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Ritula

@ritula.bsky.social
362 followers 317 following 62 posts

Love asking questions, looking for answers. Broadcaster journalist Classic FM exBBC

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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Emily Thornberry going for it and the PM struggling to respond.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
So how does this Middle East adventure end? Hope someone’s worrying about that. No off-ramp in sight.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
When do you think politicians will work out that what most people want is good governance, not drama?
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
open.substack.com/pub/ritula/p... I have been thinking about what it is to be human and how it is being eroded by power and money.
open.substack.com
My beating heart - or is that the internet connection going down?
My mother learned to speak English by reading The Times and listening to what in the early 1960s was, ‘The Home Service’.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Events have moved so fast I almost abandoned this but I think the question of sovereignty is fascinating. I’ve only scratched the surface. open.substack.com/pub/ritula/p...
open.substack.com
On Sovereignty
January is never the best time to focus on self improvement.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
In Trump’s Second Term, Far-Right Agenda Enters the Mainstream www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/u... And the UK too?
nytimes.com
In Trump’s Second Term, Far-Right Agenda Enters the Mainstream
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Overheard on the train - “They were planning a big wedding?” “They decided to buy a house”
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
Yay! Go Lionesses!
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
If you want more Marina, here she is from our event earlier this year in long form conversation with @ritula.bsky.social about the books that inspired her m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4L_...
m.youtube.com
The Books That Made Me, with Professor Dame Marina Warner FBA
YouTube video by The British Academy
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 12/07/2025
What a woman! An absolute joy talking to her. Agree wholeheartedly @catrionaseth.bsky.social
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
As someone who pays attention but less than I used to, Hannah White points to the trends which seem to be fairly ‘in yer face’ to everyone except the government www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/parl...
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Parliament has changed – Keir Starmer’s welfare reform challenge won’t be a one-off | Institute for Government
The prime minister needs a new way of working with backbench Labour MPs.
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Jason Read @jasonread.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
A recently discovered 1974 speech by Stuart Hall on Walter Rodney—and why fascists fear ideas. www.bostonreview.net/articles/whe...
bostonreview.net
When We Are All Enemies of the State - Boston Review
A recently discovered 1974 speech by Stuart Hall on Walter Rodney—and why fascists fear ideas.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
www.theguardian.com/politics/202... Not pulling any punches.
theguardian.com
Russia is at war with Britain and US is no longer a reliable ally, UK adviser says
Government defence expert Fiona Hill warns UK to respond to threats by becoming more cohesive and resilient
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
You go out for some dinner and all hell breaks loose. Rather enjoying dessert. ‘Breaking up is hard to do’ as Neil Sedaka once sang.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
open.substack.com/pub/ritula/p...
open.substack.com
Immigration: Learning the Language
In the days before social media, one of the great joys of working in radio was that people didn’t necessarily know what you looked like.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Joseph Nye, who coined the term ‘soft power’, dies aged 88 So sorry to see this. I interviewed Joseph Nye a number of times and he was always generous and insightful. His death comes at a moment when America seems to be abandoning its soft power - difficult for those of us who value it.
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Reuters @reuters.com · 06/05/2025
India launches attack on 9 sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir reut.rs/4krsv6z
reut.rs
India launches attack on 9 sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir
The Indian armed forces launched "Operation Sindoor," hitting nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
In my superficial, self centred way, I looked at the UK/India trade deal and thought ‘ooh, lovely clothes may now be more affordable’. And then I read the comments. Instructive. In particular, the person who pointed out that we should wait for the detail. Hello devil. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
UK and India agree trade deal after three years of talks
The deal will improve access for UK whisky and cars to the Indian market, and cut taxes on India's clothing and footwear exports.
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The Voice of the Listener and Viewer (VLV) @vlvuk.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Do join us at our Spring Conference on the 30 April in London - lots of discussions to be had about the future of public service media with @janemartinson.bsky.social @ritula.bsky.social @torindouglas.bsky.social To book head to payments.vlv.org.uk/event-search
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
An interesting conclusion from James Marriott in The Times. Not least for those of us who were constantly defending ourselves from the criticism of ‘too many interruptions’. And while conducting an interview is on one level ‘just asking questions’ doing it well is more like playing chess.
Copy from The Times arguing that podcasts aren’t a suitable medium for serious interviews - unlike Radio 4
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
In Trumpworld there are no friends, no allies, no mercy. Only potential deals. It is a ruthless business mentality applied to geopolitics. The ‘suckers’ - often the weaker party - get ‘done over’ (I won’t use the ruder term).
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
Will 50% of America please wake up now?
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
The UK feels rather small and irrelevant this morning. And our domestic concerns even more parochial than usual. With friends like these etc. #Zelensky
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
I have been brooding over this ever since I saw the clip. I have (publicly) wrestled with my sense of identity - English? British? But I’m horrified by this expression of unabashed ‘blood and soil nationalism’ How have we arrived here in 2025? www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...
newstatesman.com
Of course Rishi Sunak is English
In his comments on English identity, Konstantin Kisin was giving voice to a racial essentialism dangerously prominent on the right.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 15/02/2025
Zelensky’s comments about the need for a European army are difficult to ignore. UK’s objection to grtr European defence co operation rested on the primacy of NATO and the transatlantic alliance. Now that appears to be over, is a European force the inevitable conclusion? And what would the UK do?
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Snoozefest #PMQs
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
I’m always wary of politicians who claim insight purely because of personal experience (“speaking as a mother”etc). Kemi Badenoch takes my stance to another level - it’s as if she has no awareness at all of her own relationship to some of the policies she advocates.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Would consumer boycotts make an impact? (She says, typing on an iPhone)
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The Voice of the Listener and Viewer (VLV) @vlvuk.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
We're absolutely delighted to welcome @ritula.bsky.social @katefdixon.bsky.social @helenljay.bsky.social Catherine Johnson & @heshams.bsky.social as new Trustees to the VLV. They bring a wealth of expertise & a strong commitment to the mission of VLV, full release here vlv.org.uk/media-centre...
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
In the ‘new world order’ as declared by President Trump, there are it seems no real friends and allies. Can we finally say goodbye to the increasingly elusive ‘special relationship’?
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
I’m presenting Calm Classics on ClassicFM - a thought, irrelevant to the task in hand but which just had to be shared…Reading the obits for David Lynch reminded me of how much I loved Twin Peaks - it seemed miraculous that something so surreal was on TV. I even learned to make Cherry Pie.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Biden’s FP achievements - not an easy sell? My take: a chaotic and ill judged withdrawal from Afghanistan, behind the curve on Ukraine and very little influence on Israel/Gaza. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/13/u...
nytimes.com
Biden Will Deliver Final Foreign Policy Speech on Monday
The president will give a speech on Monday arguing that he strengthened U.S. alliances during his four years in office and that America’s adversaries are weaker than when he took over.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
He made me laugh and laugh. Pure joy. www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
David Lodge: Author of Nice Work and Small World dies aged 89
Lodge was twice nominated for the Booker Prize in the 1980s for comic novels Small World and Nice Work.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 31/12/2024
open.substack.com/pub/ritula/p...
open.substack.com
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The death of the former Indian PM Manmohan Singh made me reflect on how much India has changed since his time in office (2004-2014).
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
Jimmy Carter’s achievements are undoubtedly impressive. Brokering peace between Israel and Egypt, building affordable housing and global humanitarian work. Not to mention 77 years of marriage - THAT is extraordinary. To Jimmy and Rosalynn - bravo!
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Paul Waugh MP @paulwaughmp.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
.@anandmenon.bsky.social and his team provide impartial, timely, accessible research that is invaluable to Parliamentarians, the media + general public. That's why Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, SNP, Green, SDLP, Alliance and independent MPs and peers have all signed this letter.
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Paul Waugh MP @paulwaughmp.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
.@ukandeu.bsky.social has for years produced high quality research on the UK's links with the EU. Yet it now faces closure because of ESRC grant cuts. Some 66 of us Parliamentarians (38 MPs and 28 peers) have signed a cross-party letter urging ESRC + UKRI to reconsider their decision.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
I got a sneak peek of this glossary when it was in development. A really useful resource for anyone interested in Al and involved in communicating its concepts and ideas. www.aiglossary.co.uk Congratulations to @alexgrz.bsky.social and @benhenke.bsky.social for pulling this together
Image of glossary front page
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Lewis Goodall @lewisgoodall.com · 08/12/2024
NEW: Russian Foreign Ministry confirms that Assad has left Syria.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Hamas attack on Israel, the destruction of Hizbollah and America’s increasingly uncertain role in the world. All factors in the fall of Assad.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 08/12/2024
When the Syrian uprising began more than a decade ago, all many Syrians asked for was more democracy and for Assad to stand aside. They didn’t want the devastating conflict which followed. Let’s hope a more peaceful future now awaits.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
Unexpected opinion no.3,433. I went to see Wicked and loved it. A visual feast and really very funny at times.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
And then South Korea. Strong ‘man’ politics is contagious it seems.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Great piece from @gideonrachman.bsky.social of the @financialtimes.com about the tainted legacy of Obama and Merkel - he points out they could accuse their critics of 20:20 hindsight, to which I might reply ‘The critics were there at the time. If only you had listened.’
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Audio/radio is in rude health according to Tim Levell of Times Radio Mohit Bakaya of BBCR4 and podcaster and Audio exec Kate Taylor at the Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference..but lots of debate about standards, funding and time given to interviews.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 28/11/2024
Jonathan Munro BBC World Service chief tells the Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference ‘radio is the most resilient platform’ - a major reverse ferret after years of downgrading language services and programmes like Newshour?
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
Very sad to hear Mishal Hussain is leaving the Beeb. A truly brilliant interviewer and a very kind person too. An unusual combination! Let’s hope the Beeb’s loss is someone else’s gain and ‘Mishal talks to..’ pops up as a format elsewhere.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
An insightful report from @ukandeu.bsky.social Confirms lots of what I’ve observed eg religion much more important to minority communities than the wider population and Hindus cf Harrow east and Leicester east more likely to lean Conservative than other minority groups ukandeu.ac.uk/reports/mino...
ukandeu.ac.uk
Minorities report: the attitudes of Britain's ethnic minority population - UK in a changing Europe
This report looks at the diversity of political opinion, social values and economic preferences not just between Britain’s white and non-white population, but between different ethnic and religious gr...
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
This is so achingly 2010 as a space and I’m so happy.
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Ritula @ritula.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Gosh listening to all the clips of John Prescott and the interactions in the Commons is a reminder of how much politics has changed. Cross party humour - laughing with each other - seems to have faded.
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