Why is No 10 hiring ‘weirdos’?
An unconventional job ad caused a political scandal.
Beyond Today · BBC Radio 4
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Show Notes
At the beginning of the year Dominic Cummings, the prime minister’s senior adviser, put out an unusual job advertisement. In a blog post he asked for “super-talented weirdos” and “wild-cards”. One of the people he hired was Andrew Sabisky, a twentysomething “superforecaster”. It was later revealed that Sabisky had previously expressed extreme views on race and eugenics. He subsequently resigned.
In this episode we speak to Newsnight’s political editor Nicholas Watt who has been following the Sabisky saga. We also talk to journalist and author Matthew Syed about why hiring “weirdos” can actually be a good idea.
Presenter: Matthew Price Producers: Harriet Noble, Jenny Sneesby and Lucy Hancock Mixed by Emma Crowe