The SCANDAL Mongers Podcast

The human dynamo that is Anne de Courcy returns to the podcast by popular demand after her brilliant interview about Princess Margaret and Tony Snowdon. This week she is speaking about one of her most successful books ‘The Viceroy’s Daughters’, the saga of Lord Curzon and his three talented, beautiful but often wayward daughters at the pinnacle of British and imperial high society in the first half of the 20th Century. Overlapping love affairs, dalliances with dangerous young men and campaigning alongside the most charismatic politician of the age, Oswald Mosley, the former socialist turned fascist leader of Britain’s ‘Black Shirts’ in the 1930s - this is a story with everything and an incredible window into a glittering but also menacing world of privilege, power and decadence. If you want to support what we do and help us grow this podcast, please hit the ‘Like’ button and we now also have a Thank You option on YouTube for donations starting at 2 UK pounds - find it by clicking on the ’three dots’ next to the ‘download’ button. You can buy Anne's books and those of the other authors we feature in our own bookshop, along with thousands of others. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers... https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-viceroy-s-daughters-anne-de-courcy/5024095?aid=12054&ean=9780753812556& Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help... https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast/videos Andrew Lownie... https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig... https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers... https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Produced by PodcastWorld.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we are lucky enough to speak with one of the most celebrated political writers of our age - Peter Pomerantsev, a former TV colleague of our Phil Craig. Peter had a ring side seat in Moscow for the rise of Putin and now advises leading politicians in Europe and the USA. Born in the Soviet Union, and now a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Global Affairs at the London School of Economics, Peter has written two hugely influential books about the modern Russian state and how it exploits disinformation and propaganda to oppress and threaten its own people and its neighbours: Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible (2014) and This Is Not Propaganda (2019). His latest book, How to Win an Information War: The Propagandist Who Outwitted Hitler (2024), is about Sefton Delmer, a British propagandist of the Second World War. If you want to support what we do and help us grow this podcast, please hit the ‘Like’ button and we now also have a Thank You option on YouTube for donations starting at 2 UK pounds - find it by clicking on the ’three dots’ next to the ‘download’ button. You can buy Peter’s books and those of the other authors we feature in our own bookshop, along with thousands of others. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers... https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-win-an-information-war-the-propagandist-who-outwitted-hitler-peter-pomerantsev/7608309?aid=12054&ean=9780571366347& Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help... https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast/videos Andrew Lownie... https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig... https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers... https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X William Rousseau Produced by... PodcastWorld.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode Andrew and Phil speak with Shauna Kay, whose family of Australian based podcasts, The Vintage Read, has been a huge success in the last year or so. We have many friends and ideas in common, along with a shared fascination for all things literary, scandalous...and very often royal! We don't promise to agree all the time but if our audiences find these conversations entertaining and stimulating we intend to do more of them. If you want to support what we do and help us grow this podcast, please hit the 'Like' button and we now also have a Thank You option on YouTube for donations starting at 2 UK pounds - find it by clicking on the 'three dots' next to the 'download' button. You can buy books from Andrew, Phil and the authors we feature in our own bookshop, along with thousands of others. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers... https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/scandalmongers Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers... *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast/videos You can follow Shauna's channel here... https://www.youtube.com/@thevintageread Andrew Lownie... https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig... https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers... https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Produced by... PodcastWorld.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Team Sussex has pulled off its first overseas tour with a super high profile visit to Nigeria, where Harry attended numerous events linked to the Invictus games and Meghan met with business and media leaders, hosted female entrepreneurs and generally looked and behaved like a Princess on the road! Is this a model for what 'non royal royalty’ looks like for the future - a refreshing multi racial alternative to the old fashioned, and all white, House of Windsor? Or is it a cynical marketing exercise for a couple battered by a year of falling ratings amid widespread criticism for producing boring podcasts and selling second rate jam? We’re joined once again by Simon Vigar, royal correspondent for Five News and a veteran of many royal tours. The Nigeria trip generated some great headlines and photos in the USA, so does that make it a success? Then our friend Dai Davies, former head of royal security, comes back to the pod with a very different perspective. Dai is very critical of the security background to the trip - and not at all sure that it was morally justifiable either. If you want to support what we do and help us grow this podcast we now have a Thank You option on YouTube for donations starting at 2 UK pounds - find it by clicking on the ’three dots’ next to the ‘download’ button. You can buy books from the authors we feature in our own bookshop, along with thousands of others. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers... https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/scandalmongers Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help... https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to listen to watch YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast/videos Andrew Lownie... https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig... https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers... https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Produced by... PodcastWorld.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Phil's sympathetic comments on Prince Harry's reasons for fighting the press didn't persuade all of our audience last week, and the comments were lively! Andrew and Phil react to that and discuss the latest evidence of the deep rift in the British royal family - Harry's visit to London and the non-meeting between him and his sick father King Charles. Then historian Emma Southon joins us for a hugely entertaining and informative conversation about ancient Rome. Not about the Emperors and Generals that fill the history books, but the women whose stories get told a lot less often. And some of them were scandalous indeed! If you want to support what we do and help us grow this podcast we now have a Thank You option on YouTube for donations starting at 2 UK pounds - find it by clicking on the 'three dots' next to the 'download' button. You can buy books from the authors we feature in our own bookshop, along with thousands of others. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers... https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/scandalmongers Emma's book can also be found here... https://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Roman-Empire-21-Women/dp/0861548329/ref=monarch_sidesheet Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help... https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. The Scandal Mongers is also available to watch on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast Andrew Lownie... https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig... https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers... https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Produced by... PodcastWorld.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clive Irving from the Daily Beast returns to the podcast to tell the story of the rise and fall of the British tabloid press, as Prince Harry’s ‘hacking’ case make its way through the London courts - with the possibility that Rupert Murdoch might finally be made to give evidence about it in a court of law. The actor Hugh Grant has recently accepted a settlement from a Murdoch-owned company. He said that it was too expensive to carry on. And in the past - such as with Fox News in the USA - the Murdochs have tried to settle cases rather than see their patriarch give evidence under oath. But could Harry be the man to change all that? After a long career in newspapers, both tabloid and not, Clive tells Andrew and Phil that we maybe approaching a day of reckoning after decades of excess in the press! If you want to support what we do and help us grow this podcast we now have a Thank You option on YouTube for donations starting at 2 UK pounds - find it by clicking on the ’three dots’ next to the ‘download’ button. You can buy books from the authors we feature in our own bookshop, along with thousands of others. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers... https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-last-queen-the-remarkable-story-of-elizabeth-ii-s-seventy-year-reign-and-the-future-of-the-monarchy-clive-irving/6584807?aid=12054&ean=9781785907302 Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help... https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast Andrew Lownie... https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig... https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers... https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Produced by... PodcastWorld.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not many books change the direction of an entire debate but, in 2023, Hannah Barnes’ ’Time To Think’ did just that. Through the testimony of whistle-blowers from inside the Tavistock hospital GIDS clinic, it revealed deep concern about the use of puberty blockers on gender-distressed children and how this approach - for which there is very little hard evidence - almost always led to further and irreversible hormone treatments and surgery. When the Cass report into Britain’s treatment of gender questioning young people was welcomed by the UK Parliament last week, politicians from across the House of Commons praised Hannah for her work, and her book is credited with helping change the policy of the opposition Labour party (and possible next government) on this very divisive and controversial issue. Hannah’s work explores how best to treat children who feel they are somehow living ‘in the wrong body’ and fear the changes of puberty. It asks whether the ‘instant affirmation followed by puberty blocking’ model is dangerous and might better be replaced by counselling and other therapies. If you want to support what we do and help us grow this podcast we now have a Thank You option on YouTube for donations starting at 2 UK pounds - find it by clicking on the ’three dots’ next to the ‘download’ button. You can buy books from the authors we feature in our own bookshop, along with thousands of others. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/time-to-think-the-inside-story-of-the-collapse-of-the-tavistock-s-gender-service-for-children-hannah-barnes/7313400?aid=12054&ean=9781800751132& Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears *** Andrew Lownie... https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig... https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers... https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Produced by... PodcastWorld.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Gold joins us this week to talk about his brand new book and his life as a 'heretic' podcaster and reporter. In recent months Andrew has established himself a leading voice in the anti-woke free speech broadcasting community, talking provocatively to natural rebels such as Robbie Williams, David Baddiel, John McWhorter, Jon Ronson, Amanda Knox, Richard Dawkins and Helen Lewis. Whether it's the excesses of the trans-rights movement, the campaign to close down debate about Covid or the politics of the great royal rift, Andrew has something interesting to say. For his fascinating new book he interviewed dozens of people with secrets - including cult members, fraudsters and violent prisoners - and he writes powerfully about how our ideas about secrecy, trust and exposure help define our world. If you want to support what we do and help us grow this podcast we now have a THANKYOU option on YouTube for donations starting at 2 UK pounds - find it by clicking on the 'three dots' next to the 'download' button. You can buy books from the authors we feature in our own bookshop, along with thousands of others. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-psychology-of-secrets-adventures-among-cults-psychopaths-and-murderers-andrew-gold/7525492?aid=12054&ean=9781035002597& This is a better link for anyone outside the UK looking to buy Andrew Gold's book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Psychology-Secrets-Adventures-Murderers-Influencers/dp/1035002590/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. Andrew Lownie... https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig... https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers... https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Produced by... PodcastWorld.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're thrilled to get an hour to talk with Simon Vigar, one of Britain's most experienced royal correspondents and writers, who is now the Royal Correspondent for 5 News. Simon has had a ring side seat for all of the great royal dramas of the last two decades, and he brings an unusual level of sympathy and insight to the role. Amongst other things Phil and Andrew ask Simon for his views on the long term impact on Harry of the 'briefing wars' of the early 2000s when very unflattering stories about Diana and other royals were - it is alleged - traded by the Palace for favourable coverage of Charles and Camilla. Simon Vigar... https://twitter.com/simonvigar5 If you want to support what we do and help us grow this podcast we now have a ThankYou option on YouTube for donations starting at 2 UK pounds - find it by clicking on the 'three dots' next to the 'download' button. Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. The Scandal Mongers Podcast is also available to watch on youtube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast Andrew Lownie https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lady Colin Campbell joins Andrew and Phil again with an exclusive sneak peek at her new and explosive book on Meghan, Harry, the angry confrontations that shook the British royal family and Meghan's troubled family background. Based on her connections in the highest reaches of the British aristocracy - and her friendship with the Markle family - this is an uncompromising account of social climbing and what Lady Colin calls 'pathological narcissism' which challenges many of the stories told in the couple's Netflix series, to Oprah Winfrey and in Harry's book Spare. Phil & Andrew on the Shaun Attwood show!... (around 7 mins in) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85n4uoW-Jfg&t=0s NEW FEATURE If you want to support what we do and help us grow this podcast we now have a ThankYou option on YouTube for donations starting at just 2 UK pounds - find it by clicking on the 'three dots' next to the 'download' button on the YouTube page. You can buy books from the authors we feature in our own bookshop, along with thousands of others. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/meghan-and-harry-the-real-story-persecutors-or-victims-updated-edition-lady-colin-campbell/7648242?aid=12054&ean=9781916131781& Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. The Scandal Mongers Podcast is also available to watch on youtube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast Andrew Lownie https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a special sports themed episode Andrew and Phil are first joined by writer and former newspaper editor Chris Blackhurst to discuss his investigation into Manchester United - the world’ favourite football team - and how it has fared under the ownership of the American Glazer family, plus the wider role of big money in professional football (or ‘soccer' if you’re American!). Chris also talks about his fascinating work in the world of risk management. Next up is Andrew Butler and Matt Russell from Tortoise Media who reveal an astonishing scandal of match fixing and intimidation in the normally sedate world of professional snooker. Spotted: snooker’s fight against match fixing... https://shows.acast.com/the-tortoise-podcast/episodes/spotted-snookers-fight-against-match-fixing You can buy books from the authors we feature - including those discussed in this episode - in our own bookshop. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-world-s-biggest-cash-machine-manchester-united-the-glazers-and-the-story-of-how-money-bought-football-s-soul-chris-blackhurst/7426973?aid=12054&ean=9781035011179& Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. The Scandal Mongers Podcast is also available to watch on youtube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast Andrew Lownie https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why did Adolf Hitler's deputy and trusted confidante fly alone to an isolated corner of Scotland at the height of World War Two? Was it the act of a madman? Was it to conclude a secretly negotiated peace deal with some of the most senior members of the British aristocracy and - potentially - the royal family itself? Was it to help senior conservatives launch a coup against Churchill? Or was it all the result of a clever British intelligence plot? Whatever the true reason, Rudolf Hess himself never got to speak it since for the rest of his life he was kept well away from journalists and writers. John Harris has spent decades investigating the affair. Here he joins Andrew and Phil to discuss his latest discoveries and insights. You can buy books from the authors we feature in our own bookshop. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/rudolf-hess-a-new-technical-analysis-of-the-hess-flight-may-1941-john-harris/92085?aid=12054&ean=9781803990231& https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/conspiracy-calamity-and-cover-up-the-truth-behind-the-hess-flight-to-scotland-may-10th-1941-john-harris/7072361?aid=12054&ean=9781914414978& Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. The Scandal Mongers Podcast is also available to watch on youtube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast Andrew Lownie https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're joined by another of Andrew and Phil's journalistic hero's - Richard Norton Taylor. Richard has uncovered dozens of scandals in his time working for London newspapers, and turned several of them into successful plays. Here he speaks about his work on a range of stories and decades battling Britain's 'secret state'. He also comments on the case of Julian Assange, currently facing extradition to the USA from Britain in a case that many believe threatens the rights of investigative journalists. You can buy books from the authors we feature - including Richard's recent play about the Grenfell Tower disaster - in our own bookshop. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/value-engineering-scenes-from-the-grenfell-inquiry-richard-norton-taylor/6132040?aid=12054&ean=9781350268258& Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. The Scandal Mongers Podcast is also available to watch on youtube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast Andrew Lownie https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Evans joins Andrew and Phil to reveal a shocking story of medical negligence and official delay - in Britain and numerous other nations - that tragically resulted from the desire to treat dangerous illnesses with better drugs. For many years blood donations - often collected for money in the USA - were used to make products to treat people with haemophilia and other illnesses. But so careless were the practices at every level, and so poor the quality controls, that blood from those infected with diseases such as hepatitis and AIDS got mingled into thousands of doses. As a result many people were infected with life altering and life shortening diseases, including Jason's father. Although there is now an official Inquiry about to report in the UK, the campaign for justice and compensation has dragged on for decades. Before speaking to Jason, Phil and Andrew work through some of the audience repossess - positive and negative - to our last episode with royal expert Valentine Low. Jason's campaign can be reached here... https://www.factor8scandal.uk/jason-evans You can buy books from the authors we feature - including Courtiers by Valentine Low - in our own bookshop. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers.... https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/courtiers-valentine-low/6755938?aid=12054&ean=9781472290908 Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help... https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. The Scandal Mongers Podcast is also available to watch on youtube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast Andrew Lownie https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This was meant to be the second of our two spy episodes, and it still is - but first Andrew and Phil were able to speak with our friend, the VERY well connected royal reporter Valentine Low, about the speculation that's swirling around the prince and princess of wales? Phil also references this article of his about the psychological roots of our interest in monarchy. https://thecritic.co.uk/the-kings-touch/ Then writer Robert Verkaik joins to explore the dark and controversial story of the dead British spy Gareth Williams - the notorious 'body in the bag' case from 2010. Was this a Russian 'hit', an imaginatively staged suicide or the result of a bizarre sex game gone very wrong? You can buy books from the authors we feature - including Courtiers by Valentine Low - in our own bookshop. All profit are shared between podcasters and independent booksellers. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/courtiers-valentine-low/6755938?aid=12054&ean=9781472290908 Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. The Scandal Mongers Podcast is also available to watch on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJgy7_rHwpE&t=23s Andrew Lownie https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig https://twitter.com/philmcraig The Scandal Mongers https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). This show is part of the PodcastWorld.org network. For your own show please get in contact via the email address above. Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

'Spy mania' was at its height in the early 1960s when a junior clerk in the Admiralty was revealed to be spying for the Soviet Union, after he had been drugged and then secretly photographed by KGB agents in Moscow while being raped by at least two men. At a time when sexual relationships between men were illegal, John Vassall was jailed and publicly humiliated, while tabloid newspaper ran stories such as ‘How to Spot a Homo’. Writer Alex Grant joins Andrew and Phil to discuss his book on John Vassall, and what his life story tells us about both espionage and the social history of the 1960s. You can buy Alex's book, and books from the other authors we feature here, in our own Scandal Mongers bookshop - along with thousands more. Andrew’s own book on the spy Guy Burgess is also available here. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/sex-spies-and-scandal-the-john-vassall-affair-alex-grant/7392845?aid=12054&ean=9781785907883& Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. The Scandal Mongers Podcast is also available to watch on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJgy7_rHwpE&t=23s Andrew Lownie https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig https://twitter.com/philmcraig Scandal Mongers https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). This show is part of the PodcastWorld.org network. For your own show please get in contact via the email address above. Production by Theo X Kerem Isik Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

According to the court reports last week, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, pocketed more than £1 million from an allegedly corrupt financier acting on behalf of a Turkish millionaire. And nobody can say why. It’s one of many obscure stories of cash flowing into royal coffers that our Andrew - Lownie - has been trying to investigate for years. In this special episode Andrew shares some of his theories about what has been happening here - and asks questions about Prince Andrew’s time as a ’trade envoy’. Just who was he representing on these expensive foreign trips? His country or his own family? We also discuss the wider issues of royal finance and the public’s right to know about it. Andrew has spent many frustrating months battling for access to royal and other official documents about Prince Andrew and others, but Britain’s Freedom of Information system does not appear to be very helpful. Later in the episode we talk to the guru of freedom of information (in Britain and elsewhere) about all this - ex BBC journalist Martin Rosenbaum. Martin Rosenbaum has also written a guide book to your rights to information https://www.amazon.co.uk/Freedom-Info... You can buy Andrew and Phil’s books, and work from the other authors we feature here, in our own Scandal Mongers bookshop - along with thousands more. https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/scandalmongers Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. The Scandal Mongers Podcast is also available to watch on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJgy7_rHwpE&t=23s Andrew Lownie https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig https://twitter.com/philmcraig Scandal Mongers https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). This show is part of the PodcastWorld.org network. For your own show please get in contact via the email address above. Production by Theo X Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When famous crime writer Agatha Christie suddenly vanished without trace in December 1926 it triggered one of the greatest tabloid sensations of the age. Behind it lay a twisted story of love, loss and love affairs that’s worthy of one of her greatest novels. Returning to the podcast for the third time, writer Laura Thompson peels back the layers to explain exactly what happened - and why this was the most important month of Agatha Christie's life and work. You can buy Laura's excellent biography of Agatha, and books from the other authors we feature here, in our own Scandal Mongers bookshop - along with thousands more. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/agatha-christie-a-mysterious-life-laura-thompson/2300271?aid=12054&ean=9781472269560& Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. The Scandal Mongers Podcast is available to watch on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJgy7_rHwpE&t=23s Andrew Lownie https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig https://twitter.com/philmcraig Scandal Mongers https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). This show is part of the PodcastWorld.org network. For your own show please get in contact via the email address above. Production by Theo X Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When famous crime writer Agatha Christie suddenly vanished without trace in December 1926 it triggered one of the greatest tabloid sensations of the age. Behind it lay a twisted story of love, loss and love affairs that’s worthy of one of her greatest novels. Returning to the podcast for the third time, writer Laura Thompson peels back the layers to explain exactly what happened - and why this was the most important month of Agatha Christie's life and work. You can buy Laura's excellent biography of Agatha, and books from the other authors we feature here, in our own Scandal Mongers bookshop - along with thousands more. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/agatha-christie-a-mysterious-life-laura-thompson/2300271?aid=12054&ean=9781472269560& Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. The Scandal Mongers Podcast is also available to watch on youtube Andrew Lownie https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig https://twitter.com/philmcraig Scandal Mongers https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). This show is part of the PodcastWorld.org network. For your own show please get in contact via the email address above. Production by Theo X Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

(PRODUCTION NOTE : If you're hearing last weeks show on this episode please erase this episode and re-download it again.) In the second episode in this themed week, Canadian author Antony Anderson joins Phil and Andrew to discuss one of the greatest military and diplomatic disasters of the British Empire. In 1956 a new government in Egypt took control of the Suez canal and Britain - along with France - wanted it back. With the help of Israel a war was secretly planned and then executed - amid global outrage. Britain and France were seen to be acting as old fashioned imperialist bullies in an age of supposed de-colonisation and self determination. The resulting crisis split the British commonwealth, caused a deep rift between London and Washington and cast a shadow over the government of British Prime Minster Anthony Eden. It took a gifted Canadian diplomat - Lesley Pearson - to help restore international relations and calm the conflict. Phil is writing a book about the end of the Second World War in which stories of British ‘imperial muscle memory’ will feature prominently, which he discusses with Antony. You can buy Antony’s book on Pearson, and books from the other authors we feature here, in our own Scandal Mongers bookshop - along with thousands more. https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-diplomat-lester-pearson-and-the-suez-crisis-antony-anderson/3200341?aid=12054&ean=9781773100456& Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you’d like to get scandalous with? We’re here to help. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers *** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears. Andrew Lownie https://twitter.com/andrewlownie Phil Craig https://twitter.com/philmcraig Scandal Mongers https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast The Scandal Mongers Podcast is also available to watch on Youtube... https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast You can get in touch with the show hosts via... team@podcastworld.org (place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading please). This show is part of the PodcastWorld.org network. For your own show please get in contact via the email address above. Production by Theo X (Assisted by Charlie Harvey) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.