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Jon Sopel

Acclaimed Journalist, Author, and Former BBC North America Editor

About

Gender: Male

Nationality: United Kingdom

Languages: English

Travels from: United Kingdom

Engagement Types

Themes

Websites

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Biography Highlights

Former North America Editor for the BBC
Bestselling author of books on U.S. politics, including If Only They Didn't Speak English and UnPresidented
Co-host of the popular podcast The News Agents alongside Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall
Regular speaker on U.S. politics, media, and current affairs

Biography

Jon Sopel: A Respected Voice in Political Journalism

Jon Sopel is a highly regarded journalist in the UK, known for his in-depth reporting on U.S. politics. Having spent seven years as the BBC’s North America Editor, Sopel provided audiences with a close look at one of the most turbulent periods in U.S. political history, covering the Trump presidency, key elections, and the evolving dynamics of American society. His expertise on U.S. politics is widely sought after, and he frequently offers insightful analysis on the intersection of politics, media and society.

Author and Broadcaster

Sopel’s acclaimed book trilogy on U.S. politics includes If Only They Didn’t Speak English, A Year at the Circus, and UnPresidented, which provide in-depth analyses of the state of America’s political and social fabric during his tenure as BBC’s North America Editor. He continues to share his expertise as the co-host of The News Agents podcast, where he discusses current political events alongside fellow journalists Emily Maitlis and Lewis Goodall. The podcast has quickly gained significant popularity, reflecting Sopel’s continued influence in shaping conversations around global and national affairs.

Sought-After Speaker

As a keynote speaker, Jon Sopel is highly sought after for his expertise in both U.S. and British politics. His talks span a wide range of topics, including the inner workings of Washington D.C., the role of the media, and the impact of the digital age on political communication. His engaging speaking style and ability to connect with audiences have made him a popular choice at conferences and events. With captivating stories from behind the scenes, Sopel offers unique insights that resonate with attendees.

Videos

Media, podcast appearances and interviews

Topics

Jon'S

TESTIMONIALS

Jon Sopel went down really well with the audience and he was definitely the right choice. His insights, expertise and experience were really welcomed, but additionally the fact that he delivered his speech in such a warm, amusing and informal manner really worked well as the end session of the day. Many delegate feedback comments said he was a highlight.

The Association of Investment Companies

Jon ensured all our guests were involved in the discussion

Mitsui Babcock Energy

Books

Strangeland: How Britain Stopped Making Sense

Returning to the UK in some ways has been disconcerting – or maybe discombobulating would be a better word. It is, after all, my home; it is where I grew up, a country I love and am proud of. But either it’s changed, or I have. Maybe both. It just feels like a strange land. At the beginning of 2022, after eight years of political reporting in the US, Jon Sopel returned home to the UK – and having spent almost a third of his career abroad, he found a very different place to the one he left. In Strangeland, his first book since launching the global hit podcast The News Agents, he asks: What is the Britain he’s come home to? In the US, Jon was the outsider looking in, firm in the belief that the common language of English masked our fundamental differences; in terms of values and beliefs, it seemed the British had much more in common with our European neighbours. Strangeland is Jon’s account of how much that has changed. The US was a country he thought he knew well but didn’t really; returning home has been in some ways even more disconcerting – either Britain, the country he grew up in, has changed dramatically, or he has. Perhaps it’s both. A trenchant analysis of politics, people, and everything in between, Strangeland is an unforgettable portrait of a country gone through the looking glass.

A Year At The Circus: Inside Trump's White House

Welcome to the White House. At the heart of Washington, there is a circus. It’s raucous, noisy and full of clowns. Reporting on it is a daily cacophony. Four major stories can blow up and blow out before breakfast, and political weather systems are moving at warp speed. The one thing absent from the weather forecast is the tranquil eye of the storm. That we never see. In A Year at the Circus: Inside Trump’s White House, BBC North America Editor, Jon Sopel, takes you inside Trump’s West Wing and explores the impact this presidency has had on the most iconic of American institutions. Each chapter starts inside a famous Washington room, uncovering its history and its new resonance in the Trump era. You are invited to step inside the Oval Office where Trump called for loyalty from FBI Director James Comey, and experience life as a reporter in the Briefing Room, where the tense relationship between the media and the President is played out. Guiding you through these rooms, Jon reveals the inner workings of the Trump White House and details the key moments and conversations that have unfolded within its walls. From Kim Jong-un and Kavanaugh to Merkel and the Mueller Inquiry – this is your insider guide to the Washington Circus. Roll up, roll up …

If Only They Didn't Speak English: Notes From Trump's America

As the BBC’s North America Editor, Jon Sopel has had a pretty busy time of it lately. In the time it’s taken for a reality star to go from laughing stock to leader of the free world, Jon has travelled the length and breadth of the United States, experiencing it from a perspective that most of us could only dream of: he has flown aboard Air Force One, interviewed President Obama and has even been described as ‘a beauty’ by none other than Donald Trump. Through music, film, literature, TV and even through the food we eat and the clothes that we wear we all have a highly developed sense of what America is and through our shared, tangled history we claim a special relationship. But America today feels about as alien a country as you could imagine. It is fearful, angry and impatient for change. In this fascinating, insightful portrait of American life and politics, Jon Sopel sets out to answer our questions about a country that once stood for the grandest of dreams, but which is now mired in a storm of political extremism, racial division and increasingly perverse beliefs.

UnPresidented: Politics, pandemics and the race that Trumped all others

Fear and loathing on the 2020 campaign trail… ’26 February, White House Briefing Room The coronavirus feels like it is changing everything. Suddenly it’s not just a public health emergency; it has the potential to upend this whole election…’ In UnPresidented: Politics, pandemics and the race that Trumped all others, BBC North America Editor Jon Sopel presents a diary of an election like we’ve never quite seen before. Experience life as a reporter on the campaign trail, as the election heats up and a global pandemic slowly sweeps in. As American lives are lost at a devastating rate, the presidential race becomes a battle for the very soul of the nation – challenging not just the Trump presidency, but the very institutions of American democracy itself. In this highly personal account of reporting on America in 2020, Jon Sopel takes you behind the scenes of a White House in crisis and an election in turmoil, expertly laying bare the real story of the presidential campaign in a panoramic account of an election and a year like no other.

Tony Blair: The Moderniser

A biography of Tony Blair which compares him with other Labour politicians and analyzes his views on law and order and on Labour’s relationship with the unions, as well as the significance of his Christian faith. This updated edition covers the debate on the Labour Party’s revised Clause 4.

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