About This Episode
Gavin Esler is an award-winning television and radio broadcaster, journalist and author. His 40-year career at the BBC included a decade as one of the anchors of its flagship news and current affairs programme Newsnight, prompting the Financial Times to note that Gavin “understands the political beast better than anyone.” It is an understanding that has focused his thinking on the power of storytelling in public life: the who we are and the where are we going. And it is his ability to tell these stories and provide answers to these questions that has seen him interview the likes of Margaret Thatcher and Bill Clinton, address challenges of Brexit and the USA’s political discontent, and more recently turn his abilities to a successful collection of novels, focusing on world leaders’ tips for getting to the top.
Gavin Esler, Journalist, Presenter & Author
Gavin is known for his reporting and presenting work at the BBC and has been the main presenter on Dateline London on the BBC News Channel and BBC World, and numerous other programmes, including Hardtalk. He left the BBC in 2018 and is now a freelance journalist and writer. Formerly Gavin was the BBC’s Chief North America Correspondent for eight years, based in Washington and frequently reporting from the White House, mostly during the Clinton presidency. On returning to the UK, he joined the presenting team on the BBC’s flagship news and current affairs programme Newsnight. He is a voting member of BAFTA, Chancellor of the University of Kent and a visiting lecturer in various academic institutions, large corporations, and public service organisations including the British military. He is the author of five novels and four non-fiction books, most recently How Britain Ends, published in February 2021.
