Snowcast Jon Snow

When she was 16, Mikaela Loach decided to go vegan, boycott fast fashion and start a blog. She learned more about the climate crisis, became involved in the movement, and began to communicate her passion to others.
Mikaela’s Instagram following grew and, in 2020, she featured in the Woman’s Hour Power List, in recognition for her work, bringing environmental issues to young audiences.
She has now written, It’s Not That Radical, a book for anyone who’s felt anxiety or powerlessness in the face of the climate crisis. Mikaela wants to compel her reader to act and to understand more about racial justice - a principle she believes has been left out of the conversation for too long.
She and Jon met on the day the IPCC released a major report, an eight-year long undertaking from the world’s most authoritative scientific body on climate change. That report summarised that there is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.
Related links:
The IPCC Report
Mikaela's Instagram
Mikaela's podcast
Drilled podcast (as recommended by Mikaela)

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This week's guest is the award-winning journalist and sociology professor Gary Younge.
From Mandela’s election campaign, to Obama’s presidency, Gary’s had a ringside seat, for some of the biggest stories of the last 30 years. And his latest book - Dispatches from the Diaspora - is a career-spanning collection of articles about race, racism, and Black life. 
In this conversation, Gary reflects on growing up in Stevenage, with a mother who gave him a sense of his own possibility. The translation education that gave him a love of language and the opportunities, and first steps, that helped launch his career.
Relevant links:
Gary Younge's website
Gary's writing in The Guardian

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This week's guest is the witty and politically astute writer and director Armando Iannucci.
After a week dominated by headlines about the government's immigration policy, Gary Lineker, the BBC and impartiality, he and Jon talk about the broadcasting and political landscape. As well as The Thick of It, Armando's mock epic poem about the pandemic, and what he's working on next.
Relevant links:
Armando's poem Pandemonium
Child Poverty Action Group
(and for anyone who actually missed it) Gary Lineker's tweet


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This week's Snowcast has a preview of Jon's new book, The State Of Us, which shares a few of the things he's learned about politics, humanity and the world. 
The first chapter takes Jon back to North Kensington in June 2017, watching a tragedy unfold in real time. The seeds of this book were sown while he stared up at Grenfell Tower and learned more about failures, and inequality, in the richest borough of Britain.
The State Of Us is out now in hardback and as a Penguin audiobook.

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Robert Harris started out in journalism, became political editor of The Observer, and had a ringside seat for the rise of New Labour. But, after striking gold with Fatherland, Robert launched a second career as a novelist and never looked back.
Robert’s latest best-seller - Act Of Oblivion - is set in a country that’s divided after the English Civil War. It’s a fictionalised account of the greatest manhunt of the 17th century. And the pursuit - across continents - of the men responsible for the execution of King Charles I.
Robert describes it as a “curiously contemporary novel”. And the past often calls to him when it has some relevance to the present day. Because - while he may not miss writing a column - Robert remains very much a political animal. And in this conversation, he reflects on two successful careers, and the political characters and rhetoric of the present day.
Relevant links:
Act Of Oblivion
Robert's other books

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Munya Chawawa is a British-Zimbabwean satirist, who rose to fame with his DIY video sketches.
He and Jon first met in 2017 - when Munya snuck into the ITN building - to interview him about Stormzy’s debut album. That memorable encounter became Munya’s first ever viral video. And he’s since amassed millions of followers, with his witty takes on politics, culture and the royal family.
As Munya prepares for his first ever comedy tour, he talks to Jon about his childhood, career vision board, and his plans to sell out the 02 in the next five years.
Related links:
Munya's website
Munya's Instagram
Race Around Britain
How To Survive A Dictator with Munya Chawawa
Prince Andrew: The Musical

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