Bbc executive, a tsar in performance and in academia, but now hes brought it all together in a memoir called making a noise. From his own experience, getting it right and getting it wrong, as he puts it. And from the people he has worked with. Its more than a personal portrait its a picture, drawn from an intriguing angle of what kind of country we live in today. Welcome. It is a story of modern britain, isnt it, seen through some of our institutions in the arts . And of course, here in the bbc. Yes, i think it is, and i think that what it is is trying to understand what makes major organisations work. This tussle over the last 20, 30 years as to how efficient organisations have to be. The answer is, yes, of course, everybody has learned about how to run an organisation properly, but the interesting question. And i hope it comes out in the book. Is how do you combine being efficient with being true to what the organisation is about . The values. And we always believed, and i think the bbc used to, it certainly did, the World Service did, that values and efficiency can go hand in hand, and i think that organisations and im not talking about the bbc now but organisations which lose touch with their values do get stuck. And i think this is a continuing tussle in britain today. Lets just take your story through to remind people. You were a journalist for the bbc for a very long time, and you were there, particularly on the screen, as many people will remember, at the very beginning of newsnight, which was a difficult birth, which you described in great detail there. And then of course you got the job you really wanted and didnt expect to get, which was running bbc World Service. Now, where do you think it sits in the panoply of, you know, broadcasting in the modern era . Well, there is absolutely no question that the trust that audiences had for the bbc World Service was higher than for anybody else, and the voice of america and all that would tend to get larger audiences and that was probably because they were more propagandistic, and people liked that. That was fine, but audiences knew what they were doing. But the trust level of the bbc World Service was greater than for any other broadcaster, and when communism fell, almost all the worlds broadcasters, certainly the ones in the communist block, just collapsed. And even the voice of america and liberty and Radio Free Europe lost their purpose because there was no longer a propaganda war to fight. But bbc World Service continued, because what we always said was, we are giving information to audiences, and that was true then and i think it is true now. Theres an interesting other side of the coin that you pointed in your story that when government ministers said, well, why cant all the bbc be like the World Service . This was code for the fact that they didnt like the bbc, because it was saying things about government that they didnt approve of. This was mortifying, and also a lot of government ministers, bbc governors, when they were giving the board of management at the bbc a particularly hard time, and then saying, but of course, the World Service is marvellous, and i hated that. The World Service being held up as some sort of goody goody bit of the bbc, when frankly a lot of the governors were attacking the bbc quite, quite unfairly and unreasonably. Well, this is something. You look into this in excruciating detail, but there are passages in the book where you talk about the extent which there now, as an informed comment or a judgment, you say, well, maybe yes, maybe no. It has been proven very, very wrong. They would say that. But then the other times, when the remarks they would make really indicated they were completely out of sympathy with what the bbc stood for. And to have people in the nonexecutive body, the board of governors, who really disliked what the bbc stood for, and this is one of the reasons why the relationships between the board of governors and the executive board fell apart in those years, 1992, 1993 under the chairman. You know, youve got to respect an organisation if you are responsible for it. Your subsequent career, of course, took you into the arts. You ran the barbican centre. You had a great commitment to the arts. You then worked in academia in the same university of the arts. When you moved from the bbc with all its difficulties and always bureaucratic problems, trying to deal with artists and artist management, and produce a programme at a place like the barbican with all its different aspects, what was the difference . I always thought there was a lot in common, because both artists in their totality. A lot of hysterical people. And journalists in their totality. They all do things which they believe in. They are on the whole not very well paid, and they are acutely aware of the need to relate to the audience, to the public. So from that point of view, i felt completely at home with artists as with journalists. Putting together the Artistic Programme was something that i didnt do. I tried to create the atmosphere within which an organisation could exist, and then the artistic field under Graham Sheffield did that, but you did need both. Your own story is a fascinating one. Born in czechoslovakia. Although you say one of your regrets in the book is that you never learned to speak czech. You might have been delivered by Tom Stoppards father. You may have been. Yes. There were two doctors on duty that night and one of them was his father. Thats right. Did you find when you came, and of course were educated wholly in this country and so on, that you still had the perspective of an outsider simply by the accident of birth . I think i always have done. I mean, iam british. Im not english. I cant be english. I think british intellect is a wonderful, inclusive identity. Part of that britishness, which i think many people will feel, is the ability to use your origin in my case, czechoslovakia as a way of looking at life in a slightly, slightly different way. And, you know, bits of czechness crop up, appear here and there. Ifeel a huge identity with, for example, the Great National hero, the good soldier, svej k. Svejk survives dictatorship and autocracy by pretending to be an idiot, and saying, i am an idiot. And theres something about that defensive strategy which i find very, very attractive. You say youre british, do you feel european . I feel intensely european. One of the reasons that im now applying for my czech passport, which of course i never had, but i never abandoned czech citizenship, is that i do not want to be cut out from europe if, i would say, the worst comes to the worst, and britain leaves the eu. I am intensely european. I travel there a great deal. European culture in all its aspects. And its notjust my culture. Its britains culture, for heavens sake. You know, britain is part of europe. And i dont want to be cut off from that in any way at all. Its a glory and a privilege. And yet, the picture of the country that you portray here is, for all its difficulties, for example here at the bbc or in funding for the arts, which you are intensely passionate about, its nonetheless a rich, diverse and culturally alive place, isnt it, which you continue to celebrate . You are not someone who is depressed. No, i refuse to be depressed. And i dont think. I think there are many reasons for not being depressed, and the sheer intense variety of the culture of this country. The diversity of this country. I mean, the way that london hasjust accommodated people, nations, whole wodges of other nations and london is the richerfor it. You know, in history, all the evidence is that city nations which take in outsiders, strangers, they are the ones that flourish. They flourish economically, creatively and intellectually. There is a lesson there for us. John tusa, author of making a noise, thank you very much. Thank you,jim. Hello. This cold snap has been well forecast for quite some time, so it wont come as a surprise to hear we have some very wintry weather on the cards. Some disruptive, heavy snow with bitter easterly winds, a lot of frost, is and some wintry sunshine around too. Easterly winds developing through this week, drawing in the cold air from siberia and northern russia. During monday, western parts of the country should be largely clear with some sunshine, it will feel cold. In the east we more more cloud more cloud with more cloud with snow more cloud with snow showers more cloud with snow showers in have more cloud with snow showers in Eastern England and eastern scotland. First thing monday morning we already have snow showers. Temperatures subzero and i widespread frost to start your monday morning with icy conditions. Most showers scattered across the east, many places staying dry out towards the west. During the day on monday, the cloud filters further it will be a cold day. West, it will be a cold day. Temperatures just i few west, it will be a cold day. Temperatures justl few degrees temperatures just a few degrees above freezing. When you add on a wind chill and the easterly wind making it feel more like minus five degrees. A cold day on monday. We will continue to cease though showers towards the ease. Overnight into tuesday, heavier, more persistent snow in eastern scotland and Eastern England. A bitterly cold start to tuesday morning, well below freezing. The met office have issued an amberwarning. Freezing. The met office have issued an amber warning. With that threat of disruptive snow, but equally for parts of Eastern England, the likes of yorkshire, lincolnshire, down towards essex, london and kent, we could see several centimetres of accumulating and disruptive snowfall, likely to cause disruption to travel, there could be School Closures as well. Temperatures not getting above freezing for many of us getting above freezing for many of us all day. Further showers filtering in on the easterly wind, tuesday night on into wednesday too. Heavy accumulating snow for many parts of the country on wednesday. Eastern england and scotland, it will be bitterly cold once again, particularly when you add on the wind chill. Further west we have snow showers too. Some places could see 10 20 centimetres, even more than that kim elating over the higher ground. Snow likely to cause disruption over the next few days. The weather could bring blizzard conditions in the south later in the week. Stay tuned. Bye bye. This is bbc news. Had lunch at 11. Major incident in leicester after an explosion and fire destroyed a shop in nearby homes. Police say it is not terror related. Neighbours believed labourers shipped their policy on europe. The shadow brexit secretary says the party would now keep britain in a customs union. Obviously is the only way realistically to get tariff free access. Its for our access. Its important for our Manufacturing Base and no one can a nswer Manufacturing Base and no one can answer the question how you keep your commitment to no hard border without a customs union. Fighting continues in Eastern Ghouta at Syrian Government jets continued continues in Eastern Ghouta at Syrian Governmentjets continued to dropa Syrian Governmentjets continued to drop a bombs despite a un agreed a cease fire. Song and celebration at the Winter Olympics that make sport and politics come to an end. Also this hour