When It Hits the Fan 

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BBC Radio 4 FM

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When It Hits the Fan Podcast

When It Hits the Fan

Podcasts

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Factual: Politics

News

Who's in the news for all the wrong reasons? With David Yelland and Simon Lewis.

Inside the world of crisis managers and spin doctors as David Yelland and Simon Lewis watch the week's biggest PR disasters unfold.

Inside the world of crisis managers and spin doctors as David Yelland and Simon Lewis watch the week's biggest PR disasters unfold. In each episode our hosts go behind the scenes of the latest news stories and find out how, where and when it all began to hit the fan. 

When It Hits The Fan is hosted by two of the most influential and experienced people in the game; David Yelland is the former editor of the Sun and alongside him is Simon Lewis, former trouble-shooter for the Queen and Gordon Brown, as well as for major corporations like the Nat West, Vodafone and British Gas. Together they bring decades of experience in both creating and managing crises. They'll share all they know about what's keeping those big stories in and out of the news.

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When It Hits the Fan: Talking crap, car crash interviews and Trident’s plop

Talking crap, car crash interviews and Trident’s plop

BBC Radio 4 - When It Hits the Fan, Talking crap, car crash interviews and Trident’s plop

David and Simon discuss using the word crap, interview walkouts and Trident's failed test.

David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss when calling your share price crap is good PR, walking out of a TV interview and putting a positive spin on Trident’s failed test.

David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss when using the word crap is not a crap comms strategy at all. Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered, used it to describe the bank’s share price and the financial markets loved it. But crap probably wasn't signed off in the preparatory Q&A - David and Simon take us behind the scenes.

Also, a fan-hitter par-excellence, a car-crash interview featuring Brad Banducci, the boss of Australia’s largest supermarket empire, who walked off during a TV interview for the biggest prime time documentary series in Sydney – and now he’s the ex-boss. What could he have done differently? 

Plus, how defence minister Grant Shapps and the MoD put a very positive spin on Trident’s second embarrassing test failure, and the military wives who forced a reverse ferret on the Army's new housing plans.


Producer: Eve Streeter
Editor: Sarah Teasdale
Executive Producer: William Miller
Assistant producer: Sophie Smith
Music by Eclectic Sounds
A Raconteur production for BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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When It Hits the Fan

Talking crap, car crash interviews and Trident’s plop

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