Host of Today in Focus, the Guardian’s daily news podcast. Former North of England editor. Nominated for best host at the 2025 British Podcast Awards. Contact me in confidence helen.pidd@theguardian.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3mihcjznnsc2uA new village for homeless people has opened in manchester. I find Embassy a very inspiring charity and I really hope this succeeds https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/apr/01/manchester-project-homeless-men-embassy-village?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other01 Apr 2026 18:19 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mihcjznnsc2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3mhfnkrcf3c2pOn Today's podcast, MP Charlotte Nichols tells me about what it was like going through a rape trial and losing. It was an honour to be trusted with her story, which reveals so much about the criminal justice system in England. https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2026/mar/19/charlotte-nichols-mp-on-her-trial-ordeal-podcast19 Mar 2026 09:06 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhfnkrcf3c2phttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3mfoik5wdn226I spent the last four weeks on the ground in Gorton and Denton for this special episode of Today in Focus https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2026/feb/25/on-the-ground-gorton-denton-manchester-byelection-starmer-podcast25 Feb 2026 10:40 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfoik5wdn226https://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3mc2z6yohyc2uDignity is overrated. I had the best time going behind the scenes on the best show on telly (GLADIATORS!!!) https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/jan/10/gladiators-behind-the-scenes-itv?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other10 Jan 2026 12:29 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3mc2z6yohyc2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3manpy5xozk2jA nice one from the festive archives about how my family used to spend Christmas at a psychiatric hospital https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/dec/25/i-was-five-and-visiting-a-psychiatric-hospital-i-had-the-time-of-my-life23 Dec 2025 12:14 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3manpy5xozk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3m7v3ea3so22zWhat happens when Reform UK takes over your local council? I’ve been keeping very close tabs on Lancashire County Council since May for this magazine piece https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/dec/13/reform-uk-lancashire-council-seven-months-in-power?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other13 Dec 2025 17:01 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7v3ea3so22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3m52i52me7k2mWith producer @eleanorbiggs.bsky.social I spent a few months reporting from Crawley, the migrant hotel capital of Britain, to look at whether the disproportionate numbers of asylum seekers and refugees (mostly Afghans) put really do put pressure on services https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/nov/05/on-the-ground-in-the-refugee-and-asylum-capital-of-britain-podcast07 Nov 2025 16:17 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3m52i52me7k2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3m4x7gz4j5s2nYes I started off as a music critic. A bad one. Critiquing music in an entertaining and illuminating — but fair — way is actually really hard. [contains quote post or other embedded content]06 Nov 2025 09:04 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4x7gz4j5s2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3m4x73iyhak2n20 years ago I became part of a select club of Guardian critics who awarded something zero stars https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/nov/05/the-guardian-has-only-ever-published-15-zero-star-reviews-here-they-all-are06 Nov 2025 08:57 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4x73iyhak2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lywokqc5fk2qFor today’s podcast I went to talk to protesters outside my local asylum hotel in Stockport, as well as marchers at Tommy Robinson’s march to try to understand if the far right is now a mass movement https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/today-in-focus/id1440133626 -ñ16 Sep 2025 06:21 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lywokqc5fk2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lynkkw2ncs2mThis is a lot more interesting than Henry makes it sound [contains quote post or other embedded content]12 Sep 2025 15:16 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lynkkw2ncs2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lupel6veik2kVery cool to be nominated as best podcast host alongside some actual legends. Bet Louis Theroux is quaking in his boots. I’m nothing without the amazing Today in Focus team @theguardian.com #BritishPodcastAwards24 Jul 2025 10:53 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lupel6veik2khttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3luf3olxga225Is manchester becoming too much like london? Come with me on a trip around a high rise city of OnlyFans creators, £6 pints and ever richer overseas students https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/20/manchester-turning-into-london-posh-apartments-playground-rich?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other20 Jul 2025 08:47 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3luf3olxga225https://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lt4thz6sfs2tIt’s official - the north could not be in safer hands with @joshhalliday.bsky.social in charge. Defo recommend a midlife career pivot. https://www.inpublishing.co.uk/articles/the-guardian-announces-new-appointments-2553604 Jul 2025 08:34 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lt4thz6sfs2thttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lri5wxbhck2dIt's my favourite day of the year: Whit Friday! I'm not playing in "the greatest show on earth" this year, just spectating. But here is my dispatch from the front lines of brass banding in 2016 https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/20/different-drum-novice-snares-gig-in-the-greatest-free-show-on-earth13 Jun 2025 09:50 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lri5wxbhck2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lqyzjunp2s2pWe are booked in to the stockport curry pyramid for our Manchester Guardian night out and I cannot wait on.ft.com/4kRAvxB%E2%8... Motorway icon turned buffet titan — Jay Rayner reviews the Royal Nawaab Pyramid @joshhalliday.bsky.social @hannahalothman.bsky.social @robynvinter.bsky.social https://on.ft.com/4kRAvxB07 Jun 2025 09:21 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lqyzjunp2s2phttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lq2nmamwsc2nOn today’s podcast, @archiebland.bsky.social talks about the day his son, Max, stopped breathing, and learning to advocate for a disabled child. This episode brims with love as well as rage at an ableist world and it was an honour to be trusted with Max’s story https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/may/26/my-son-max-the-boy-who-came-back-to-life-podcast?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other26 May 2025 07:28 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lq2nmamwsc2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lprur34ios2d8 years since the arena bomb 🐝 🐝 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝22 May 2025 19:42 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lprur34ios2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lnz4iazbxs2jA Reform official in Runcorn tells @joshhalliday.bsky.social: “Those planning to vote Reform roughly fall into two groups: ‘those who set their alarm for work in the morning and are angry at those who don’t – and those who don’t.” How will they satisfy both? https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/apr/30/labour-grievances-fuel-runcorn-byelection-battle-reform?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other30 Apr 2025 05:58 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lnz4iazbxs2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lnwt54uhus27For today's pod I went on the road in Runcorn. Despite an obvious Reform surge, there are still voters keeping the Labour faith (sometimes reluctantly and often just to keep Farage out). Lots of love for Mike Amesbury too, in spite of those drunken punches. https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2025/apr/29/labour-v-reform-uk-on-the-road-in-runcorn-podcast29 Apr 2025 08:06 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lnwt54uhus27https://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lmgztfrzrs2jPossibly the best Today in Focus ever, and it’s not one of mine: Michael Safi goes inside an Isis prison in Syria. So many astonishing scenes https://open.spotify.com/episode/639Dh9RTpodQRXeqlrFYF3?si=teCiL9FBScuYD71nrXEeyw10 Apr 2025 07:58 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lmgztfrzrs2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lmgzo2xmy22jAnother favourite: my best friend @lexytopping.bsky.social and I talk about friendship across the parenting divide: what happens when one of you has kids and the other can’t. This one made listeners laugh and cry in equal measure: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0SivGv5XTWVvEz7qOAd0WP?si=eNQIqZYxQ7qOSgMSUmAnow10 Apr 2025 07:55 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lmgzo2xmy22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/helenpidd.bsky.social/post/3lmgzkakhek2jSome of my favourite @todayinfocus.bsky.social episodes: meeting the Cork school kids behind the summer banger of 2024: The Spark. Joy from start to finish https://open.spotify.com/episode/55w7kObt7cx2kRbG8cqSqv?si=sy2krGYaT3-eEeUVYAKt7g10 Apr 2025 07:53 +0000at://did:plc:kpgoa4t3vngkslegcdrhk5eb/app.bsky.feed.post/3lmgzkakhek2j