We look at conspiracy theories that have emerged through US politics with Gabriel Gatehouse, author of ‘The Coming Storm’. The podcaster and former international editor of the BBC’s ‘Newsnight’ joins Georgina Godwin to discuss his career so far, his thoughts about the two major presidential candidates and the underbelly of the internet, which is host to fringe forums such as 4chan and QAnon. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hello and welcome to Meet the Writers.
I'm Georgina Godwin.
My guest today is a journalist and broadcaster.
He's the former international editor of Newsnight and co host of BBC's Ukraine cast.
He's reported from almost every recent conflict around the world and won numerous awards, Most recently, the 2023 Broadcasting Press Guild and the 2020 Foreign Press Association Award for his coverage of the Hong Kong protests.
He presents the podcast the Coming Storm on the BB Essential Guide to the Conspiracy Theories Tearing America Apart.
He's now produced a book of the same name, delving into the craziness surrounding the November 5 poll.
Gabriel Gatehouse, welcome to Meet the Writers.
Hello.
Thanks for having me.
Of course.
You're very well known to us from our screens and from your reporting all over the world.
How did you get into that in the first place?
I sort of fell into it by accident, actually.
I did a degree in Russian at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, which was less like a university.
It's in London.
At the time, it was more like a sort of house on Russell Square with a bunch of Russian eccentrics and assorted oddballs.
So I studied Russian literature, and when I finished, all I really wanted to do was play the piano.
I wanted to play jazz piano.
But I did need a job while I was swatting for my audition for the Guildhall School of Music.