The Johnsons

Two recent snippets from the radio.

Snippet 1:

Paul Johnson was on “Desert Island Discs” yesterday. He’s an 83-year-old journalist and a fairly opinionated old buffer. Kirsty Young enquired how many words he wrote per day. “At least 1000,” he said. “On a good day, I can manage 5000.”

“I believe that Jean Paul Sartre could write 20,000 words in a day,” observed Ms Young.

“Yes,” agreed Mr Johnston. Pause. Sniff. “Mind you, he was writing in French.”



Snippet 2:

Ulrika Jonsson was on a live programme this morning. She’s a blonde, glamorous, much-married Swedish television person who lives in England.

Someone texted the radio presenter, remembering another interview of Ms J's. She’d been asked whether she knew what existentialism was. She’d said, “No, but I can tell you why not in seven languages.”