Strong Message Here Podcast By BBC Radio 4 cover art

Strong Message Here
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In this new series, Helen Lewis and Armando Iannucci investigate which political buzzwords are strong and stable and which are a crock of covfefe.

Each week Helen and Armando will crack open the political phrasebook and attempt to decode 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 two people 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.

Warning: this podcast features strong political language that some listeners may find nonsensical.

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4.

(C) BBC 2025
Episodes
  • Strong Recommend: Every Living Thing by Jason Roberts

    Strong Recommend: Every Living Thing by Jason Roberts
    Jul 17 2025

    This week, Helen picks a book she's enjoyed recently. Jason Roberts' book from this year, Every Living Thing, details Carl Linnaeus and Du Buffon's attempts at taxonomy.

    The naming conventions of various parts of our world have informed so much of our lives. From what we call different animals and plants, to how relatively arbitrary classification of human races may have helped justify the slave trade.

    Join Helen and Armando over the summer for more cultural recommendations, available weekly on BBC Sounds.

    Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls Executive Producer: Pete Strauss Sound Editing: Chris MacLean Recorded at The Sound Company

    Strong Message Here: Strong Recommend is produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies, and is a BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4.
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    8 mins
  • Strong Recommend: The Ballad of Wallis Island

    Strong Recommend: The Ballad of Wallis Island
    Jul 14 2025

    To start off this mini-series, Armando picks a film he's enjoyed recently. Tim Key and Tom Basden's hit film The Ballad of Wallis Island started life as a short film, and has won plaudits for its offbeat, funny and warm story. How do films get made, when is the British film industry at his best, and what makes a film like this so special?

    Join Helen and Armando over the summer for more cultural recommendations, available weekly on BBC Sounds.

    Production Coordinator: Sarah Nicholls Executive Producer: Pete Strauss Sound Editing: Chris Mac Recorded at The Sound Company

    Strong Message Here: Strong Recommend is produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies, and is a BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4.
    Show more Show less
    9 mins
  • We Haven't Always Told Our Story as Well as We Should

    We Haven't Always Told Our Story as Well as We Should
    Jul 3 2025

    This week, Helen and Armando look back at a year of the Labour government. What language has come out of if, and why is it struggling to define itself?

    Looking at phrases from the year, like "The tepid bath of managed decline" and "National Health Recovery Mission Champions", does their language connect, and are there opponents any better?

    Strong Message Here will be back on Radio 4 in September, but subscribe to BBC Sounds to hear Helen and Armando over the summer in Strong Message Here: Strong Recommend; a series of short episodes with their language-based cultural recommendations.

    Have you stumbled upon any perplexing political phrases you need Helen and Armando to decode? Email them to us at strongmessagehere@bbc.co.uk

    Sound Editing by Chris Maclean Production Coordinator - Sarah Nicholls Executive Producer - Pete Strauss

    Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Audio production for Radio 4. An EcoAudio Certified Production.
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    32 mins
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