.3

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

0:16.7

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

0:21.2

I hope you enjoy listening.

0:30.0

Music Music

0:36.0

My cast away this week is the financial expert TV presenter and campaigner Martin Lewis.

0:50.1

17 years ago he founded the website Money Saving Expert.

0:54.0

His campaigns on issues like money and mental health and court victories over bank charges

0:59.0

and PPI have made headline news.

1:01.9

Successful crusades on the behalf of the consumer have earned him the nickname the Dumbledore

1:07.0

of debt.

1:08.0

13 million of us receive his weekly money tips mail out, whether he still uses them

1:12.8

himself as a question we'll get to later.

1:15.3

He sold his shares in Money Saving Expert back in 2012 for £87 million.

1:21.0

While saving money maybe second nature, he's no scrooge.

1:24.4

His charitable trust gives vast sums to good causes.

1:28.1

Most recently he set up a coronavirus poverty fund to help charities to continue to support

1:33.4

those in need.

1:34.4

Britain's financial superhero has never been needed more, but our superheroes born or

1:40.3

made.

...

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