Christmas tradition dictates unqualified celebrities edit the flagship news show for five days, with results as skippable – and occasionally tasty – as festive leftovers
Radio 4’s Today programme has always had its idiosyncrasies. Where else do you find spiritual guidance – Thought for the Day – closely followed by horse racing tips? And Christmas is the season for Today’s guest editors, who in the past have included Greta Thunberg, Lewis Hamilton, Jarvis Cocker and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. Imagine that dinner party.
This year’s run has boasted another eclectic mix, starting with head of science at Nasa Dr Nicola Fox – introduced to listeners by Nick Robinson as “The English girl from Hitchin”. Dr Fox was, we heard, lifted out of her crib as a baby to watch the moon landings and the rest, as they say, is astrophysics.