In the Public Interest?
Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language.
Hot mics, leaks, tell-all books. We find out a lot about how politicians talk in private. How does it differ from their public pronouncements? And are politicians less careful about how they come across in public these days? Helen and Armando survey the lay of the linguistic land.
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.
Strong Message Here
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: 37
- Latest episode: 2025-07-03
- Comedy
Where can you listen?
