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John Humphrys: The Terrier of Today, in conversation with Justin Webb

Politics &
Economics

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In October 2019, as Humphrys stepped down after 32 years at Today, he came to the Intelligence Squared stage to give an exclusive, behind-the-scenes account of his extraordinary career.

‘I’m not sure I’d like me if I was listening to me.’ – John Humphrys

In September 2019 John Humphrys left the Radio 4 Today programme after 32 years of forensically grilling figures in authority. As a presenter, he inspires 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’.

In autumn 2019, as Humphrys stepped down after 32 years at Today and published a long-awaited memoir, A Day Like Today, he came to the Intelligence Squared stage to give an exclusive, behind-the-scenes account of his extraordinary career.

Turning the tables on him and pitching the questions was his former Today colleague Justin Webb.

Join 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.

Speakers for the motion

  • John Humphrys

    Award-winning journalist and presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme

Chair

  • Justin Webb

    Presenter on BBC Radio 4's Today programme and author of the memoir The Gift of a Radio: My Childhood and other Train Wrecks

Speakers are subject to change.

Speakers

Speaker

John Humphrys

Award-winning journalist and presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme

Award-winning journalist who first presented Today in January 1987. In his 50 years at the BBC he was also their youngest television foreign correspondent and served in Washington during the Watergate years and southern Africa during apartheid and the Rhodesian war. He presented the Nine o’Clock news on BBC1 for six years and has also presented Panorama and On the Ropes on Radio 4. He has chaired Mastermind since 2003. He’s written eight books, and memoir A Day Like Today, which was published in October 2019.
Chair

Justin Webb

Presenter on BBC Radio 4's Today programme and author of the memoir The Gift of a Radio: My Childhood and other Train Wrecks

One of the presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He was the BBC’s North America Editor for eight 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. His memoir The Gift of a Radio: My Childhood and other Train Wrecks was published in 2022.  

 

Speakers are subject to change.