Helen Pidd
@helenpidd
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Presenter of Today in Focus, the Guardian's award winning daily podcast. Former North of England editor. Contact me in confidence via [email protected]
Joined January 2009
What an honour to pay tribute to @BeccyBarr1 - the BBC presenter turned fire fighter, Girl Guide leader, Ironwoman, fellow Lancastrian and my friend, who was determined to be a role model for dying well. She was just 46
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There are 850 cinemas in Britain today and three times as many food banks. There are 1,200 hospitals and twice as many food banks & more food banks than there are public libraries. Shameful stats from @GordonBrown on how the UK became a food bank nation
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I want to know more about the Karl Marx of Stockport, who just won a seat for Labour in Stockport’s most deprived ward, Brinnington.
🗳️Brinnington & Stockport Central results are in🗳️ . Karl Peter Marx Wardlaw (Labour) has been elected to represent Brinnington & Stockport Central at the Stockport local elections 2024. #LE2024 #StockportElection.
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Some news: I'm going on secondment for the rest of the year to present Today in Focus, the Guardian's award-winning daily news podcast, alongside @safimichael and @hansermoore and working with a sterling team of producers. Can't wait to get cracking.
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The craziest thing about how the DWP pursued George is that he now costs the state £1,000 a month *more* than when he was claiming carers' allowance. After being prosecuted, he lost his home and became too mentally ill to work, so now lives in social housing on Universal Credit.
A carer who says he was “dragged through the courts” and had to sell his home to pay back almost £20,000 in benefit overpayments is fighting to clear his name after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) acknowledged he made an "innocent mistake".
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RIP a true Northern Powerhouse. Beccy Barr, what a woman. Fantastic journalist who left TV to be a firefighter in her 40s. Strong, funny, clever, generous, fearless. Much love to her family and friends. Life can be so very unfair.
I’m sharing the very sad news that Beccy passed away peacefully this morning. She spent her last few days at @SJHospice who provided the most dignified & compassionate care to Beccy & her whole family. Donations to the hospice can be made in Beccy’s memory. ❤️
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Excellent news for the Manchester Guardian - @HannahAlOthman joins our team of northern reporters next week. A former political correspondent who has won awards for her investigations, we are very lucky to have her. Welcome!.
Some professional news: now is probably a good time to mention that this is my last week at the Sunday Times. I’m joining The Guardian next week as a Northern Correspondent. Looking forward to quiet and relaxing first few weeks in the job! 😬.
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I took my mum interrailing all the way from Manchester to Oslo and we had a right old time .
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It's at moments like this that I wish I lived in Stalybridge. Crisp butty night @Stalybuffetbar!
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🚨 Rare job alert 🚨 We are looking for a North of England reporter to join our crack northern team while I’m away presenting Today in Focus
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A carer who says he was “dragged through the courts” and had to sell his home to pay back almost £20,000 in benefit overpayments is fighting to clear his name after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) acknowledged he made an "innocent mistake".
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If Paris, Copenhagen and Vienna can make their rivers safe for swimming, why not Greater Manchester @AndyBurnhamGM ? I'd love to swim in the Mersey or Irwell if they weren't stinking rubbish dumps
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“He’s a pain in the arse,” said one defendant’s longsuffering dad. The father of another told reporters his teenage son was “a moron”. Great piece of court reporting on the rioters who faced justice this week by @JoshHalliday @markbrown14 & @RobynVinter
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Stockport town hall remains a Tory-free zone for the second year running. It cannot bode well for their chances of keeping their two Stockport seats in a general election (Cheadle and Hazel Grove, which is currently Indy cos… William Wragg).
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Anyone else noticed that @northernassist seem to have stopped selling off peak tickets at weekend? Their explanation makes no sense at all, see below. Why would there be “no demand” for cheaper, off peak tickets?.
@helenpidd Hi there, I've just enquired about this and been advised that some routes don't have the demand for them so we offer the most used tickets instead. ^SC.
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I found it shocking reporting this story for Today in Focus: how thousands of women and girls in Greenland were fitted with coils without their consent as their Danish masters sought to slash the birth rate and cut the Greenlandic welfare bill. Do listen
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So many trees have been felled in the battle for Hazel Grove (Tory maj 4,423). This is just what's come through our letter box in the past fortnight. 10x Lib Dem, 1x Reform, 1x Tory, 2x Labour. This Stockport seat was Lib Dem from 1997-2015. Labour has never come close.
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The rare grace of Mina Smallman - what an honour to interview this incredible woman for today’s podcast. Her daughters were found murdered in a London park in 2020. She was planning their funeral when things got even worse… .
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Meet Roly, my co-presenter on today's podcast: Revenge of the childless cat ladies
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“Stephen Yaxley Lennon is a coward”, “Hate will tear us apart”, “Everyone deserves love and chips and gravy”. Banners @Manchester_SUTR demo in Manchester, where at 1,000 people have gathered.
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If you are looking for hope & signs that progressive (and even radical) change is afoot, behold the appointment of @JamesTCobbler as prisons minister, says @shattenstone
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More top talent joining the Manchester Guardian office - @ChrisOsuhMEN as community affairs corr and @Keke_Thom as programme manager for our Legacies of Enslavement project.
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We are now looking for a North of England reporter to join the @guardian northern team, alongside the excellent @JoshHalliday @RobynVinter and @markbrown14. You can be based in Manchester with me and Josh & others or anywhere else in England's best half.
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@northernassist I’ll ask the press office for an explanation tomorrow. It seems totally unfair to unilaterally stop offering off peak tickets during off peak times.
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Superb reporting from Southport from @JoshHalliday and @HannahAlOthman - both still on shift tonight as the disorder continues
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Today’s podcast is a special one, as I catch up with my old lodger, Yasser, as he contemplates returning to Syria, after building a whole new life in Manchester
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Enjoyed chatting to @freedland about Keir Starmer's first few days as PM - the return of progressive and pragmatic politics (hello @JamesTCobbler) & the dominance of one Manchester state school in the cabinet (@lisanandy & @lucyMpowell @official_pwhs)
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@northernassist Why would there be demand for more expensive peak tickets? This makes no sense at all. Weekends are supposed to be off peak so why are there no off peak tickets available?.
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Great interview with climate protestor Trudi Warner on a year being pursued by government lawyers determined to prosecute her over a jurors’ rights protest - by @sandralaville
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David Cameron was elected in 2010, promising to fix "broken Britain". @freedland and I discuss how, after 14 years of Tory rule, the country is arguably more fractured and dysfunctional than ever. Part 1: austerity
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Why has Rishi Sunak called an election now? The great @Freedland and I discuss in our snap podcast - plus why this could be a very dirty campaign, and why Sunak decided not to shelter under an umbrella. Today in Focus:
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Oh dear oh dear. Yet another show @thecooplive cancelled at the 11th hour. What on earth is going on in that big black box?.
Due to a venue-related technical issue, tonight’s A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie show will no longer go ahead. We kindly ask fans to leave the area. Tickets holders will receive further information in due course.
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If you’ve just woken up, our overnight episode of Today in Focus will fill you in on everything you missed. Features a giggling @rachelreecesMP hurtling down the m1 scarcely able to believe the scale of Labour’s landslide. Enjoy!
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Proof good journalism matters. My excellent colleagues @patrickjbutler and @JoshHalliday exposed the cruelty of the carers' allowance and how carers were being prosecuted for tiny mistakes - today Rachel Reeves increased the earnings limit by £45 a week
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Manchester folk: can you suggest a central pub or bar that does casual food, the sort of place where everyone can order bits at different times. Basically Nell's but not Nell's (love it but want to go somewhere new).
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For today’s podcast I talked to @joshhalliday about being in the middle of a riot in Southport, and @JoeMulhall_ about how the far-right thugs hijacked Monday’s attacks
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What makes people “protest” outside mosques? For today’s podcast I spoke to the Liverpool imam @AdamKelwick, who crossed police lines to talk to the angry Islamophobes picketing his place of worship, offering burgers - and, even, hugs
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Listen to how the DWP hounded one carer through the courts with the net result that he lost his home and his mental health and now costs the treasury a lot more each month - produced by @george_mcdonagh
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Chant of “grieving families are in pain, no to violence in their name” in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester @Manchester_SUTR
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Another way is possible. such an interesting letter from a Guardian reader who works processing asylum seekers in Germany
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If you want an uplifting listen, may I recommend this episode of Today in Focus about my magical day at an intergenerational care village in Chester, where young and old live together, with inspiring results @BelongVillages
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Love that it's in Sheffield.
🎉 Introducing Crossed Wires Podcast Festival. This summer, the biggest names in UK podcasting will take over iconic venues in Sheffield for blockbuster live shows, never-seen-before performances & special guests!. 🎟️ Info and tickets here: @crossedwires_
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A blast of pure joy - with a Cork accent - on today’s podcast as I and @rorycarroll72 meet the primary school kids behind The Spark, the drum n bass hit of the summer - produced by @George_McDonagh.
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Damien Hirst formaldehyde animal works dated to 1990s were made in 2017. The artist says the dates relate to the time he conceived them in his brain. Hmm. Great work by @MaeveMCC (who is based in the Guardian's Manchester office)
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This was my final episode as a Today in Focus guest, being interviewed by the great @NosheenIqbal - before she goes off on maternity leave and I keep her seat warm for the rest of 2024. Wish us both luck!.
If you want an uplifting listen, may I recommend this episode of Today in Focus about my magical day at an intergenerational care village in Chester, where young and old live together, with inspiring results @BelongVillages
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For today's podcast, I returned to Leigh, "the end brick in the Red Wall", to see if Labour have done enough to win it back produced by @courtneyyusuf & @homakhaleeli.
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I'm on secondment for the rest of the year, presenting the Guardian's daily podcast, Today in Focus. Here's today's episode, with @freedland
Excellent news for the Manchester Guardian - @HannahAlOthman joins our team of northern reporters next week. A former political correspondent who has won awards for her investigations, we are very lucky to have her. Welcome!.
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I urge you to listen to this powerful, moving podcast about a woman as she prepares to take her own life at Dignitas - beautifully told by @Robert_Booth and @hansermoore
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In today's episode I try - and fail - to get Labour to talk to me about their local election prospects in east Lancashire. Labour really ought to win back Hyndburn, but Starmer's stance on Gaza is giving the party a headache & the Greens sense blood
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"To qualify for a GB Olympic spot he defeated a 12‑year‑old boy, which, as one 51-year-old dad to another, is kind of against the code. Point made. But you might just want to kind of let him do it. " I very much enjoyed @barneyronay at the skateboarding
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Don't assume that only old folk will vote Reform. Our @HannahAlOthman heard how some young people in Nottingham are flirting with Reform - those who are "anti-woke" and proud
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For today's podcast I spoke to the great @JohnJCrace, who read Boris Johnson's memoir so that you didn't have to
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What a treat to talk to Guardian royalty @MarinaHyde and @JohnJCrace for our final pre-election edition of Today in Focus, about their campaign highs and lows (mainly lows tbh)
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This is such a great read, by @shaunwalker7 - on the Spanish journalist who turned out to be a Russian spy. Or did he. ?
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Ooooh, our podcast, Today in Focus, has been nominated for two @britpodawards - plus another two nods for @safimichael's Black Box series on the hunt for the founders of Cloth Off - an app that can make anyone "naked". All testament to a great team.
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My profile of Lee Anderson, a one-man unmoderated comments section
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I love this piece about Lancaster's finest @TheLovelyEggs - proving that with a DIY mentality and can-do spirit it is just about possible to make money from music, even once you've had a kid.
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Apparently in the 203-year history of the Guardian, our culture critics have only ever awarded zero stars 14 times. In 2005, I penned one such demolition job. - feat. some absolute beauts from @LucyMangan and others.
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Bit of fratricide in Tameside in Greater Manchester, where a Labour councillor Jim Fitzpatrick lost his seat to his brother, Phil, who stood as an independent. What’s the story there?!
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@spoldham @BeccyBarr1 @BBCNWT I thought it was the coolest move leaving the beeb at 41 to be a firefighter - takes courage, that.
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"Women with children are handed social acceptance for their vital investment in 'the future', in exchange for unrewarded, unsupported labour that props up and stabilises the economic and social status quo." Blistering piece by @NesrineMalik
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Just how much trouble is Angela Rayner really in? And why are the Tories so obsessed with her? Today's podcast episode explores these questions and more, the help of @gabyhinsliff, @chedwardes and the good people of Stockport.
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I thought I knew what happened at Grenfell, but interviewing @Robert_Booth for today's podcast I was truly open mouthed at the lies and deceit from those involved in the tower's fateful refurbishment
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“Hezbollah doesn’t vibe with – this,” Mrad said, gesturing at the sunbathers behind her drinking and playing beach tennis on the sand. Fascinating dispatch from the beach in Lebanon by @safimichael
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This is a very compassionate and thoughtful piece by @gabyhinslif about the shrunken state expecting families to fill the voids in health and social care, and what that means for those of us with no children
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@louisgraysocial hi Louis, would you be willing to have a chat with me about your experience? I'm a journalist from the Guardian. helen.pidd@theguardian.com.
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@chakrabortty A banger. Reminded me to dig out the Greg Knight campaign song from 2017 (watch until the end)
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I went to the Tory leadership silent disco so that you didn't have to. today's podcast feat. @Mike_Fabricant @trussliz, @Dannythefink, all the Tory leadership candidates and the excellent @IsabelHardman
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Today’s podcast is about the swizz that is dynamic pricing - feat. @JoshHalliday on panic-buying Oasis tickets for £360 (!) and @ByRobDavies on the rationale and ethics behind concert surge pricing
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This episode was inspired by brilliant reporting from @mirandeee and produced by @courtneyyusuf and @homakhaleeli
I found it shocking reporting this story for Today in Focus: how thousands of women and girls in Greenland were fitted with coils without their consent as their Danish masters sought to slash the birth rate and cut the Greenlandic welfare bill. Do listen
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It was fascinating to interview the Earl of Devon for today's podcast, as he seeks to defend the existence (for now) of hereditary peers, who he says bring an "unexpected diversity" to the House of Lords
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@estheraddley Genuinely a bit sad today that it is not currently my job to investigate such important matters.
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Liz Truss is back - can she save us all? I spoke to @MartinPengelly, who went to school with her in Leeds, as well as seasoned Truss-watcher @elenicourea, for Today in Focus
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@trickyvegas @northernassist @DZDEATHRAYS @Chemtrailsband @yes_mcr yeah I have done - let's see if they pay it.
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If you'd rather read the piece: inside the state school trialling a 12-hour, phone-free day to tackle phone addiction and give children their childhood back
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I would love you to listen to the amazing @aamnamohdin's story on today's podcast produced by @nataliektena @homakhaleeli with sound from @RudiZygadlo.
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@northernassist why have you cancelled the last two trains from manchester Piccadilly to new mills? How are we supposed to get home?.
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Venezuela and the president who won't admit defeat. Today's podcast, with @tomphillipsin, is a good 'un, about Nicolas Maduro's brutal crackdown after the contested elections there
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Love this story about Tim Walz, with recollections from his former students
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Meet Ade and Andy, two haemophiliacs infected with HIV and hepatitis via contaminated blood products as small boys. As their peers have died around them, they have never given up their fight for justice. Today's podcast is incredibly moving - and enraging
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Correction: Labour’s Jim Fitzpatrick lost his seat to the Tories in Tameside. But his brother Phil (ex Labour) standing against him as an Indy can’t have helped.
Bit of fratricide in Tameside in Greater Manchester, where a Labour councillor Jim Fitzpatrick lost his seat to his brother, Phil, who stood as an independent. What’s the story there?!
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I was surprised how many youthful Farage fans we found in Leigh too. Blame the reputation-burnishing effect of going on I'm A Celeb.
Don't assume that only old folk will vote Reform. Our @HannahAlOthman heard how some young people in Nottingham are flirting with Reform - those who are "anti-woke" and proud
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Why are children spending all their pocket money on anti-ageing skincare? We investigate on today's podcast, with the help of the Guardian's beauty expert, Sali Hughes
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@northernassist hello, do you know what has happened to off peak single tickets? They no longer seem to be on sale at all at the weekends, which used to be off peak all day.
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Loved making today's episode, visiting the phone-free school trialling a 12-hour day to try to "give children their childhood back". Big thanks to @andrewoneillHT and everyone at All Saints for their patience with me and @courtneyyusuf
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People and Places and Things .@TrafTheatre is one of the best plays I’ve ever seen. Certainly the best female lead (Denise Gough). It plays for three more nights. If you can get a ticket, grab it.
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@mcdermottkc_ @Stalybuffetbar I had a pint there with @JReynoldsMP when I first became northern editor, back in the mists of time. I asked all the northern MPs to take me to their favourite place, and this was the best.
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On today’s podcast we look back on the life and death of Liam Payne with Alexis Petridis and Oritsé Williams.@Oritse .from.@JLSOfficial
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@AvantiWestCoast I’m on the 13.15 from manchester Piccadilly to Euston. Been held at Macclesfield for last 40 mins. Do you think this service will get to Euston? And what time?.
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Ever wondered how the @guardian persuades couples each week to be open about the highs (and lows) of their sex lives? We reveal all on today’s podcast - with @kitty__drake & 3 of her fearless This Is How We Do It interviewees
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Today’s podcast is a fun one, about the astronauts who went up to space for 8 days and might have to stay 8 months. I interviewed .@astro_mike. (a real life astronaut!) and .@richlusc. about how they got “stuck”
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