YouSaid · the spoken record

Armando Iannucci

lines on the record: 54
first: 2017-11-24
most recent: 2017-11-24
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“That was political thinking with Nick Robinson and doing some of the thinking, me, Amanda Yurici. And if you liked it, could you rate it wherever you found this podcast? Because that way it goes higher up and becomes more prominent and more people will listen in again.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“but without explaining what that meant. That was the undoing. Because I think people are actually hungry. They're hungry for ideas, they're hungry for information. It's why any literary festival, any live event, if any festival of ideas has absolutely packed, more and more of them are opening up all around the country, are starting up around the country. People want to go out and meet in the flesh, these people, and actually be able to debate with them directly. They don't like the idea that you're being roped off from discussion. And all these campaign events on all either side that went on in the last election where only members could attend. You had to have your questions filleted first and we'll decide who's going to ask a question. I think the public feel locked out of that conversation, which is why they're so angry and so volatile at the moment.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, no, I think politicians need to explain themselves much more. It was an interesting thing that came out of the whole Brexit debate where the Remain camp talked about single market this and it turned out afterwards people didn't know what the single market was because it hadn't actually been explained. Do you know what I mean? And it's different from the EU. And I think a lot of, it goes back to this echo chamber. I think politicians live in this echo chamber where they assume that we, the public, know the detail of every concept they're using. And we don't. And I'm not saying they have to top down to us and do a kind of ABC of politics, but I think they need to spend more time talking us through their thinking, which was the undoing of Theresa May in the last election. Just by saying strong and stable all the time and saying, just give me the numbers so that I can go in with a stronger hand in these negotiations.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Don't despair now. And also, I think because people can click it anytime and anything, I think people won in mainstream journalism, on radio, newspaper and television are kind of more in-depth analysis and commentary.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“People know business do about things. Isn't it interesting? I think mainstream media, especially newspapers, have gone through this identity crisis of, well, what do we do? We could report the news, but we're reporting yesterday's news, which everyone has read online yesterday. So what do we do? And it's about redefining what their purpose is. And it seems to be, I mean, it's interesting that the biggest stories of the last year or so have been driven by traditional newspapers. Washington Post, New York Times, The Guardian, the Russian lynx, Trump, the emails, it's actually, it's almost like a traditional newspaper is rather like bookshops have had to redefine themselves and cinemas have had to redefine. It's like, what can we do that actually you don't get at the click of a button just reading a website? And it's that long term.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, that's a good idea. That's a good idea. Well, I do say, you know, the very first episode where I got the cast to improvise policies in the back of a car, you know, what the clock was ticking. And three of them have subsequently become law, which is everyone has to have plastic bag of their own, which has now become the bag for life thing. Pet Asbels, which I think now exists. And the National Spare Room Database, which has become the bedroom tax. But it does, yes, it does worry me. And that was one of the reasons we kind of stopped making it in that it sort of become, we never actually engaged with politicians or, you know, gave them guest parts or anything. But it seemed to, there was that air of it sounding like, oh, they're becoming a bit cozy with the idea of the thick of it, aren't they? So let's just stop it.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's a role model, and I have to kind of explain, but don't you see in each episode things get worse whenever Malcolm turns up, you know, you're not noticed that even though he somehow gets away with blaming it on other people, you know, if you analyze any of the plot lines, he does make it worse.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, y Well, although the number of people have come out and said it got me interested in politics is high, the number of people who have said, I didn't know it worked like that is high. No, what's been slightly weird is seeing politicians absorb the worst elements of it as if they were kind of...”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I've always felt there is a limit in it. I don't think it's there to change people's political opinions or change their point of views. I said, you know, I went into think of it with a very strong sense of how I felt about Blair, but I certainly wasn't going to make the thick of it. I kind of anti-Blair or anti-Labour or anti-lelemmic. It's more about, unfortunately, this is how I see politics as operating at the moment, but what can we do? Where do we go from?”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“What is wrong with being offended not offended for the sake of being offended, but if you have a set of values or say religious beliefs, they should be able to withstand a joke And if he can't withstand a joke, then you ought to examine how strong those beliefs are. And I get the sense that you...”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. And it's also, and Brexit has thrown this up as well, which is, I think we're more and more operating in our own little, you know, our own little language games, our own little bubbles, you know, the echo chambers thing. And I think social media has exaggerated that in that we now have spent the last five, six years blocking people who we disagree with, unfollowing people that we're not interested in, getting our news filtered into just the sort of topics that we would like to read about and not necessarily. So there's none of that exploration that goes in. And I think what it means is, my fear is that we've gone into the habit of not wanting to debate anymore. Actually, being frightened of someone who has an opposing point of view to the extent that we think it's not safe. We want our safe space where no one is going to say something. And I also keep saying,”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So I just kind of just my own analysis of what's happened. I mean, the one thing, and it connects also, I mean, the other thing is we tend to think of politics as about power, but actually what's happened in the last 10 years is power has diversified and shifted. Power is in Facebook and Google and Apple. Power is internationally. Look at Putin and the effect on the American elections and possibly elections here. It's much more difficult to locate. And there was that great book a couple of years ago about the end of, was it the end of politics or the politicians themselves have less influence than they did 20, 30 years ago?”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I don't know. I mean, my natural default is to write, not lightly, but is to make it connect with people's experiences. I've just written a book on classical music, which I'm very, very passionate about. But, you know, I can't help but be funny about classical music because there are absurd elements to it, as anyone knows who's gone to a classical music concert and the fact that, you know, it's that. And I am thinking about writing something about politics that would be a kind of long form, but it would be, you know, there'd be a sort of lighter sight. Only in that I want it to connect with the everyday reader.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Over the years for the observant, yeah, yeah, yeah, but you know, the death of Stalin is a comedy about politics, if you like, in that it's a kind of way of showing you in a slightly farcical, nervous way what happens when something rotten happens within the political machine. But”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Don't turn him into a clown because a clown is safe. People might disagree with me on my assessment of clones. I know people are frightened of clones, but it makes them a cuddly character, a caricature, and he's not, he's real. It feels like a caricature, but that's the problem. You need comedians to do that. Because as I explained, he kind of does it himself. And therefore, I want people to actually get engaged to see, I think democracy has been kind of breached and we now have to do something to repair that breach, I think.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I feel angry about it. I mean, I can be tangentially funny about Trump if you want me to be, but it's not about that. It's more, I do think it's important that people...”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes. I feel I feel there are other great comedians who are looking at crop, but they tend to be journalists in their method. You know, John Oliver on HBO does a great show. But he has a team of researchers analyzing things that Trump said in the past and comparing them with what he said now, or things that other politicians said in the past. A team looking at the argument, and I think that's the way to go. I don't think a fictionalized version of what's happening now would be as horrific or as absurd as what is actually happening now. So I'm glad I'm not involved in doing that.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Do you know what? I thought it was very clear because the comedy is out of the behavior. It's a sort of absurd nervous comedy rather than a kind of carry-on are we all having a laugh? These are good times. It says in the poster comedy of terrors. And I want to get that idea of a very low level lingering nervousness on the part of the audience, which is my attempt to kind of replicate what it must have been like just living everyday life in Moscow at the time, not quite knowing whether you're going to get through the day, but living like that for 20 years. So it's not at the forefront, but it's just lurking there.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, which is a true story of a live Mozart piano concerto being played in Moscow going out live on radio Moscow, Stalin rings up during it, he's listening to it on the radio, rings up and says, I'd love a copy of this, a recording of it. I'll send someone to pick it up. The engineers put the phone down and say, are we recording this? And they say, no, no, no, it's going out live. And they think, oh my God. Because at the time, you know, if you cross Stalin, if you did anything.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, it was a French graphic novel called The Death of Style, and based on the events happening around about the time Stalin died and the power struggle in the Kremlin and in particular.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, no, no. That's what I'm saying. I'm not saying that he's not saying that. But it's using those techniques of, and actually, you know, Trump lives off, you know, the big rally in the flesh, seeing people in the flesh and having tens of thousands of them come to.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It was a kind of it was done out of noticing the likes of Berlusconi and Le Pain and an element of Farage here doing what Trump does, which is just say the word, say the key words that will get a big reaction and just stick to saying those words. And it does, and it's a populism and it's a nationalism that builds and builds and builds. And wins elections. And it was noticing that, thinking this is not a million miles away from the 1930s not just I'm not just saying they're all like Hitler, but your Mussolinis who are slightly pathetic figures, absurd figures, or that sort of idea of the nationalist populist politician, which is always simmering away, they're bubbling away they're underneath this veneer of democracy being solid and perfect.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think I remember writing at the time that his words are what got him in, but how he applies those words is going to be the problem. Now, saying build a wall is not actually a coherent policy because it requires you working out how you're going to get the money to pay for that wall. The consequences of it are, who you're going to hire to build it. Are you going to go for cheap labor, which ironically will be coming in over the border? Or are you going to give the Ross Belt workers?”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So it's not clarity, but I think there was a sort of certainty. He's a salesman. That's what he does very well. He sells himself and his message. And that was very beguiling to a lot of people in a way that, in contrast to Hillary Clinton, who was being very cautious and safe.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, there's an element of that. I mean, it's counter to, I mean, analyze any transcript for Trump's speech. And I can assure you it's not language you can understand because he starts about five sentences at once. He says, I tell you, and by the way, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton, I saw, I saw, and by the way, her husband, and we're not going to get the job. China, China, you know, so he's like, he's got five apps in his conversation open at once.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, yeah, you see Trump sort of guilty, but I also counter, it's not quite as higher card as you have placed on the table with Trump and Brexit. I counter with a higher participation in the last general election. And the way higher youth turnout in the last election. And I think what happened actually is... Because of Trump, and also because of Brexit, I think a lot of young voters realized actually it's important you get out and you take part in the debate. You can't just go, well, they're all the same. It won't affect me. I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to take part. And as I say, you know, if you don't like anyone, you can go out and spoil your paper. But just telling people on the doorstep that you are going to vote makes you much more powerful than if you say you're not going to bother.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You know, just analyze that for a second, those words, you know. And also the Blair thing of, you know, I only know what I believe, which was his justification of Iraq. You know, I only know what I believe is actually the reverse of about 3,000 years of empirical knowledge and scientific method, which is, you know, we look at stuff and then we draw a conclusion and then, you know, so we believe what we know.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“jargon and meaningless cant I remember there was a slogan, I think it was one of David Cameron's first slogans, so it might have been the 2010 election, the posters where Vote for Change voted conservative.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Theatres, no, no, no. Come here. Nobody can do now. A politician? No, I don't do impressions now. But how people speak, I suppose, was it always interesting? I suppose sound, you know, which is why I went to radio. And then studying English, you know, how people write their arguments. That's what I like to look at, kind of misuse of logic and so on.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I don't know if I can do it that way. He sort of earned a pound in your pocket kind of thing. It's been 30 years since I've done it. Tony Ben? Well, Tony, yes, I need to work in this because it is, frankly, yes, yes, it's sort of like that. And it was Jim Caragan who was very much like impressions from the 70s. I'm a terrible tribute act if all else failed. I'm not sure you'd”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I always did impressions. Yes, I always did, you know, I was the kid at school who did the impressions of all the teachers and that sort of thing.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Whatever you want in the result, absolutely because I had been worried that participation in general elections had been going down in the 50s and 60s turnout was 80%, 85% and been going down. That can be disillusioning for a lot of people. And what was exciting about the Scottish independence debate was that people were galvanised on both sides into talking about big subjects. What is our currency? Who's going to be the head of state? How is it going to work? What's our culture going to be like? And the other thing was that the vault was given to 16 and 17-year-olds. So suddenly a whole new generation was introduced to the idea of the importance of politics.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, I know, I know. But I think it's led to parties becoming more and more isolated from each other. That's the thing. I was reading Boat Lloyd George and how he formed a movement out of two different parties in the end. He gathered up some of the liberals and some of the conservatives and some of Labour just entering parliament and formed just a group to become the majority. And it's an interesting, that time, you know, the first three decades of the 20th century and interesting to look at how party politics was very fluid then.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, there is. It's a frustration, I think. You know, it's going back to that thing of one person. And I see it, you know, I see it today in how Theresa May conducts Brexit in that, and she doesn't even have a majority. She's in a minority government. And yet the position she's in, the way we make the prime ministership now is such that it allows you to have complete control. And so she doesn't.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. Either they go into the groupthink or just through fear of losing their job or telling themselves that, well, they could resign over this, but, you know, isn't it better to be in place to work out the solution?”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Majority has absolute power, and that is how something like the invasion of Iraq happened, I think. It made me then think, okay, what is going on? How is power being conducted in Whitehall at the moment?”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, a couple of things, not in a dogmatic way. It was prompted, first of all, by a kind of anger and frustration. You know, I was always on record as being very against blur's involvement in the invasion of Iraq. And it made me wonder how something like that could happen. And it then made me look at how politics works here, which is a prime minister who has a large majority has absolute power in this country. There are no checks and balances. Yes, you've got parliamentary committees, but they can't stop stuff. You've got the House of Lords, but it can't really stop stuff in its tracks. You don't have any checks and balances. In the way that you do have in America, you know, Donald Trump is still finding out that he can't just tweet something and it will happen. You know, he doesn't control the legislature. He doesn't control the judiciary. But in Britain, we have this highly centralized system where a prime minister with a working sizable working”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, absolutely. Yes, it is, as you commented on, it's an area that's always fascinated me and I've always been drawn towards it. I've always wanted to examine it. I love the history of it. I love the institutions. You know, I get excited on the two or three times I've been in the houses of Parliament in Westminster and in the Scottish Parliament. I'm genuinely excited. But I suppose as you get older and wiser and more experienced, you start seeing you move from that idealized kind of worship of the notion to a sense of, well, what's wrong with it though? I'm seeing things that are wrong. I see things that don't quite work. I see mistakes being made. And I suppose that has been something that I've spent more and more time kind of looking at.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And can I also add lasted a lot longer than most high profile careers so far. In that people have power for about five or six years and then go a bit crazy. I think six years is the point where they turn mad”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, there is that. There is, I think you have to have some part of your brain in the kindest possible way, some part of your brain shut down in order to be quite an effective politician. Because actually the ones who do force things through are the ones who listen to criticism but still have this residual belief.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, which, and people who ask me, you know, have you ever thought about going on to politics? That's the answer I give. I don't think I could do it. Because you have to sign up to a set of beliefs, some of which you have and others of which you disagree with, but they are the policies of your party. So you have to have this collective responsibility and you have to speak as one. And that's not something I don't think I could ever do. I briefly became part of BBC Management and I lasted about three months because I couldn't stick up for programs that I thought were terrible.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's right. Well, I think people go into things like that, journalism and broadcasting, because correct me if I'm wrong, did you always couldn't help but see the other point of view?”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Really, yes Get John after all. Yes, so yes, for full disclosure, we were kind of near contemporaries when we at Oxford. But yeah, you were the political, you were political, but you were sort of... I mean, I don't know how much detail you want to go into. You were a sort of genial politico, weren't you, rather than a kind of absolutely ruthless?”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely to change people's lives. Yes, absolutely. Often for ill. Absolutely. It's part of the drama of politics, but also part of the, you know, I was fascinated by doing history, fascinated by prime ministers who were associated with big reforms, you know, Lloyd George and Gladstone and, you know, the big reform and politicians with a passion for change as well.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Understand I don't need to. I think for him, the memories of the world were quite painful because of, you know, as a 16, 17 year old, having to decide to fight not just against an enemy.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, did he think there was no point anymore? No, no, no. I think he was trying to say, I remember during the World At War was the great kind of documentary series around at the time. And I remember the episode that was set in the, you know, was looking at the whole concentration camp and Hitler's concentration camp final solution scheme. And I remember my dad getting up and leaving because he just, he couldn't face seeing it, but he said, I've got to leave, but you must watch this.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Because, of course, he was an intensely political man. Well, he was, but I mean, he wasn't overtly political charge, but he grew up in Italy just outside Naples, but he joined the partisans at a very young age during the war. Fighting Muslim, fighting Mussolini. And before that, actually writing for an anti-Mussolini newspaper. And then after the war, he emigrated to the UK, as did a lot of Italians, a lot of Europeans at that stage. But he never took out UK citizenship. And I remember saying, why don't you do that? Because you can't vote in an election. And he said, well, elections, the last time I voted, Mussolini got in. And it was a real kind of warning that actually democracy isn't this perfect thing. It is something that you have to be very attentive to. It's like a plant. You have to just keep watering it. You can't just put one cup of water in and then leave it for years. But was he making a serious point? Did he think the plant?”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's like people who are fascinated by Willsden cricket manuals, you know, just the statistics, and there's something interesting about that. I don't know where that appeals to a kind of slightly train spotteriness in one's youth.”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You read Hansard and I didn't read it once. All right. Did you stay up for local election results on the telly? I think I'm the one asking the questions. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's intriguing. I think it is intriguing. I wonder whether it's an element of, because I loved staying up and watching the results shows and looking at the charts and whether at that age you're into kind of...”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, and then remember there came a craze called Doughnutting, which was in very sparsely populated debates, MPs would bunch around whoever was speaking to make it look as if it was. I still feel you're being...”
2017-11-24 · Political Thinking with Nick Robinson · The Armando Iannucci One · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source