Why is No 10 hiring ‘weirdos’?
Listen now
Description
At the beginning of the year Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s senior adviser, put out an unusual job advertisement. In a blog post he asked for “super-talented weirdos” and “wild-cards”. One of the people he hired was Andrew Sabisky, a twentysomething “superforecaster”. It was later revealed that Sabisky had previously expressed extreme views on race and eugenics. He subsequently resigned. In this episode we speak to Newsnight’s political editor Nicholas Watt who has been following the Sabisky saga. We also talk to journalist and author Matthew Syed about why hiring “weirdos” can actually be a good idea. Presenter: Matthew Price Producers: Harriet Noble, Jenny Sneesby and Lucy Hancock Mixed by Emma Crowe
More Episodes
Published 03/17/20
Drill music has a reputation for inciting violence and crime. The Metropolitan Police believes the genre is linked to the rise of stabbings and murders across London, and the Met chief Cressida Dick has said social media platforms should be more vigilant of drill content being uploaded online. ...
Published 03/17/20
At first coronavirus was just a health story, but now it’s pretty clear employment and the economy are taking a massive hit. Travel bans have led to airlines cutting jobs and the hospitality sector is in trouble as people stay at home. In this episode we ask what will happen to workers. It’s a...
Published 03/16/20