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A person's musical taste can reveal a lot, so imagine how eagerly the Diary waited to hear the tracks chosen by Alison Richard, Cambridge University's vice-chancellor, on Desert Island Discs this week on Radio 4.

Predictably, half her eight choices were classical. Professor Richard showed her institutional loyalty by choosing Once in Royal David's City performed by the choir of King's College, Cambridge, and her urbanity by selecting a Miles Davis track. But could her staff have anticipated two songs from her early student protest days - the Rolling Stones' Sympathy for the Devil and Creedence Clearwater Revival's Lookin' out My Backdoor?

diary@thes.co.uk