Oxford College Castaway: a student take on Desert Island Discs

Postgraduate student Alice Watson (2017, MSc in Migration Studies) has recently started her own show on the University’s student radio station, Oxide Radio. ‘Oxford College Castaway’ is a reinvention of BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, with Alice interviewing undergraduate or postgraduate students about their lives, experiences, and journeys to Oxford.

This weekend’s show, which airs on Sunday 26 November at 12pm, will feature Teddy Hall’s James O’Donovan as the castaway. James is a medical doctor and now a DPhil student in Education. Amongst other things, he will be discussing his research on mobile technologies and health workers in Uganda, his interest in global health, and his love of the College. James chose a variety of music, ranging from rock to hip-hop. His discs include Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve – who are from the North of England which is where James grew up – and I’m Shipping Up To Boston by Dropkick Murphys – which reminds him of his time setting off to study at Harvard University on a Kennedy Scholarship. The programme is approximately 45 minutes in length, and you can listen live at www.oxideradio.live.

It will also be available afterwards as a podcast, and Alice’s first College Castaway episode is already available on her showpage: www.oxideradio.live/oxford-college-castaway.

Alice said: “I’m very excited to have my own radio show here in Oxford! I’ve always been a huge fan of listening to the radio and, in particular, to Desert Island Discs. My show is inspired by Kirsty Young’s classic programme, but instead of sending students to a remote desert island, I cast them away to their college for the duration of the holiday. I think the format of Desert Island Discs which combines music with discussion is a winning formula and provides a fantastic template for listeners to hear more about the lives, experiences, and aspirations of the fascinating students we have here in Oxford.”

Oxford College Castaway is Alice’s first radio show but she has previously conducted research on BBC Radio 4 programmes in her undergraduate dissertation in Geography (at the University of St Andrews) and in her Master’s thesis here at Oxford. She has also had work experience with BBC Radio Leicester.