John Humphrys: The Terrier of Today, in conversation with Justin Webb
[{"sender": "info@intelligencesquared.com", "recipients": ["jeevacation@gmail.com"], "timestamp": "7/9/2019 6:31:56 AM", "subject": "John Humphrys: The Terrier of Today, in conversation with Justin Webb", "body": "John Humphrys:\nThe Terrier of Today\n\nADD TO CALENDAR\nWEDNESDAY 9TH OCTOBER, 7PM\nEMMANUEL CENTRE\nFeaturing John Humphrys and Justin Webb\nBUY TICKETS\n‘I’m not sure I’d like me if I was listening to me.’ – John Humphrys\n\nJohn Humphrys is the Radio 4 Today programme presenter, whose forensic and sometimes aggressive interviews with figures in authority inspire love and loathing in equal measure. The Observer’s television critic once wrote that if he ever found himself sitting next to Humphrys at a dinner party he would probably drive a fork through his hand. The Tory politician Jonathan Aitken accused him of ‘poisoning the well of democratic debate’, a comment which prompted an outburst of support for Humphrys, with the Daily Mail describing him as ‘one of the most brilliant journalists in the country’.\n\nThis autumn, as Humphrys steps down after 32 years at Today and publishes a long-awaited memoir, he comes to the Intelligence Squared stage to give an exclusive, behind-the-scenes account of his extraordinary career.\n\nTurning the tables on Humphrys and pitching the questions will be his Today colleague Justin Webb. Humphrys will recount the momentous episodes of his career, such as his interview with BBC correspondent Andrew Gilligan in 2003. Gilligan claimed that the government had deliberately ‘sexed up’ the dossier on the threat posed by Saddam Hussein in order to justify the Iraq War. A chain of events ensued, including the suicide of the dossier’s source, Dr David Kelly, severe damage to Tony Blair’s reputation and the Hutton and Chilcot inquiries into the war. And then there was the time Humphrys helped to get his own boss fired. His tough interview with the BBC Director General George Entwistle, days after the BBC had made false child abuse allegations against Lord McAlpine, lead to Entwistle’s resignation after a mere 53 days in the job.\n\nJoin us on October 9 and hear Humphrys’ previously untold stories about politicians, celebrities and the BBC, and give his trenchant views on the role of the media in politics and the health of our political system.\n\nJohn Humphrys\nAward-winning journalist who has been one of the presenters of BBC Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme Today since January 1987. During his career with the BBC, he has also worked as a foreign correspondent in both America and Africa, as well as being a diplomatic correspondent and presenter of the Nine O'Clock News. He has presented Panorama, fronts On the Ropes on Radio 4 and presents Mastermind on BBC Two. His has written two books on the English language, Lost For Words: The Mangling and Manipulating of the English Language and Beyond Words: How Language Reveals the Way We Live Now.\n\nJustin Webb\nOne of the presenters of Radio 4’s Today programme. He was the BBC’s North America Editor for 8 years, covering the 9/11 attacks and the election of President Obama. He writes regularly for the Radio Times and reviews books for the Sunday Times.\n\nJeffrey Sachs on the End of American Supremacy\n\nLast month we were joined onstage by the University of Columbia economics professor Jeffrey Sachs, as he laid out his radical new vision for U.S. foreign policy. Instead of a world where America reigns as the sole superpower, Sachs argued for a new international system of equals, where America shares power and collaborates with former geopolitical rivals to solve today’s global crises.\n\nSachs was in conversation with the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet.\nLISTEN NOW"}]