Bonus Q&A: Swearing, spin and social media
Radical with Amol Rajan
BBC
4.5 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 26 October 2024
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this bonus episode, Nick and Amol answer more of your questions. How much power does a political spin doctor have? How do journalists look after their mental health? And what happens if a guest swears on air?
If you have a question you’d like to Nick and Amol to answer, get in touch by sending us a message or a voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346 or email us on today@bbc.co.uk
Subscribe to The Today Podcast on BBC Sounds so you don’t miss an episode. You can also listen any time on your smart speaker by saying “Smart Speaker, ask BBC Sounds to play The Today Podcast.”
The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson, both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the UK’s most influential radio news programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.
The producer is Hatty Nash, the senior producer is Lewis Vickers, research and digital production from Joe Wilkinson. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths. Technical production from Hannah Montgomery.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We get it. Life is busy. You want to keep up with the news, but there's just too much going on. |
| 0:06.9 | Which is where Newscast comes in. We do the work, and when you're ready to dig deeper into the day's news, you just pop us into your ears. |
| 0:14.8 | It does mean we have to put in the hard work, though. |
| 0:17.5 | Listen to Newscast every day on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:25.5 | BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. Nick, |
| 0:30.5 | I know I say it before. In fact, I keep banging on about it, but we do have a fantastic community of listeners, very clever, very engaged, very connected to us here. And we asked them to send in their questions last week. |
| 0:38.6 | And goodness me, they have delivered. |
| 0:40.6 | Does that mean what I think it means? |
| 0:42.2 | Another bonus Q&A episode? |
| 0:44.4 | You know what, Nick? |
| 0:45.0 | Not for the first or last time. |
| 0:46.5 | You're absolutely right. |
| 0:48.1 | Let's do it. |
| 0:48.6 | We're... Hello, it's Amol. |
| 1:03.2 | All right, straight into it, this episode. |
| 1:05.8 | All these podcasts belong to you, but these in particular. |
| 1:09.0 | This is from Tom, who's in Derby, and he's got a question |
| 1:12.8 | about Westminster Spin. Hi, Nicola Moll. Thanks for the podcast. Absolutely love listening each week. |
| 1:19.7 | I've recently started rewatching the thick of it on EyePlayer and marveling at the mastery of |
| 1:27.2 | Malcolm Tucker and his interaction with the media. |
| 1:30.3 | And whilst I know that this is fictionalised and overplayed, what I am interested in is how possible it is in today's social media age |
| 1:41.3 | for a spin doctor to really get their head around the newsroom before news is |
... |
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