Fist Emoji, Flag Emoji, Fire Emoji (with Ava Santina Evans)

Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language.

Following the remarkable security breach dubbed 'Signalgate', Helen and Armando are joined by political editor of Politics Joe, Ava Santina Evans, to discuss how casualness has crept into political communication. Is it a threat? Is it just cringe? And why oh why do we still use the suffix 'gate' for a scandal, given its origins are over 50 years old?

Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45am on Radio 4 and then head straight to BBC Sounds for an extended episode.

Have you stumbled upon any perplexing political phrases you need Helen and Armando to decode? Email them to us at [email protected]

Sound Editing by Charlie Brandon-KingProduction Coordinator - Katie BaumExecutive Producer - Pete Strauss

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4.An EcoAudio Certified Production.

In this new series, Helen Lewis and Armando Iannucci investigate which political buzzwords are strong and stable and which are a crock of covfefe.

Each week Helen and Armando will crack open the political phrasebook and attempt to decode the doublespeak. Why does everything now have to be 'turbo-charged'? What's the difference between a 'pledge' and a 'mission'? Why has my local MP been 'weaponised' and should I be worried?

You'll be treated to a crash course in the dark arts of political language from two people both baffled and beguiled by it. They'll walk you through the various verbal fiascos of the modern political lexicon so that by the end you'll be oven-ready for an appearance on Newsnight.

Warning: this podcast features strong political language that some listeners may find nonsensical.

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.

• No. of episodes: 27
• Latest episode: 2025-04-24
• Comedy

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