Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. Hot mics, leaks, tell-all books. We find out a lot about how politicians talk in private. How does it differ from their public pronouncements? And are politicians less careful about how they come across in public these days? Helen and Armando survey the lay of the linguistic land. Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45am on Radio 4 and then head straight to BBC Sounds ...
Mar 06, 2025•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. Farage says everybody is miserable, Trump says everything is a 'disaster', and Liz Truss chimed in saying Britain is a 'failed state', so Helen and Armando are trying to find out why those who claim to be patriots are keen to talk the country down. And why Starmer and Reeves' downbeat language has had real-life consequences. Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45am on ...
Feb 27, 2025•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, JD Vance sent European leaders into a tailspin with an inflammatory speech at the Munich Security Conference, and Kemi Badenoch made an attention-grabbing speech at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship. Looking at them side-by-side, what does it tell us about the language of the right on both sides of the Atlantic? Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45a...
Feb 20, 2025•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, Starmer has suggested that Britain adopt a 'Build, Baby, Build' strategy. Sound familiar? We thought so too, so Helen and Armando are looking at why politicians copy their opponents. Is it a sign of strength or weakness, and do the public think it sounds convincing? Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45am on Radio 4 and then head straight to BBC Sounds for ...
Feb 13, 2025•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. Why do we know what's going to be in a political speech before it happens? What is 'kiteflying' and 'pitch rolling'? To find out, Helen and Armando are joined by sketch writer for The Critic, Rob Hutton, who has been at more political announcements than he's had hot dinners. What's the best speech he's heard? What's the worst? And who are all those people who turn up to watch the Pr...
Feb 06, 2025•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, Trump has truly settled back into the White House, but is it different this time around? Helen and Armando take a look at how this unique politician uses language to get his way. We also look at Trump Derangement Syndrome - a favourite phrase of the new President to describe his detractors - and how other politicians have changed their tune about Trump since his last term...
Jan 30, 2025•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, Helen and Armando take a deep dive into Mark Zuckerberg's statement which explains the new rules around fact checking and free speech on his Meta platforms. Is free speech really back? Or should we be worried that fact-checkers are a thing of the past? Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45am on Radio 4 and then head straight to BBC Sounds for an extended ep...
Jan 23, 2025•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, after a well-earned week off, Helen and Armando are back to break down how political attacks work. After Kemi Badenoch landed a blow on Keir Starmer calling him 'a lawyer, not a leader', we look at what makes a political attack potent, and crucially, what makes them flop. Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45am on Radio 4 and then head straight to BBC Sound...
Jan 16, 2025•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, Helen and Armando are delving into the email inbox to find out which political phrases have been driving our listeners to distraction. Strong Message here will be back on the 16th January at 9.45am on Radio 4 and then head straight to BBC Sounds for an extended episode. Have you stumbled upon any perplexing political phrases you need Helen and Armando to decode? Email the...
Jan 02, 2025•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a year where Labour secured a 'loveless landslide' in the UK and Trump sealed his return to the White House, Helen and Armando will be 'laser-focused' on their 'mission' to skewer the use and abuse of political language. From 'freebies' to 'fascism', 'weird' to 'working people', all of the strong messages that helped Make 2024 Great Again will be put under the microscope. A witty, illuminating exploration of the verbal tricks of the trade from two people both mesmerised and baffled by our pol...
Dec 20, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, Helen and Armando are having a splash around in the tepid bath of managed decline. When does a phrase become accidentally too evocative? What is the remedy to a tepid bath? And is the desire for 'start up culture' within the government the right thing? Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45am on Radio 4 and then head straight to BBC Sounds for an extended ep...
Dec 19, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, following Keir Starmer's 'Plan for Change', Helen and Armando look at what a reset actually means. From Jaguar's rebrand to Miliband's Ed Stone, do resets work? Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45am on Radio 4 and then head straight to BBC Sounds for an extended episode. Have you stumbled upon any perplexing political phrases you need Helen and Armando to...
Dec 12, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. Following Louise Haigh's resignation and Matt Gaetz's withdrawal from his Attorney General nomination, both said they were 'becoming a distraction', so Helen and Armando dig into the language of the political resignation. Looking at interesting resignations through history, Helen also codifies the archetypes of political resignations, and Armando tells us about seeing a high-profile...
Dec 05, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, we get into the world of political apologies. Why does Starmer keep insisting he makes no apologies for things that no one is actually asking him to apologise for? Is saying something is 'regrettable' really an apology? And why has Mark Zuckerberg decided to stop apologising for Facebook? Listen to Strong Message Here every Thursday at 9.45am on Radio 4 and then head stra...
Nov 28, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, Helen and Armando spend some time trying to understand the 'deep state', and why it's caught on as a political attack. What's the difference between The Movement and The Blob? And who is draining the swamp of what? And is it just a convenient thing to blame for your inability to get things done? Also, you'll find out what music they play in Stalin's bunker as you turn the...
Nov 21, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, as the Democrats lick their wounds, and Kemi Badenoch looks to rebuild her party, we are talking about politicians in 'listening mode'. Who are they listening to? Why weren't they listening sooner? Is it a tick-box exercise, or do they make meaningful changes based off their listening? They also look at Wes Streeting's big public consultation on the NHS, and Elon's plans ...
Nov 14, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, Trump has made his way back to the White House, but will he Make America Great Again? What does that phrase really mean? And how did it become the enduring political message of our times? Helen and Armando examine how political reporters struggle to get answers, and what the effect of this election campaign will have on political language for years to come. A longer versi...
Nov 07, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, as Rachel Reeves delivers the first Labour budget in 15 years, we’re talking about ‘tough decisions'. What’s a tough decision? Why is language around budgets so slippery? And why doesn’t anyone drink at the dispatch box anymore? A longer version, where Armando recalls making The Thick of It during austerity, and discuss whether Ed Miliband was really ’toss enough’ is avai...
Oct 31, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this new series for Radio 4, comedy writer Armando Iannucci and journalist Helen Lewis decode the utterly baffling world of political language. This week, Helen’s eye was caught by the Conservative leadership race, where Robert Jenrick has coined a new nickname for rival Kemi Badenoch. They dig into other examples of political nicknames and name-calling - the good, the bad and the ugly. And more to the point, is this sort of playground behaviour what we expect from our elected officials? A lo...
Oct 24, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Helen Lewis and Armando Iannucci investigate which political buzzwords are strong and stable and which are a crock of covfefe. New episodes are available weekly on Thursdays on BBC Sounds from 24 October, 2024.
Oct 17, 2024•2 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
