Thom Yorke is Lauren Laverne's castaway on Desert Island Discs

Thom Yorke is the castaway on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 this morning, and the one record he would save from the waves is Talking Heads' “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)”. He first heard Remain in Light at the friend's house where, aged seven, he had lain between the big speakers listening to Queen's “Bohemian Rhapsody” and decided to be a musician. He asked the presenter, Lauren Laverne, for the whole album and settled for its opening track. I'll just have to imagine the rest of the record, won't I?⁹

His book is Shunryu Suzuki's Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, and his luxury a recording studio. His first record is Ravel played by Katia and Marielle Labèque, the sisters he credits with drawing him into classical writing; Don't Fear the Light, his first classical piece, was written for them and had its premiere in Paris in April.

He talks about Rachel Owen, his partner of 23 years and the mother of his children, Noah and Agnes. They met as art students at Exeter and separated in 2015, and she died of cancer in December 2016, aged 48. When the kids' mum died, it was a very difficult period and we went through a lot. It was very hard.² He calls himself a fairly relaxed dad in a semi-chaotic household, proud of them both, and a new partner has brought light into the family's life.

Becoming a father turned his worry about the climate into action, and he went on to work with Friends of the Earth on the campaign for a climate change act. He still has to fly for his work. I totally agree I'm a hypocrite but … what do you want to do about it?¹ The system has to change, he says, and the real action is in parliament and at the UN, now.

When strangers began treating him like a messiah, Yorke would phone Michael Stipe, his hero turned friend, to say he couldn't handle it. Success made him angry and more controlling, and he did not care whom he hurt. Years later I sat down with the guys and apologised.² By the OK Computer sessions things had opened up, and they had the best time making that record.

The eight records