Armando Iannucci hosts the programme that gives you a cast-iron guarantee to be laser-focused on decoding the baffling world of political language.
Each week he'll be joined by a guest to crack open the political phrasebook and attempt to demystify 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 people on the inside who are 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.
Armando's erstwhile partner in de-baffling political lexicon, Helen Lewis, is away working in the United States in the autumn and so her seat will be kept warm by a rotating cast of co-hosts.
Listen to Strong Message Here on Thursdays on Radio 4 at 9.45am, and an extended version is available on BBC Sounds.
Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4.
Armando Iannucci hosts the programme that gives you a cast-iron guarantee to be laser-focused on decoding the baffling world of political language.
Each week he'll be joined by a guest to crack open the political phrasebook and attempt to demystify 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 people on the inside who are 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.
Armando's erstwhile partner in de-baffling political lexicon, Helen Lewis, is away working in the United States in the autumn and so her seat will be kept warm by a rotating cast of co-hosts.
Listen to Strong Message Here on Thursdays on Radio 4 at 9.45am, and an extended version is available on BBC Sounds.
Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4.
António Guterres has said that missing the 1.5 degree climate target is "a moral failure and deadly negligence". Is he right?
Dr Matt Winning joins Sara Pascoe and Armando to discuss the language around climate change. Is it proportionately alarmist, or does it just scare us? Are we numb to the jaw-dropping headlines?
Matt has some ideas of how to communicate these complex ideas more succinctly, and tell us of the days spend at COP agonising over whether 'urges' or 'suggests' makes it into an agreement. We also look at how language has been used to put the onus on us, rather than corporations, for waste and pollution, and a Swedish word that should make its way into Keir Starmer's vocabulary.
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 Armando to decode? Email them to us at strongmessagehere@bbc.co.uk
Sound Editing by Chris Maclean Production Coordinator - Jodie Charman Executive Producer - Pete Strauss
Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios production for Radio 4. An EcoAudio Certified Production.