Five in the Eye

0452 with Seun

MICHAEL

Hello and a very warm welcome to the final edition of Five in the Eye. This is me – Michael Ohajuru – revealing that, yes, after nine years, one or two tears and quite a lot of laughs, Phil and I are hanging up our headphones and heading off into the sunset. But before we go, we plan to make episode 0452 extra special.

PHIL

And this is Phil Woodford joining Michael via Zoom for the last time and welcoming a guest who’s going to bring her own unique perspective to the week’s news. Seun Matiluko is a writer, journalist and poet who recently launched a podcast on BBC Sounds called Seun’s Talking Drum. Welcome to Five in the Eye, Seun!

SEUN

Thanks, Phil and hello, Michael. It’s great to be here on Five in the Eye. Our top story this week is going to be controversy over remarks made by Tory donor Frank Hester about MP Diane Abbott. While Prime Minister Rishi Sunak eventually conceded the comments were racist, he seems content to accept Hester’s apology. And to pocket £10 million for the Tories.

MICHAEL

For story number two, it’s the mystery over a royal photograph. After speculation over the health of the Princess of Wales, the Palace released a picture of her with her kids. But a ‘kill notice’ was issued by a photo agency when it was discovered the image had been manipulated.

PHIL

What’s story number three? Well, singer Lily Allen told the Radio Times podcast that having kids put the kibosh on her musical career. Does motherhood inevitably spell the end of women’s ambitions, even in the 21st century?

SEUN

For our fourth story, The Metro reports that Gen Z are taking fussiness over jobs to a new level. They’re refusing to work in environments if their future boss has an incompatible starsign!

MICHAEL

And finally, to wrap up Five in the Eye forever, it’s the news that Queen Camilla has been turned into a Barbie doll.

PHIL

Does that mean King Charles is Oppenheimer? And that’s the line-up for the last-ever Five in the Eye!

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PHIL Hello and a very warm Friday welcome to Five in the Eye - your weekly news review show on Colourful Radio. We’re broadcasting on DAB in London and the South East or perhaps you’re streaming us online or over apps. However you’re listening, you’re very welcome. 

MICHAEL It’s episode 0451 and this is me - Michael Ohajuru - revealing that our top story is going to be the AI manipulation that is already starting to affect the US election. With the latest developments in image and video creation, how worried should we be? 

PHIL Our second story is the Russians getting hold of leaked audio from the German military. Apparently the tape reveals that we Brits may be more involved in Ukraine than we might publicly admit. 

MICHAEL If you’re on Facebook or Instagram, did you panic the other day when they had that outage? I certainly did! Are we too addicted to social media? That’s story number three. 

PHIL Our fourth story takes us to Dublin, where some locals and tourists have become over-friendly with a city landmark. 

MICHAEL And finally, to wrap up the show, it’s the academic who found herself stuck in a tower in Cambridge. She found an ingenious means of escape. 

PHIL Stuck in a real-world ivory tower. That’s something you could never accuse us of here on Five in the Eye!

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MICHAEL

Hello and a very warm welcome to Five in the Eye - Colourful Radio’s weekly news review show! This is me - Michael Ohajuru - and you’re listening to episode 0450. Yes, unbelievably we’ve notched up a staggering 450 shows! If you’ve been with us for the journey, all we can say is thank you very much!

PHIL

And this is Phil Woodford joining Michael via Zoom and revealing that our top story is going to be the row in the Tory Party over racism and Islamophobia, as well as the extraordinary conspiracy theories of former Prime Minister Liz Truss.

MICHAEL

For story number two, we look at the play in London that is excluding white theatregoers for a couple of nights. Only those who ‘identify as Black’ will be allowed in.

PHIL

For number three, it’s the controversy over what people describe as ‘woke’ AI. Google’s Gemini has been rewriting history and some people say it will be a hard problem to fix.

MICHAEL

What’s story number four, then? Well, an event aimed at families, that was supposed to celebrate the chocolate-loving factory owner Willy Wonka turned out to be an embarrassing flop. Upset kids and angry parents led to the police being called!

PHIL

And finally, it’s the guy who goes around cleaning road signs just because he likes to see the streets looking smart.

MICHAEL

I’ll have to invite him down to Abbey Wood! And that’s this week’s Five in the Eye!

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PHIL

A very good morning to you all! You’re listening to Colourful Radio and I’m Phil Woodford in London introducing our weekly news review show, Five in the Eye. It’s where we look back at everything that’s gone over the past seven days, pick the stuff that interests us and give it a once-over. This is episode 0449, which will excite my co-host, as it’s a PRIME number.

MICHAEL

Yes, indeed! This is an excited Michael Ohajuru joining Phil via Zoom for this prime number show and revealing we have a very special guest joining us. He’s an old friend from my home city of Liverpool. It’s Mr Mark Dalgliesh. Welcome to Five in the Eye, Mark!

MARK

Thanks, Michael. Hello, Phil. It’s great to be here on the show. So what’s our top story going to be today? Well, the talk at the recent security summit in Germany was of a ‘lose-lose’ scenario in international relations. Former Labour Minister David Miliband described the meeting as ‘the conference of a disordered world’. How worried should we be?

PHIL

What’s story number two? Well, it’s Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. He’s in hot water over his supposedly woke inclinations. Not only did he rename London Overground lines with monikers such as Windrush and Suffragette, but he’s shortlisting what some claim are ‘anti-British’ sculptures for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.

MICHAEL

We love something controversial on Five in the Eye, so why not the claim that men and women’s brains are different? Boffins at Stanford University in the USA say they’ve found evidence that some of us are sugar and spice and all things nice, while others are made of snips and snails and puppy-dog tails! That’s story number three.

MARK

For our fourth story, cathedrals are under fire for allowing events such as silent discos to raise funds. Is nothing sacred any more?

PHIL

And finally, to wrap up the show, it’s the Olympic showjumper who was horsing around recently, wearing just a ‘mankini’ at an event near Sydney, Australia.

MICHAEL

We’re all here in our mankinis today, so I don’t see what this gentleman has done wrong! And that’s this week’s Five in the Eye!

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PHIL

Hello and a warm welcome from me – Phil Woodford here in London -  to a very special edition of Five in the Eye. As you know, this is the show each Friday on Colourful Radio where we dissect the week’s news. But today, for episode 0448, we’re breaking with tradition.

MICHAEL

Yes, this is me – Michael Ohajuru – joining Phil via Zoom and revealing we’re welcoming a very special guest to the show. Subhadra Das is the author of an exciting new book – shortly to hit the shelves – called Uncivilised – Ten Lies That Made The West. It’s published by Coronet and we hope it will be making its way to all good book shops soon! We’re devoting this show to finding out more about the author and her ideas.

MICHAEL

So, Sub, we’re delighted to have you hear on Colourful Radio. Thanks so much for joining us today.

Before we get into your new book – which Phil and I have both read and thoroughly enjoyed – we wanted to understand a little bit more about you and your background. You had an unusual and interesting upbringing education, didn’t you?

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Subhadra Das the author of Uncivilised – Ten Lies That Made The West on Twitter/X @littlegaudy her book is published by Coronet out now.

MICHAEL Hello and a very warm welcome to your weekly news review show on Colourful Radio. We call it Five in the Eye because we look back on five of the stories that have caught our eye over the past seven days and put them under the spotlight. This is episode 0447. 

PHIL And joining Michael via Zoom this morning, it’s Phil Woodford, our top story thus week the devastating report from former Prime Minister Gordon Brown poverty in Brtain today 

MICHAEL A great taster of what’s to come. And for story number two, we cross the Atlantic. A mother of a teenage killer has been found guilty of a crime herself, for supplying the youngster with the weapon he used to commit murder. 

PHIL What’s story number three? Well, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak accepted a £1,000 bet with broadcaster Piers Morgan over whether he could get Rwanda flights off the ground. What does this say about his judgment? 

MICHAEL Our fourth story is from an archeological dig, where a flat-pack bed has been discovered. It was made by ancient Romans for use in the afterlife! 

PHIL And to round off the Eye at number five, it’s the assertion by a writer in The Guardian that game shows ain’t what they used to be. At least in terms of what people win and how they use it. 

MICHAEL The only prize here is making our way through to the end of the show! And that’s this week’s Five in the Eye!

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MICHAEL

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of Five in the Eye! As you may know, it’s the place where we look back at five of the news stories that have caught our eye over the past seven days and pick them apart until there’s nothing left. I’m Michael Ohajuru and you’re listening to episode 0446.

PHIL

And this is Phil Woodford joining Michael via Zoom this week and revealing that our top story is going to be the government telling local councils to sell off their assets in order to plug huge funding gaps. Could there be a more terrible indictment of the Tory philosophy?

MICHAEL

And at story number two, we’re going to focus on AI. It seems as if bot-generated articles are making it into Google news feeds, potentially crowding out genuine journalism.

PHIL

For story number three, as Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp bows out - telling the world he’s run out of steam - we ask why politicians can’t do the same.

MICHAEL

What’s story number four? Well, some DLR trains now have fake control panels at the front, so children can pretend to drive. At least, they say it’s for children!

PHIL

And to cap off the show at five this week, how do you warm up your treat from Greggs? Some people like hanging their sausage rolls on radiators apparently!

MICHAEL

How common! I would never do anything like that. And that’s this week’s Five in the Eye!

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MICHAEL

Hello and a very warm welcome to Five in the Eye - your weekly news review show right here on Colourful Radio. This is me - Michael Ohajuru - looking forward to looking back over five of the stories that have caught our eye over the past week, in episode 0445.

PHILAnd this is Phil Woodford joining Michael via Zoom and revealing that our top story is going to be the call for a citizen’s army to fight Russia. If we’re going to end up being conscripted for our country, shouldn’t we be entitled to have votes that count? The Head of the Electoral Commission has claimed that strict voter ID rules could lay the Tories open to the charge that the system benefits their party

MICHAEL

And for story number two, I was saying only last week that if we want the top people running our public services, we need to pay top salaries. But the Chief Executive of British Gas’ parent company says that he can’t even justify his own!

PHIL

What’s story number three this week? Well, thanks to listener and contributor Lola Hatmil, who spotted that Woolworth’s just might - and I stress might - be revived in the coming years. Would you welcome the bargain store’s return to the British High Street?

MICHAEL

For our fourth story, it’s the restaurant in Toronto, Canada that’s asking people to sign a waiver if they order rare meat!

PHIL

And finally, to wrap up the show, AI holograms may allow the likes of Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton to give university lectures.

MICHAEL

But they’ll never replace us here on Colourful Radio! And that’s this week’s Five in the Eye!

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PHIL

Hello and a very warm welcome to Five in the Eye - your weekly news review show here on Colourful Radio. In London, this is Phil Woodford and you’re listening to episode 0444.

MICHAEL

And this is me - Michael Ohajuru - joining Phil via Zoom and revealing that our top story is going to be the rebellion over Rwanda this week that seemed to threaten Rishi Sunak, but then fizzled out. With the Tories falling as low as 20% in some opinion polls, can the Prime Minister really survive until the election?

PHIL

And for story number two, we head to the railways. In a week where one privatised company seemed to joke about the ‘free money’ they were getting from the government, another nationalised one abolished cheaper fares for long-distance journeys. Why are our trains in such a mess?

MICHAEL

What’s story number three? Well, we’re looking at the trend for celebrities to turn themselves into novelists.

PHIL

And for story number four, it’s the accusation that Amsterdam’s prestigious Van Gogh museum has turned itself into a theme park through a collaboration with Pokemon.

MICHAEL

And finally, to wrap up the show, we’re talking about a dog who was supposedly the oldest one in the world. But was he? The Guinness Book of World Records is having second thoughts.

PHIL

Don’t worry, Michael. Your record as the oldest radio presenter in town is safe! And that’s this week’s Five in the Eye!

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MICHAEL

Good morning! Have you missed us? Five in the Eye took a bit of a break over the Christmas and New Year period, but now we’re back and ready to take on 2024! And what better way to do it than with a prime number episode of your favourite news review show - 0443! I’m Michael Ohajuru and you’re listening to Colourful Radio.

PHIL

And joining Michael via Zoom, it’s Phil Woodford, revealing that our top story this week is going to be the scandal at the Post Office, which saw terrible miscarriages of justice for those using the faulty Horizon IT system. The government has acted this week. But why has it taken so long?

MICHAEL

The second story is from the Telegraph and it features a discussion of so-called ‘junk’ history. My own project on the Black Tudor trumpeter John Blanke gets a positive mention in the article by parliamentary sketchwriter Madeleine Grant. But are we in danger of misrepresenting the past to kids?

PHIL

For our third story, we’re looking at the so-called ‘Robocop’ who will be patrolling the supermarket aisles at Morrisons.

MICHAEL

And for story number four, it’s the Alaska Airlines flight where part of the fuselage blew out. Someone lost their iPhone in the incident, but it was found on the ground. In working condition!

PHIL

And how are we wrapping up the show this week? Well, if you need any help tidying up your house, there’s a Welsh mouse who might be able to help!

MICHAEL

He’s leaving a man’s work surfaces squeaky clean! And that’s this week’s Five in the Eye!

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