John Simpson's World Podcast
Seven days from even the tiniest village, John gets shipwrecked, circled by a hungry jaguar, harpoons monkeys for dinner, dices with piranhas, sips hallucinogenic drugs from a cauldron and encounters a six foot goldfish wearing a hat and sunglasses (unsurprisingly, as a direct result of imbibing what was in the cauldron). John’s stories of the Amazon are legendary and he’s managed to persuade the BBC, who are apparently reluctant to let him die on their watch, to let him return to the Amazon soon. Yikes
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Assuming Britain makes the leap what's next for the UK & for Europe? Will the US help out? Will the Chinese take an interest? And WTF is happening in France? With over 53 years as a foreign reporter (including time as ‘the BBC Common Market Correspondent’) John Simpson has an idea about what we might be facing. On this unmissable episode John and producer Lisa Francesca Nand debate the reasons behind the leave vote & delve into the possibilities that might befall both the EU and Britain if/when we leave
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Once again John nail’s it with his experienced view on what is happening in the world, this time in Russia. Is Russia the superpower they want us to believe they are? Why did the US play such a foolish game after the collapse of communism? Do we need to be worried about Putin and indeed his increasingly cosy relationship with China? What IS it with those semi-naked horse photos? Should Boris Johnson pose semi-naked on a horse? And crucially, could John Simpson have Vladimir Putin in a fight?
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If you’ve found yourself wondering WTF is going on in the USA – which we’re pretty sure the whole world has – this episode is for you. With over 53 years of political reporting John gives us his unique take on American politics and the reason behind the success of Trump. Along with producer Lisa Francesca Nand, John talks news reporting, perceived BBC bias, Brexit, immigrants, guns, the electoral college system, Facebook fiddling and why we should Make America Cool Again. You heard it here first.
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Have we reached a crisis point in the race to save the planet from doom? And do we only have, as Prince Charles said, 18 months to save the human race? Whilst we’ve all been busy talking about Brexit, Trump and China have we let it get too late to do something about the disastrous decline of the planet? On this episode John Simpson and his producer Lisa Francesca Nand talk big government initiatives, debauched heatwaves and question whether we really do have 18 months to save us all from disaster.
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Why is John Simpson is doing a podcast? Why he is not doing it with the BBC? On this episode John (and producer Lisa Francesca Nand) introduce the podcast, what topics we're going to cover in Season 1, some of the amazing guests we have lined up for Season 2, namedrop everyone John's met from Castro to Saddam Hussein and have the pleasure of hearing John say naughty words he can't usually get away with (don't listen with small children in ear shot). Welcome to John Simpson's World! You're going to love it.
info_outlineOn his way through the Amazon, seven days from even the tiniest village, John ends up getting shipwrecked, circled by a hungry jaguar, harpooning monkeys for dinner, dicing with piranhas, sipping hallucinogenic drugs from a cauldron and encountering a six foot goldfish wearing a hat and sunglasses (this was, unsurprisingly, as a direct result of imbibing what was in the cauldron). John’s stories of the Amazon are legendary and he’s managed to persuade the BBC, who are apparently reluctant to let him die on their watch, to let him return to the Amazon very soon. Yikes.
On this episode we cover:
What John was doing in the Amazon in the first place
In 1992 being very close to getting some kind of international agreements to stop global warming
Because of the US that ceased to exist
Travelling through the farthest reaches of the westernmost amazon
7 days traveling down the Envira river
Harpooning a monkey for dinner
Eating monkeys, snakes and caimans
What monkey tastes like
Hard to eat something like looks like a roasted baby (!)
Being ‘burned to buggery’
A sinking boat
Things that bite and chew and electrocute
Shipwrecked in the middle of nowhere
Being circled by a hungry jaguar
Being 7 days travel from the nearest tiny settlement
Being the first white man seen by the tribe
Swapping mirrors and beads with the Ashaninka
John necking hallucinogenic drugs from a cauldron
A taste ‘worse than bat urine’
Making friends with a six foot goldfish in a hat
Is John really returning to the Amazon to bring back the really good drugs…?
Going back - is everyone going to be in Manchester United shirts
The forest is now under real threat
Struggling to get the BBC to agree to his return
The BBC worrying he’ll ‘hand in his lunch pail’ (aka die) on the way
The BBC being worried that if John dies the Daily Mail will have a field day
Growing a beard especially for the trip
The problem of seaweed in Mexico and parts of the Caribbean
John will still be going on a small boa, up the same river and facing the same dangers
John being up for absolutely anything
Is there anything John wouldn’t do…?
(note he wouldn’t kill anyone but he does have a story about how he once came close to it in Afghanistan)