Roger Bolton's Beeb Watch
Jonathan Dimbleby, veteran broadcaster, on unravelling historical myths, democracy's fragility, and long-form interviewing
Published: 24 April 2025 at 00:10 Europe/London
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Episode notes
Jonathan Dimbleby is a veteran British broadcaster known for his long-form interviews on BBC and ITV, and as host of Radio 4’s Any Questions.
In this episode, we discuss his latest book on World War II, the use of a journalistic background in writing history, challenging historical myths, the ‘special relationship’ between the US and Britain, the rise of populism and parallels between current political trends and historical threats to democracy, the critical role of public service broadcasting, the decline of the long-form interview, and why, after an organiser of a meeting of Jews associated with Belsen extended an invitation to Jonathan to speak, “we ended up mutually agreeing that I wouldn't speak at this occasion.”
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