BBC

Tell me what that was like as a person, as a plus one.

So it came out of the BBC radio series.

So Brett and Germaine and Rhys did a radio series on the fly.

And I was pregnant with Finn, so that was like 20 years ago.

I was always the class clown at school and I was very confident with making people laugh.

It was something I was good at.

I grew up watching a lot of BBC comedies with my mum and it was my happy place.

And so when I found that I could possibly do it as a vocation, I jumped at it, you know, and it took years to refine what I would eventually have as a great performance level.

You know, it's I think this is the sentiment that we get caught up in.

And in the meantime, as you just alluded to, we have billions of dollars of deferred maintenance and infrastructure in places across this country.

So you can have all the investment you want coming in and building pipelines and, oh, we should probably talk about airports and what you thought of that thing being thrown in at the last minute.

But at the meantime, you know, if you don't have places where people can live, where the water runs, where the garbage is picked up, as you suggested, and where there's a climate where you can actually start a business, employ folks, you know, then where does that money go? You know, I think my short form of this is that city building, community building is nation building.

Well, what, it's maybe what's not happened.

I mean, I'm supposed to be doing this big swim that we were talking about on yesterday's Newscast-

Yeah

... um, uh, off the west coast of Scotland from a little island to the Isle of Arran.

Thank you very much.

But today we're [laughs] going to be talking about the news that the state pension is likely to top £13,000 a year, and that has really, I don't know, reignited a debate about whether the whole thing is affordable or whether those increases rather are affordable and whether the so-called triple lock is here to stay.

And that's what we're gonna talk about, Alex, isn't it, on this episode of Newscast.

Newscast.

You'd have fucking people with blue airwaves and Palestine flags everywhere if that went out.

It'll be out on BBC.

It's 2026 now.

It's Venezuelan flags now, isn't it? Be the Iran ones next.

Yeah, that was a bit ridiculous.

That's typical BBC, you know what I mean? I'm guessing it was the name, I'm sure it was probably Scott Brown, was it?

No, it was just a comment to that person.

The person who's doing the commentary.

i'll do the honors because i understand audits sometimes hearing can be shaky so i'll do the honors i don't i don't repeat myself on my show but i'll do the honors

you see wait a minute you are asking the questions if you say you don't repeat yourself on your show that's not right BBC trained me, right? If you ask a question and it doesn't go down well or it is not understood by your guest, you repeat it.

It's not a crime.

If BBC

trained you, Al Jazeera trained me.

You understand? Where we learn, where we get our classes from, our lessons from is different.

Have you seen my numbers? This is not living in bondage.

I've been interviewed in very big places.

Top Gear.

BBC are dipping their toes back into the world of Top Gear.

So for those of you who aren't aware, obviously Top Gear, originally running with Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond, when they left, went through a series of rotating hosts and formats and formulas until we landed on the Chris Harris, Paddy McGuinness, Freddie Flintoff series.

Which,

But unfortunately, there was a crash in 2022, I think, which took the programme off air.

They basically told me they were going to arrest it.

There were accusations of safety concerns and the BBC not listening to safety stuff.

I assume various inquiries then happened and found no one at fault because... they're bringing the show back, which tells me that's the thing.

It's already been more than seven years since British high-speed dance music champion Sherelle broke through, quickly becoming a leading figure for a young generation of junglists.

She's since hosted a weekly show on BBC Radio 6, won a Central Mix of the Year, and has put out a number of albums and EPs to critical acclaim.

She's one of this series' most frequent guests, but today she arrives in a different register than the one you might expect from a DJ who's just opened for Skrillex on back-to-back weekends.

This time she's quieter and more deliberate, openly rethinking what a career and a life are actually for.

But I think what's really interesting about your current moment in time and the legacy you're leaving is when you're talking about Scratcher or Bop Bop or the music you love with that volume of passion, you are going to further the conversation to make sure that people don't let these people that we revere fade out.

And on like a micro and a macro level, that is a really good legacy to lead.

Because before we get round to BBC documentaries about Night Slug, before Channel 4 commissioned a five-part series on this, like they have done for other genres, it takes individual momentum to keep that thing going.

Otherwise, it fades out.