Women With Balls: Sam McAlister

Best of the Spectator

The Spectator

Society & Culture, News Commentary, News, Daily News

4.3 • 826 Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2023

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sam McAlister is a producer and author of Scoops: The BBC's Most Shocking Interviews from Prince Andrew to Steven Seagal. When she worked for Newsnight, she was the producer who secured the infamous interview with Prince Andrew, conducted by Emily Maitlis. This interview eventually led to Prince Andrew being suspended from public duties and stepping back from all of his patronages. McAlister is now being portrayed by the actress Billie Piper in a coming Netflix adaptation of the Prince Andrew interview.

On the episode, she tells Katy about coming from a 'grafting, entrepreneurial' family and how that informed her competitiveness; her brief career in law; and the behind-the-scenes story of how she secured the interview.

Produced by Natasha Feroze and Cindy Yu.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This episode is sponsored by Can Accord Genuity Wealth Management, experienced wealth managers who go above and beyond to guide and support you.
0:08.5	Can Do is more than just an attitude. Can Do is navigating today for a brighter tomorrow.
0:13.9	Visit canduwealth.com.
0:19.7	Hello and welcome to Women with Balls, where I Katie Balls, speak to today's trailblazers.
0:24.9	My guest today was born in Guildford. As a bright spark, she was the first in her family to go to university,
0:30.4	where she trained to be a criminal barrister. However, she then took a career change and decided the fast-paced
0:35.9	feels and newsroom was for her.
0:42.0	She became a reporter before moving to Newsnight, where she spent several years as a special guest producer.
0:43.4	In this role, my guest secured some of the highest profile interviews the BBC has covered,
0:48.5	from President Clinton to Elon Musk and that famous interview with Prince Andrew, or perhaps
0:53.2	infamous.
0:54.4	Now she has left the BBC and written her memoir, Scoops, behind the scenes of the BBC's
0:59.3	most shocking interviews, which is coming soon to Netflix. My guest today is Sam McAllister.
1:05.2	Sam, is there anything I just said that was defamatory wrong?
1:08.3	Completely correct, and nothing defamatory, I'm afraid.
1:11.1	Okay, we'll try harder.
1:12.2	We've got about half an hour.
1:14.6	So to begin on this podcast, Sam, we ask all our guests the same question, which is, would
1:19.2	you describe yours as a happy childhood?
1:21.6	Yeah, absolutely.
1:22.8	I love this question.
1:23.7	I think it's a great thing because I think it's a foundation.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Spectator, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Spectator and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.