Clive Myrie is an award-winning journalist and news presenter who is one of the BBC’s most experienced foreign correspondents. In 2021 he took over from John Humphrys as Question Master of the quiz show Mastermind and has also presented travel programmes about Italy and the Caribbean. Clive’s parents are from Jamaica and he was born in Farnworth, near Bolton – one of seven children. As a young boy he had a paper round and one of the perks was reading the leftover newspapers which gave him the opportunity to learn about a world beyond Bolton. He loved watching the news on television and his role models were Alan Whicker and Sir Trevor McDonald who inspired him to become a journalist. After he graduated from university Clive took up a place on the BBC’s reporter training scheme and in 1996 he was sent to Japan - his first posting as a foreign correspondent. During his career he has reported from war zones including Afghanistan, Iraq and Ukraine. In 2021 Clive was named Television Journalist of the Year and Network Presenter of the Year at the Royal Television Society Television Journalism Awards. Clive lives in north London with his wife Catherine. DISC ONE: String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131: VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante. Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and performed by Kodály Quartet DISC TWO: Welcome to My World - Jim Reeves DISC THREE: Così fan tutte ossia La scuola degli amanti, K.588 / Act 1 - Soave sia il vento. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano), Ann Murray (mezzo soprano), Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass) and Wiener Philharmoniker DISC FOUR: All Blues - Miles Davis DISC FIVE: Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011: I. Prelude. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Paul Tortelier DISC SIX: Slave to the Rhythm - Grace Jones DISC SEVEN: Long, Long Summer - Dizzy Gillespie DISC EIGHT: Stomp! - The Brothers Johnson BOOK CHOICE: The Metropolitan Museum of Art catalogue LUXURY ITEM: Hot pepper sauce CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Long, Long Summer - Dizzy Gillespie Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley
BBC sounds music radio podcasts hello, I'm Lauren La Verne and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast.
Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were cast away to a desert island.
And for rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.
I hope you enjoy listening.
My castaway this week is the award winning journalist and broadcaster Clive Myrie.
He was born just outside Bolton in Lancashire, one of seven children to jamaican parents who'd emigrated to the UK a few years earlier.
His interest in news and foreign affairs was piqued by the free reading material he picked up on his paper round and from watching his childhood heroes Alan Wicker and Sir Trevor Macdonald on tv.
He spent many years as a foreign correspondent, reporting from war zones including Afghanistan, Kosovo and Iraq.
He has a longstanding interest in us politics and has covered seven presidential elections, including Barack Obamas historic victory in 2008.
Next month hes leading the BBCs election night coverage along with Laura Coonsen.
In 2021, he became the quizmaster of the BBC's much loved mastermind.
But he hasn't lost his appetite for reporting from the sharp end covering the NHS response to Covid, as well as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the Israel Gaza war.
He says there's an adrenaline rush in being a journalist on the front line, something that makes you want to go back for more.
Although for me I don't think it's the sense that I'm potentially in danger.
It's just about telling stories from incredible places.
Clive Moiry, welcome to Desert island discs.
Thank you for having me.
It's great to be here.
You're so welcome.
But listen, Clive, let's start with that adrenaline rush because it's such an emotional dichotomy that sits right at the heart of war reporting, isn't it?