Strangeland: Jon Sopel on how Britain stopped making sense

2024 really has been a political year like no other - treating us to an indulgent helping of seismic elections, career comebacks and a gluttony of scandals. So we thought we’d try and make some sense of it all with the inaugural News Agents awards of the year. With some help from LBC’s Natasha Clark and Aggie Chambre, Lewis adjudicates on the highlights and the lowlights, the heroes and the villains of the last twelve months - and a look ahead to what’s in store for us all in 2025. We’ll be back on Christmas eve with the first of our ‘What If’ series, taking a deep dive into the sliding doors moments which have shaped our world. What if things had played out differently?Tickets to The News Agents Live On Stage with HSBC UK are now on sale! You can get your tickets for Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh here: https://articles.globalplayer.com/7giHoMavXLgdrd6gaC3GxWG7T8Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Louis DegenhardtProducer: Natalie Indge Digital Editor: Michaela WaltersSocial Media Editor: Georgia FoxwellVideo Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind BadewalDigital Journalists: Michael BaggsYou can watch Lewis's special report on the abortion crisis in Florida here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df5BCL0ocFEDon’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below:https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents The News Agents USA now have merch! Click here to buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents-usaYou can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

This week on The Sports Agents... Sports Personality of the Year winner and 2024 Olympic gold medallist, Keely Hodgkinson, joins us for an exclusive interview (03:45). We find out more about Tyson Fury and what it's like to box a rematch with cruiserweight boxer and former WBO title holder, Chris Billam-Smith, ahead of the biggest rematch of the century Fury v Usyk 2 (11:25). And how extreme can running get? We find out with ultra-runner Jon Shield (17:45). Got a question for The Sports Agents - email us at [email protected] New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Later in this episode we will be speaking exclusively to James Harding, founder of Tortoise media, in his first broadcast interview since buying the Observer newspaper. But we start in a court room in Avignon, packed to the brim with now convicted rapists who all abused a woman who had been drugged and "passed around“ by her husband. That women was Gisele Pelicot. She waived her anonymity to speak out for other victims. She is a hero in her native France. And increasingly around the world. But are we any closer to understanding how a crime like that happens?Tickets to The News Agents Live On Stage with HSBC UK are now on sale! You can get your tickets for Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh here: https://articles.globalplayer.com/7giHoMavXLgdrd6gaC3GxWG7T8Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Louis DegenhardtProducer: Natalie Indge Digital Editor: Michaela WaltersSocial Media Editor: Georgia FoxwellVideo Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind BadewalDigital Journalists: Michael BaggsYou can watch Lewis's special report on the abortion crisis in Florida here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df5BCL0ocFEDon’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below: https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents The News Agents USA now have merch! Click here to buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents-usaYou can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Nigel Farage, Reform treasurer Nick Candy, and Elon Musk gathered below a portrait of a young Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago. They were discussing campaign tactics, apparently, and whether Musk's money could be funnelled into Reform. What can governing parties do to stop elections being bought? We ask the Polish Foreign Minister, Radek Sikorski, a politician who has helped to see off populist government in his own country.Nigel Farage clip courtesy of GB News.Tickets to The News Agents Live On Stage with HSBC UK are now on sale! You can get your tickets for Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh here: https://articles.globalplayer.com/7giHoMavXLgdrd6gaC3GxWG7T8Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Louis DegenhardtProducer: Natalie Indge Digital Editor: Michaela WaltersSocial Media Editor: Georgia FoxwellVideo Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind BadewalDigital Journalists: Michael BaggsYou can watch Lewis's special report on the abortion crisis in Florida here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df5BCL0ocFEDon’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below: https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents The News Agents USA now have merch! Click here to buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents-usaYou can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Lewis has been urged to cancel his new year holiday by Britain’s best known conservationist Chris Packham. When he tweeted asking for travel tips in the remote Faroe Islands, he did not expect to find himself at the centre of a mini-social media backlash, with animal rights campaigners arguing the islands should be boycotted because of their practice of whale and dolphin slaughter. We were intrigued by the political questions at play here. Do you have moral culpability just because you visit a country? How forgiving should we be of cultural practices? And are different standards applied to different cultures? Lewis talks to one of his critics in the studio.We also talk another man’s travel plans- Keir Starmer who is getting more flak from within and without for globetrotting. Is this fair? He is, after all, the prime minister. We chat through with LBC’s Aggie Chambre and Natasha Clarke.Tickets to The News Agents Live On Stage with HSBC UK are now on sale! You can get your tickets for Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh here: https://articles.globalplayer.com/7giHoMavXLgdrd6gaC3GxWG7T8Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Louis DegenhardtProducer: Natalie Indge Digital Editor: Michaela WaltersSocial Media Editor: Georgia FoxwellVideo Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind BadewalDigital Journalists: Michael BaggsYou can watch Lewis's special report on the abortion crisis in Florida here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df5BCL0ocFEDon’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below: https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents The News Agents USA now have merch! Click here to buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents-usaYou can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

A modern day thriller - a Chinese spy who infiltrated not only government, but Buckingham Palace. The alleged spy, Yang Tengbo, says he did "done nothing wrong or unlawful". How did Prince Andrew get mixed up in this, and why is he getting so much flack? Later, we talk about Stephen Bartlett's podcast after a BBC investigation revealed widespread health misinformation. How is wellness being weaponised to support "freedom of expression"?Tickets to The News Agents Live On Stage with HSBC UK are now on sale! You can get your tickets for Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh here: https://articles.globalplayer.com/7giHoMavXLgdrd6gaC3GxWG7T8Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Louis DegenhardtProducer: Natalie Indge Digital Editor: Michaela WaltersSocial Media Editor: Georgia FoxwellVideo Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind BadewalDigital Journalists: Michael BaggsYou can watch Lewis's special report on the abortion crisis in Florida here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df5BCL0ocFEDon’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below: https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents The News Agents USA now have merch! Click here to buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents-usaYou can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Emily Thornberry is one of Labour's great survivors. An MP since 2005, she stuck with the party through 14 long years of opposition - serving in the shadow cabinets of Ed Miliband, Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer. Never afraid to speak her mind, she's one of the party's most relaxed communicators, so why didn't Starmer bring her into government? On the backbenches, she's become chair of the foreign affairs committee - a powerful role scrutinising the work of the foreign secretary and Britain on the world stage. So with a revolution in Syria, Donald Trump poised to return to the White House, and populism on the rise in Europe, what better time to sit down with her to talk about her remarkable career. She speaks candidly to Lewis about her clashes with Corbyn's leadership team, Starmer's stuttering start and her journey towards the top of British politics. Tickets to The News Agents Live On Stage with HSBC UK are now on sale! You can get your tickets for Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh here: https://articles.globalplayer.com/7giHoMavXLgdrd6gaC3GxWG7T8Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Louis DegenhardtProducer: Natalie Indge Digital Editor: Michaela WaltersSocial Media Editor: Georgia FoxwellVideo Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind BadewalDigital Journalists: Michael BaggsYou can watch Lewis's special report on the abortion crisis in Florida here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df5BCL0ocFEDon’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below: https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents The News Agents USA now have merch! Click here to buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents-usaYou can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

This week on The Sports Agents... After the biggest contract in sports history was signed (15 years and $765m dollars for baseball player Juan Soto) we tried to get our heads around the huge numbers with U.S. Sports Business Reporter, Daniel Kaplan (01:43). As the Formula One season ended we had a debrief about the big driver argument, Lewis Hamilton and next year's wide open title race with BBC F1 presenter and voice of Drive to Survive, Jennie Gow (07:34). We talked about the Game of Thrones at Manchester United with The Athletic's Adam Crafton after their sporting director Dan Ashworth left after just five months (14:40). And for a Christmas treat, Gabby's husband and ex-Scotland and Wasps rugby player, Kenny Logan, joined us to spill the tea on Gabby (18:40).Got a question for The Sports Agents - email us at [email protected] New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Angela Rayner promises to deliver 1.5 million new homes within five years. It’s setting the battle lines for what the Telegraph is calling the “bulldozing of the Home Counties“. Is Keir Starmer ready to take on the Nimbys even if the Nimbys are now his core 2024 voter? Later, who will be the “Voice of America“ - and what’s happening at the FBI?Tickets to The News Agents Live On Stage with HSBC UK are now on sale! You can get your tickets for Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh here: https://articles.globalplayer.com/7giHoMavXLgdrd6gaC3GxWG7T8Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Louis DegenhardtProducer: Natalie Indge Digital Editor: Michaela WaltersSocial Media Editor: Georgia FoxwellVideo Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind BadewalDigital Journalists: Michael BaggsYou can watch Lewis's special report on the abortion crisis in Florida here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df5BCL0ocFEDon’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below: https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents The News Agents USA now have merch! Click here to buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents-usaYou can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

The agriculture company Arla foods is trialing a new cow feed in the UK that aims to cut down climate changing methane emissions. It’s been approved by the regulatory authorities here, in Europe, and in America. But it hasn’t stopped milk becoming the latest conspiracy in the culture war, with reform MPs arguing for its ban and labelling it “woke milk “. Later, Kemi Badenoch goes for Keir Starmer over immigration at PMQs. Is that wise?Tickets to The News Agents Live On Stage with HSBC UK are now on sale! You can get your tickets for Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh here: https://articles.globalplayer.com/7giHoMavXLgdrd6gaC3GxWG7T8Editor: Tom HughesExecutive Producer: Louis DegenhardtProducer: Natalie Indge Digital Editor: Michaela WaltersSocial Media Editor: Georgia FoxwellVideo Production: Rory Symon, Shane Fennelly & Arvind BadewalDigital Journalists: Michael BaggsYou can watch Lewis's special report on the abortion crisis in Florida here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df5BCL0ocFEDon’t forget you can also subscribe to our other News Agents podcasts via the link below: https://linktr.ee/thenewsagents The News Agents USA now have merch! Click here to buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-news-agents-usaYou can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/