Dr Miriam Stoppard

Dr Miriam Stoppard is a doctor and writer.

Miriam was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1937, the eldest of two girls. She was raised in a strict Orthodox Jewish household and was subjected to antisemitism at her primary school.

A bright girl, she won a scholarship to Central Newcastle High School. It was her father, who worked as a male nurse, who had decreed that his first child – be it a son or a daughter – should become a doctor.

Miriam graduated from medical school in 1961 and spent the next seven years working as a doctor in Newcastle and later Bristol before joining Syntex, a pharmaceutical company. In less than a decade, she worked her way up to become managing director.

After her first marriage had ended in divorce, Miriam married the playwright Tom Stoppard. They had two sons as well as Tom’s two sons from his first marriage.
All the while, Miriam was making a name for herself as a columnist, an author of books focusing on topics including pregnancy, parenting and women’s health. She has published over 80 books which have sold 25 million copies.

Miriam was also a successful television presenter known for programmes including Don’t Ask Me and Woman to Woman for which she interviewed Margaret Thatcher.
Her marriage to Tom Stoppard ended in 1992. She married her third husband, Sir Christopher Hogg, in 1997. They remained together until his death in December 2021.

DISC ONE: Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Orch. Ashkenazy): IX. The Hut on Fowl's Legs \"Baba-Yaga\" – X. The Great Gates of Kyiv. Composed by Modest Mussorgsky and performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)
DISC TWO: Summertime - Miles Davis
DISC THREE: Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys
DISC FOUR: Britten: Four Sea Interludes From Peter Grimes, Op. 33a: III. Moonlight. Composed and conducted by Benjamin Britten and performed by Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
DISC FIVE: Us and Them - Pink Floyd
DISC SIX: Evil Ways - Santana
DISC SEVEN: Losing My Mind - Barbara Cook and New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Paul Gemignani
DISC EIGHT: 4 Letzte Lieder: No. 2, September. Composed by Richard Strauss and performed by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

BOOK CHOICE: The Complete Novels by Flann O’Brien
LUXURY ITEM: A feather pillow
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: 4 Letzte Lieder: No. 2, September. Composed by Richard Strauss and performed by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producers: Tom Alban and Christine Pawlowsky