Emma Barnett on hosting Woman's Hour, her most memorable conversations and how she scooped a rare interview with Kate Bush
One of the UK's most respected journalists and broadcasters, Emma Barnett joins Kate to chat about her journey to hosting Woman's Hour, her love of landlines and the dying art of long-form conversation, and that rare Kate Bush interview that went viral all over the world.
White Wine Question Time with Kate Thornton is the podcast that brings together well-known guests to answer three thought-provoking questions over three glasses of wine. Discover the friendships behind the entertainment headlines, and listen in on their conversations for a side to the celebrities you've never heard before. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, and follow on Instagram (@whitewineqt) & Twitter (@WhiteWineQT) to keep up to date with the latest guests, news and more.
Video Transcript
EMMA BARNETT: I think I did frighten one of my friends recently when I did mention that, you know, if I think something's getting quite dull, I might spice it up with something socially. And she said, we can all tell when you're doing that, Emma, and we wish you wouldn't. I mean, sometimes they do.
- Do you get bored?
EMMA BARNETT: Yeah, exactly. But then you know, my husband will say, don't go into host mode, you know?
--quite a low voice, my-- naturally, though. And I remember when I did start, and you know, I really would never now, but I did look on, you know, forums and seeing, you know, responses. And I remember this person wrote, you know, God, her voice is so dull and low. And I feel like she's just speaking too slow to sound authoritative. And I thought, oh, God. And I thought, well, it's all I've got. It's just my voice. I don't know what to do.
- This is just me.
EMMA BARNETT: So sometimes, I think people are frustrated. Why haven't you mentioned this? Oh, it's because you're covering it up, or the BBC's covering it up, or the media is covering up. And actually, it might just be either it was missed out the story, or it was paragraph eight and you didn't get to it, or we should have put it higher up, you're right, you know, whatever the information is.
When my interviews, the clips of them, the bits of them that always go viral or have gone viral, I should say, those things only escalate in response to the person potentially not answering. It's never the design. So you always are on to a losing ticket if you go into an interview and think, I'm gonna do this.
- Yeah.
EMMA BARNETT: You have to go in curious. And you have to try and go in humble. Most important thing I learned training on radio before doing telly as well, was just have to listen. Everyone's got a plan till they get punched in the face. That's what I say, right? You just-- then that's the end of that part. That interview is just not happening--
- Next.
EMMA BARNETT: --because now we're doing this.
