Edited The Sun at 35, Flew on Murdoch’s Jet, Then Gave it All Up

Gordon Smart on Murdoch’s private jet, the Bizarre column, and the career he walked away from at the top.

Episode Overview Gordon Smart was Scottish Sun editor at 32 and deputy editor of The Sun at 35. The morning after Hibs won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 114 years, Rupert Murdoch called him personally. The picture turned out to be Murdoch kissing Jerry Hall. Smart had to decide on the headline.

He left not long after, walking away from the editorship that had been the plan. What followed was Radio X, Good Morning Britain, 5 Live, a ghostwritten Vinnie Jones autobiography, and a whisky brand that Diageo bought.

In this conversation he explains what it was like to drive Murdoch through Aberdeenshire being interrogated about fishing and satellite dishes, how the Bizarre column worked, and what The Sun understood about language that social media is still catching up with. The Murdoch section is the best account of what it was like inside News International at the top. The Sean Hoare story is the funniest thing this show has aired.

Chapters (00:00) Cold open: Tia Maria at 9am, editing The Sun at 35, the brave pill (01:00) Intro: Scottish Sun editor at 32, Radio X, whisky, the career he walked away from (02:00) Tell me a story: Hibs, Twickenham, Murdoch kissing Jerry Hall (04:00) A riot on the pitch and his son asking about the horses (05:00) How often did Murdoch call? (06:00) Driving Murdoch through Aberdeenshire: fishing, satellite dishes, the Tory question (07:00) Tweets longhand in pencil, Brexit to a decimal point (08:00) What made Murdoch impressive (09:00) The sticker in a Canadian cable car (10:00) Gotcha and Premature Jockey Elation (12:00) How he became a journalist: Kinross, teachers, a dad who read to him (15:00) The first story he broke: was his art teacher a pop star? (17:00) Covering Hibs and Celtic and not realising it was a real job (18:00) Here’s a job, start Monday (19:00) Fleet Street day one: Tia Maria, the Rose Pub, a silk leopard-skin kimono (22:00) Sean Hoare’s plastic box: live in the office to outlast David Blaine (25:00) The Bizarre column: how it actually worked (26:00) Spice Girls reunion tour: Toronto, Vancouver, Las Vegas (28:00) Being called the bad guy by the people who briefed him everything (30:00) Writing in his voice: the team who had to be Gordon Smart (34:00) Leaving The Sun: the brave pill and the biggest career disappointment (35:00) “We are like shit Gallaghers” (36:00) Making Copper Dog famous: Jimmy Iovine and New York firefighters (46:00) From a really good living to figuring out what comes next (48:00) What brought clarity about the life he actually wanted (49:00) The seagull squawking competition (52:00) Finding peace and what comes next

About the Guest Gordon Smart was editor of the Scottish Sun at 32 and deputy editor of The Sun at 35. He has since presented on Radio X, Good Morning Britain, and BBC Radio 5 Live, co-hosted Restless Natives with Martin Compston, ghostwritten for Vinnie Jones and Freddie Flintoff, and co-founded Copper Dog whisky, acquired by Diageo.