Secrets of the Red Box
Politics Unpacked
Anna Covell
4.4 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 24 March 2023
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Matt Chorley delves into the history of the iconic Red Box, the symbol of power given to every cabinet minister and prime minister.
We find out what's in them, hear from the man behind the company that makes them, and what they meant to David Cameron, Ed Balls and George Osborne.
Plus: Columnists James Marriott and India Knight discuss Nicola Sturgeon’s farewell speech, how good is artificial intelligence at impersonating a prime minister, and an elaborate practical joke in the Tory MP WhatsApp group.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, this is the Red Box podcast. I'm Matt Charlotte today talking about red boxes. |
| 0:11.0 | Yes, on my Times Radio show, you can listen live, Monday to Friday, 10 to 1 on your DAB radio, |
| 0:16.8 | on your Smart Speaker, or on the Times Radio app, where you can also listen to the Red Box |
| 0:20.5 | podcast. We've been talking about red boxes, the history of red boxes. How are they made? |
| 0:25.3 | And we've been hearing from some of the people who've put work into them and some of the people |
| 0:29.2 | who've taken the workouts and had to actually do it. So, coming up, we'll hear from the man who |
| 0:33.6 | makes red boxes for ministers and the king. And we'll also hear from David Cameron, George |
| 0:39.6 | Osborne, Ed Balls and lots of people who've worked in number 10 about the stresses and strains |
| 0:44.1 | of the red box. So, it's coming up in our big thing in just a moment. But first, as we always do |
| 0:48.4 | on a Friday, it's time for... The Colonists with Night at the Marriott, India Night and James Marriott |
| 0:55.3 | on Times Radio. And we say hello to India Nights. Hello, India Nights. Hello, Matt. How are you? |
| 1:03.8 | I'm very well. How are you? I'm not bad. I'm not bad. And joining me in the studio, he's finally |
| 1:09.7 | got up and got some trousers on. It's James Marriott. How are you? I'm well. Well, seeing |
| 1:13.5 | with my dodgy connection last week, I was accused of making burbling and burbling noises. |
| 1:18.1 | I thought I had to come in in person to make sure that nobody thought that was actually me |
| 1:21.2 | rather than my dodgy phone. So, if we get some burbling and burbling noises today, that is just you. |
| 1:24.8 | Yeah, that will just be me. I can't promise that it won't happen. |
| 1:28.5 | No, thank you. Right. Now, this is great. There's also there's lots to talk about. AI chat |
| 1:36.5 | bots. Will we all be replaced by robots? Can robots do the work of robot? And so, for the times |
| 1:42.8 | of the day, Eugene Smith for Red Box has got an AI chat bot to write a speech for a Prime Minister, |
| 1:50.5 | for a new Prime Minister after the next election. And that he's also asked various other AI |
| 1:55.9 | websites to generate images of what they might look like. So, you go on to the website and have a |
... |
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