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Kate Turkington

Kate Turkington (who holds a First Class Honours degree in English from London University and an MA Cum Laude in African Literature from Wits) is one of South Africa's best-known travellers and travel writers. Her weekly Sunday night 3-hour live Talk Radio 702 / CapeTalk talkshow, Believe It Or Not, turned 14 in August 2006, and is now SA's longest-running radio talkshow with the same host in the same timeslot. She has waltzed at dawn with a Chinese dance instructor in a Beijing square, fallen over Emperor penguins in Antarctica, lunched with a rajah in Rajasthan, dined with the Comrades in Cuba, been winched over a raging torrent 9000ft up in the Andes in Peru, climbed Ayers Rock in the red heart of Australia, broken bread with monks in Tibet's oldest monastery, downed "thumbs" of pepper vodka in Russia and heard the stars sing in the Kalahari... and of course, lots, lots more...

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PROFILE

What did you want to be when you were little?

A missionary in China (but I used to say this more for the effect it would cause than any real calling!)

What soothes you?

Gently falling rain, a tot of Laphroaig whiskey

What irks you?

Stupid people

Is there a book you read that changed your life?

Not really – I’ve read so many thousands of books and many have made me think more deeply in one way or another.

The music you listen to most often?

Depends on my mood – I love Cuban music, Chinese music, Indian music, and because I interviewed The Beatles when I was with BBC TV, I lo-ove The Beatles!

Who would you go to the ends of the earth for?

Myself… already do it, and intend to keep on doing it – that’s in the literal sense of course.

Who is your greatest source of inspiration?

My mother Doris. I wrote about her in ‘Doing It With Doris’, published by Penguin.

Do you have any 'show off' coffee table books in your home?

No. Because I review books my house is coming down with them. They are there to be read, not to be shown off.

Ever been left speechless on the air?

Not yet...

Who is the one person you would love to interview, but haven't yet had the pleasure?

The Pope – although I have been invited to the Vatican in 2007, so you never know...

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Kate Turkington's Believe It Or Not offers a non-denominational but multi-dimensional approach to philosophic, moral and religious topics and issues drawn from our daily lives. With her extensive travel and intercultural experience, Kate comments on and facilitates lively discussions surrounding values, beliefs and ethics.