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From Sarah Montague...
If you take three months off work to have a baby you expect to have time to prepare yourself for your return: psyche yourself up, get read in, plan your childcare routines and try to marshal your body and brain after the ravages of childbirth. Of course life - and the Today programme - doesn’t work like that. I was jiggling a colicky number two on my knee and trying to feed a grumpy, teething number one when the call came, “Jim’s stuck in the desert. I know you’re not due back for another couple of weeks but any chance you can present tomorrow?”
I thought of the newsroom, which suddenly seemed a calm and tranquil haven (even after John’s arrived) and compared it with my household with two children under two. I thought of how much sleep I could get once excused from the demands of childcare. A few phone calls later I was ready to dip my toe back in the water of work.
A lot has happened in the past three months. Correction: a lot happened on one day in the past three months – the 28th of January. I’ll never forget Lord Hutton delivering his verdict on the events leading to the death of Dr David Kelly. Like many I was stunned as I listened to what he was saying but should it be causing me such pain? My baby – not due for another two weeks – was on its way. Under the circumstances I’m sure you’ll understand that it was entirely acceptable for me to pace the kitchen shouting obscenities at the television. Given the arctic conditions in Norfolk we were lucky to get to hospital at all. Florence was born at 11.45 that night.
My world has been turned upside down since that day but what had happened at work? Listen to some commentators and you’d think Hutton had turned the Today programme lion into a pussy cat. Just as a listener I knew that was nonsense. I could hear the programme’s occasional roar from my bedside table. But would I notice a difference from the other side of the microphone? The big beast of the programme John kissed me hello. Miaow. Gavin, overnight editor, told me about his plans for a charity run. Purr. But as we discussed the running order for that day, things seem to reassert themselves: tuition fees, immigration, and doctors’ contracts. Grrrrr! It was as if I had never been away.
Some of the highlights from this week’s programme were:
Immigration has been top of the agenda – The Home Secretary defended his minister, Beverly Hughes the day before her resignation.
It was surprising how many were foxed by the superb April fool!
Perhaps even more unbelievable (especially on April 1st) was the revelation that live chickens were an important component in making nuclear bombs
The debate on regional dialects got the emails flooding in…
Slow food was back on the menu this week – perhaps not too practical for working mothers.
A nostalgic look back at the 1983 Today Programme theme tune ‘One for Today’ – hear why it only lasted for four months…
Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.
I’m off to sleep - see you in two weeks.
Sarah
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