Sonita Alleyne, Master of Jesus College, Cambridge

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 2 February 2020

⏱️ 40 minutes

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Summary

Sonita Alleyne is the Master of Jesus College, Cambridge, the first woman to hold the post and - more significantly - the first black master of any Oxbridge college. In her previous career in the media, she was the co-founder and former CEO of the production company Somethin’ Else. Born in Barbados, she came to England aged three and grew up in East London, the youngest of three children. She was an able reader by the time she started primary school, and her potential was spotted at her secondary school, where she was encouraged to apply to Cambridge. She read philosophy at Fitzwilliam College and, after a brief and unfulfilling spell selling life insurance, she followed her passion for jazz by starting to write for music magazines. In 1989 she joined the radio station Jazz FM. When she was made redundant a couple of years later, she and two former Jazz FM colleagues set up a production company they called Somethin’ Else. Sonita stepped down as CEO in 2009 to concentrate on other boardroom roles. She served on the BBC Trust for nearly five years, sits on the board of the London Legacy Development Corporation, and founded the Yes Programme to show primary school pupils their future career options. She is a fellow of the Radio Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts. Sonita began her ten year tenure as Master of Jesus College in October 2019. She lives in Cambridge with her partner, the screenwriter James McCarthy, and their teenage son. DISC ONE: I’ve Known Rivers by Gary Bartz & NTU Troop DISC TWO: Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton DISC THREE: Key To The World by L J Reynolds DISC FOUR: Martha by Tom Waits DISC FIVE: Tennessee by Arrested Development DISC SIX: To Forgive But Not Forget by Outside DISC SEVEN: Last Train to Clarksville by Cassandra Wilson DISC EIGHT: Swing Low Sweet Chariot by Marvin “Hannibal” Peterson BOOK CHOICE: Coming Through Slaughter by Michael Ondaatje LUXURY ITEM:A genie in a lamp which would only work within the confines of the island CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE:Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Cathy Drysdale

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts
0:04.6	Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Deser Island Disks podcast.
0:08.3	Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them
0:13.6	if they were cast away to a desert island. For right reasons, the music is shorter than the
0:18.8	original broadcast. I hope you enjoy listening.
0:30.0	Music Radio Music
0:43.1	My cast away this week is Sunita Alain. She made history recently when she became the 41st
0:48.4	Master of Jesus College Cambridge, an institution dating back to the 15th century.
0:53.6	She's the first woman to hold the post and, more significantly, the first black master of
0:58.5	any Oxbridge College. She is however used to making change. She was the CEO and co-founder of
1:04.5	the Media Production House, something else, accompanying at the forefront of the digital revolution
1:09.4	in broadcasting. She's a former board member of the BBC Trust, the London Legacy Development
1:14.4	Corporation and the Radio Academy. Her media career grew out of a lifelong love of music,
1:20.1	especially jazz, and her desire to find out what happens when you improvise isn't confined to
1:25.2	her record collection. She says, I was always trying to make something happen for myself,
1:29.8	rather than waiting for someone to give me permission. You can't wait for people to notice you.
1:34.4	You have to have agency. Sunita Alain, welcome to Desert Island Discs.
1:39.1	Oh, thank you. Thank you very much for having me. Being here is harder than
1:42.7	childbirth. It means to kind of pick your music for your life. It's really hard.
1:47.3	Well, just keep breathing. We'll get through it. It's going to be okay.
1:50.1	So let's start then with the importance of that idea of agency. What is it? What does it mean to you
1:54.8	and why does it matter? Agency represents a lot of things. It represents that moment when you
	...

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