When It Hits the Fan - Knowing When To Quit

There is an art to resigning.

Fall on your sword immediately and you might end up enhancing your reputation. Cling on for months in spite of overwhelming evidence you should quit - and the opposite can be true.

This week, David Yelland and Farzana Baduel look at whether the PR rules around resigning are changing. Has the tipping point moved in an age of fragmented media? Certainly the noise from the baying mob has never felt louder but if it's not laser-focused, does that make it easier to ignore?

On the extended edition on BBC Sounds, an AI confession. The CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, says he consults artificial intelligence when he has to make his biggest, most important decisions. Not just when he wants to draft an email.

Is this a bit of canny PR - proving he's a very modern CEO - or does he risk being accused of 'cognitive outsourcing?'

Also, Pope PR. From his choice of trainers to relatable tales of call centre hell, David and Farzana look at how it's often the small things that have been Pope Leo's biggest PR wins in his first year.

Producer: Duncan Middleton
Editor: Sarah Teasdale
Executive Producer: Eve Streeter
Music by Eclectic Sounds
A Raconteur Studios production for BBC Radio 4

Published on Wednesday, 13th May 2026.

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