Steve Backshall, explorer
Desert Island Discs
BBC
4.3 • 14.3K Ratings
🗓️ 2 August 2020
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Steve Backshall is an explorer, naturalist and broadcaster.
His BAFTA-winning programmes bring viewers of every generation closer to nature – from the children's series Deadly 60, featuring close encounters with the most dangerous and venomous creatures on earth, to Blue Planet Live and Springwatch.
His interest in the natural world began at a young age, after his parents decided to swap their terraced house for a smallholding with goats, ducks and geese.
His big break as a broadcaster arrived when National Geographic offered him the post of Adventurer in Residence and he’s been taking on the most arduous challenges and toughest environments on earth ever since. He ran a marathon in the Sahara and has swum cage-free with great white sharks.
His adventures have also brought him many near-death moments. He broke his back while rock climbing and recently almost drowned while kayaking in Bhutan.
Steve is married to the Olympic champion rower Helen Glover, and they have a two year old son and twins born earlier this year.
DISC ONE: Beautiful War by Kings of Leon DISC TWO: The Wind by Cat Stevens DISC THREE: Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead DISC FOUR: Even After All by Finley Quaye DISC FIVE: I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Ash Cutler and Rachael Hawnt DISC SIX: Last Goodbye by Jeff Buckley DISC SEVEN: 6 Words by Wretch 32 DISC EIGHT: This Life by Vampire Weekend
BOOK CHOICE: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez LUXURY ITEM: A guitar CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) by Ash Cutler and Rachael Hawnt
Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and trust me you'll get there in a moment but if you're a comedy fan |
| 0:05.2 | I'd really like to tell you a bit about what we do. I'm Julie Mackenzie and I commission comedy |
| 0:10.2 | podcast at the BBC. It's a bit of a dream job really. |
| 0:13.0 | Comedy is a fantastic joyous thing to do because really you're making people laugh, |
| 0:18.0 | making people's days a bit better, helping them process, all manner of things. |
| 0:22.0 | But you know I also know that comedy is really |
| 0:24.4 | subjective and everyone has different tastes so we've got a huge range of comedy on offer |
| 0:29.6 | from satire to silly shocking to soothing profound to just general pratting about. So if you |
| 0:36.2 | fancy a laugh, find your next comedy at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:41.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio podcasts. |
| 0:44.8 | Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne and this is the Desert Island Disks podcast. |
| 0:48.6 | Every week I ask my guest to choose the 8 tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were cast |
| 0:54.7 | away to a desert island. |
| 0:56.8 | And for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast. |
| 1:01.2 | I hope you enjoy listening. My castaway this week is the naturalist broadcaster and author Steve Baxchel. |
| 1:28.9 | His bafter winning programmes bring viewers of every generation closer to nature. |
| 1:34.0 | From Kids Series Deadly 60 via the spectacular Blue Planet Live to the pleasures of Spring Watch. |
| 1:40.4 | Though if you've only seen the latter, you might be surprised to discover what this naturalist action hero gets up to when he's not keeping an eye out for badges or filling you in on bird life in the chiltons. |
| 1:51.0 | His big break arrived when National Geographic offered him the post of |
| 1:54.6 | adventurer in residence and he's been taking on the most grueling challenges and |
| 1:59.3 | toughest environments on earth ever since. He ran a marathon in the Sahara, has swam cage-free with |
| 2:05.4 | great whites, Anacondas and crocodiles, and earned a redberry by completing |
... |
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