The News Agents

Latest Episodes:

Northern Ireland: Brexit's biggest headache Jan 12, 2023

Show notes

Keir Starmer is heading to Belfast and believes his party can help unlock the stalemate there. What does it take to make Brexit's biggest headache - the question of Northern Ireland - go away?

And could you explain it if you needed to ? We set Lewis Goodall to the challenge with a list of banned words...

And Tony Blair's former Chief of Staff in No.10, Jonathan Powell, helps demystify one of the sharpest political thorns in the British Isles.

Socials: Georgia Foxwell

Video: Will Gibson-Smith

Planning: Alex Barnett

Production: Gabriel Radus

Editor: Tom Hughes

For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The News Agents is executive produced by Dino Sofos.

Partygate: The Hangover Jan 11, 2023

Show notes

If you thought it was safe to go back to The Twiglets - hang fire.

New revelations about what Boris Johnson knew - and what he said - have emerged which throw the inquiry into whether he misled Parliament into focus.

We ask Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan whether she's ready for a Boris return, whether her Online Safety Bill would make people any safer, and what she makes of Elon Musk at the helm of Twitter.

Socials: Georgia Foxwell

Video: Will Gibson-Smith

Planning: Alex Barnett

Production: Gabriel Radus

Editor: Tom Hughes

For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The News Agents is executive produced by Dino Sofos.

Rishi Sunak Goes Private (Jet) Jan 10, 2023

Show notes

Do we mind if our Conservative prime minister takes a private jet (to Leeds), if has a private GP, if sends his kids to private school? Are you outraged or happy that he's using his time (and frequently his own money) more efficiently?

We discuss. Also, Kevin McCarthy now finally controls the US House of Representatives for the Republicans. What will change on their international commitments? Will less spending reach Ukraine as a result?

Socials: Georgia Foxwell

Video: Will Gibson-Smith

Planning: Alex Barnett

Production: Gabriel Radus

Editor: Tom Hughes

For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The News Agents is executive produced by Dino Sofos.

Armando Iannucci on the prince, politicians and being a 'spare' Jan 09, 2023

Show notes

The creator of The Thick of It, Veep and Alan Partridge Armando Iannucci joins us to talk about the current state of politics and his popularisation of its dirty underbelly. Jon and Emily disagree about Harry’s attack on the media. And we discuss the attempt to upend democracy in Brazil and its echoes of Jan 6th riots, just over two years ago.

Socials: Georgia Foxwell

Video: Will Gibson-Smith

Planning: Alex Barnett

Production: Gabriel Radus

Editor: Tom Hughes

For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The News Agents is executive produced by Dino Sofos.

AUDIO CREDIT:

Veep, HBO Entertainment

The Thick of IT, BBC Productions

What's Harry's endgame? Jan 06, 2023

Show notes

Prince Harry has taken aim at the Palace in his new memoir ‘Spare’. Is the institution of the monarchy working for those born into it, or for us? And how does this very public family feud end?

And the US Congress remains in gridlock after representatives failed to elect a speaker for the eleventh time (and counting). On the second anniversary of the January 6th insurrection, Lewis asks how much this is a product of Trump-era politics, and speaks to his former Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney about whether the Republican party are split beyond repair.

Socials: Georgia Foxwell

Video: Will Gibson-Smith

Production: Gabriel Radus & Ellie Clifford

Editor: Tom Hughes

For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The News Agents is executive produced by Dino Sofos.

Starmer, strikes and Shapps Jan 05, 2023

Show notes

Keir Starmer says you can’t legislate your way out of a dispute with new laws against strikes.

But today on the News Agents we hear from the cabinet minister in charge of industrial relations.

Grant Shapps says it’s all about ensuring “minimum safety [and service] levels”. What does that even mean? And how does that work when we haven’t got enough people on the frontline anyway?

We discuss.

Socials: Georgia Foxwell

Video: Will Gibson-Smith

Planning: Alex Barnett

Production: Gabriel Radus

Deputy Editor: Tom Hughes

Executive Producer: Dino Sofos

For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Channel 4 Privatisation is OFF: The Scoop Jan 04, 2023

Show notes

A letter sent from Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was intercepted by our very own Lewis Goodall before it was ever made public.

In it, she sets out her reasons for ditching Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries' plan to privatise Channel 4. Cue sighs of relief at Channel 4 and howls of frustration from a previous culture secretary who saw her own work being undone. We discuss what the move says about this government's direction of travel - and take in Rishi Sunak's first big speech of 2023.

Also - what on earth is going on in the US Congress? Absolute scenes as the Republicans struggle to complete the first and fundamental act of Congress: the formality of choosing a Speaker of the House.

Socials: Georgia Foxwell

Video: Will Gibson-Smith

Planning: Alex Barnett

Production: Gabriel Radus

Deputy Editor: Tom Hughes

Executive Producer: Dino Sofos

For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

The collapse of the NHS Jan 03, 2023

Show notes

For months - maybe years - we've talked about the NHS being at breaking point. 'On the brink'. 'On the edge'. Is it not time to admit the system itself is now broken?

Today, we hear your experiences -our News Agents - with stories from the NHS frontline. The surgeon who tells us cupboards are now being used as examination cubicles because there are no beds and no privacy on the wards.

The sister of an ill family member who watched a man suffering all the symptoms of a stroke in A and E with no one around to help him.

How much of this comes down to funding? How much to decline? How much to a failure of social care to pick up where the emergency services leave off? We discuss...

Socials: Georgia Foxwell

Video: Will Gibson-Smith

Planning: Alex Barnett

Production: Gabriel Radus

Deputy Editor: Tom Hughes

Executive Producer: Dino Sofos

For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

2022 in review, Part II: The King, 3 PMs and a failed president Dec 28, 2022

Show notes

Emily, Jon and Lewis review 2022; at home and abroad.

You know about the prime ministers and the monarchs and the presidents, but what’s going on beneath the headlines this year? The News Agents discuss a realignment in politics over the course of the last six months and ask if a new normalisation is here to stay. Does anything about how this year is ending presage what is to come in 2023?

Plus - listener questions and some more special 'guest' appearances.

Socials: Georgia Foxwell

Video: Will Gibson-Smith

Production: Gabriel Radus

Deputy Editor: Tom Hughes

Executive Producer: Dino Sofos

For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.

Christmas Special with Nigella Lawson & Ruth Rogers Dec 22, 2022

Show notes

For the first time since 2019 Christmas is looking “normal “. What have we learnt from Covid, the food crisis and the evolution of how and what we consume?

Emily and Jon talk to two of the most famous chefs in the world about what’s on their mind this Christmas.

Socials: Georgia Foxwell

Video: Will Gibson-Smith

Production: Dino Sofos

Executive Producer: Dino Sofos

For exclusive daily videos from The News Agents visit Global Player: https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

You can watch our interviews in full at https://www.globalplayer.com/videos/brands/news-agents/the-news-agents/

The News Agents is a Global Player Original and a Persephonica Production.