My grandfather, rather often, used to say philosophically: “The weather is improving – for the worse”.
The same is true of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. The content of the programme is subjective and it’s not surprising that what interests and appeals to a listener in their late 60s (that’s me) will not attract a younger audience. What is non-negotiable is that the content should be audible and decipherable. Now, instead of the cut-glass enunciation of past presenters, Amol Rajan mumbles and gabbles often interrupting his interviewees. However, he redeemed himself earlier this month in a BBC Two TV interview with Bill Gates recorded in Kenya.
His body language was interesting. In the back of a 4×4 or on a sofa he sat on Mr Gates’ right with his left arm extended along the back of the car seat or the sofa. It drew Bill Gates into the conversation. He is no stranger to talking to the media but he did seem to relax and talk frankly, seemingly unaware of the camera and sound crew in front of him.
Gates dealt with unwelcome questions deftly and had plenty of time to talk about the work and ambitions of his charity. The Bill and Melanda Gates Foundation has given a staggering $59 billion dollars to fight malaria, infant mortality, poverty and climate change. Almost half the Foundation’s funding has come from Warren Buffett and the Foundation is making a measurable impact in many areas. For example: “The number of children who die each year before their fifth birthday. It’s fallen by half since the year 2000. Millions more kids are surviving. That makes us optimistic.” The Foundation’s budget for 2023 is $8.3 billion and there is more about its work in its 2023 Annual Letter.
I feel I got to know Bill Gates a little and surely that’s the point of a good interview. Amol Rajan did a good job. One of my god daughters is working for a start-up in London. She finds the founder and chief executive demanding. Bill Gates was famously a hard task master in his early years building Microsoft. Success comes from a good idea, an ability to implement it and plenty of hard work. It does not come on a plate garnished with watercress. These days, he is 67, he has mellowed. His personal expenditure is relatively modest: no jewellery and plenty of cheese burgers. But Bill Gates is unashamedly a big spender through his Foundation.