Adam Boulton

London

Presenter and Commentator at Times Radio

I RT what amuses or interests me inc. criticism. RT is not an endorsement. I mute or block trolls.

Articles

The private mood between G7 leaders will be as rocky as the venue

1 week ago | reaction.life | Adam Boulton

Canada’s reputation as civil, beautiful but boring has been revised by Donald Trump. It has become a nation of great geopolitical interest thanks to the US president’s open desire to annex it as the 51st united state. Trump and Mark Carney, his North American adversary, are both on their home continent this week for the G7 Summit, held this year in the Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis. Personal tensions between the “leaders of the free world” are likely to be high.
As Cambridge elects a new Chancellor, there are two serious candidates to consider

2 weeks ago | reaction.life | Adam Boulton

Elections to be the Chancellors at Oxbridge happen less than once a decade; now two have come along practically at once. A few months ago, Oxford ended up choosing the obvious candidate in William Hague. Now the race is on in Cambridge to vote for a new titular head, following the retirement of the worthy Lord (David) Sainsbury, who succeeded the late Duke of Edinburgh back in 2011. This is only the second time Cambridge has held an election for the job.
M*A*S*H's anti-war themes helped to define an era for the better

3 weeks ago | reaction.life | Adam Boulton

The extensive coverage following the death of Loretta Swit is a testament to the 87-year-old actress’s charm and talent. It also celebrates the enduring cultural impact of some situation comedies which were truly “broadcast” on terrestrial television in the closing decades of the last century. Swit, pronounced “sweet”, played chief nurse Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in the long-running TV sitcom M*A*S*H, set in an American mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War.
UK defence review ignores the elephant in the room: an unreliable America

3 weeks ago | reaction.life | Adam Boulton

The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) is much grittier and more far reaching than the report produced for Boris Johnson by the academic John Bew in 2021. Back then it still seemed reasonable to theorise about Britain’s global role and recommend small changes to focus defence expenditure.
Alan Yentob showed why the arts merit a place in mainstream programming

1 month ago | reaction.life | Adam Boulton

Alan Yentob, who has just died at the age of 78, embodied BBC arts programming for more than forty years as a television producer and director, as a BBC executive and spokesman, and ultimately as a presenter of the Imagine documentary series between 2003 and 2023. Alan got to know everybody in the media world and wasn’t shy about it. There was no doubt which particular “Mick” he was on his way to see, when we bumped into each other in an airport lounge.
Politicians trying to re-inflame the Brexit wars are wasting their time

1 month ago | reaction.life | Adam Boulton

Until Liz Truss spoilt the game, I liked to ask groups I spoke to who was the worst prime minister this century. Warmonger Blair, election loser Brown, Brexit fumbler May, Boris Johnson, a credible case could be made for any of them. To my initial surprise, one name kept getting the black spot, particularly from business people: David Cameron. He was the leader they blamed for blithely plunging the nation into the whole Brexit mess.
The striking parallels between the assisted dying and trans rights movements

1 month ago | reaction.life | Adam Boulton

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill returns to the Commons for further consideration on Friday. MPs voted it through in principle by 330 to 375 late last November and must now decide whether to approve it conclusively. Similar legislation is also making its way through the Scottish parliament. Assisted Dying seems so obviously to be a good cause. What could be wrong with helping to end the pain and indignity of people who are “going to die soon anyway”?
The BBC cannot afford any more scandals

2 months ago | reaction.life | Adam Boulton

Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris, Huw Edwards, Stuart Hall, Greg Wallace, Tim Westwood, Russell Brand, Jermaine Jenas, bullies and gropers on Strictly Come Dancing. Every organisation has its rotten apples. Show business is sometimes dirty business. The BBC is the oldest and largest national broadcaster in the world – with some 22,000 employees. All the same that is an exceptionally long roll of dishonour of on-screen talent associated with unacceptable behaviour or worse.
Trump faces awkward reckoning 100 days into the job - notwithstanding his dreams of being King of America

2 months ago | news.sky.com | Adam Boulton

David Axelrod, Barack Obama's chief strategist, tried to downplay interest in the president's first "100 days". He said it is just a "hallmark holiday", meaning that the date is of little interest to those who make a point of remembering milestones such as greeting card manufacturers. That did not prevent a reluctant Obama from having to join the media in assessing what he had achieved in his first few months in the White House.
The politics of State Visits

2 months ago | reaction.life | Adam Boulton

Donald Trump likes pomp and circumstance, especially when it is in celebration of himself. Just look at the gilt embellishments which have gone up in the Oval Office since he has returned. During his first term as president, Trump was openly awed when invited to France’s Bastille Day military parade and made inquiries as to whether it would be possible to do something similar in Washington DC. The “grown-ups” who were then “in the room” at the White House dissuaded him.