Crisis What Crisis?

My guest for this special episode – talking to me from the world’s crisis capital Kyiv – is BBC broadcaster Jeremy Bowen.
Jeremy’s dramatic dispatches, with his trademark focus on the moving, at times frankly horrific, human stories of loss and despair, have revealed the appalling impact of Russia’s invasion.
This is a truly frontline crisis conversation with a man who felt compelled to put himself in danger once more to tell what he describes as the most important story of his 38year career in news.
A love for, and perhaps even an addiction to, the story is what led him to join the BBC team in Ukraine. As Jeremy played down the risks of his assignment, our pod was interrupted by a tannoy message from the hotel suggesting to guests that they should use the bomb shelter below to stay safe through the night. Jeremy, of course, was having none of it.
In this conversation he gives us his brilliant analysis of how we got here and where this war might take us. But Jeremy also is able to give us a powerful, first-person account of how the people of Ukraine have dealt with an existential crisis for them, their families and for their country. “They are surviving because they are stoic,” says Jeremy.
So, this is a unique episode packed with real-time crisis insight. I hope you enjoy it and we’ll be back with a new series of Crisis What Crisis? soon.
Jeremy and I would ask that that if you find this episode useful please donate to:
https://donation.dec.org.uk/ukraine-humanitarian-appeal
Host – Andy Coulson
Producer – Louise Difford
Full transcript available at: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/ukraine-special-episode-jeremy-bowen-speaks-to-andy-coulson-from-kyiv/

Our guest for this episode of Crisis What Crisis? is one of Britain’s best-known politicians, Michael Gove. A man who has held numerous jobs in Cabinet, working under four Prime Ministers – he is of course now the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
For well over a decade, Michael has been at the heart of a series of political crises, including the forming of the Coalition in May 2010 (when we worked together), Brexit, the pandemic, and more recently the aftermath of the Liz Truss experiment.
In the moments of relative calm, including four years as the Education Secretary, Michael has built a reputation as a politician who gets things done. A fierce intellect coupled with a brilliant sense of humour makes him one of politics’ most engaging and effective operators.
Adopted as a baby, Michael grew up in Aberdeen. Like so many other politicians, including Boris Johnson, he found professional success first as a journalist at the BBC and the Times before deciding that reporting on Westminster was not enough for him.
Michael has a reputation as one of politics’ most courteous individuals, but at times, often at times of crisis, he has also shown himself to put it (as he would, politely) as someone capable of ruthless decision-making.
Full episode transcript available at: https://www.crisiswhatcrisis.com/podcasts/michael-gove-on-being-fired-by-boris-battling-with-the-blob-and-the-day-he-almost-quit-politics/
Michael’s Crisis Comforts:
1. Scotland. I do feel calmer when I get back home. It’s not just seeing my mum, wherever you grew up frames you. So Aberdeen – whether it’s in a nightclub, a pub or walking on the beach.
2. Exercise. I do like dancing but I also like running – I’m not very fast, I’m not very good, I’m not an athlete, but any sort of exertion that takes you out of yourself... going for a run even if it’s just half an hour, just helps to clear your head.
3. A glass of red wine. It has to be after six o’clock in the evening, normally it’s much later. And there’s a particular type of Bordeaux wine – Saint-Julien.
Links:
Michael’s website: https://www.michaelgove.com/
Michael’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/michaelgove?s=20
Michael’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gove2019/
Host – Andy Coulson
CWC production team: Louise Difford, Ed Isaacs and Jane Sankey
With special thanks to Global