How They Broke Britain

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How They Broke Britain

How They Broke Britain

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O’Brien, of course, doesn’t want to work at the BBC. He values his “voice” too much for that, which is why he opted not to continue presenting Newsnight – though to my mind, his job at LBC, where he spends his time dismantling the opinions of the people who call in, wastes what talent he has. Surely he would be able to do more good, journalistically speaking, at the BBC than at LBC – a station where one of the presenters, Rachel Johnson, the sister of our former prime minister, once interviewed her father, Stanley, about the state of Britain’s rivers. But perhaps doing good isn’t the point for him. One of the other problems with How They Broke Britain is that however forensically it catalogues the misdemeanours of various politicians, journalists and strategists, it is just that: a catalogue. What needs to be done? Will things be different under a Labour government? Are we all doomed? O’Brien only (inadvertently) answers the last question. There's no point in having a mind if you're not going to change it," LBC broadcaster James O'Brien says at the very end of this excellent rumination on how to examine what we think and shift it when necessary. Hear hear. A Knight with O'Brien (TV series) | BFI". Ftvdb.bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012 . Retrieved 5 March 2017.

But then I saw the book in Foyles in London and read the blurb and the Foyles recommendation too, and I realised this book was not what I had expected at all. Instead this is a deeply personal look by the author at the art of self examination of our own views. He candidly and apologetically tells of some of his biggest errors and worst actions. He speaks of his own need for counselling, and most of all he tells us of times he has been forced to change his mind. Again and again.

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When we get to the pandemic years the line that James uses to sum it up is simple. ‘When the public needed us the most, the Government failed. Too busy on holiday writing a book, sorting out wallpaper or his partners dog. a b "James O'Brien: "On radio, people still talk like no one is listening" ". The Guardian. 8 January 2017 . Retrieved 8 February 2018.

O'Brien began occasionally guest presenting on the BBC Two programme Newsnight in August 2014. [31] [32] [28] Following the widespread interest in O'Brien's interview with Farage, it was speculated he would be a permanent replacement for longtime host Jeremy Paxman, who intended to step down. [33] The job was ultimately taken by Evan Davis. [34] O'Brien left Newsnight in January 2018 after being criticised for his anti-Brexit and anti-Trump views, which were felt to be out of step with the corporation's policy on neutrality. He departed on good terms, saying the BBC still had the finest selection of journalists in the world. [35] O'Brien made national headlines in April 2009 when footballer Frank Lampard phoned his show to object to tabloid stories about his private life and O'Brien's discussion of them. Lampard's former fiancée, Elen Rivas, had alleged that Frank Lampard had turned their home into a bachelor pad while she and Lampard's children were living in a rented flat. Lampard phoned in, objecting to the assertion that he was "weak" and "scum" and said that he had fought "tooth and nail" to keep his family together. [18] Public comments on Lampard's reaction praised Lampard's "brave" and "articulate" handling of the situation. [18] The exchange later earned O'Brien, who defended his conduct in an equally heated exchange with Kay Burley on Sky News, a Bronze Award in the Best Interview category of the 2010 Sony Radio Academy Awards. [19] Spanner, Huw (18 January 2019). "Interview with James O'Brien: 'When I'm wrong, I admit it. And that makes me right' ". Church Times . Retrieved 9 September 2019. I’ve certainly held views in the past that I am now ashamed of and the thought of doing what James has done here would absolutely terrify me, so much respect to him for that.

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Perhaps surprisingly for someone who enjoys a bit of a row, O’Brien appears a little irked by my questions, even if therapy has taught him to be calmer in response. “If you’d asked me unfair questions 10 years ago, I would have responded to you in a much more aggressive fashion,” he says. To be fair, O’Brien mentions it himself a lot (even in the new book). It’s a tool he uses to connect with the people who voted for Brexit – he was conned once, too! And it’s an effective one. The fact that he has changed his politics should really be seen as a positive thing. I’m surprised to hear he is even coming round to thinking that his pet project – a campaign for a second referendum on leaving the EU – might have been a bad idea. O’Brien: ‘Both sides will find it very hard to forgive me for being right.’ Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

Flynn, Paul (31 October 2018). "LBC's James O'Brien: meet the man behind the mic". Evening Standard . Retrieved 9 September 2019. And that is what the book is about. It is about how it is not only allowed, but right that we should re-examine our settled positions, and be free to change our mind when someone else persuades us we are wrong. He points out that this is a sign of youthful thinking, which I think was spot on. And it is not limited to young people. It is a matter of mental fitness that we can be persuaded to change our opinion on a matter. It strikes an opening chord with me when I realise it’s our passivity that has allowed us to get here. We stopped noticing it, we just kind of accepted the incompetence. O'Brien review, ITV: 'disappointing' ". Daily Telegraph. 30 March 2015 . Retrieved 8 February 2018.

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The text is interspersed with conversations from his radio show - some to illustrate how he used to bulldoze people with his opinion, some showing how he now listens, others where changed his mind on a subject just by listening to another person's experience. He also points out that the best way to change someone else's opinion is not to talk over them, to patronise them or to verbally them; but to get them to question their own viewpoint. We have all listened to James O’Brien on LBC and he can sound very much like a Labour client journalist so I bought this book hoping there was some balance to his book. a b Moshakis, Alex (24 October 2020). "James O'Brien: 'I saw everything as a fight' ". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712 . Retrieved 3 November 2020. Newsnight's Race To Succeed Jeremy Paxman: LBC's James O'Brien Gets A Try-Out". Forbes. 16 July 2014 . Retrieved 6 August 2014.

You can’t have your face on the cover of your book and not be a brand, and his requires him to be firmly on one side – the other side – when he must know that aspects of the current politics of the left are just as muddled, fractious and potentially dangerous as those of the right. A man can’t fall out with everyone! Personally, I’m as suspicious as he is of the Mail’s newfound support for freedom of speech on university campuses. But this doesn’t mean that free speech isn’t a real problem, or that some liberal-left men haven’t abdicated all responsibility for asking questions about it, particularly as it pertains to women’s rights, the better to have an easier, more saintly seeming life. Iain Duncan Smith: Remembering the time former Work and Pensions Secretary clashed with James O'Brien". The Independent. 19 March 2016 . Retrieved 9 February 2018.It’s also a very hopeful book, because it shows how much we can grow if we just give ourselves the space and can open up our minds and listen. We should all be doing more of that.



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