Latest news with #TheWorldatOne
The Guardian
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
In a world full of wedgies, are you a wedger like Trump, or a wedgee like me?
Sir Ed Davey has made more than one significant contribution to the tone of political discourse over the past year. Obviously, there's all the surfing, rollercoasting, bungee jumping and so on. There's also his use of the word 'wedgie' in relation to trade tariffs. That's some trick to pull off. Respect. Here's what he said earlier this month: 'Despite backing the US in every major conflict this century – and offering to water down our tax on US tech billionaires – we've been rewarded with the same tariffs as Iran. It's like we're meant to be grateful Trump gave our friends a black eye and left us with just a wedgie.' This was quoted on The World at One on BBC Radio 4, which involved the presenter Sarah Montague using the word wedgie, too. Something else I never thought I'd hear. Even over where I work on BBC Radio 5 Live, where we're less squeamish about using the vernacular, Davey's wedgie-bomb came as a bit of a shock. But we soon gathered ourselves enough to hatch a plan on where we should go with the idea. My editor suggested it may be profitable to consider how mankind – and I believe we are talking about a largely male pursuit – can be divided into wedgees and wedgers. That is, those who have been wedgied and those who have done the wedging. I should explain to those unfamiliar with this ghastly practice – one generally but not exclusively experienced in our schooldays – that a wedgie is when you come up behind someone and, unbidden, take hold of the elastic of their underpants and … Actually, let's leave it at that. If you know, you know. If you don't, be grateful. My editor – who is called Tom Green, by the way, if you want to complain about any of this on taste grounds – is, like me, very much a wedgee. It's why we get on. The current president of the United States is plainly a wedger. I use the present tense there, not because I think President Trump is an active wedger, but because it's not a label you can shed. Once a wedger, always a wedger. Our prime minister, equally obviously, is a wedgee, and this is greatly to his credit. His predecessor, Mr Sunak, is a wedgee too. Liz Truss? Let's not go there. Boris Johnson? Most definitely a wedger. To be clear, not all wedgers are bad. Some of my best friends are wedgers. But it's the rest of us who are on the side of the angels. Hard though it is to believe just now, it's the wedgees who will inherit the Earth. Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist
Telegraph
24-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Starmer appoints Rishi Sunak's wife as V&A trustee
Rishi Sunak's wife has been appointed a trustee at one of Britain's leading museums by Sir Keir Starmer. Akshata Murty was confirmed by the Prime Minister as one of six new appointments at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which announced her appointment, said it was hoped she could bring her experience in both business and No 10 to the role. A spokesman added: ' Akshata is passionate about education and the power of creativity to have positive effects on young people. 'With her husband, former prime minister Rishi Sunak, Akshata is a co-founder of The Richmond Project, a charity focused on enabling social mobility by breaking down barriers to numeracy. She is also a keen supporter of the UK's veteran community.' The role of trustee entails scrutinising and promoting the museum's work, as well as seeking out chairmen to handle its day-to-day running. Ms Murty, who together with her husband is worth an estimated £651 million, will oversee the work of Tristram Hunt, the current V&A chairman, who is a vocal advocate for returning contested artefacts to their countries of origin. The Telegraph revealed in 2023 that the museum was one of several whose Indian collections were being targeted for repatriation by government officials in New Delhi. Under Narendra Modi, the country's prime minister, India has been pursuing long-term plans to reclaim artefacts removed by British soldiers and collectors. Ms Murty's mother, Sudha, was appointed to the Indian parliament by Mr Modi in 2024. She is married to Narayana Murthy, the billionaire chairman of technology company Infosys. The former prime minister's wife was appointed to help fill slots vacated by V&A trustees who have completed their four-year terms. Presenter and author among other appointees Other new trustees include Nigel Newton, the Bloomsbury publishing chief executive, Pedro Pina, a YouTube vice-president, and Andrew Keith, the retail veteran. Also appointed by Sir Keir are Mariella Frostrup, the broadcaster and author, and Vick Hope, the television presenter and former Strictly Come Dancing contestant. Trustees, including Ms Murty, must apply through an official process before their selection is signed off by the serving prime minister. The Sunaks are now thought to be splitting their time between the UK and US, after the former prime minister announced in January this year that he would be taking up a visiting fellowship role at Stanford University, as well as a position at the University of Oxford's Blavatnik School of Government. Meanwhile, Sir Keir has also approved several new appointments at the British Museum, also in the capital. Its new trustees include Claudia Winkleman, the presenter of the popular television programme The Traitors, along with Martha Kearney, presenter of BBC Radio 4's The World at One, and Tom Holland, the historian.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What is Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding's net worth? All you need to know
Helen Fielding is well-known as the author of the Bridget Jones novels, which have been adapted into the popular film series. A fourth film called Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, adapted from Fielding's 2013 novel, is set to be released in UK cinemas on Thursday, February 13. It will see Renée Zellweger return to play the title character with other cast members including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Isla Fisher and Hugh Grant. All of Fielding's Bridget Jones novels have sold well but what is her net worth? "I think we need to get rid of cougar and toyboy." Ahead of the release of the latest Bridget Jones film, writer Helen Fielding talks about the negative connotations of older women dating younger men.#BBCWato — The World at One (@BBCWorldatOne) February 6, 2025 According to a 2020 article from The Express Fielding had amassed a net worth of £6mill while an article from EL PAÍS English in 2023 said she had a net worth of more than $7.5million (just over £6million). Helen Fielding was born on February 19, 1958, in the town of Morley in West Yorkshire. She read English at St Anne's College, Oxford and then began work at the BBC in 1979 as a regional researcher on the news magazine Nationwide. Fielding progressed to working as a production manager and director on various entertainment shows. She also produced and directed a live satellite broadcast from a refugee camp in Eastern Sudan for the launch of Comic Relief. The creator of our Bridget... Author, Helen Fielding is here!#BridgetJonesMovie — Universal Pictures UK (@universaluk) January 29, 2025 During the 1990s she worked as a journalist and columnist on several national newspapers, including The Sunday Times, The Independent and The Telegraph. Her first novel was released in 1994, called Cause Celeb, which was well-received but had limited sales. She was struggling to make ends meet while working on her second novel when she was approached by The Independent to write a column herself about single life in London. Fielding rejected this idea but offered instead to create an imaginary, exaggerated, ironic comic character. Writing anonymously, she felt able to be honest about the preoccupations of single women in their thirties. The column quickly acquired a following, her identity was revealed and her publishers asked her to write a novel about the character she had created. The paperback of Bridget Jones's Diary was published in 1997 and became a worldwide bestseller. Fielding published a second Bridget novel The Edge of Reason in November 1999, before a film adaptation of the first book was released in 2001. The Edge of Reason was then adapted into a film in 2004 with Fielding contributing to the further adventures of Bridget Jones for The Independent in 2005. Recommended reading: Could Bridget Jones afford her lifestyle now or would she be drowning in debt? How to watch Bridget Jones's Diary and other films in the UK 'What's the point?' - Bridget Jones fans demand Colin Firth returns in new film Fielding carried on Bridget's story in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy in 2013 and Bridget Jones's Baby: The Diaries in 2016. Bridget Jones's Baby was released as a film in 2016 with the upcoming fourth film in the series to be released in 2025. Fielding has co-written all of the screenplays for the films alongside writers such as Richard Curtis and Abi Morgan.
