Main content

Lyse Doucet, journalist

Lyse Doucet, journalist, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Lyse Doucet is the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú’s award-winning chief international correspondent, reporting from a range of postings including in Kabul, Islamabad, Tehran and Jerusalem for nearly 40 years.

Lyse was born in Bathhurst, New Brunswick, in eastern Canada and after graduating with a master’s degree from the University of Toronto she set her sights on becoming a journalist. She took her first step by signing up with the volunteer agency Canadian Crossroads International which offered her a placement in Ivory Coast, West Africa.

In 1982 the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú set up a West Africa office and Lyse began filing reports as a freelance journalist. After stints working in London and Pakistan she made her first visit to Kabul in 1988 and covered the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. This trip was the beginning of her long association with the country – a country she now calls her ‘second home’.

In 1989 she became the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú’s Afghanistan and Pakistan correspondent and later on in her career she reported from India and Indonesia in the aftermath of the tsunami. In 2011 she played a leading role in the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú’s coverage of the Arab Spring, reporting from Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.

She was appointed an OBE in 2014 for services to British broadcast journalism and in 2019 she was admitted to the Order of Canada.

DISC ONE: Habibi Nour Al Ain by Amr Diab
DISC TWO: Passionate Kisses by Mary Chapin Carpenter
DISC THREE: Searching for Abegweit (Live) by Lenny Gallant
DISC FOUR: Annie’s Song by John Denver
DISC FIVE: Bi Lamban by Toumani Diabate and Ballake Sissoko
DISC SIX: L Einaudi: Elegy For The Arctic, composed and performed by Ludovico Einaudi
DISC SEVEN: Here and Now by Derek Roche, featuring Kathy Evans
DISC EIGHT: Dawn by The Orchestra of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music

BOOK CHOICE: A Persian language book
LUXURY ITEM: Essential oils
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Searching for Abegweit (Live) by Lenny Gallant

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinley

Available now

37 minutes

Last on

Fri 4 Feb 2022 09:00

Music Played

  • Amr Diab

    Habibi Nour Al Ain

    • Camelspotting.
    • Hemisphere.
    • 1.
  • Mary Chapin Carpenter

    Passionate Kisses

    • Come On Come On.
    • Columbia Nashville/TriStar.
    • 7.
  • Lenny Gallant

    Searching for Abegweit

    • Searching for Abegweit (Live Recording).
    • 20.
  • John Denver

    Annie's Song

    • Dancing With The Mountains.
    • Sony Music.
    • 1.
  • Toumani Diabate And Ballake Sissoko

    Bi Lamban

    • Songlines Top Of The World 49.
    • Songlines.
    • 13.
  • Ludovico Einaudi

    L Einaudi: Elegy For The Arctic

    • Ludovico Einaudi: Undiscovered Ludovico Einaudi: Undiscovered.
    • Decca (UMO) (Classics).
    • 7.
  • Derek Roche

    Here and Now

  • The orchestra of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music

    Dawn

Broadcasts

  • Sun 30 Jan 2022 11:00
  • Fri 4 Feb 2022 09:00

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast