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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Mark Lawson

Emma Barnett on the Today programme review – so chilled John Humphrys will choke on his cornflakes

Emma Barnett on The Today Programme.
The prophecy fulfilled … Emma Barnett on The Today Programme. Photograph: Jeff Overs / BBC

Although called Today, the 6-9am slot on Radio 4 this morning was really about the network of tomorrow. A few years ago, a senior BBC manager told me that the “future” of the Today programme was Emma Barnett and Amol Rajan co-presenting, though neither at the time was on the programme. This morning, the prophecy was fulfilled.

Recent Today debuts have been shadowed. In 2015, Nick Robinson cut short his first week after a heavy cold compromised his voice. Rajan, in 2021, admitted to needing rum to soothe an insomniac “panic attack” before his first dawn.

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