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Armando Iannucci hosts the programme that gives you a cast-iron guarantee to be laser-focused on decoding the baffling world of political language.
Each week he'll be joined by a guest to crack open the political phrasebook and attempt to demystify the doublespeak. Why does everything now have to be 'turbo-charged'? What's the difference between a 'pledge' and a 'mission'? Why has my local MP been 'weaponised' and should I be worried?
You'll be treated to a crash course in the dark arts of political language from people on the inside who are both baffled and beguiled by it. They'll walk you through the various verbal fiascos of the modern political lexicon so that by the end you'll be oven-ready for an appearance on Newsnight.
Armando's erstwhile partner in de-baffling political lexicon, Helen Lewis, is away working in the United States in the autumn and so her seat will be kept warm by a rotating cast of co-hosts.
Listen to Strong Message Here on Thursdays on Radio 4 at 9.45am, and an extended version is available on BBC Sounds.
Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4.
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In a Surprise Announcement (with Beth Rigby)
Armando is joined by Sky News' political editor Beth Rigby to pore over the language surrounding the budget. Can you pre-trail a 'surprise announcement'? What does good growth mean? And do people care about PuFins? Elsewhere, we look at pol
Don't Insult My Intelligence (with Chloe Petts and Marianna Spring)
Armando is joined by comedian Chloe Petts to look at whether we're getting more stupid, and whether we get the politicians we deserve. To get into the weeds of that, they are also joined by BBC's Social Media Investigations Correspondent, M
Handcuffed to a Zombie (with Tom Peck)
Armando is joined by sketchwriter for the Times, Tom Peck, to look at the language of the schism on the British right Following on from party conference season, we discuss the escalating war of words between Badenoch and Jenrick, as well as
Super Intelligence (with Stewart Lee and Carole Cadwalladr)
Armando is joined by Stewart Lee to look at the newly rebranded 'Super Intelligence'. To get into the linguistic weeds, they are also joined by founding member of The Nerve, Carole Cadwalladr. The tech bros are coming up with new terminolog
Political Capital (with Pierre Novellie)
Armando is joined by comedian Pierre Novellie this week, and they’re going to have an honest conversation about political capital. Looking at some of the phrases and language being used around Burnham’s decision to spend his political capit
We Care, We Fight! (with Stewart Lee)
Stewart Lee returns to the show after a summer judging dog shows with Charlotte Church. He and Armando look at the Lib Dem conference, and why the 'word cloud' is not Ed Davey's friend. They also have some helpful and serious suggestions fo
I Wasn't Even Listening (with Natalie Haynes)
Armando is back from a summer break to look at the use and abuse of political language. Joined by friend of the show, Natalie Haynes, they mournfully fell the Keir Starmer Metaphor tree, and find a suitable replacement for the Andy Burnham
Doing Politics Differently (with Phil Wang and Pierre Novellie)
This week, Phil Wang steps in for Armando, and is joined by comedian Pierre Novellie to discuss 'doing politics differently'. Digging into the language of Burnham's speech, we examine what he means by 'place', and whether we will see an end
A Swift Transition (with Matt Forde and Ria Lina)
Armando is under the weather this week, so in true World Cup style, we have called up a super sub. Matt Forde steps in to host, and Ria Lina joins him to discuss the big news of the week. Is it a bit rich of the Labour Party to claim they d
It's All Signed (with Stewart Lee)
Stewart Lee joins Armando to look at the detail, or lack thereof in the US and Iran deal. What is a memorandum of understanding? Does the language of UFC apply to this deal? And are Shoreditch hipsters running Iran's social media campaign?
Fanning the Flames (with Hugo Rifkind)
Hugo Rifkind joins Armando, fresh from interviewing a highland cow, to discuss the phrase 'fanning the flames'. Can a politician ever avoid politicising an issue? How is that different from weaponising? And does journalism have a role in fa
There's Been An Under-Discussion (with Natalie Haynes)
Natalie Haynes joins Armando to look at the differing language used when discussing the benefits and risks of the AI revolution. Is it just 'a thing' which is beyond debate? What does non-zero actually mean? And we examine the language of T
That's Not for Me to Say (with Munya Chawawa)
Fresh from a trip to America, Munya Chawawa joins Armando to discuss the political art of saying nothing. Munya recently looked at the parallels between Trump and Wrestling, and talks about how the language and theatre of WWE has inspired T
A Febrile Atmosphere (with Tom Peck)
How do you capture the atmosphere of the commons? Parliamentary sketch writer for The Times, Tom Peck, joins Armando to discuss his most detested political buzzwords. We look at why people get so bloodthirsty in politics when 'the herd move
We Can't Go On Like This (with Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Ayesha Hazarika)
This week, we look at the language of embattled leaders, and some triumphant ones. Joined by Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Ayesha Hazarika, we pore over the speech of Starmer's life - the third such event we have covered on this programme. Is r
Technological Republic (with Stewart Lee and Carole Cadwalladr)
What is the Technological Republic? Armando, Stewart and founder of The Nerve, Carole Cadwalladr, discuss the language and posture of the manifesto released by Palantir's Alex Karp last year. We look at how Tech bros frame those who block t
Game On (with Natalie Haynes)
Ready Player One? Natalie Haynes joins Armando once again to talk about the rise of prediction markets, and how they might affect political language. We also look at the respective war memes from the US and Iran, and how they are taking the
The Process Was Followed (with Tim Shipman)
Tim Shipman steps out of a busy week in Westminster to talk Armando through the language of political crises. Whether "time will tell", or "the matter has been dealt with", we decode what these phrases you will hear from politicians this we
Only the Fake News Would Come Up with This (with Amol Rajan)
Politicians have their own podcasts, the Government has launched a YouTube channel. It seems our political class want to bypass traditional media to get their message out. Why is that? How does it affect political language? As he prepares t
Righteous Targets for Violence (with Hugo Rifkind)
Hugo Rifkind joins Armando for a chat about the religious language in politics. After a quick detour round the far side of the moon, we find out Trump's favourite bible passage (sort of), why the Pope has rebuked Pete Hegseth, and if invoki
Deep Disillusionment in This Country (with Stewart Lee)
This week, Armando is joined again by Stewart Lee to look at how political actors use language. Wes Streeting says there is a 'deep disillusionment in this country', and says there is a “growing sense of despair about whether anyone is capa
That's a Great Question (with Stewart Lee in Laugharne)
Stewart Lee joins Armando at the Millennium Hall in Laugharne. Is AI too sycophantic? Should we worry about how military-grade AI is being sold in start-up jargon? Let's ask the best AI there is, Armando Iannucci. In another episode in fron
We're Here to Listen (with Stewart Lee in Laugharne)
Armando is joined by Stewart Lee at the Millennium Hall in Laugharne. Taking the audience's most loathed political soundbites, we discuss 'existential threats', 'let me be clear', and 'we're working very hard'. We also hear about Armando's
You Don't Have to Worry (with Marina Hyde)
Marina Hyde returns to join Armando for a positive look at some positive language. Pete Hegseth tells us not to worry about the Strait of Hormuz, Trump tells us the 'war' is 'already won' - is this inspired by The Power of Positive Thinking
I Understand the Anxiety (with Ria Lina and Coco Khan)
Armando is joined by Ria Lina and host of Pod Save the UK, Coco Khan, to look at the political language around anxiety. How do we engage with difficult headlines? Can we switch off an just read about the rugby? Is AI starting to feel as anx
Get Real (with Hugo Rifkind)
Journalist and Times Radio presenter Hugo Rifkind joins Armando this week. In another breakneck week, we look at the language of reality in politics. Are plumbers more 'real' than economists? Can Trump really 'manipulate reality'? And has h
History Will Judge You (with Stewart Lee)
Stewart Lee joins Armando again this week. With a by-election on, we look away from the present day and think about how history will judge politicians. Some of the language in the recent Tony Blair documentary piques Armando's interest, and
For the Sake of Transparency (with Natalie Haynes and Michael Gove)
Armando is joined by Natalie Haynes and Michael Gove to discuss the true meaning of transparency. With his experience as both a politician and a journalist, Michael Gove gives his insight into how transparency can often mean the opposite. H
Psychodrama (with Stewart Lee)
Stewart Lee joins Armando to examine the language around political pyschodramas. We've discussed political language becoming maximalist, but it also gone into warp speed? Looking at whether 'stumbling' is in fact a good thing, we also manag
You've Let Your Country Down (with Emily Maitlis)
Has a man once described as 'teflon' finally run out of spin? Peter Mandelson suggests he needs to run an investigation into himself, but to do an investigation into his language, Armando is joined by host of the News Agents, Emily Maitlis.
