BBC World Service: From Ukraine to Israel - documentary

Tim presents a BBC World Service radio documentary - From Ukraine to Israel: An exodus for our times

Thousands of Ukrainians are fleeing to Israel – joining a million-plus former Soviets who have already moved to this Middle Eastern nation, with profound consequences for both Israel and the region. Tim Samuels investigates this very modern ‘exodus’ of Jews, once again running from Eastern Europe, a journey so many of their ancestors made before.

He meets Ukrainian refugees in a Tel Aviv immigration hotel trying to start a new life for themselves after fleeing from the horrors of the conflict, but also finding themselves sharing the same facilities as Russians who have left their country too for Israel. The land they are moving to is already home to more than a million citizens from the former USSR– a wave that began in earnest in the 1990s, after decades of being denied the right to leave for Israel.

Samuels meets ‘refusenik’-turned-Israeli politician, Natan Sharansky, to talk about the impact this sudden wave of ex-Soviets had on their new homeland and Middle Eastern politics. And what will be in store for these latest migrants – in a country where ‘Russians’ can still be seen and treated as a distinct tribe. Not far from the hotel housing new arrivals lies the vast, unfinished residency of Roman Abramovich – one of a number of oligarchs with Israeli citizenship. It is unclear if the home will be ever be completed by Abramovich, if action will be taken against the oligarchs, or indeed whether Israel will carry on trying to mediate in the conflict.

It all speaks to the complex and unusual relationship between Ukraine, Russia and this Middle Eastern nation with so many citizens from the former Soviet Union.

Ukraine op-ed for Evening Standard

Why there’s a bit of all of us that wants to go and fight in Ukraine - opinion piece for the Evening Standard

I have to do my part, whatever that may be,” a 22-year-old lad from Hampshire declared, en route to Ukraine. Another Brit bound for Kyiv said, “it’s very black and white - someone has to stand up”.

Doing your part, standing up, explicitly being unsure – as both starkly are – about whether you’ll ever be coming back: it feels breathtakingly brave and insane in equal measure. The height of foolhardy fatalism.

And yet, there’s a part of me that not only admires what these guys are doing – but also wants to head out there with them. To join the fight.

This doesn’t come from suppressed militaristic fantasies. I’ve made enough documentaries about veterans to see the lingering horrors of war. When at Newsnight years ago, I politely declined being sent to Iraq – knowing I’d get PTSD before I even made it out of arrivals at Saddam International. I’m more yoga than UFC…. (continues)

US politics writing for Evening Standard

Tim has been writing a series of US politics pieces for the Evening Standard newspaper - a ‘Washington Insider’ analysing the end of the Trump administration and the new Biden presidency.

Mooch And The Mrs - and NY Post

Tim appeared on the Mooch and the Mrs podcast with Anthony and Deidre Scaramucci.

Listen at: https://omny.fm/shows/mooch-and-the-mrs-w-anthony-and-deidre-scaramucci/mooch-trump-is-dog-whistling-and-his-tweets-are-ra

Their discussion spawned an interesting article the day next in the New York Post!

Read at: https://pagesix.com/2019/07/16/the-mooch-and-his-pea-size-testicles-desperate-to-stay-on-wifes-good-side/

Authority magazine feature on Future Man

Tim is interviewed in Authority magazine about his new US book Future Man: How to Evolve and Thrive in the Age of Trump, Mansplaining, and #MeToo.

“We need to learn ‘good masculinity’ — which taps into how men are wired, but in smart modern ways which aren’t harmful to others or in any way against the interests of women”… he tells Yitzi Weiner.

https://medium.com/authority-magazine/author-tim-samuels-we-need-to-learn-good-masculinity-which-taps-into-how-men-are-wired-but-6e0422ec86da

GQ, BBC Online, Mirror... more All Hail Kale coverage

More press generated around Tim’s new BBC podcast All Hail Kale:

  • GQ on keeping your gut happiness

  • BBC online on Tim vs cheese: read by 2.5 million people in one day - third biggest story globally on BBC that day

  • Beating Your Brain: full double pages in national newspapers The Daily Mirror and Daily Express

  • Eluxe magazine Q&A with Tim

  • BBC online on the turtle meat diet


"Clever, witty, entertaining" - great reviews for All Hail Kale

Tim’s new BBC podcast All Hail Kale, a wry look at wellness, is drawing big listener figures (reaching number one podcast on the BBC) - and great critical reaction.

The Observer calls it “clever, witty and entertaining”.

The Evening Standard have named as the BBC’s number one new podcast.

New Zealand’s biggest news site, Stuff, says it’s “a mix of science, investigative journalism, myth busting and good old fashion skepticism. Samuels himself is a key reason I listen in.”

Grazia magazine call it “humorous and analytical”.

Hear all six episodes on the BBC.

All Hail Kale - BBC podcast launches

Tim’s new BBC podcast - ALL HAIL KALE - has launched. Wellness with wit and actual evidence.

The 6-part series will provide the entertaining voice of sanity, in this new podcast that cuts through the hype and hysteria of the three-trillion-dollar wellness industry. Tim will investigate what foods, therapies, gurus and lifestyles you should be embracing, which are total nonsense and others that might just work.

 Each episode will focus on a different wellness issue which will see Tim prepare for a nutritious post-apocalypse, go through cheese rehab, attempt to beautify builders, rewire his brain and delve in future gut-based treatments for depression. Providing the medical voice of reason is a New York-based gynaecologist who is the only doctor who doesn’t screen Tim’s calls. 

Some of the biggest names in wellness - like Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra and Gretchen Rubin - feature in the series, and give their own special end-of-show meditations to soothe listeners.