Mugshots with Michael Crick

Podmasters

How much do we really know about the people who make the headlines? In a provocative new podcast series, the acclaimed BBC, C4 and Newsnight journalist Michael Crick delves into the backgrounds of major figures ranging from Paul Dacre to Angela Rayner to Gary Neville. He talks to the people who know them best to find out what shaped them, what they believe… and what they really want.

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Episodes

A taster of CRIME SCENE, our new podcast – Episode 1: Guns of London

Because you enjoyed Mugshots, we thought you might be interested in a bite-sized sample of CRIME SCENE, the brand new podcast from Podmasters. Every week ex-Met Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe and former Mirror editor Alison Phillips lift the lid on how criminal investigations really work. In our debut episode: The horrific shooting of an innocent nine-year-old girl in Dalston in 2024 laid bare bitter rivalries between London’s armed gangs. Are police they fighting a losing battle against...

May 01, 2025•13 min•Season 2Ep. 2

Podmasters presents a brand new podcast - This Is Not A Drill

From the producers of Mugshots - a brand new show looking at the tectonic shifts in global power occurring right before our eyes, called This Is Not A Drill. Presented by ex-BBC News host and Washington correspondent Gavin Esler with a series of co-hosts including Oz Katerji, This Is Not A Drill takes a look at the expanding threats to global stability from Ukraine to the Middle East to China; exploring the dangers, corruption, conflicts and power struggles happening around the world. New episod...

Nov 30, 2023•10 min•Season 2Ep. 1

Sir Keir Starmer: Labour’s ruthless rescuer

The man who could be Britain’s next prime minister remains a mystery to many. What drives Keir Starmer? Where does that combination of bland amiability and ruthlessness towards the Left come from? And can he prove that competence matters more than charisma? Michael Crick talks to two people who knew Starmer well – Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy and barrister Prof Bill Bowring – to delve into his past in the legal profession. What makes Keir Starmer tick? “He’s had to resurrect from the grav...

Apr 11, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 8

Sir Jim Ratcliffe: The mogul who wants Man United

“Rich, powerful, ruthless…” Once named Britain’s richest man, billionaire Jim Ratcliffe built his chemical empire Ineos from nothing into a £65bn business. He’s aggressively pro-Brexit and pro-fracking, he humiliated the Unite union in the Grangemouth industrial dispute… and now he wants to buy Manchester United. What drove the lad from a Failsworth council estate to become so powerful? How did he turn Ineos into a giant? And what can Man United expect from him if his bid is successful? Michael ...

Apr 03, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 7

Ron DeSantis: The man to stop Trump?

Once a Trump loyalist, Florida’s combative governor Ron DeSantis is now favourite to take the Republican Presidential nomination from his former patron. Running on an explosive cocktail of culture war issues and hardline governance, he could become the first Florida-born President. But what does DeSantis want? Could he defeat Trump and then Biden? And would a President DeSantis abandon Ukraine? Michael Crick talks to Peter Feaman, a Republican lawyer who represents Florida on the RNC; Professor ...

Mar 27, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 6

Kemi Badenoch: The Strange Rise of A Tory Secret Weapon

A rising star among young Tories, Kemi Badenoch has made a name on the Tory Right as an aggressive culture warrior by stoking controversy on race and trans rights. But she’s a mystery too, an ambitious player with powerful sponsors. How did Badenoch’s Nigerian childhood, her time in banking, and her early days in the Tory Party shape her? And where is Kemi Badenoch going next? Michael Crick talks to Tory insiders – peers Stephen Greenhalgh and Tony Sewell and backbencher Danny Kruger – about the...

Mar 20, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 5

Vladimir Putin: The Sphinx of the Kremlin

Michael Crick profiles the people who shape our world. This time: Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has unmasked him as a paranoid autocrat and a probable war criminal. But for much of his career the Russian leader was an unreadable mystery. The West thought it could manipulate this former KGB/FSB officer… yet he ended up manipulating them. What made Putin so effective? And where will his brutal adventures end? Michael Crick looks at the making of a tyrant with former NATO Secretary General L...

Mar 06, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 5

Jürgen Klopp: The seven year hitch

Michael Crick profiles the people who shape our world. This time: Charismatic, relentless and sometimes eccentric, manager Jürgen Klopp transformed Liverpool FC’s fortunes, bringing the club its first title in 30 years and restoring it reputation. But the team has stumbled badly this season. Can Klopp turn it around? Michael Crick explores the mind and motivation of one of football’s greatest managers with journalists James Pearce and Raphael Honigstein, and former Liverpool chief executives Pet...

Feb 27, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 3

Angela Rayner: Labour’s working class hero

Michael Crick profiles the people who shape our world. This time: Angela Rayner overcame horrendous poverty to become Labour’s Deputy Leader and now a potential future Prime Minister. Pregnant and thrown out of the family home at 16, she nevertheless fought her way to the Labour’s commanding heights. What built Angela Rayner’s formidable personality? And what does she want? Michael Crick speaks to friends and colleagues from her early days up to her Shadow Cabinet years to uncover a remarkable s...

Feb 20, 2023•41 min

Paul Dacre: Dark Lord of the Mail

In-depth profiles from award-winning journalist Michael Crick, formerly of Newsnight, Panorama and Channel 4. In our first edition: Few newspaper editors wield as much power as the Daily Mail’s Paul Dacre. Feared and courted by politicians, he has imposed his singular vision of Britain on successive governments – while sometimes stretching the law in pursuit of justice. What makes Dacre tick? What does he want? And how might this epic career end? WARNING: Contains explicit language. “The problem...

Feb 13, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 1

Mugshots Trailer

Jan 31, 2023•3 min

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