John Le Carré's Final Interview on British TV

Channel 4 interview from 2010 with John Le Carré, former MI5 and MI6 officer turned spy author and political commentator.

[@marytygett4189]

The pigeon tunnel . I highly recommend his very last book / memoirs . So good

[@noneofyourbiz6885]

Young and new to his works can’t wait to dive in

[@colinstewart1432]

You find yourself in a much-envied position. Read them in order if possible. You're in for a sublime treat.

[@jamesaaron7211]

Might be my favourite interviewee on any subject, endlessly entertaining, provoking and eloquent. He speaks how we imagine writers speak, though they usually don’t.

[@markmccormack1796]

Interview from 2010. London is known as Londongrad. Nothing has changed for the banks or real estate in the UK.

[@mattcalautti852]

Best wishes for him he will be blessed

[@RobCCTV]

This was made before the superb and powerful UWO (unexplained wealth order) came into law. UWO's have already been used with great effect in the UK.

[@dasglasperlenspiel10]

What a master of our beautiful language!

[@artcurious807]

Russian oligarchs ? All oligarchs.

[@Robert4229]

A true spymaster he was! Excellent interview.

[@patricknorton5788]

He wasn't a spymaster, not remotely. I love his writing and have read some about him, but the word "spymaster" has a definition, and he never did that job. Also, I would never want to have been married to him, no matter how great his writing was.

[@globalnomad1221]

The UK has fallen

[@yoya4766]

He says so much in so few words.

[@timmilne2546]

If only he’d lived another year to see the situation in Ukraine

[@Oilibhear333]

Was thinking the same thing. He knew what he was writing about and I am terrified of how much Rus....(I am not writing the countrys name, cause I loathe it so much) money went through the corridors of power in the UK. Very much hope that they smoke out all of the Eastern pricks. and their bloody money

[@anthonybowers7571]

And the big Pharma situation !!!!

[@floydvaughn9666]

Our Kind of Traitor is about that. I'm about to start it.

[@4seeableTV]

I'm not really big on conspiracy theories, but after writing a book wanning about Putin and Russian oligarchs, John dies after a fall. That's the classic way Putin gets rid of people.

[@greybirdo]

He saw it - and well before most of the rest of us did.

[@lupercalrising2208]

The question of did he ever put anyone in danger... you can see it in his eyes he's a haunted man... he did things not because he wanted to, but because he had to. Totally gonna get started on his books.

[@chrissmith8526]

I love his books your in for a treat I’ve read them all I’m almost envious of you

[@Retrostar619]

The Spy Who Came in From The Cold is a good start.

[@floydvaughn9666]

I've been binging on Smiley. Just finished A Murder of Quality. Denhom Elliot as Smiley.

[@floydvaughn9666]

OOPSIE! the book I'm about to start is Running Agent In The Field. His last living work.

[@greybirdo]

I envy you. To be able to read the first paragraph of the Spy who Came in from the Cold for the very first time - what a treat for this old man that would be.

[@scottweber8348]

9:48 that's the look of some pretty profound regret

[@doreekaplan2589]

An interview is "an expense of spirit." Does everyone feel like that?

[@williamparker1085]

he is the absolute master of the genre

[@robzertjos6216]

Carré was spot on there about the Upper House - House of Peers/Lords. That house is full of Russian, Hungarian and Chinese interests being served, even by proxy agents sent by Consulates/Embassies or prvt sector. If MI5 do their CI work, I'd hope they observe all these lords. HoL is terribly corrupt, and if you look at recent appointtees (Hannan, et.al), you can see how they could be coerced.

[@honesty_-no9he]

Utter rubbish. House of Commons is filled with toads on a leash held by CIA/Mi6/NATO a bunch of idiots who know nothing of the world and believe or spout every lunatic piece of fiction they are told. I notice how you do not mention Israeli and Saudi interests when those two are the absolute corruptors of the Anglo-American political classes.

[@robzertjos6216]

@@honesty_-no9he let it be utter rubbish to you; what is your objective standpoint then? KSA or Israel, they both have great lobby powers but U.K. has an historic relations with both, and both are allies. Their lobbies in USA are much greater. U.K. politicians earn very little money, comparatively. I stand by my previous comment; many in the HoL can be coerced as they are old too. Mi5 would monitor them routinely for CI purposes. I suspect they have a dossier on almost every member.

[@robzertjos6216]

@@honesty_-no9he MI5 or the Security Services of HMG have been proven to be the most efficient and successful, worldwide. They not only have great powers domestically, but also a branch (E) which functions as a foreign directorate with liaison officers in embassies and in stations. The Operations capacity of M5 is a fascinating area of espionage. The Australian ASIO is also one of the top performing ones. Russia’s MvD-2CD/KGB also. In most Eastern European or Arabic countries, the interior ministry acts as the SService.

[@kapple654]

and lets not forget Saudi and US also

[@Liam-yr4uf]

I'd say that they are a good deal more impartial and incorrupt than the house of commons. The hereditary peers, that is.

[@paulworthington8666]

Trust John Snow to confuse fiction with fact. It is what he does for a living. David C.just wrote great books.

[@chrissmith8526]

I have to disagree David C exposed a lot of corruption and was a very principled man his interviews on Blair and America are well worth a watch

[@paulworthington8666]

@@chrissmith8526 You are right. DC's other "last interview", with Democracy Now, includes a clear analysis of the insane, brutal, disastrous war crime of the US-British invasion of Iraq, and of Blair's warped character. My disquiet was/is with the unctious John Snow and the pseudo-left wokery of Channel 4, and my comment was misplaced. I have the greatest respect for JlC/DC and his works. Except for his inexplicable affection for the corrupt and corrupting EU, the latest Empire project to destabilise and damage the cause of democracy and liberty in the free countries of Europe.

[@paulw1798]

I’d wouldn’t trust Jon Snow to tell me the time.

[@taniaearle4457]

​@@paulworthington8666 never understood his support for EU, felt he was naive on that, odd.

[@shanequinlan9774]

Le Carré died an Irish citizen. He was disgusted by the decision to leave the EU.

[@colinstewart1432]

He used the only form of protest left to him. If you withdraw my country from Europe, I will withdraw my citizenship from your country. Class. Loved that guy. Best writer of the English language Imho.

[@halfdayofthejackal9372]

Why would he care about leaving a trade bloc? It's quite pathetic really. Disappointing from a man I admire so much.

[@stephenbaker7079]

@@halfdayofthejackal9372 My goodness me - the EU is an overwhelming dictorial 'super state' which has its parallels with the Soviet Union - I'm so glad we left. There is a quote, the source is unknown to me "The nation that gives up is independence for financial gain, deserves to lose both".

[@patricknorton5788]

​@@stephenbaker7079Good luck with that. Brexit was a stupid idea and is now reaping the stupid rewards that it was predicted to.

[@paulroberts3669]

Pity he didnt mention it

[@10nitrogen10]

What was his connection to the invisable man? - he didnt write it? Where did he keep his very red sofa? who is the pottery connection in his family and apparently he didnt like being disturbed during his breakfast, he enjoyed scanning the newspaper? What does this quote mean to his family?? " No Library is complete, without a John Le Carrie !" oh he woke me up in my sleep a few days after his passing and said the next Time he would talk to me and he would talk to me again but he wanted me to knock three times. I get phropetic dreams sometimes apparently. He didnt like impertinance and did not like me puzzling over the concept of knocking 3 times. any ideas? i dont know what it means. RIP amazing author.

[@mattcalautti852]

I agree because I’m writing a biography of my life book from MATT CALAUTTI ❤

[@larrycarr4562]

Now reading ebook 2, having finished ebook 1, somehow having missed them over the years. Include interesting intros by the author. I will then go on to read his last. Will miss his books, such an impressive man and thinker.

[@larrycarr4562]

Speaking truth to power. Aka, integrity.

[@musicmuse6732]

Thank you for sharing!

[@petertrott5107]

Rip good fellow.

[@jorgegomez524]

I miss him, but on the other hand, I’m glad he isn’t here to see today’s world.

[@scottweber8348]

He actually managed to write a final final book years after this interview was given, it's called 'Agent Running in the Field' & it's all about Brexit

[@acetate909]

"I'm glad he isn't here to see today's world" You mean the world that he worked to create? National intelligence agencies are a tool of the global finance institutions that are responsible for every major problem we face.

[@falconeaterf15]

He will be missed. Sad.

[@phillipmclark]

Notable in the title for this it was his last interview "on British television." You can find at least one other interview given later in 2010 to another outlet elsewhere on KZbin.

[@spyculture]

As far as I know he did one more, for Democracy Now. Not seen anything after that.

[@virgilflowers9846]

@@spyculture I believe this one is from 2018 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJ2YdqZriq6jd6c

[@magnamarianneczagany8970]

What an interesting man being honest with himself not worrying about what we might think of him. Too bad he couldn’t stick around a little longer when all we are getting is misinformation now trying to find truth in a distorted reality.

[@newsbender]

He wrote great spy novels but let's not forget he was a Freemason and a member of the Rotary Club, among other things. He'd be one of the ones putting out that misinformation if he were still alive.

[@yoya4766]

C4 giving away location of his secret home.

[@DeedUNo]

The last great English moralist, RIP John le carre

[@MOOSEDOWNUNDER]

Hypocrite more like. Easy to be a moralist when you are sitting in your private one mile of coastal Cornwall worth millions of pounds. Not having to mix with the plebs of the metropolis to visit the private club and publicist.

[@67Parsifal]

@@MOOSEDOWNUNDER in what way was he a hypocrite? Whatever money he made was made honestly. He didn’t exploit anyone.

[@johnson2joy]

@@67Parsifal I agree, it was rather an unkind comment. He made his money honestly and if he has an "haunted look", it is probably by what he knows to be "true" and yet he cannot or dare not reveal? I always admired his tone and presence of "self".

[@ahmedmahon2022]

Abdul, you understand Britishness more than many Britons do themselves

[@zibba007]

@@MOOSEDOWNUNDER sound like a Marxist

[@greybirdo]

Who’s the interviewer? I’m curious as to who Le Carre chose as his own personal Smiley.

[@scottie934]

Jon Snow of Channel 4 News.

[@prettypurple7175]

13:42 Double Happiness////

[@prettypurple7175]

WOW/////

[@quantumfineartsandfossils2152]

so prophetic a cyberdoppelganger

[@yoya4766]

He was a spook, knew the future, because they made it.

[@markmalic7450]

Goodbye C R.I.P.

[@EyeofAffinado]

Not the last interview: see The Pigeon Tunnel

[@spyculture]

Which came out after he died and thus you have no clue which interview came first...

[@gooddoggy3257]

Biden is the perfect example of one of the bottom feeders.

[@spyculture]

Oh, no doubt

[@MOOSEDOWNUNDER]

I loved his work on screen and books but my word this man is a bloody hypocrite and defeatist. He was so annoyed with Brexit that he who made millions of pounds off the British public by selling them his personal distain for the Soviet Union and post Cold War foreign policy, denounced his British Citizenship and took up Irish Citizenship instead. Not wanting to move from his million pounds private mile of Cornwall coast of course, he was happy to have the working man of Great Britain be under foreign law and leadership from an unelected group of Commissioners, just like the USSR. Typical upper class bubble mindset and for all his bunk on Germany and East Germany post 45 he was a keen enthusiast of the Germany people and culture. Just another liberal twit that wanted his cake and eat it too. If only he worried and wrote about his indigenous countryman and their lot in life as the cities and towns are going to the scrap heap with the dross of Europe and former Empire floods them. No, he was safe and sound in his mansion. Easy to write about the good old days hey Cornwall.

[@Mike-gd4zd]

Amen.

[@Original50]

We all live in a bubble of some kind and we all have more twit in us than we care to admit. You sound like a 'patriot'. A simplistic perspective at best.

[@peterdodd8324]

The new separation is not left right but nationalists vs internationalists, put another way do you prefer win lose to win win.. To generalise internationalists assume all nationalists are nasty and bigoted and dim while nationalists don't appear to accept objective data and cannot accept someone can be patriotic without wanting to disadvantage or repel foreigners. This dualism is a predictable byproduct of our colonial past. The irony is that the true believers in Brexit come from the extreme right and left. Churchill and Thatcher were objective in their assessment of links with Europe being in our national interest. Sadly our country has been greatly diminished by Brexit and English nationalism.