Latest news with #TheRestIsPolitics
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Tommy Martin: Whole new ball game after dud Premier League season when plot got stale
If you took this column's advice and ignored the FIFA Club World Cup, then you will be raring to go for the new Premier League season. If you didn't then God help you come October or November. The fatigue will kick in. Your Fantasy League team will be left to rot. You'll skip Super Sunday to bring your kids to the playground. You'll start listening to The Rest Is Politics on Mondays instead of those ten football podcasts that all have Jonathan Wilson on them. This is exclusive subscriber content. Already a subscriber? Sign in Take us with you this summer. Annual €130€65 Best value Monthly €12€6 / month
Daily Mail
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Donald Trump gave me the biggest break of my career at 60: KATTY KAY reveals how Trumpmania has transformed her world
There are few critics of Donald Trump who would admit he has done them a favour. But Katty Kay, veteran British reporter and presenter, is on a career high at the age of 60, in no small part due to the President of the United States. 'Yes, Donald Trump is good for business,' says Kay. 'Donald Trump, at the moment, is the only game in town, which is exactly how he likes it.' As one half of the hugely successful podcast The Rest Is Politics US, along with the outspoken Anthony 'The Mooch' Scaramucci (who famously managed just 11 days as Trump's communications director in 2017), she has seen the numbers rise from 2.1 million listeners in December to 7.5 million right now. The podcast only launched in April 2024, during an election year in which within months the sitting president had been forced out of the race after a catastrophic debate performance against his rival, the convicted felon Donald Trump. What followed has often seemed like chaos that needed explaining. In the second act of the Trump presidency, it seems that the more headlines the man in the White House grabs, the more people tune in. And the more famous Kay gets. This very morning, as she landed at Heathrow, someone recognised her. 'That happens most times I arrive in the UK. People say hello on the tube,' she says. 'It's always a bit of a surprise.' Weeks later, after Trump sends US bombers to strike Iran and boasts their 'spectacular success', I talk to Kay again. Trump's reaction reminds her of 2003 and George W Bush's early 'Mission Accomplished' jubilance in the Iraq war: 'We know how that ended.' But while other commentators are downbeat, with The Atlantic running the headline 'American democracy might not survive a war with Iran', Kay is circumspect. 'I'm pretty optimistic that the system holds,' she says. But she has been texted a lot of 'emojis with head exploding'. 'Or dumpster fires. A lot of dumpster fires have arrived on my phone over the last couple of years.' As a US correspondent, Kay has seen six presidential terms and two of them have been Trump, but the Washington veteran says this administration feels different. Contacts of hers – good contacts, she says, people who speak to Trump regularly – are more reluctant to talk. Journalists, she adds, are spooked that Trump might go after them by going for their taxes or burying them in lawsuits. Is she nervous at regularly holding him up to scrutiny? 'I did have a moment recently. I'm a green card holder. I'm not a citizen. And I had a moment of thinking, 'I wonder if I'll get hassled at the airport. I wonder if I'll get turned around.'' But scared? In a word, no. 'So they come after me. I mean, what are they going to do?' I ask Kay how she got the Rest Is Politics US gig and am told gently that she invented it. She'd come across an article by one of the co-founders of Goalhanger, the production company behind the The Rest Is podcast franchise, saying that they wanted to break into the US. 'American audiences are the Holy Grail and I remember reading that thinking, 'Hmm, maybe I could help them.'' A text to Alastair Campbell, a presenter on The Rest Is Politics (UK), led to a pilot episode. All Kay needed was a co-host. She and Scaramucci seem, on the surface, to make an odd couple. But she brings the calm to his storm. 'We definitely have different roles,' she says. 'After years of being a BBC journalist, I see things with a 'data analysis' brain and Anthony comes at this as – what would we call it? – a civilian? He's somebody who's come out of politics very clear about his opinions – not as a journalist. 'People have this view of Anthony that he's, you know, this brash ex-Trumper, Long Island Italian American. But audiences have got to know him now and appreciate how thoughtful he is, how smart and how steeped in history he is. He's one of the best- read people on American politics and history. 'As Brits,' she says, 'we think we know America because we've seen it in the movies. Every Brit I know who arrives in America thinks, 'Oh, yeah, I understand this country.' And then the longer you're there, the more you realise how different it is. Anthony is steeped in a side of America that most Brits don't know.' Kay's look is what you might call 'effortless Riviera': a white long-sleeved top, with its collar up and sleeve unbuttoned, and loose brushed sea-blue cotton trousers. Her perfectly blonde shoulder-length hair is swept back and she glows. Her sidekick, meanwhile, famously admits to careful skincare and judicious hair-dyeing. 'Anthony says that when people stop him in the streets in London it's always to ask, 'Which moisturiser do you use?' He says no one asks him about politics.' What does she make of this peacockery? 'I think he's opened up a whole new conversation for British men that it was about time they had,' she says, in a voice that makes me want to rush to the gents and look in the mirror. Katherine Kay was born in Blewbury, Oxfordshire, into a diplomatic family. By the age of two, she was living in Beirut, her dad serving in a number of countries across the Middle East and North Africa. Instead of sending their daughter to boarding school (save for a brief unhappy period when she was 11) her parents took her with them. The result was a change of school with every new posting, including a French-speaking lycée in Morocco. 'Six different schools in five years,' she says. 'I calculated once in three countries in two languages.' There were several consequences of this peripatetic life. Young Katty became a linguist, fluent in French and Italian. Also, she says, it made her adaptable. 'I could fit into different cultures or countries,' she says. 'It made me good at making friends quickly. On the downside, I don't have friends from childhood. I don't have a sense of continuity. Before moving to Washington, I never had a house I lived in for more than three years.' Paradoxically, in 2021, after a prolonged application process, Kay got Swiss citizenship (her father was born in Switzerland) and tweeted: 'Today I became Swiss. I cried when I opened the email. My dad, who died in January, was Swiss. As a child growing up in the Middle East, holidays with my Swiss grandmother were a refuge. When I arrive at Interlaken station, I feel I'm home.' She graduated from Oxford with a degree in modern languages, worked for a short, unhappy period at the Bank of England, then joined an aid agency in Zimbabwe. While there she met an old friend, the BBC correspondent Matt Frei (now with Channel 4 News), who seduced her into journalism. Her CV since then easily occupies two sides of A4, with stints at the BBC and The Times. In 2021, she left the BBC to work at a short-lived new company called Ozy Media, from which she resigned when allegations of fraud were made against senior figures there. She and her husband Tom Carver, a former BBC reporter, live in Georgetown, Washington, in the house they've owned for 25 years, and are there most of the year. They also have a house in West London's Hammersmith. She has two children, Felix, 31, and Maya, 29, with her first husband, Sebastian Mallaby, a former staffer at The Economist and The Washington Post, who now writes books (they're still 'very good friends' and spend Christmases together), and two with Tom: Jude, 25, and Poppy, 19. She is enormously proud of all of them. 'Felix works in the US Senate, as a camera technician. Maya is a PhD astrophysicist, which she really didn't get from me, and wants to work in climate modelling. Jude did a master's in marine engineering at Southampton University, having done architecture at the University of Virginia, and is now back in Washington looking for a job. And Poppy has just finished her first year of university in New York but is spending this summer working at the River Cafe [in Hammersmith]. She started this week, so I hope she doesn't drop the plates.' Their Washington home also has a helpful new perk: half the Trump cabinet has moved into the street around the corner. 'Literally, [Secretary of Health] RFK Jr lives 300 yards from my front door and passes my house every morning on his way to his AA meetings,' says Kay. 'And as I walk my dog now, I pass Kristi Noem [Secretary of Homeland Security] and Scott Bessent [Treasury Secretary] on my way to the park.' Interesting neighbours, and possibly nosy ones. I ask if she thinks that what's on the podcast gets back to Trump. 'He knows who I am, absolutely, because I do a TV show in the States, Morning Joe, two or three times a week, which is on in the White House. The President says he doesn't listen to it, but everybody on the show is convinced he does, because he quotes it back.' Has she interviewed him? Once, she tells me, but, she adds regretfully, not face to face. It was down the line. 'He told me that I was very negative about his [2016] campaign, but I didn't need to worry about it.' Did she get the impression he respected her? 'Donald Trump respects ratings. So if you have a platform that has reach, he respects the fact that you're reaching people. I don't think the fact that Donald Trump criticises you means that he doesn't respect you. I'm sure he respects Anthony. The fact that he criticises him often is a kind of compliment. It means he's listening to you.' So would she like to meet him again? 'Yes, but I think he's a difficult person to interview because you have to make the decision, do I fact check him in real time? In which case you will spend a lot of the interview fact-checking. But if you decide not to do the fact-checking in real time, you're allowing him to say things that aren't true.' One thing stands out in our encounter. Kay is having a ball. Her Instagram account is a sea of pictures of her with her family: trips to Paris and Spain with her daughters, Marseille with her husband. Far from fading out, her life couldn't be fuller. 'I spend weekends making jam and chocolate cakes. That's my relaxation,' she says. And there are the ballet classes. 'That's my favourite exercise. When I was about 13, I applied to the Royal Ballet and I didn't get in. I got into Elmhurst, another ballet school, and then decided not to go. But it is a thing I love doing. It's an exercise in humiliation, because I used to be quite good, and now I'm bad. So it's actually good for my sense of hubris.' And there's a lesson that she's keen to pass on to younger women. 'When I was in my 30s, I remember thinking I had to do things now; that I was going to run out of time and how could I possibly manage having kids and a career and there just weren't enough hours to do it all. I wish I could say to my younger self, 'It's OK, you don't need to rush. You're going to have years after your kids have left home when you can carry on working and be successful and reinvent yourself.'' Watch or listen to The Rest Is Politics US wherever you get your podcasts COOL FOR KATTY AI: terrific or terrifying? Definitely terrific, probably terrifying. Your idea of holiday hell A cruise. Go-to karaoke song Hey Jude - it's my son's name. He hates the song, I love it. Spotify song of last year Bob Dylan's It Ain't Me Babe. I've always been a huge Dylan fan. I've seen the movie four times already – Timothée Chalamet is perfect: cool and aloof. Film that makes you cry Casablanca. Best movie ever made. Cat or a dog person? With a name like Katty Kay I don't think I have much choice. Feline all the way. Word you most overuse Yesbut… all one word. Obnoxious, definitely. Astrology: believe it or bin it? I'm a Scorpio but honestly, bin it. I don't even know what time of day I was born and Anthony says that's key. Hero beauty product Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant. An instant skin brightener – I'm addicted. Best breakfast In my ideal world, a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant. I have a sweet tooth. Favourite swear word F**k. Speaks for itself. Picture director: Ester Malloy. Stylist: Nicola Rose. Make-up: Sonia Deveney using Sisley. Hair: Federico Ghezzi using Bumble and Bumble.
Irish Daily Mirror
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
Alan Shearer's feelings on Gary Lineker made clear on BBC's FA Cup coverage
Alan Shearer's heartfelt apology to Match of the Day viewers over Gary Lineker's exclusion emphasises the deep connection with his co-host. Mired in a row over impartiality, Lineker found himself sidelined from his BBC presenting role in March 2023 after expressing his views on the then-UK Government's approach to asylum seekers. Taking to Twitter after the Tories revealed their new policy, Lineker drew stark parallels between their language and that used in 1930s Germany, tweeting: "Good heavens, this is beyond awful," He went on to say: "There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries." "This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I'm out of order?" The BBC later confirmed that Lineker would step away from Match of the Day while the two sides reached an agreement on his use of social media. In a show of unity, fellow presenters including Shearer and Ian Wright withdrew from their posts, leading to the March 11, 2023, broadcast being significantly trimmed to a mere 20 minutes without commentary or analysis. A touched Lineker spoke on The Rest Is Politics podcast, saying: "I must admit, I had a tear in my eye. It just moved me, it was beautiful. "When it first one thing saying that in a moment, but then actually to carry that through, they didn't need to do that.", reports the Express. Despite the hiccup, Lineker was soon back helming Manchester City's FA Cup quarter-final match against Burnley, flanked by Shearer and Micah Richards. Upon their broadcast return, Shearer promptly took a moment to address the audience about the recent disruption. He remarked: "I just need to clear up and wanted to say how upset we were for the audience that missed out last weekend. It was a really difficult situation for everyone concerned and through no fault of their own some really great people in TV and radio were put in an impossible situation and that wasn't fair, so it's good to get back to some sort of normality and be talking about football again." To which, Lineker added: "Absolutely, I echo those sentiments." It comes as the clock winds down on the longstanding professional partnership between Lineker and Shearer at the BBC. This statement comes amid the ticking clock on the enduring collaboration between Lineker and Shearer with the BBC. The ticker is running as Lineker is set to hang up his hat as the Match of the Day's frontman following the 2024/25 season. With the 2025/26 season, viewers will witness a significant shift in presentation style for the show with Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates, and Gabby Logan slated to form the new presenting trio, leading the programme into fresh territory.
Daily Mirror
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Gary Lineker's £50m demand, mega Sky Sports offer and next career move confirmed
Following fierce backlash, which included accusations of anti-Semitism, to a recent social media post which featured a rat emoji, Gary Lineker will reportedly leave the BBC sooner than planned Gary Lineker's 28-year tenure at the BBC is coming to an abrupt and bitter end in the wake of his controversial social media post about the Israel-Hamas conflict. The 64-year-old, who is due to step down as Match of the Day host this month, is expected to announce his full departure from the broadcaster on Monday, with BBC bosses reportedly deeming his position "untenable". Initially, Lineker was set to continue fronting the BBC's coverage of next season's FA Cup and the 2026 World Cup next summer. However, these plans appear to have now collapsed. His relationship with the broadcaster looks irreversibly damaged following accusations of anti-Semitism against the former footballer. The post, which Lineker quickly deleted, featured a rat emoji alongside content described as 'anti-Zionist'. The rat imagery, widely recognised as an anti-Semitic trope, sparked a fierce backlash and reignited scrutiny over his social media conduct. This isn't Lineker's first clash with the BBC over impartiality, a contractual obligation for its presenters. Previous controversies, including his 2023 suspension for comments on UK immigration policy, have strained relations, with this latest episode appearing to have pushed the BBC to breaking point. Lineker's imminent departure will mark the end of his long association with the company. Here, Mirror Football examines what lies ahead for the ex- England striker, as well as two near-miss opportunities that could have seen him join rival broadcasters. Next career move Lineker has built an impressive audio broadcasting empire over the past decade through his Goalhanger Podcasts company, which produces hit shows like The Rest Is History, The Rest Is Politics, and The Rest Is Football. The latter, hosted by Lineker alongside Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, is one of the most downloaded sports podcasts in the country. It's no surprise, then, that Lineker has been shifting his focus toward podcasting over television presenting. In a 2023 interview with the BBC's Amol Rajan, he revealed that his next career move "won't be more telly," adding, "I think I'll step back from that now... I think I'll probably focus more on the podcast world." Speaking to FourFourTwo, Lineker explained: "I don't think you'll see me doing much football, apart from the podcast. I'll do the odd thing, but I don't think you'll see me appearing regularly on another channel." The Rest Is Football boasts some of the nation's highest engagement figures, with nearly 20million listens during the Euro 2024 tournament. Meanwhile, The Rest Is History, The Rest Is Politics, and The Rest Is Entertainment consistently rank among the UK's top 10 audio shows. £50m demand Lineker recently revealed that he 'demanded' a £50m pay packet after being approached by ITV. After announcing he'd be quitting Match of the Day at the end of the 2024/25 season back in November, offers of all shapes and sizes came flooding in. One was from Celebrity Big Brother – a show Lineker had no interest in appearing on. But rather than simply rebuffing their advances, Lineker's agent sent ITV a cheeky counter-offer instead. Lineker told podcast colleagues Shearer and Richards: "Do you know last week I got requests to go on Celebrity Big Brother? My agent sent it through, and then jokingly he replied, 'Oh, yes. Gary's fee will be £50 million!' "He did it completely as a joke, obviously. And they came back said, 'Oh, that's a little bit... that's not within our budget.'" Sky Sports talks Negotiations with ITV might have been light-hearted, but Lineker's talks with Sky Sports were very sincere. In March, the former BT Sport presenter claimed he'd been speaking to Sky for some time, but ultimately snubbed them – and a bigger salary – because of his loyalty to the BBC. "We've had talks with Sky at various points, but I always wanted to stick with the BBC," Lineker said. "I could have earned a lot more, though I know I've been well paid anyway, obviously. "I've had offers to go elsewhere but I just loved being with the BBC, and also how it helps everything else you do. It's not only the kudos, the audience is much bigger. More people still watch Match of the Day than probably the biggest live game on Sundays. "Also, I'm quite loyal. I've had the same guy cut my hair for 40 years, the same guy training me in the gym for 30 years, the same agent since I was 18." Cooking show When one thinks of Gary Lineker and food – crisps typically come to mind. However, that association might have shifted had the longstanding Walkers ambassador accepted offers to launch his own cooking show. In an interview with The Times, Lineker, who describes himself "a pretty good" cook, explained that he'd been pitched several ideas for a cooking programme. But despite his culinary confidence, he declined the offers, opting to focus on other ventures. "I've been offered to do cookery programmes, but I don't want to, because while I'm a very keen cook and I think I'm a good cook, I'm not Gordon f***ing Ramsay," he said. "I enjoy cooking, but I didn't see myself doing that on screen," he admitted. "I'd like to tell you I'm a very good cook. I'm pretty good. I've been doing it for 10 years now, and I'm obsessive. So if I do something and I realise I'm reasonably good at it, I'll throw my heart and soul at it."
Sydney Morning Herald
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
A golden boy of British soccer finds his future in doubt after outrage over Instagram post
Lineker first earned the public's affection with his prolific goal-scoring at the 1986 World Cup, where he claimed the Golden Boot. He was admired not only for his footballing intelligence with Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona, but also for his sportsmanship, famously completing his career without ever receiving a yellow or red card. 'Gary's behaviour is starting to wear a bit thin.' Senior BBC Sport manager The corporation is said to be discussing the fallout at the highest levels. BBC director-general Tim Davie, speaking at BBC Sport headquarters in northern England this week, did not name Lineker directly but made his expectations clear. 'The BBC's reputation is held by everyone, and when someone makes a mistake, it costs us … We need people to be exemplars of BBC values and follow our social media policies. Simple as that.' The question now is whether his immense popularity and longstanding legacy will be enough to see him through this crisis or if the BBC will ultimately sever ties. Testing the limits This isn't the first time Lineker has tested the limits of BBC impartiality. In 2023, he sparked a media storm after likening UK immigration rhetoric to that of 1930s Germany – comments that led to his temporary suspension. Back then, his colleagues rallied to his side, forcing the BBC to back down. This time, however, the mood is different. Media reports describe frustration, not solidarity. 'Gary's behaviour is starting to wear a bit thin,' one senior figure at BBC Sport reportedly told staff. 'We've got enough to be getting on with.' In November, Lineker and the BBC agreed to part ways after the 2026 World Cup. That arrangement now looks in jeopardy. Lineker has built a media persona on being politically engaged, particularly vocal on refugee rights and, more recently, Gaza. But this time, his activism has veered into territory the BBC considers deeply problematic. Away from the BBC, Lineker's career remains buoyant. His foray into podcasting has been lucrative, with his production company Goalhanger co-creating The Rest Is History, The Rest Is Politics and other chart-topping shows that pull in millions of listeners weekly. The former striker has become a media entrepreneur as much as a broadcaster, with a presence that rivals mainstream outlets in reach and influence. But none of that offers a free pass from institutional standards. The BBC, still navigating its own identity in a politically divided Britain, is under increasing pressure to draw the line, especially when the controversy involves its best-paid presenter. It's a difficult equation: ditch Lineker and risk backlash from loyal fans, or stand by him and alienate staff and viewers offended by his online actions. For now, Lineker is still standing. He will be at Wembley on Saturday, microphone in hand, fronting a show he has defined for more than two decades. For a man who built his career on calm precision in front of goal, Lineker now finds himself on an unfamiliar side of the scoreboard – and the final whistle may be closer than he thinks.
