Jerry Springer

Kirsty Young's castaway is the talk show host Jerry Springer. His life has been split between serving the public and outraging them. His first career was in politics where, as a life-long Democrat, one of his early jobs was working with Bobby Kennedy. Then he found global fame with his controversial TV programme, The Jerry Springer Show. He says that in politics and in his TV show, he is always on the side of the powerless and disenfranchised. It's a philosophy, he says, he learned from his parents. They were among the last Jews to escape from Berlin in August 1939 and their memories and fears of that time shaped the entire family.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler Book: Photo album of family & friends Alternative to Bible: Torah Luxury: A cheeseburger machine.