Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

Radio 4,11 Mar 2025,28 mins

Carney’s Canada v Trump, Abrdn’s U-turn and Ambassador Suzuki

When It Hits the Fan

Available for over a year

Across the world reputations are being set by how leaders react to Donald Trump, including those of Keir Starmer and the King. Now Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, has seen his standing transformed by his "elbow’s up" anti-Trump stance. But in the country’s upcoming election, the Canadian question will be binary – who is the best candidate to deal with Trump’s America? Plus Abrdn’s reverse ferret and the decision by the investment company to return all its missing vowels following a widely ridiculed rebrand. Why do some ideas fail to pass the parody test? And the power of positivity - how the Japanese ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hiroshi Suzuki, has won hearts by ditching grip and grin diplomacy. Producer: Eve Streeter Editor: Sarah Teasdale Executive Producer: William Miller Music by Eclectic Sounds A Raconteur Studios production for BBC Radio 4

Programme Website
More episodes