The Best Bits of Newscast's Podcast-a-Thon (Part Two)

Summary

Newscast – The Best Bits of Newscast’s Podcast-a-Thon (Part Two)

BBC News | December 21, 2025

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Overview:

This episode of Newscast looks back at the "best bits" from the ambitious 25-hour podcast-a-thon challenge, undertaken by host Adam Fleming to raise money for Children in Need. The show mixes behind-the-scenes camaraderie, expert news analysis, light-hearted anecdotes, and reflections on the challenge itself. Listeners hear uplifting stories from the Newscast team, guests, and supporters, culminating in heartfelt moments and light-hearted banter in the studio.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights:

1. The 25-hour Podcast-a-Thon Challenge

• Challenge Origins ([01:08]): Adam Fleming recounts how Pudsey Bear, the BBC Children in Need mascot, delivered the podcast-a-thon challenge via a yellow envelope.
• Pudsey’s Silent Encouragement ([02:55]): Pudsey Bear communicates only through gestures, adding some early episode humour.
• Preparation and Survival Tactics ([04:30–05:54]): Adam admits little specific prep, noting that five years of podcasting is his main training. Chris Mason jokes about core essentials like comfort breaks, prompting Adam to discuss hydration logistics.

“I've not really done any preparation other than present Newscast every day for five years!” – Adam Fleming ([04:42])

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2. Voice Care and Studio Stamina

• Voice Coach Advice ([06:12–08:57]): Sally Lawrence, a professional voice coach, shares tips for maintaining vocal health: sipping water regularly, avoiding dairy and caffeine, and engaging the diaphragm with breathing exercises.
• Chocolate vs. Broadcast Reality ([07:17–07:32]): Adam and Chris discuss how veteran broadcasters avoid chocolate and dairy to keep their voices clear during broadcasts.
• Physical Preparation for Long Sessions: Standing up regularly and breathing properly are recommended to avoid fatigue and maintain energy.

“Are you sitting down? You will need to stand up every so often and make sure that your diaphragm’s connected…” – Voice Coach Sally Lawrence ([08:09])

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3. Early Banter and Traditions

• Keeping Spirits Up ([10:57–11:34]): Alex Forsyth and Adam commiserate over water intake, snacks, and stamina; fruit and nuts are highlighted as ideal podcast-a-thon fuel.
• Running Jokes on Bodily Functions: The unique challenge of maintaining energy (and hydration) becomes a repeated thread, with references to astronauts' toilet routines drawing laughs.

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4. Late-Night Culinary Conversations

• The Price and Tradition of Mince ([12:56–14:45]): Adam Fleming and Paddy O’Connell discuss the rising costs of beef as a political and kitchen staple, swap "mince" recipes and Scottish culinary advice, including the merits of draining fat from cheaper mince.
• Chicken in a Brick and British Homewares ([15:31–15:58]): Paddy describes the 1970s “chicken in a brick” fad popularised by Habitat, contrasting it with modern eating habits and health advice.
• Light Moments from The Andrew Marr Show ([16:23–17:07]): Adam shares an anecdote from his first appearance on the show involving the late design icon Terence Conran and the societal impact of the duvet.

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5. Reflecting on Home and Heritage

• Lisa Doucette in Canada ([18:49–22:32]): BBC’s Lisa Doucette calls in from Canada and shares personal stories of her family’s Acadian heritage, the chilly east coast winters, and her love for time spent in her seaside community. She reflects on the importance of on-the-ground journalism versus remote, even in the digital age.

“For all the dazzling changes in our technology, I still believe in old-fashioned, in the heat and the dust, face-to-face journalism…” – Lisa Doucette ([22:32])

• Lisa’s Heartfelt Support ([23:16–24:05]): She praises Adam’s charity work and underscores the importance of the Children in Need mission.

“It shows that you have a big smile, but you have an even bigger heart. And it underlines that all of us can do something to help children in need.” – Lisa Doucette ([23:16])

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6. Big News Moments: Economic and Political Analysis

• Breaking News on Tax Policy ([24:50–27:14]): Henry Mance recaps late-night news about the government’s u-turn on increasing income tax—originally an "all-but-confirmed" budget measure, now scrapped after concerns about political backlash.

“The government has essentially let it be speculated and not dampened down the idea that they're going to increase the basic rate… What we learned via the Financial Times late last night… the government is not going to do it after all…” – Henry Mance ([25:05])

• Cricket Metaphors for Politics ([26:35–27:54]): Adam and Henry riff on whether the leak was "pitch rolling" (managing expectations) or reflected a real policy change, with Henry musing that such a strategy would be “completely mad.”
• Clarifying Economic Nuances ([28:53–30:58]): Chris Mason joins in to explain that the government may freeze income tax thresholds instead—which could also mean higher taxes for some without changing the rates—while making sense of the confusing cycle of budget leaks.

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7. Children in Need, Listener Impact, and Celebratory Finale

• Returning to the Charity Challenge ([31:35–32:12]): The studio prepares for the arrival of Pudsey Bear as the podcast winds down. Adam and co-hosts reflect on the emotional and community impact of the challenge.

• Why 25 Hours? ([32:51–33:12]): The logic for a 25-hour podcast-a-thon (as opposed to 24) is explained: all challenges mark Children in Need’s 25th year by being themed around the number 25.

• Highlighting Children in Need Projects ([34:35–35:31]): Adam spotlights one funded project, "Living Paintings," which makes books tactile for blind and visually impaired children, using touchable art, braille, and celebrity-read audio.

“…a library service for blind and visually impaired children, where not only do you get books in Braille, but the books have these living paintings… That Children in Need fund in it.” – Adam Fleming ([34:35])

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8. Listener Voice Notes: Why Newscast Matters

• Sprinkling Throughout the Day ([36:41–37:50]): Listeners share how Newscast fits into their daily routines—from tea breaks to bedtime—highlighting moments of levity (like Adam joking with Lisa about her age) that "live rent-free in my head."
• From Brexitcast to Newscast ([37:50–39:00]): Another listener credits the podcast with helping process the stress of Brexit and enjoys the team’s unique mix of behind-the-scenes detail and lighter diversions.

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “You have a big smile, but you have an even bigger heart.” – Lisa Doucette ([23:16])
• “Don’t throw everything out in your journalistic doom loop all the time. Well done for having a podcastathon just to shine a bit of light on why people do things at all in the country.” – Adam Fleming ([34:12])
• “This is peak Newscast, isn't it? We're into your 25th hour of continuous live broadcasting and we're talking about fiscal drag.” – Chris Mason ([30:53])
• “The bear is waving and smiling and looking her Tao to sit down. And the editor is now guiding Pudsey to look at Adam full in the face whilst clapping.” – Studio narration ([31:59])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Time | Segment Description | |---------|------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:08 | Introduction to the 25-hour podcast-a-thon and Pudsey’s challenge | | 06:12 | Voice coach Sally Lawrence gives voice/stamina advice | | 10:57 | Alex Forsyth and Adam discuss podcast-a-thon snacks and stamina | | 12:56 | Chat about cost of living, mince, and culinary traditions | | 18:49 | Lisa Doucette shares stories from Canada, family heritage | | 24:50 | Henry Mance on government’s budget u-turn | | 28:53 | Chris Mason explains tax thresholds and fiscal drag | | 34:35 | Highlight: ‘Living Paintings’ Children in Need project | | 36:41 | Listener voice notes on Newscast’s impact |

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Tone and Style

The episode is a lively, intimate, and sometimes irreverent journey through news, nostalgia, and charity challenge. The hosts and guests maintain a conversational, empathetic style, with Adam’s self-deprecating humour, Chris’s wry commentary, and Lisa Doucette’s warmth and international perspective anchoring the atmosphere. Listener messages (and Pudsey Bear’s nonverbal appearances) bring a human touch to the marathon broadcast.

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Conclusion

This “best bits” roundup captures the camaraderie, tenacity, and warmth that define Newscast—showing how a marathon of hard news, behind-the-scenes insights, and charitable spirit can both inform and unite a diverse audience. The 25-hour challenge becomes a celebration of teamwork, public service journalism, and political observation—seasoned with jokes, recipes, and the untold stories that bring the news home.

Transcript

[Adam Fleming]

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[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

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[Adam Fleming]

Hello. Back in November, I was given the challenge by Pudsy Bear to do a 25 hour podcast, a thon in aid of children in need. In the previous episode, we looked back at some of the best moments with special guests who came in to cheer me on. But if that was like the BBC office Christmas party, this is now going to be Christmas dinner with the newscast family. Newscast.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

Newscast from the BBC.

[Adam Fleming]

Fat Boy Slim and me in the classroom doing our violin lessons.

[Paddy O'Connell]

I was the tattletail in the classroom.

[Adam Fleming]

Can I have an apology, please?

I trust almost nobody that daddy has to sometimes use strong language. Next time in Moscow.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

I feel Dalulu with no Salulu. Take me down to Downing Street.

[Adam Fleming]

Let's go have a tour.

[Chris Mason]

Blimey.

[Adam Fleming]

Hello, it's Adam in the newscast studio. I remember so well the moment in October when Puzzy Bear dropped into this studio, handed me the yellow envelope and he didn't say what the challenge was because he's mute. But the envelope contained the challenge of podcasting for 25 hours for children in need. And in November, the day finally came where we had to actually do the 25 hours of podcasting. But it was okay because I had lots of members of the newscast family to keep me company and keep my energy levels up. First to pay me a visit was Pudsy Bear. Again. Him and of course my podcasting partner in crime for more than half a decade, Chris Mason. We've got our first guest. Oh wow. We can't beat this. It's Pudsey Bear. And Pudsy is being shown in by producer Chris, who I think is going to be here for 25 hours as well. And Chris is moving the cushion out of the way. Hello, Pudsy. How you doing? Thumbs up. Yeah. So, Pudzi, you don't. You don't use words, do you know? We're just using gestures. Pudzi is really going for the thumbs up. So, yeah, Pudzi, I was just telling everyone about how two weeks ago, you came in here and gave me that yellow envelope and gave me the challenge. Yes. Pudzi's doing a sort of like, oh, slightly ashamed emoji. Because. Is that. Because you realize it was quite a big challenge. Yes. Yeah. So, Pudsy, I was just explaining to everyone what the deal is. We're going to be here for 25 hours. We're going to finish on Thursday morning at 9 o'. Clock. I know he's covering his eyes because he's realizing what a big deal that is. But then, of course, you take over because Friday is Children in Need Day. Yeah, he's dancing. What's your favorite dance move, by the way? Oh, I don't know what that one's called, that. That one. I'm not asking. I'm looking over to my colleagues. What's that? Oh, mashed potato. Oh, that's what ma. Yeah, mashed potato. Of course, that's mashed potato. Can you floss? Or is that a bit old? Bit hard for you to get your arms behind your back, isn't it? Oh, he's embarrassed. I know. I've embarrassed Pudsy in the first four minutes of the 25 hours. You're probably not going to be here for the whole time, are you? He's. He's waving his finger. No, because you've probably got other duties, haven't you? Okay, well, lovely to have you for this period. Do you want to just sit back and relax for a bit? Right, right. I'm gonna see if we can catch up with our first member of the newscast family. Who would you want to speak to, first of all? And also somebody who can talk for Britain about multiple subjects is Chris Mason. Hello, Chris.

[Chris Mason]

Hello.

[Adam Fleming]

How are you doing?

[Chris Mason]

Morning. I'm very well, thanks. More to the point, how are you? I want to know how you. What the kind of preparation did you do stretching exercises before you walked into.

[Adam Fleming]

This is the Thing.

[Chris Mason]

Newscast studio. Did you sleep well last night?

[Adam Fleming]

Well, okay. There's a few things to address there. I've not really done any preparation other than present newscast every day for five years?

[Chris Mason]

Well, yeah, that's good practice.

[Adam Fleming]

So that is kind of good. That's a good basis. I did go, I made one concession to go into bed. I went to bed about 45 minutes early yesterday, but then I just, then I just Woke up at 11. I'm like, why? Which is my normal bedtime, like, why am I in bed now? And yeah, we've basically just, we've the newscast team. Because it's not just you and me making this. Like we do get help. Have scoured the world for the best, the best people to come on.

[Chris Mason]

Well, this is terrific. And starting with Pudsy Bear, I mean, that is fantastic. I mean, as I was just listening there and indeed watching on the iplayer, clearly when your first guest is as high profile and a list, particularly in this context as Pudsey Bear is, happens also to be, as you say, a bear of few words. Then, then it, then it's a challenge. You know, you're going to have to hope that your contributors between now and nine o'clock tomorrow morning are a little more verbose than Pudsy Bear. You got to tell me. We did talk about this briefly I think a few weeks ago. But look, you know, everyone wants to know at this stage on this challenge about the sort of fundamentals in life, like comfort breaks, how do they work?

[Adam Fleming]

Well, I think first of all you want to limit your liquids.

[Chris Mason]

So you.

[Adam Fleming]

Don'T want to be like downing pints and pints of water. So that's the sort of the supply side. And then there are. And there are.

[Chris Mason]

That's an even more absurd description of that than my reference to the sypology of Pudsley. I love it.

[Adam Fleming]

Basically what Chris is getting at is economists talk about the supply side of the economy and the demand side and then there are a few moments where we've pre recorded some material where I'll be able to dash out and go to the loo. But actually talking about getting ready and staying limber, we've got somebody who is going to help us out right now and give us some great tips because we are joined by voice coach Sally Lawrence. Hello, Sally.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

Hello. Good morning.

[Adam Fleming]

Thank you very much for joining us. Our first person on the, on the 25 hour podcast a thon you've got your place in podcasting history.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

I'm very grateful. Thank you for inviting me. I'm just slightly alarmed by the thing about the water because you do need to drink all the way through this because you've got to lubricate your vocal cords, so you need to drink little and often to keep making sure that your voice is really working well.

[Adam Fleming]

Right, this is now going to sound like we're making a Radio 4 radio drama. I'm going to unscrew my metal water bottle and take a big, very theatrical glug to reassure you.

[Lisa Doucette]

Good.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

And now I'm going to ask you. You're not. Are you a big chocolate fan?

[Adam Fleming]

I do like chocolate, but I learned very early on from some very veteran broadcasters you should never eat chocolate if.

[Chris Mason]

You'Re on the radio stickiness thing.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

No, no. Coats your larynx. So you don't want to eat any dairy produce at all today.

[Adam Fleming]

No dairy at all.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

No dairy at all. It'll make it very, very thick and make. Speaking as you get tired, it'll become more and more difficult to keep going. So it's difficult, isn't it, because it's a bit like caffeine. You mustn't drink very much caffeine. Caffeine keeps you awake. Woohoo. But it's not good for your voice.

[Adam Fleming]

Okay. The bad news is I've just had a massive cup of coffee and I had a massive bowl of porridge made with milk.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

Well, that's okay. That's all right. We'll let you have that because you're talking really nicely and I can hear every word you're saying, so that's all fantastic. But what we want to do as well is. Are you sitting down? Are you standing?

[Adam Fleming]

I am sitting down, yeah.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

You will need to stand up every so often and make sure that you're connected, your diaphragm's connected, that the intercostal diaphragmatic muscles are working so that you're breathing properly, so that your ribs are going in and out rather than up and down.

[Adam Fleming]

And so. Yeah. How do I do that connection, then? Is there a sort of simple way of just resetting it?

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

Well, what you can do is you put your hand where your diaphragm is. If you feel it, see if it's working, it should push your hand gently in and out.

[Adam Fleming]

Yeah.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

And if it's not, cup one hand onto your ribs and just try and breathe into your hand. So you're filling your ribs so the breath is really pushing into the lungs.

[Adam Fleming]

Oh, wow.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

That allows you to have a full. It's like. It's like running on full rather than a car running on half.

[Adam Fleming]

Chris, have you just been doing that while Sally was saying that? Because it's really right.

[Chris Mason]

Yeah. No, and excuse me, I've got a.

[Adam Fleming]

Sorry, Sorry.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

Chris is eating chocolate, isn't he? Chris has got a piece of chocolate.

[Chris Mason]

It's a bit of bagel with. With Jamila, which is not. Not part of my morning vocal exercise. You know, what I find myself doing and I. I can't resist asking this in the company of a voice coach. So when I get up first thing in the morning, often to go on the radio, because that's the nature of my job and I'm often up before anybody else in the house. In other words, I'm not. I'm not talking. I might make some phone calls, which means I'm talking, but sometimes I'm up. So earlier, you know, it's too early to ring anyone up, and I find myself thinking and there's a danger and I've definitely fallen for this, where I go on the radio and pretty much the first words I say on the. In the day are the ones I'm saying out loud. And you can tell, can't you? But, like, when you ring somebody up and you've woken them up, you can tell in their voice. And so I do this thing and I can't work out if this is a good idea, where I count to about 30 out loud and I go through the Alphabet a few times in the hope that that sort of, I don't know, stretches the various vocal cord muscles, if that's the right word to use or phrase to use to make sure that nothing sounds. Sounds like I've just woken up.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

That's a good thing to do. But another really great exercise to do, particularly if you live on your own or everybody else is asleep and you're not talking to anybody until you start work and then your voice is a bit. Sounds a little bit uncomfortable for you and. And people are thinking, oh, I'm not sure what's happening, she's got her bad. Yeah, Y. What you can do is, again, connect with your diaphragm, take that breath in, really drop the breath in, fill up your lungs and then hum. Humming is great. And you can wander around the house not annoying anybody by humming.

[Chris Mason]

I don't know, I think it might.

[Adam Fleming]

And at the start of the challenge, Chris was very intrigued in the strategy of how I was going to make it through the whole 25 hours, which actually proved to be quite a popular question, as I found out when I was joined by Alex Andarshini. Alex Forsyth is on the line. Hi, Alex.

[Lisa Doucette]

Hello.

[Adam Fleming]

Where are you in the world, by the way?

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

So I've literally just arrived in Salford. And I'm sorry I'm a bit late.

[Lisa Doucette]

To the podcast a thon because I did a train and then a tram.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

And it just took a little bit longer than I expected. But I've been keeping an eye on it. It's going great. How are you doing? How are you faring a few hours.

[Adam Fleming]

In, I feel fine. My main thing is everyone keeps saying you got to drink lots of water and so I've been guzzling loads of water, but it basically means I need the loo quite a lot. There's too much information. I'm sorry. But yeah, and there's a lovely fruit bowl just out of my sight eyeline here and I'm really looking forward to my first apple or my first orange, so. Oh, yeah, it's easy when you've got good company.

[Lisa Doucette]

Oh, you're too kind.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

Fruit and nuts. Fruit and nuts are the way they're. They're the stamina solutions, I'd say.

[Adam Fleming]

Not chocolate, not chocolate.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

I did event recently with the wonderful Tim Peak astronaut who said the question.

[Lisa Doucette]

Most people ask him, or he gets asked most frequently is how do you.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

Go to the toilet in space? So there you go.

[Adam Fleming]

And what's the answer? Let's not go there, let's not go there.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

There was some mention of recycling stuff.

[Lisa Doucette]

As well, which I didn't really want to go into.

[Adam Fleming]

I just don't want to think about globules. Now. Whenever someone asks me what was the weirdest moment of broadcasting for 25 hours straight, like, when did I feel like I was in a weird dream or like I was going cross eyed. It was when Nick and Paddy came in after doing Newsnight on BBC2. So it was about quarter past 11 at night. We'd been talking for a very, very long time by that point. They were quite buzzing, having just been on air doing a quite complicated gritty news program. And we ended up trading recipes for a Scottish mince. Well, the thing that gripped me this week is the price of mince. It's become one of those symbolic goods that people go on social media going, can you believe the price of mints? And then we were chatting to Sumi and Katrina in the US and they're saying that the cost of living is roaring back as an issue there for Donald Trump. And the thing that is expensive is beef. Beef?

[Chris Mason]

Yeah.

[Adam Fleming]

Beef is one of the key sort of shopping basket items that is going up in many Western countries. And it is one of the big staples of an American household and of course a UK household.

[Paddy O'Connell]

And then Darcini I'm reducing my beef.

[Adam Fleming]

Are you? Because of price or because of carbon age? Age.

[Paddy O'Connell]

Because of age.

[Adam Fleming]

Oh, gout risk.

[Paddy O'Connell]

The doctor said, can you steer away from red meat and head in the direction of poultry and fish?

[Adam Fleming]

Yeah.

[Paddy O'Connell]

So I'm still having my beef, of course.

[Adam Fleming]

But it's ironic because this advice has just come just as I've perfected my mince recipe, which is. Well, so I was lucky to be educated in Scotland, and Scots do mince very well, in my opinion. And I know other parts of the UK are available, but let's just ignore them because the Scots know what to do with mince. And what you need to do with it really is kind of cook it with a bit of carrots. Yeah, cook it and with a little bit of stock. Yeah, little bit. You runny. All thicks up to you. A bit of flour and then I would have it with mash.

Yeah.

And I've really only just recently gone back to it and it's made me a very happy man late at night.

Oh, mince and tatties used to be one of my favorite meals, with some Worcestershire sauce on. Have you tried that?

[Paddy O'Connell]

But do you have a view on the key thing when you're going to buy your mince? What percentage fat are you? A 5%, a 10%? A 15%? A 20%?

[Adam Fleming]

So I have a hack. You buy the cheaper, fattier stuff and you drain the fat off. So you just let the fat bubble away and you drain it off, so you've paid less. This is the student tip tip. I mean, I know I'm overpaid in the job I do, I should be immediately sacked. But putting that aside, that's my tip for getting rid of a bit of fatty old mints. And.

[Paddy O'Connell]

Because if, you know, if you drain it off, because we've all done this, you drain it off and you put it in a cup and you leave the cup overnight. Then you realize, that's jolly lucky I didn't eat that.

[Adam Fleming]

Well, you do, but it's also perfect to put your bacon in because then you.

This is amazing.

Well, it's late at night. You've got 24 hours.

Yeah, exactly. This is like the birth of cable television, which you were probably at the.

[Paddy O'Connell]

Birth of pre cable television.

[Adam Fleming]

So in terms of, like, swapping out chicken for beef, have you found any amazing new chicken recipes that have rocked your world?

[Paddy O'Connell]

Well, I'm not the greatest cook in the world, but when I. When I. When I. When I have my lunch, which I do every day in the House of Commons, I go down to the chicken.

[Adam Fleming]

Bit and the fish bit again, kind of another tip.

[Paddy O'Connell]

Yes.

[Adam Fleming]

Use the whole bird. That's the most important part. It's. It's much chicken.

[Paddy O'Connell]

Chicken in a brick. Do you know about chicken in the brick? Very. Habitat very sort of 1970s.

[Adam Fleming]

Well, that's my hero.

[Paddy O'Connell]

I can remember. And you can. You're a bit younger than me, so it was a big deal, Adam, 70s, obviously, before you were around. But Habitat became a big thing and what their two big things they introduced to this country were the duvet and the brick. For chicken in a brick.

[Adam Fleming]

I love it.

[Paddy O'Connell]

And you literally put your chicken into a cold oven in a cold brick because if you heated it, it would smash. And then you put your root vegetables in it and it just cooks them all together and you have the most amazing gravy, the most natural gravy, the most amazing chicken. And if you do it right, the top of the chicken should be browned and underneath is the gravy and the root vegetables.

[Adam Fleming]

Can I tell you a duvet related story?

[Paddy O'Connell]

Duvet.

[Adam Fleming]

The first time I ever did the newspaper review on the Andrew Marr show on Sunday, before Laura took over, and I was a very junior journalist covering Brexit and I got called in to help and it was the day was Terrence Conran is the dad, isn't he? The older Conran?

[Paddy O'Connell]

Yeah, he's Mr. Habitat.

[Adam Fleming]

And he died, right. And was on the front cover of the observer or something like that. And it got to the very end of the Pay Per View and we'd done all the serious international stories and the serious political stories. And Andrew always liked to end with like a sort of cultural, sort of zeitgeisty story. And he's like, oh, and Terrace Conran is dead. The man who imported the duvet to Britain. And did you know that changed everyone's sex lives overnight at 9:00'?

[Lisa Doucette]

Clock?

[Adam Fleming]

Honestly? Yeah. And luckily that was. We ran out of time for the newspaper review, so I didn't have to engage him in conversation about it.

[Paddy O'Connell]

That's good. Do you want to hear my Andrew Marr show story? I was once called. I was in my bath and I think it was half past eight and it was go in, still goes out at 9am I was in my bath and they said, can you come in and do the papers? Because one of our guests has dropped out. So I got out of my bath and got into a taxi at 20 to 9.

[Adam Fleming]

And you made it and turned up.

[Paddy O'Connell]

At what you used to call tvc. Yeah, Television center and made it, was handed five newspapers and said, these are the stories you're talking about, and went into this.

[Adam Fleming]

And then you realized, oh, no, I forgot to get dressed. We then had this amazing moment about 3 o' clock in the morning when it was really dark. I was starting to get quite tired, but I was feeling kind of confident that we might make it to 25 hours. But who was still awake at that point in the day? Luckily, Lisa Doucette was in her native Canada, so she was just getting ready for bed and she called in from her hotel room and we basically had a sort of like midnight snack chat where she told me about her life in Canada. Like a bit of her life I'd never really thought of before. I will let you get to bed shortly because it's bedtime now for you. Or, I don't know, maybe you've got some cocktails with, I don't know, some industrialists or some notable authors or some CEOs. But before you go, I mean, we've talked about Afghanistan, a country that you love, but you've worked in a lot. We've talked about Canada, your home, where you're from, where you. Where do you go on holiday?

[Lisa Doucette]

I usually go. I do for a while. I used to go to Southeast Asia because it wasn't a part of the world that I did a lot of reporting from. I used to go for natural disasters, tsunami, the cyclones, earthquakes, that sort of thing. So I didn't associate it with work. But more and more now I go home to the east coast of Canada, to New Brunswick, which is on the Vie de Chaleurs, the Chaleur Bay. When Jacques Cartier the explorer, arrived in that bay in the 1600s, it was so warm that he called it the Bay of Heat, Bay de Chaleur. And then, of course, the winter came and all of his soldiers froze to death. Because in the winter it goes down to about minus 36 degrees, snow up to the roof. And in fact, when I arrived on Monday in Canada or Sunday night, it was the first snow. It came really, really early. Most of it is melted. And I'm looking out the window. I'm now in Ottawa, the nation's capital. I can see the Parliament Hill, the flags for the peace tower. And so home for me is eastern Canada on the water, on the bay where many of my family still live. And I have a little, little piece, a little piece of land. So I have a little. My little place that I. Oh, and.

[Adam Fleming]

You have, like a little house on it?

[Lisa Doucette]

Yeah, well, it's not. It's a small, little. A small, little place. Little place, yeah.

[Adam Fleming]

Do you have, like, a garden?

[Lisa Doucette]

It's right on the water.

[Adam Fleming]

Do you have a canoe?

[Lisa Doucette]

We have kayaks. And thinking about. My family's thinking about getting some. Some boats, but there's. We live right on the. Right on the beach, and there's a lagoon and there's a forest. Some of the best walking trails in Canada around there as well. It's really good. And it's on the. Part of it is. Where I come from has a lot of Scottish and Irish ancestry, which is why, you know, I went to Scotland recently and to the Borders area at 3. At least three people came up to me and say, oh, hello, Orla. And confusing me with Orla Gear. And I'm always talking. Orla is 100% Irish, and people keep confusing us. And listeners may have noticed that my accent, which is from the east coast of Canada, is different from Barbara Plett's accent because she's from the west coast of Canada. So where I come from is a lot of Scottish and Irish ancestry. That's on my mother's side. My name, Doucet, is one of the first Acadian families of Acadian French origin. That part of Canada in northeastern New Brunswick is called Acadie, which is the ancestral homelands of the Acadian people. That's where British expelled the Acadians in 1755, and the Acadians refused to sign an oath of loyalty to the British, to the British Empire. And they were scattered across the 13 colonies of the United States and to Louisiana, which is why you hear about Cajun music, Cajun cooking. If you go to Lafayette or to Baton Rouge, there'll be a Doucet building, Doucet House, Doucet Street Street. Because there's. There's Acadians there. And in many other parts of the world, you go to France. There's Doucet chocolate, de la Doucette wines, the Doucet dress. So, yeah, that's. So my ancestry is threaded through all these places.

[Adam Fleming]

I mean, that's great. That's a whole collection for your super fans to go out and collect.

[Lisa Doucette]

Yes, yes.

[Adam Fleming]

I don't know your life. Also, Lisa, this is the difference between you and I. You occasionally go to your beautiful beachside cottage with lagoon kayaks and all the weather, as you can imagine, and peacefulness. But you are more frequently in trouble spots or doing in very intense negotiations, whereas I would rather be sometimes doing those things and most of the time being by the lagoon.

[Lisa Doucette]

I think, yes, yes, Well, I could pretend, of course, I could just be remote. But for all the dazzling changes in our technology, I still believe in old fashioned, in the heat and the dust, face to face journalism where you can just hear and see, but feel, feel the moment and get a better sense of what is happening on the ground, as we say in our business, despite all the recent discussions about the BBC getting as close as possible to the truth and in so doing to better to build trust.

[Adam Fleming]

Well, Lys, lovely to catch up with you. Thanks for breaking into your grueling promotional schedule to be part of our grueling podcasting schedule. So thank you very much and night. Night.

[Lisa Doucette]

Can I just say, Adam, that when I saw the news that you'd agreed with Pudsey to do this, and I saw him banging his way through your studio, I really admired you and I'm really pleased. And I immediately said, no matter where I'm in the world, no matter what time it is, I want to join. Adam, I want to be part of this because it shows that you have a big smile, but you have an even bigger heart. And it underlines that all of us can do something to help children in need. And the projects are just. They bring tears to your eyes, they make you that. They are so heartwarming and they make a real difference. So I know it feels now like you might be questioning, why did I agree to do this? Keep going. You and your team. Chris Gray has been sending me messages. You got your fantastic team there. Keep going. And really well done. I. I salute you from far away.

[Adam Fleming]

Thank you, Lisa. Of course, the first reaction you had was on Instagram, and when we announced this, you just went, omg.

[Lisa Doucette]

Yes, but. But my. My real first. My first one was omg, and my second one was y.

[Adam Fleming]

Yes, I'll be there. And I knew it would be. I knew we could always count on you. And then to keep me going for the last hour, we filled the studio with the nearest and dearest of the newscast family. So here is the last few minutes of this ridiculous 25 hours of podcasting where I was joined by Laura, Paddy, Henry and Chris. And do you know what? I'll let you judge the vibe for yourself. Henry, you're looking very, like, not at work.

[Henry Mance]

I know. It's almost as if I've joined you out of the goodness of my heart on the start of my weekend.

[Adam Fleming]

Because it's Children in Need.

[Henry Mance]

Because it's Children in Need. Because Pudsey demanded it of you and therefore of me.

[Adam Fleming]

Is there any political News you've got sort of. You're looking at your side eye while.

[Henry Mance]

You'Re in a big way, out of my front eye or whatever. Because what developed late last night. Well, so obviously there's been weeks and weeks and weeks, months perhaps, of budget speculation, because the big moment is now 12 days away. And we all know this budget is going to be hugely significant and the government has essentially let it be speculated and not dampened down the idea that they're going to increase the basic rate, in fact, all the rates of income tax, the first government to do that for half a century. And they've let that be reported because it was true. Because, and I have this on very good authority, they were planning to do it. What we learned via the Financial Times late last night, and the FT has essentially a constitutional position in these budgets, you know, if they put something on their front page about what the treasury is going to do, it's going to be right. And they reported late last night that the government is not going to do it after all because of the fears of political backlash from breaking their general election manifesto, which promised not to increase the main rates of income tax, national insurance or vat. That is a huge decision. It leaves all sorts of questions about how they are going to raise the money, if not via a big, straightforward tax increase. Even if it was never going to be politically straightforward, it's sort of economically straightforward. And I think it only is going to lead to an even more frenzied period of speculation between now and November 26th, I'm afraid.

[Adam Fleming]

And I suppose was this one of those. I mean, we've been talking about pitch ruling a lot because I had 45 minutes of Ash's chat with Jonathan Aguilar, you. And of course, it comes from cricket. So was this pitch rolling that was actually intended to never have a ball bowled on it and it was never going to happen? Was it pitch rolling and then they rolled the pitch and changed their mind? Or is it that the whole pitch has changed because, for example, the cost of government borrowing has gone down and so the OBR has given Rachel Reeves a few more billions to play with, so she doesn't need to raise taxes quite so much, or maybe a combination of all three, or a whole other reason?

[Henry Mance]

I think I'm gonna delicately sidestep the opportunity to answer that in cricketing terms, because I think it might get a bit confusing, but very good. I. I don't think this was some cunning plan to get everyone to speculate about something very difficult only for Rachel Reeves to then be able to say, they said I would break my manifesto, but I would never do that because if that was the strategy, it would be completely mad because all they've done is advertise for several weeks now their willingness to at least publicly entertain the possibility of breaking their manifesto commitments.

[Adam Fleming]

Chris Mason's on the line.

[Henry Mance]

Oh, we should ask Chris what he thinks.

[Adam Fleming]

Yeah.

[Chris Mason]

Chris, how are you feeling?

[Paddy O'Connell]

Adam?

[Adam Fleming]

Yeah, actually, not too bad, actually, because I'm surrounded by friends and family.

[Chris Mason]

Oh, well, I was. I was watching at home about half past midnight as you were talking about ghosts, I think.

[Adam Fleming]

Oh, yeah, with. With Danny Robbins and. Yeah, Tristan. Yeah, that was great. Still not sure I'm a believer. I think I'm a skeptic still. But it was very interesting and we had great spooky lighting. The only production values we've had.

[Chris Mason]

Yes, I noticed that. I thought a bulb had gone, but no, that was intentional. Was it?

[Adam Fleming]

He put some money in the meter. Yeah, but Chris, last time I saw you, you were sat just outside the studio on the phone, headphones in, and you were trying to get to the bottom of these reports in the FT that actually there isn't going to be an increase in income tax after all. Henry laid out his theory about how this looks like a potential genuine change of mind rather than some cunning plan, to quote Baldrick.

[Chris Mason]

Yeah, I think. I think that's probably where. Where it is. Yeah. It's like I know how to live at quarter past 11 on a Thursday night in the corner on my phone trying to work out what's. What's going on. Yeah, I don't think I agree with Henry. I don't think this is likely to have been, once this plays out, a cunning plan from the outset. Etc. Etc. There was clearly, and there clearly has been a willingness to entertain the idea of doing all sorts of stuff around income tax, including the idea of breaking the manifesto by changing the rates of income tax, as we've talked about on newscast extensively in the last. In the last few weeks, and multiple questions along those lines, including one for me 10 days or so ago, put to the. Put to the Chancellor. I mean, I think the bottom line from newscaster's point of view of all of this is firstly, we're absolutely now heading into the zone where stuff will fly around and stuff will either be confirmed on a nod or a wink or not quite. And as I think we were saying last night, Adam, we're into that slightly sort of ludicrous scenario where there are reports that the Chancellor won't do something that she never confirmed she would do in the first place. And so it's perfectly understandable from a newscaster's perspective that you think, what? And then the other thing, as is set out very, very sort of lucidly in the. In the. In the FT piece by George Parker, their political editor and team, one other option would be, instead of changing the rates of income tax, I. E. The amount of pennies in the pound that you pay on every additional pound you earn, depending on how much you do earn at various thresholds, the other option would be that you change the thresholds of income tax. So the rates would stay the same, but the thresholds would change. Net result for lots of people. You'd be paying more income tax even though the rates wouldn't have changed.

[Adam Fleming]

Would that be fuel drag at the bottom end of the income tax scale?

[Chris Mason]

There we are.

[Adam Fleming]

So rather, people being dragged in when they get a pay rise, more people being dragged in when their pay stays the same.

[Chris Mason]

Exactly. This is peak newscast, isn't it? We're into your 25th hour of continuous live broadcasting and we're talking about physical drag. There we go.

[Adam Fleming]

I'm just Sad it's taken 24 and a half hours for it to come up.

[Chris Mason]

I know. How do we manage that?

[Adam Fleming]

Right, we're going to park the news there because we've only got five and a half minutes left of our newscast. A thon. Paddy, you are a commentator extraordinaire, as we've seen at many events this year. Would you like to use your best commentary voice to explain to people what is happening and the VIP that is about to emerge from behind this curtain as we end the podcast.

A thon. So we are in a small room the size of a squash court and there was a footstep behind me and the editor is walking in, smiling, which is always a good sign and very unusual in the BBC these days. And in has walked a large bear with a small bandage over one ear. But it's optimistic smile because of the help and care and the support that.

A bear of few words. So you'll have to use a lot.

One could almost go so far as to say a bear of no words. And the bear is waving and smiling and looking her Tao to sit down. And the editor is now guiding Pudsey to look at Adam full in the face whilst clapping.

Laura, is this helping you prepare for your Shabana Mahmood interview on Sunday about changes to the immigration system?

[Chris Mason]

Don't know what to say.

[Adam Fleming]

Pudsey, thank you very much for joining Us. Yes. I would clap my hands too. Yes. This is the thing with Pudsey. You have to interpret what he means. Pudsey, first of all, can I just say level with you. Thank you so much for the challenge which Pudsey delivered to us two weeks ago on Thursday night, sitting in that chair, he handed me a yellow envelope which I opened and I didn't know the contents and it said, pudsey challenges you to a 25 hour long podcast. A thon.

[Listener / Audience Member]

I still don't understand why it's 25 hours, not 24. That's like being Pudsey.

[Adam Fleming]

Say it with your eyes.

Say it with your eyes or your hands. Or use sign language.

Yeah. Many are mixed this year.

Laura. All the Children in Need challenges are based around the number 25 because it's 2025. So it's like do 25 and 25.

[Listener / Audience Member]

Yeah.

[Adam Fleming]

Which sounds like a prison.

[Lisa Doucette]

I mean, I kind of get it.

[Listener / Audience Member]

But it's, I mean, hey, confusing my tiny mind.

[Adam Fleming]

I would be all up for have done 24 hours because I'd be asleep by now. I would have finished 56 minutes ago.

[Listener / Audience Member]

Are you going to go straight to bed when you're finished?

[Adam Fleming]

I don't know. Because you know what it's like when you have jet lag and they say you should stay up as late as possible.

[Listener / Audience Member]

Yeah.

[Adam Fleming]

So I'm thinking, what do you do the day after the election? Oh, no, you go straight to Downing Street. Comment. Maybe I could do that too. Sounds like there might be some comings and goings today.

[Listener / Audience Member]

Go straight to Downing street, hang out there, see what happens.

[Adam Fleming]

The thing about Children in Need and other big athons is that they do point to the amazing generosity of the British public who earlier I accused of being hypocritical and now I would like to say often they're amazing generosity of people who haven't got much money on the causes that count. And they've been a good place to sort of go in your mind would be a child who has been helped by a charity, including Children in Need. And the ripple effect that has on someone's entire life. And this charity has been going so long, we could find someone will say, by the way, When I was 10, there was a life changing intervention. Guess what? It was thanks to a charity may not have been Children Need. Maybe it was. And the public helped. The public dug deep. Don't throw everything out in your journalistic doom loop all the time. Well done for having a podcastathon just to shine a bit of light on why people do things at all in the country.

Yes. And some of the projects that Children in Need funds, which we heard about on the podcastathon, are so good things like living paintings, which. So it is a library service for blind and visually impaired children, where not only do you get books in Braille, but the books have these living paintings in them, which are like little mini works of art that are the pictures, but, like visual Braille, So that if you're a little boy who's blind but loves Doctor who but has no idea what the aliens look like, rather than just having a description in Braille and having to, like, work it out in your head, you can actually feel with your fingers and you will. Your brain will work out what the aliens look like.

[Listener / Audience Member]

That's amazing.

[Adam Fleming]

Genius.

[Listener / Audience Member]

That's amazing.

[Adam Fleming]

And the guy who runs it has got this amazing contacts book where he phones up Olivia Colman and gets her to record a couple of paragraphs for the audiobook. Never even knew that. I mean, I knew about audiobooks, I knew about Braille. Didn't know you could put all those three things together. And that Children in Need fund in it.

[Listener / Audience Member]

That's amazing.

[Adam Fleming]

It's been really nice. Great to catch up with you. Laura, thank you for coming in and swooping in to inject us with some energy in the last couple of minutes. Paddy, thank you for popping up three times.

Pleasure.

Including in the seconds after you'd done Newsnight. Bringing us up to date with Newsnight. Pudsy, thank you very much for the challenge. Thank you very much for the cake you gave us at 8:30 last night, which was precisely halfway through. Thanks for coming back to wave us out of the studio. Paddy and Laura, a little bit of behind the scenes. The news channel is going to cut to us live at 9 o', clock, so we have to carry on sitting here.

[Listener / Audience Member]

Okay.

[Adam Fleming]

30 seconds after the challenge has ended.

[Listener / Audience Member]

Okay. I think we should, though, also you and me, and maybe on behalf of people who've been listening to you, I think we should say congratulations to you.

[Adam Fleming]

Thank you very much for doing it.

[Listener / Audience Member]

It's an incredible thing to do.

[Adam Fleming]

It's been really good fun and not. Not hard at all because there was a constant supply of people to chat to and constant things to chat about, and loads of great voice notes from our newscasters who've been along on the journey with us since we started podcasting in 2017. And people have been sending in their voice notes saying why they listen to newscast. And here are some of those voice notes.

[Listener / Audience Member]

My name's Nayri I live in Peterborough and I listen to newscasts. I don't know if other people do this or if this is odd, but any gap I get in the day, I just pop it on. So, like, if I take a minute away from my desk or if I'm making a cup of tea or if I'm walking to the post office, I'll just put it on. Or even just like walking from rooms, if I have like more than a minute, I'll put it on. So it's like a sprinkling through the day. This is a tiny moment, but it's one of my absolute favorite moments. So Adam was interviewing Lee's Doucet about something. I guess it would have been war related, I can't remember. He made one of his little jokes about how things must have changed over the span of her career. I think he was trying to sort of nod to how long the longevity of her brilliant career. And she was just like, Adam, I'm not that old. And it's just. I often think about it, it often just pops into my head. A tiny bit of newscast gold. There are loads of favourite moments, but that one is one that lives rent free in my head.

Hello, newscasters. My name is Jason, I'm from County down and I first started listening to brexitcast, the forerunner of Newscast, around the time of Brexit, probably 2017. I found Brexit to be very stressful, both personally and professionally and the level of analysis, detail and sort of behind the scenes information that the team provided really helped to get through it and I've been a dedicated newscaster ever since. I'd just like to say thanks to the team. I listen at bedtime. I find it's a good way to round off the day and get some of the analysis and the gossip from behind the headlines. In terms of memorable moments, I think during brexitcast there seemed to be a lot of discussions concerning cakes and other foodstuffs from the various different locations that the team were reporting from, which helped to lighten an otherwise fairly heavy subject matter. So many thanks and keep up the good work.

[Adam Fleming]

And hearing from you throughout that whole period was one of the nicest things about doing that Children in Need challenge. Right, that's it for our best bits of the 25 hour podcast a thon. We will be back with a much more classic, normal length episode of Newscast very soon. Bye bye. Newscast.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

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[Chris Mason]

Well, thank you for making it to the end of another newscast. You clearly ooze stamina. Can I gently encourage you to subscribe to us on BBC Sounds. And then, without having to do anything else, our meandering chat will miraculously make its way to your phone.

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[Lisa Doucette]

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[Adam Fleming]

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[Listener / Audience Member]

Excuse to stay in.

[Podcast Advertiser / Voiceover]

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[Adam Fleming]

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[Lisa Doucette]

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[Adam Fleming]

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