Slinky By Tuesday: We Caught Up With Sam McAlister Ahead of Her Nottingham Appearance

This week on Slinky By Tuesday, we welcomed a very special guest to the podcast; journalist, broadcaster, author and professional scoop-getter, Sam McAlister.

If you've heard us talking about our upcoming event, you'll know that on 3rd October we're bringing Sam to Nottingham for what promises to be a fascinating evening of stories, secrets and behind-the-scenes insight from one of the most extraordinary careers in British journalism.

Sam is best known as the former BBC Newsnight producer who secured the now infamous interview with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (formerly known as Prince Andrew), an interview that changed the course of modern royal history and later inspired the Netflix film Scoop, with Billie Piper portraying Sam on screen.

During our chat, Sam revealed why she finally agreed to do a live theatre event after turning down similar opportunities in the past.

Spoiler alert: apparently it's because of us.

(We're still blushing.)

But the conversation quickly moved beyond the royal interview. Sam shared stories from her years at the BBC, where she spent more than 15 years securing interviews with some of the most powerful, influential and controversial figures in the world.

From Elon Musk to Benjamin Netanyahu, Julian Assange to Justin Trudeau, Sam has found herself at the centre of some of the biggest stories of our time.

One of the things that struck us most was hearing about the sheer persistence involved in journalism. While viewers see a five-minute interview on television, what they don't see are the months (and sometimes years) of conversations, negotiations and rejections that happen behind the scenes.

As Sam put it, 99% of her job was rejection.

And yet, she kept going!!!

It's a lesson in resilience, determination and believing that the next phone call might just be the one that changes everything.

We also chatted about the moment her book Scoops was turned into a Netflix film, the surreal experience of discovering Billie Piper would be playing her, and how a bout of post-Covid insomnia unexpectedly led to her becoming an author.

Perhaps most excitingly for anyone attending the event in October, Sam hinted that there are plenty of stories she has never publicly shared before.

The beauty of a live event, she says, is the trust and intimacy that comes from being in a room together. It creates space for conversations that simply don't happen on television, radio or social media.

And if you're worried about whether she'll answer audience questions?

Don't be.

Sam told us she has no restrictions, no pre-approved questions and no topic list she refuses to discuss (provided she's legally allowed to answer!).

For journalism students, media professionals, news junkies, royal watchers or anyone curious about how major stories really happen, this promises to be a fascinating evening.

We're counting down the days already.

An Evening with Sam McAlister

3rd October

Albert Hall, Nottingham

Tickets are available now via the Trinder & Trinder website.

And if you haven't already, make sure you listen to the full podcast episode where Sam shares even more stories from an extraordinary career that has taken her from BBC Newsnight to Netflix and beyond.