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Episode details

Radio 3,13 Sep 2026,86 mins

Lyse Doucet, journalist

Private Passions

Available for 29 days

When Lyse Doucet was a child growing up in a small town in eastern Canada, she borrowed a library book called How to Become a Journalist. It clearly made an impact. She is now the BBC’s chief international correspondent and has reported from some of the world’s most challenging countries, including Afghanistan and Iran, for more than 40 years. This year she won the Women’s Prize for non-fiction for her first book, The Finest Hotel in Kabul: A People's History of Afghanistan, in which she explores the country’s recent history through the story of Kabul’s landmark Inter-Continental Hotel. Lyse's choices include music by Elgar, Sibelius, Bach and Einaudi.

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Tracklist

  1. Track
    Artist
  2. 1.
    Sonatina (Cantata no.106 'Actus Tragicus')
    Sonatina (Cantata no.106 'Actus Tragicus')
    Johann Sebastian Bach
  3. 2.
    Violin Concerto in D Minor Op.47 (3rd mvt)
    Violin Concerto in D Minor Op.47 (3rd mvt)
    Jean Sibelius
  4. 3.
    Bi Lambam
    Bi Lambam
    Toumani Diabaté
  5. 4.
    Nimrod (Enigma Variations, Op. 36)
    Nimrod (Enigma Variations, Op. 36)
    Edward Elgar
  6. 5.
    Adagio in G minor
    Adagio in G minor
    Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni & Remo Giazotto
  7. 6.
    Elegy for the Arctic
    Elegy for the Arctic
    Ludovico Einaudi