David Yelland

My favourite pithy politics post in a very long time.
Bang on the money.

I often wondered what the world would look like if the most ignorant, dangerous & daft opinions of radio phone-in hosts/callers were permitted to prevail. I never expected to find out…

Today I am celebrating 20 years of sobriety with Max and Lulu, who have no memory of their daddy ever drinking. #Miracles #Gratitude #Recovery 2️⃣0️⃣🙏🎉

When It Hits the Fan - 'Humanity Deserves Better' - BBC Sounds David Yelland and Simon Lewis examine the hype around something that doesn't exist. Yet.

Can Jony Ive & Sam Altman use PR to lift the human spirit? + Macron's Slap Hitter + Elon Musk, the ghost of Roy Cohn; denial ain't just a River in Egypt. We're up NOW on @BBCSounds.

YouTube video by OpenAI Sam & Jony introduce io

Jony Ive and @sama's $6.4B AI mega launch: mere PR or a cause of hope for all our futures? Listen in, 'When It Hits the Fan', @BBCRadio4 4pm UK and then @BBCSounds, @Spotify, @Apple. 🙏@OpenAI

youtu.be/W09bIpc_3ms?...

When It Hits the Fan - You're Banned! - BBC Sounds David Yelland and Simon Lewis examine whether banning a journalist is ever a good idea.

Is banning the media a gateway drug for could-be Robert Maxwells? Insight from the front line + Could a Teach First or Police Now campaign work to boost the care sector? + How ideas might save the undergrad degree at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School....

You're barred! Does banning media ever work for the powerful? Did it work for Nottingham Forest banning Gary Neville? Did it for Maxwell? Or for Fergie? When It Hits the Fan: @BBCRadio4 at 4pm, on @BBCSounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Today Podcast - Gary Lineker, the BBC and celebrity influencers - BBC Sounds Amol reflects on Lineker's career as his MOTD run ends.

Enjoyed shooting breeze on influencer culture and what we have learned about how opinion moves around the media multiverse with the excellent Amol Rajan and the equally excellent Ed Vaizey in wake of the conscious uncoupling of Tim Davie and @GaryLineker. 💔 Do listen, The Today Podcast. Up Now.

When It Hits the Fan - Robotaxis: Look, no hands! - BBC Sounds David Yelland and Simon Lewis get under the bonnet of how to PR driverless cabs.

Can Uber persuade the British to ride driverless? Is Gary Lineker a braver communicator than those who remain silent...? Plus: Inside the PR freebie in the age of Trump's Qatari 747. @BBCSounds or wherever you get tour podcasts.

Per NBC News: Rumeysa Ozturk has been released!

When It Hits the Fan - Prince Harry's bombshell interview - BBC Sounds David and Simon examine whether Prince Harry's interview was a spectacular PR own goal.

Up Now: Understanding how trauma crowds out strategy in Prince Harry’s PR, M&S’ cyber-crisis, a brand running on goodwill, Michelle Obama scotches those divorce rumours & a tribute to David Attenborough: ⁦‪@BBCSounds‬⁩ or wherever you get your pods.

When It Hits the Fan - PR is a virus - BBC Sounds David Yelland is joined by PR guru Phil Elwood, who blames their industry for everything.

Is PR just 'ultra processed words' and, if so, how do we return to a less toxic diet? This week on Fan Hitters....

Cyber attacks, such as the one on M&S, need to be viewed like kidnapping: information is purposefully managed out of the media by PR not put in by PR - which would aid the criminal gangs.

"Do you even own a black suit?"

When It Hits the Fan - China's meme warfare, rats and rockets - BBC Sounds David and Simon discuss if China is out-PRing the US, rats' media appeal and Jeff Bezos.

UP NOW! 🇨🇳 v 🇺🇸 Is China beating America in the global war for hearts and minds? + 🐀 Rats in Brum + 🚀 Why was Jeff Bezos shocked when his phallic willy-wave met PR scorn? ⁦‪@BBCSounds‬⁩ or wherever you get your podcasts.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...htt

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan found herself in the Oval Office this week not for a one-on-one meeting with President Trump, but an appearance before the press corps. She temporarily shielded herself from the cameras.Credit...Eric Lee/The New York Times

this is quite the photo and caption www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/u...

Quick, everyone: Be UNCOOL.

An astonishing lack of humility from Niall Ferguson here. In full infallibility mode.

I'll raise you this Magnolia 👀

An ‘Administrative Error’ Sends a Maryland Father to a Salvadoran Prison The Trump administration says it mistakenly deported an immigrant with protected status but that courts are powerless to order his return.

This is horrific. An innocent man is being held in prison in a foreign country simply for being brown.

www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

What have I learned so far at #Anthropy25? Blessed are the connectors of people for how else can we solve the problems the world faces...? ... so thank you John O'Brien... 👏🙏 @anthropyuk.bsky.social

When It Hits the Fan - Heathrow special: inside the crisis - BBC Sounds David Yelland and Simon Lewis discuss the PR optics of sleeping CEOs.

Up now on @BBCsounds: Should Heathrow’s boss have gone to bed? Was his Today Programme interview a car crash? Why is National Grid’s PR better than the airport’s? Inside a MegaCrisis… ✈️🔥

There's something very "wife of a 19th century colonial administrator" about Usha Vance being sent to Greeland to meet the natives.

Post from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that reads: Any unauthorized release of classified information is a violation of the law and will be treated as such.

Circling back on this…

I'm not Mystic Meg, though she was once part of my team, but how many Nobel laureates would queue up to hand BACK their own prizes if Donald Trump did win one? Anyone thought that far ahead?

I am thrilled to be speaking, and listening, at #Anthropy25. Join me at next week’s national gathering… Anthropy runs from 26-28 March at The Eden Project in Cornwall. @anthropyuk.bsky.social

'Musk must quit Tesla...' Ross Gerber on @BBCNewsnight saying precisely what we say in this week's When It Hits the Fan, do listen on @BBCSounds

Tim Berners-Lee's column in the FT earlier this week should resound around the world. We could free our data from the tech billionaires who have used it to create a world where lies rule, hatred is promoted, truth dies and hope fades. We can do better.

This is absolutely hilarious.

Russell Brand shares fake redacted file claiming that Penelope Keith shot JFK.

Clearly didn't read it.

Mind you, it's no madder than some of the other theories.

Celebrities back legal fight to clear Kids Company’s name Judicial review challenge to a damning report by the Charity Commission on the company founded by the late Camila Batmanghelidjh

Camila Batmanghelidjh was a good and kind woman. Her friends are seeking to rescue her reputation after her death - proof that legacy PR matters, proof of proper friendship. I think she was wrongly blamed, wrongly vilified and am proud to have known her.