Webchat with Justin Webb on 8th March at 1pm about his new book The Gift of A Radio

[JuliaMumsnet]

Hello

We’re delighted to announce a webchat tomorrow, Tuesday 8 March, with radio presenter Justin Webb about his new book The Gift of A Radio: My Childhood and other Train Wrecks (Penguin 2022). Justin Webb is the longest serving presenter of BBC Radio 4’s flagship news and current affairs programme ‘Today.’ For the best part of four decades, he has been a voice on the airwaves or a presence on our TV screens. Among his awards is Political Journalist of the Year, which he won for his coverage of the Obama presidential campaign. He’s a regular columnist in The Times and for the Unherd website.

The blurb of Justin’s book: “Justin Webb’s childhood was far from ordinary. “The TV news came on and a lugubrious-looking chap in a light coloured suit with a deep, plummy voice said something about the balance of payments. ‘That’s your father’, my mother said, quite unprompted.”

Between his mother’s un-diagnosed psychological problems, and his step-father’s untreated ones, life at home was dysfunctional at best. But with gun-wielding school masters and substandard living conditions, Quaker boarding school wasn’t much better.

And the backdrop to this coming of age story? Britain in the 1970s. Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and Free. Strikes, inflation and IRA bombings. A time in which attitudes towards mental illness, parenting and masculinity were worlds apart from the attitudes we have today. A society that believed itself to be close to the edge of breakdown.

Justin will be joining us live tomorrow, Tuesday 8 March from 1pm for an hour. If you can’t join us then, please do post your question here in advance.

As always, please remember our webchat guidelines - one question per user, follow-ups only if there’s time and most questions have been answered, and please keep it civil. Also if one topic is dominating a thread, mods might request that people don't continue to post what's effectively the same question or point. (We may suspend the accounts of anyone who continues after we've posted to ask people to stop, so please take note.) Rest assured we will ALWAYS let the guest know that it's an area of concern to multiple users and will encourage them to engage with those questions.

Many thanks,
MNHQ

I listen to the Today programme again thanks to you

A question I'm sure you've been asked many times...if you could interview anyone who would it be and why?

@limebasilandmandarin

Hi Justin, thanks so much for doing this chat. Your book is obviously about a pretty brutal and difficult childhood, and tbh before it came out I think because of your professional success and well spoken-ness I would have assumed that you came from a typical privileged background (which is of course my bad). Was part of wanting to write a book with such honesty about your upbringing motivated in any way by countering that sort of perception? Particularly in light of recent attacks on the BBC for being too posh, too nepotistic etc?

honestly: yes! It's not that I am unprivileged -- I had the love of an amazing mother which is privilege enough - but I wanted to point out that we are all of us capable of being seen as much more than the obvious and also - in the case of my mum - that we change over time. She was a snob with a bizarre list of things she thought 'lower middle class' but also a member of Amnesty, a speaker of Spanish, a Quaker. And she reduced the snobbism over time. It's about complexity ...

@Bindles

Hi Justin Great to have you here. Do you get frustrated that you get to interview fascinating guests but have so little time to explore issues? Do you have any control over this? Are there questions you have to get through or can you choose to probe and follow up properly? They are clearly coached to evade the first few attempts to get clarity on sticky issues. I really appreciate your balance of forensic and conversational.

thanks hugely -- and yes. Time is a nightmare. It's a morning thing; we have to press on. As for control - actually we have lots of it over question areas. Nobody tells us what to ask. Evasion is a problem - because we are faced with tetchy interruptions which are horrible to listen to or just guff! I wish they wouldn't do it. Conversational is the ideal but lordy it's tough sometimes to get there

@User237845

I would like to know the answer to the sleep question too please, but my question is:

I admire your ability to sound noncombative, almost chatty, whilst asking incisive, challenging questions. Do you do this naturally or have you had to train yourself not to sound/be more aggressive? I think it is a real gift in an interviewer.

Thanks also for being one of the first in the BBC to question prevailing gender ideology and its threats to women's rights.

ha ha that's very nice of you - I genuinely appreciate it. To be honest radio reveals who you are. I am not aggressive and I have no desire to trap or undermine anyone. I wouldn't be very good at it either! The interest to me is in revealing what people's motives are. Often that means short questions and if they don't dodge them, job done ....

Hello Justin. In light of the horrific events in Ukraine and the bravery of all the journalists working there, and given you've previously been a war correspondent, I wanted to ask what goes through your head and how you make a decision like that - to be a war reporter or to travel to a conflict zone? Of course its so important that there are journalists there reporting on whats happening but i can't imagine how you make the brave decision to be one of those journalists when you know you're potentially travelling into danger.

@BoreOfWhabylon

Welcome Justin!

Who have been your most memorable interviewees? (The good, the bad and the ugly)

Deffo Barack Obama. super cool. When I was finished he said "oh, do you not want me to sign something?" i had only my bits of notes - so he signed the back to my kids, To Clara Martha and Sam, Dream Big Dreams, Barack Obama ..." Leaving out the bad and ugly ... expect to say that theey would be politicians who don't have anything to say ...

@Opal8

I listen to the Today programme again thanks to you

A question I'm sure you've been asked many times...if you could interview anyone who would it be and why?

ha thanks for that. The Queen. We would give her the whole 8.10. All the way to the sport. Start formal and warm up

Well, you can dream ...

@SarahHasaBlackCat

Hi Justin - I'm sorry but I have what seems like a very daft question (its something I always wonder about when I'm listening to the Today programme!). How do you arrange your life to suit the early starts? Do you nap in the afternoon? Do you go to bed at 7pm? And on the days when you're not on does your routine change dramatically?? Thanks! And sorry again that its a bit frivolous...

Hi @SarahHasaBlackCat - not a daft question at all. Not in my home anyway where these things are the subject of constant ineffective tweaking. Or were until I moved to the bottom of the garden. Not permanently but on days I work I now sleep in one of those eco pods that have become quite trendy. It was delivered by crane. My kids were growing up and it was hopeless to ask them to be quiet in the evening - also they were beginning to come in well after midnight so that was even worse. now I go to bed at 8 or so and sometimes sleep quite well. Having said that I do feel constantly jet-lagged and I am not recommending the lifestyle. Those with young kids will recognise it - or older ones who need attention in the night as my type one diabetic son did. Basically I have extended the sleepless years a bit. I don't sleep ever in the day because of the dog, parcels arriving, and a vague feeling that I might not wake up

@Poppies26

Hi Justin, do you still feel that the BBC is anti American in its reporting? Thank you.

I don''t think there is a conscious bias BUT I do think there is a tendency in all European media to see the place as culturally similar to us and thus judgeable by the same standards. Obviously - on guns and much more - that's just not true. I also thinik we need to work super hard to understand the Trump phenomenon and those voters who voted for Obama and Trump - of whom there were a good few million. So not biased but always with work to do to keep exploring

Hi Justin - another one from me. Do you plan meticulously with multiple options for follow up questions or is it all done thinking on your feet?

@chaffinch77

Hello Justin. In light of the horrific events in Ukraine and the bravery of all the journalists working there, and given you've previously been a war correspondent, I wanted to ask what goes through your head and how you make a decision like that - to be a war reporter or to travel to a conflict zone? Of course its so important that there are journalists there reporting on whats happening but i can't imagine how you make the brave decision to be one of those journalists when you know you're potentially travelling into danger.

I am not well qualified to answer this as I don't do it any more but I can tell you that the reason I don't is that I decided I didn't like it. it takes a certain kind of bravery and willingness to put up with extreme uncertainty about your plans to do it. My very good friend Jeremy Bowen (I say in the book we started on the same day) still does it and is driven I think by the knowledge that he has the guts to do it and he feels that what he does makes a difference in the world by shining a light on war. By the way there are also some crazed war junkies but they are generally not good at it because empathy is the key ...

@Clymene

Hi Justin - As you've been presenting Today for so long, how have things shifted now you have more women and people of colour on the team? Do you notice a difference in the way interviewees respond? How does it impact the dynamics of the programme if at all? (sorry, that's two questions!)

yes very much so. When I first worked in the newsroom someone rang and I help up the phone; "it's for bob." Everyone looked round. They were all called Bob! All white all wearing cravats (it was Saturday!). So much has changed and wholly for the better. It gives us a range of experience to call on and a wider perspective. My book is a kind of attack on identity as the only judge of a person but I absolutely get the need for diversity of all kinds ....

@MrsIglesias

Thank you for this Justin. I was interested to hear you went to a quaker boarding school though was sorry to hear it doesn't sound very safe or happy. How do you think your time there influenced who you are as a person and your values? Have you ever practiced quakerism yourself since?

Well, @MrsIglesias I don't actually go to Quaker meetings any more but I have the highest regard for Quakers. It's a serious and thoughtful sect and full of decent people who make a positive difference. I imagine the schools are good too these days - but in the 70s mine was not and I do wonder why that was allowed to be the case. The book is not intended to blame or cry for any kind of reparation or enquiry - it just fascinates me that even the finest of folk were so out of kilter in the 70s with how we'd behave now.

@borntobequiet

Hello Justin. I do appreciate your questioning style on Today - polite but persistent with relatively few interruptions. My question: do politicians in high office (and in general, I suppose) get special training in not answering questions, or do they get to high office through their natural ability to avoid doing so?

It's very much the first. In fact some of the best take no notice and get to high office always saying what they think. Thatcher? Ken Clarke? Tony Benn? Amber Rudd and Diane Abbott more recently. There are lots. The problem is 'professionalisation' so called that makes it all so dull.

Following on from the previous question about war reporting and the current world situation: it's not unusual at the moment for people to ration their intake of the news and to avoid constant coverage whether via 24 hour news or social media, for the good of the mental health.

I presume that isn't really an option for you - do you ever wish it was? And how do you cope with having to have this stuff constantly in your eye-line, as it were?

@ThinWomansBrain

Listening to the Today program's Ukraine coverage this morning, I was struck by how much more powerful narrated descriptions are compared to television news - even without the gory footage & images. How do you feel about the impact of news reporting on radio to television - and which do you prefer?

This fascinates me. Radio paints pictures in your mind - as I say in the book - and that has a power that TV cannot have. TV comes into its own in wars as there is so much to see and so much of it is dramatic but I agree that there is still room for a tight clear description that allows your mind to do the work ...

@FreezerBird

Echoing the points and thanks above on your engagement with issue are single sex spaces etc.

Off-piste and light heartedly, do you have any insights into what on earth has happened to Bath Rugby?! Followed them through the late 80s and early 90s when I lived locally and they were a force to be reckoned with. Started to pick up an interest in club rugby again quite recently and was genuinely shocked...

Not off piste at all!! In fact in the book I talk about going to see them in the John Horton era of the 70s. The effort I was making to understand how to be a man and the examples set (not all good!). There is a view that the training ground is too fancy (it has topiary!) and the life too good -- I just think they have been unlucky with injuries. I also think the season is crazy and the internationals should be moved so that you can watch a whole team playing with all their top people. Gotta say the standard is a million times higher even with the slight issues at the moment than it was in the 70s .....

@Iknowitisheresomewhere

Hi Justin - can I ask how much notice you get about who you will be interviewing and how you prepare for the interviews? I am another fan of your probing questions on questions of single sex spaces.

Hi @Iknowitisheresomewhere The honest answer to this question is 'not enough time' usually at any rate. We sometimes know the night before but usually not. The big challenge is being sufficiently informed and comfortable with a range of subjects that you can use more than just 'read it in the cuttings' information to bring to an interview. Sex/gender is one of those subjects were you can't just start from scratch (believe me I tried ) and you need to have thought a bit about it before. But there are plenty of others also. Having said that the real skill of presenting is not so much your own knowledge but LISTENING to what people say and asking reasonable questions of it. It's oddly difficult.

@Bialystockandbloom

Hello Justin

I'd love to know how much editorial freedom you're allowed on the Today programme. It seems (from you, and Nick Robinson) you are more free from stonewall capture having to stick with party lines than elsewhere within BBC News. Does the editor and production team let you have free rein as presenters?

Heartfelt thanks for the clarity you bring to the sex/gender debate, you cut right through the emotionally manipulative bullshit and obfuscation and get to the heart of the matter each time.

ha well the answer on this is clear. Within the BBC rules you can say what you like and ask what you like. And those rules merely suggest that you must be fair and inclusive of all points of view so it's really not too onerous. The issue is what you take an interest in yourself obviously you can ignore whole aspects of life or - take a great interest in them as I do (and Nick!).

@PigeonLittle

I read your story recently, and look forward to your book, it sounds like you've overcome great adversity. As I get older I am more curious about the artform of radio compared to TV. What's made you stick with radio?

Grateful for your commitment to independent broadcasting. Thank you.

TV is wonderful when it works but radio so much more intimate and satisfying to me. Radio has also - unexpectedly - had a second wind as a result of tech changes so now has mass audiences again and not just on the Beeb. TV reporting is a bit like graffiti -- you daub words onto pictures but the words themselves matter less. Radio takes more doing in that respect. Though my goodness my TV colleagues in Ukraine would point out that TV has an immediacy that radio perhaps lacks ...

@bellinisurge

As 8 March is International Women's Day, how difficult has it been for you to challenge the gender identity belief system in your work on R4? Do you think that your journalism helped unshackle BBC from Stonewall?

To @bellinisurge e and seconder and thirder (!) -- the people who have had the real influence are those like Janice Turner of the Times who have put the opposite view with such force and clarity. That's not really my job but I do think there's a need to explore and probe and - this is the crucial bit - take time to get informed. Too many male journos in particular think this stuff is somehow unimportant or can be left to others to fight over. To me facts are important and sex matters. It's also a huge political hot potato on the left and we ought to be taking an interest in that as well. I hope Stonewall will continue to come on the programme (they did recently) and be treated respectfully but sceptically as all pressure groups should be.

Interesting! It perhaps puts the rest of the 70s in perspective for me... I have another question about writing a book. So much of what you do is spoken: did you find it hard? Or enjoy the change of format?

Hi Justin - I love your style of interviewing and believe it to be far more effective than the hectoring styles of say John Humphries or Jeremy Paxman. Is that a conscious decision that you made? And do you think it's better at eliciting info from politicians than the more combative style of some of your colleagues? It strikes me that one of the reasons why politicians talk in sound bites and just repeat the same thing over an and over again in interviews is because they're terrified of their interviewers - which is not necessarily the best way to hold them to account. Do you have a view on this?

hi Justin! it feels like even though the pandemic is over there's a lot more guests appearing on Today on the telephone/Skype rather than coming into the studio. do you think that makes a big difference to interviews? and how would you weigh up the good (i guess it makes more guests possible?) against the bad (technical difficulties)?