Today Programme

I still miss John Humphrys

No. It was time for him to go, Anniebach I feel. He's had his day - and his new teeth made him lispy

Rajan is great. He has been with Today for about a month.
Apparently he had a huge panic attack on his first day.
He has spoken very candidly about it

I miss Jim Nauchty (I have absolutely no idea how to spell his name )
I love his voice.

Yes. I heard that. I like him a lot - I know I'll get used to him. It's his conversational style on this programme I'm wondering about.
... but it could just be me!

No - I definitely know what you mean, I was a bit discombobulated by him at first!

And a noted food critic to boot. (v. Masterchef)

FannyCornforth

I miss Jim Nauchty (I have absolutely no idea how to spell his name )
I love his voice.

It is Jim Naughtie , I really like him too . A pub in Edinburgh ,where he had dropped in for just one glass of wine , phoned the police when he left . He was breathalised and was over the limit for Scotland ( been OK if in England ) . He ended up with a fine and a 12 month ban . I thought that was pretty mean of the person who shopped him. I bet he does not frequent that pub again.

I doubt one glass of wine did for him, he had probably had other drinks elsewhere first.

Drink driving kills.

Off topic, sorry. But it was a member of the public who phoned the police when they saw Naughtie leave a pub and get into a car. Not the pub. He was 50% over the limit.

It doesn't matter if he would have been legal in England, the level was illegal in Scotland. People I know don't drink at all if they are going to drive, that's the point. Drink driving is drink driving.

InScotlandthelimitsare 22 microgrammes in breath and 50 milligrammes in 100ml of blood. Thedrink-drivelimit inScotlandwas reduced in 2014 - so justone drink couldoutyouover the limit. With just 10mg per 100ml of bloodyouare 37 per cent more likely tobeinvolved in a fatal road accident than when sober.

I'm still finding the "chatty" style of Amol Rajan difficult. Is it just me? I was hoping I'd get used to the new voice.

I have heard him present elsewhere quite successfully so it's not inherently him. I think it's a style/intonation with little gravitas which seems sort-of out of kilter with this pretty "formal" programme.

I a regular r4 listener and had never heard of him before. I don’t know his age but when I first heard him on the today programme he sounded much younger than the usual presenters.
There was a long silence just before 9 this morning which he apologised for, but he just managed to beat the pips.
Some of the new r4 programmes seem to be focusing more on youff. I especially don’t like Skewer ( late night noise) but then I am no longer young. In years anyway

Agree about the gravitas not spaghetti

He's the BBC Media Editor and he's 38.

Amol Rajan is a breath of fresh air compared to Martha Kearney who always seems to know what her interviewee is going to say and tells them before they can express themselves.

anno - you're right about her of course!
But I'm still finding his "tone" too casual for this programme.

Jim Naughtie, John Humphreys, Brian Redhead even - all great interviewers and I miss them all. However Amol Rajan has a knock of getting the information he wants from people without interrupting or browbeating which I am finding very refreshing. I'm firmly in the fan club!

I love Amol Rajan’s fast-thinking, fast-talking, intelligent style, which is also evident in his writing. He’s finding his feet still, but I think he’s a great addition to the Today programme.

I like his chatty style but find his diction not too clear sometimes, perhaps my ageing ears!
I’m another fan of Jim Naughtie. Didn’t know about lower drink drive limits in Scotland - another good reason to relocate north of the border me thinks ?
Not keen on Nick Robinson, think he is inclined to bully his interviewees.

I agree that Amol Rajan's style is very different from some of the previous presenters, but I think it works. Some of the others are/were very abrasive and interrogative in style whereas Rajan is a lot softer and more conversational, but this does seem to make politicians relax and drop their guard so is effective.

They all seem to start off quite gently and get more aggressive the longer they are in post.

Well, I seem to be almost alone in this one.
Interesting!

Yes Greeneyedgirl his diction is awful and I have to tune out when he comes on.