The Today programme’s love affair with the counterculture continues. Sarah Montague interviews the widow of Neal Cassady (aka “Dean Moriarty”) on the 50th anniversary of Kerouac’s “On The Road“, the hippie handbook written in the Beat Age. “It must have been quite a life to be part of this amazing gang” she gushed. Carolyn Cassady seemed less starry-eyed. “Well, it was hard for Neal to see Jack drinking himself to … Continue reading →

, an article by John Simpson, as part of their ‘From our own correspondent’ series, reflecting on his feelings about the incidents he reports on in light of the recent birth of his son, Rafe. Simpson writes: And to see the miracle of other people’s lives snuffed out wantonly on the streets of Baghdad or Kabul, or London for that matter, for some scarcely understood political or religious motive, seems … Continue reading →

Please use this thread for BBC-related comments and analysis. Please keep comments on other threads to the topic at hand. N.B. this is not (and never has been) an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or use as a chat forum. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog. Please scroll down to find new topic-specific posts. Click through to read and contribute comments on this … Continue reading →

has written BBC Warning Service – Round-up for Pregnant Women on her blog, drawing attention to a laundry-list of BBC warnings (also known as scare stories) for pregnant women – the usual stuff: watch out for this, do this, don’t do that, etc. etc. Pregnant women aren’t the only people who need to beware of the incessant scaremongering and social engineering promulgated by the many idle hands at BBC Views … Continue reading →

, with tonight’s episode, Guns, Gangsters, and Getaways: The Story of the British Crime Thriller, described in Radio Times as follows: There are some tremendous thrillers here – Brighton Rock, Mona Lisa, Get Carter – but I hope you’ve seen them all, because if you haven’t, there’s little point in hiring the DVDs. Crucial plot details and endings are all given away. Even actual closing scenes (Get Carter) are fully … Continue reading →

, former BBC Business Editor in today’s Daily Telegraph. Here are some highlights, first, Randall on the culture of the BBC: In a commercial organisation, these undesirables would be driven out by market forces. The yardstick of success and failure provided by profit and loss is a visible reminder of whether you are winning or losing. When results are poor, or mistakes are made, heads roll. A line is drawn … Continue reading →

conflict of interest from yesterday, Biased BBC reader ‘Al the Hat’ coments: A few weeks ago, Radio 5 Live had an extensive discussion on who should replace Michael Vaughan as captain of the England one day cricket team. Guest and former England cricketer Alec Stewart made a long and considered argument in favour of Paul Collingwood, without feeling the need to tell us that he is, in fact, Collingwood’s agent. … Continue reading →

On Saturday Anonanon commented: On this morning’s Breakfast “writer and broadcaster” Simon Fanshawe used his post-7am newspaper review to make overtly pro-Labour, anti-SNP and anti-Tory comments. When Iain Dale does the papers for the BBC his Tory party affiliation is mentioned without fail, but Fanshawe’s Labour activism is ignored. In fact, when it comes to declaring his interests Fanshawe seems to have been granted immunity by his long-time employer [the … Continue reading →

this afternoon about a BBC News Twenty-Bore reporter asking: “What have you got to say about reports that people are selling bottled water AT A PROFIT from the side of the road?” Which is of course shocking – shocking that the Beeboids should make such an assumption – how are they to know what the costs are of providing bottled-water at the side of the road? Perhaps those selling bottled … Continue reading →