Many of us had been fearing the announcement of Lord Bragg’s successor, convinced it would be someone with too strong a personality or someone totally ill-suited. Not that there was a shortage of big names to throw into the mix, most of them seasoned Radio 4 voices – Mishal Husain, Amol Rajan, Mary Beard, Hannah Fry, David Olusoga and Kirsty Wark. No one could sniff at their credentials, but each comes with the baggage of a well-established brand and media persona.
We have also dodged another potential bullet – the BBC trumpets the fact that In Our Time is an enormous hit with the under-35s. The temptation to find a presenter to satisfy the “youth vote” must have been strong, but the concept is completely misguided. The under-35s adored the octogenarian Lord Bragg.
Glenny’s background suggests a tremendous depth – he studied drama (drama!) at university, he is multilingual, he has advised on the reconstruction of postwar south-east Europe, and is a firmly established Radio 4 voice in his own right (he has presented excellent series on Vladimir Putin, rare earth metals and modern-day European political crises). To replace Lord Bragg, Radio 4 needed to find a broadcaster with the sharpest and most open of minds, and the smallest of egos. It has done just that.
