More stories

  • in

    A little about Robert Jenrick actually reveals a lot | Brief letters

    Robert Jenrick’s website modestly sets out his unimpeachable credentials for leadership of party and country. The “About” section begins thus: “Robert has spent most of his life in the Midlands and comes from small town Britain. Born in 1980s Wolverhampton, his father, Bill, was a small businessman from Manchester and his mother, Jenny, was a secretary from Liverpool. They set up their own business fitting fireplaces around their kitchen table.” So Bob’s dad, a little chap just Bob’s age, came from two places and liked to keep the table warm?Stephen BakerTregynon, Powys Aditya Chakrabortty ends his article on the Tory leadership race (Opinion, 12 September) speculating on who’ll be in the final bout to lead Her Majesty’s opposition. I think he needs to keep up with the news.Michael RobinsonBerkhamsted, Herfordshire When I worked for the Blood Transfusion Service in Ireland in the 1970s, Guinness was always available for donors (Letters, 10 September). The most reliable donors were employees of the brewery who, as a perk of their job, got a daily ration of two pint bottles.Catherine O’ReillyLondon I took the ironing on (Letters, 10 September) when my girlfriend – now my wife – did an MA in chemistry when she was 23. She’s now 63 and still appears reluctant to take the task back.Ian Charlton Northallerton, North Yorkshire Donald Trump refers to Kamala Harris as a Marxist (Harris targets Trump for falsehoods on abortion and immigration in fiery debate, 11 September). Perhaps he needs a dictionary?Derek McMillanDurrington, West Sussex More

  • in

    After a lifetime in the background, Huma Abedin steps forward | Podcast

    As Hillary Clinton’s most trusted aide, it was her job to stay out of view. Even when her husband Anthony Weiner’s scandalous behaviour dragged her into the spotlight, she mostly stayed silent. In this interview, Huma Abedin explains why she is ready to tell her own story, in a new memoir that sheds remarkable light on what it cost her to become a public figure against her will

    How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know

    When Huma Abedin joined Hillary Clinton’s team in the White House as an intern in 1996, she could not have imagined she would still be working for the same boss, as her most trusted and intimate aide, a quarter of a century later. But that is far from the most surprising aspect of Abedin’s story. In this episode, she talks to Nosheen Iqbal about the extraordinary upbringing that took her from Kalamazoo in Michigan to Saudi Arabia, and what it meant to be the Muslim daughter of an Indian father and a Pakistani mother working in Washington. She reflects on the privileges and costs of working at the centre of political power at such a young age, always having to choose between family and friends, and the job that turned into a vocation. And she talks frankly about her marriage to Anthony Weiner, whose scandalous and ultimately criminal behaviour made her a household name against her will. “I never wanted to be the story, or be part of the story. I didn’t even want to be in the picture,” she says. “So to be elevated in this way … yes, shame is the word.” Throughout all of the crises that arose from Weiner’s behaviour – up to and including a huge and arguably terminal blow to Clinton’s campaign for the presidency – Abedin either stayed silent or spoke in brief, carefully constructed statements, even as she found herself hounded by the paparazzi or splashed across the front pages. Now she has written a memoir – and, she says, she has found huge strength in telling her story in her own words. “I know I have been judged; I know I will continue to be judged,” she says. “But it feels amazing, I have to say.” • Read an extract from the book “If Hillary Clinton loses this election, it will be because of you and me” here. • Huma Abedin’s memoir, Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds, is published by Simon & Schuster at £20. To support the Guardian and the Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply. Archive: NBC; CBS; Clinton Library; CNN; ABC; AP; VOA News; C-Span More