John Simpson
The Travel Diaries
Holly Rubenstein
4.5 • 813 Ratings
🗓️ 20 July 2021
⏱️ 59 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, I feel very privileged to be joined by a legend of the broadcasting world. John Simpson has been reporting for the BBC for 51 years, and its World Affairs Editor since 1982, covering in person more major world events than many of us could recount, from the Iranian Revolution and Tianamen Square massacre in Beijing, to the Kosovo War, and the US led invasion of Afghanistan, interviewing the majority of the world’s leaders along the way.
Having broadcast from the front line in over 30 war zones, today’s episode features so many tales of courage, and if you read up on John’s career, really we are only scratching the surface.
We’ll hear about what it was like being smuggled into Afghanistan dressed as a woman, the time he was physically assaulted by a British Prime Minister and his very close shave with the IRA. It’s clear that John also adores travelling and I love that he’s picked really unusual destinations that weren’t necessarily on my radar before, and he’s totally sold me on them.
So from Paris to Iran, Uzbekistan to Argentina, let’s get started.
Destination Recap:
- Suffolk, England
- Casablanca, Morocco
- Belfast, N. Ireland
- Angola
- Paris, France
- Rue de Rivoli, Paris, France
- Baghdad, Iraq
- Afghanistan
- Tehran, Iran
- Isfahan, Iran
- Persepolis, Iran
- Bukhara, Uzbekistan
- Khiva, Uzbekistan
- Qatar
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
And I spoke about:
- Bruton, Somerset, England
- Number One Bruton, Somerset, England
- Osip, Bruton, Somerset, England
- Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, England
- At the Chapel, Somerset, England
John’s novel Our Friends in Beijing is a great read. It’s published by John Murray and is out on Thursday July 22.
Thank you so much for listening today.
If you’re enjoying the podcast, then it would be wonderful if you could leave a rating or a review on your podcast app - it really makes a big difference because it helps other people to discover the podcast. And to hear future episodes as soon as they’re released don’t forget to hit subscribe.
To find out who’s joining me on next week’s episode, come and follow me on Instagram, I’m @hollyrubenstein - I’d love to hear from you.
If you can’t wait until then, there’s always the first four seasons to catch up on, with guests from Michael Palin and Heston Blumenthal, to Sir Ranulph Fiennes to Hugh Bonneville.
A big thank you to the British Airways American Express Card for their support of today’s episode.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Travel Diaries podcast. |
| 0:09.6 | I'm Holly Rubinstein. |
| 0:11.0 | I'm a travel and entertainment journalist. |
| 0:13.4 | And here each week I'll be speaking to a very special guest about the seven chapters in their life's travel diaries. |
| 0:20.7 | From their earliest childhood travel memory and the first place they fell in love with |
| 0:25.2 | to their hidden gem and what's at the top of their travel bucket list, |
| 0:29.4 | we'll be uncovering their adventures around the world |
| 0:32.0 | and the travel experiences and destinations that have shaped their lives. |
| 0:37.4 | Well, I hope that you're all well this week, |
| 0:39.6 | that you've enjoyed the heat wave that is scorching us here in the UK at the moment. Last week, |
| 0:45.4 | my travel diaries were in Cornwall. And this week takes me to one of my hidden gems in the UK, |
| 0:50.8 | somewhere I've been on holiday numerous times. And if you're heading back London |
| 0:54.6 | way, it's a great place to stop off, actually, on the way back from the southwest up to the city. |
| 1:00.2 | A little more than two hours west of London by train. Bruton is a quiet farming town |
| 1:06.0 | in the county of Somerset, or at least it used to be quiet. Over the last few years, creatives have discovered the hamlet and begun converting its |
| 1:15.3 | historic estates into galleries, stylish hotels and incredible restaurants. |
| 1:21.8 | This time around, I stayed at one of the new openings there, number one Bruton, an elegant Georgian townhouse, |
| 1:29.8 | medieval forge and row of cottages that had been beautifully converted into a 12-bedroom hotel, |
| 1:35.1 | all set around the most cute private courtyard. At the heart of the project is a clear |
| 1:39.8 | devotion to Somerset's craft heritage, artistry and culture. And what makes us stay there |
| 1:45.6 | even more exciting is that within the hotel is Ossip, a tiny farm-to-table restaurant run by |
| 1:52.9 | 25-year-old chef Merlin LeBron Johnson, which having only been open a year has just been |
... |
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