Episode 6: The Trials

About this episode

The episode explores the climax of the Belgrano affair through the court appearances of whistleblowers Narendra Sethia and Clive Ponting.

The Belgrano affair reaches its climax as the stories of Narendra Sethia and Clive Ponting connect. The two whistleblowers appear in court and the diary makes its final journey. The Belgrano Diary is a new six-part series from the Documentary Team at the London Review of Books, hosted by Andrew O’Hagan. We’ve brought a selection of relevant writing from the LRB archive – including pieces by Tam Dalyell, who plays an important part in the story – in front of the paywall for the duration of the series: lrb.me/thebelgranodiary You can listen to exclusive interviews and other bonus material, all for a one-off payment of just £4.99 at: https://lrb.me/belgranodiarysc Archive: ‘The Scottish Independence Podcast – Episode 172’/Michael Greenwell, ‘Live from Downing Street’/ITV/TV-Am, ‘Nott, John William Frederic (Oral History)’/Imperial War Museum, Parliamentary Recording Unit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Andrew O’Hagan

Topics covered

• whistleblowers
• court trials
• military history
• political scandal
• documentary storytelling

Keywords

• Belgrano affair
• Narendra Sethia
• Clive Ponting
• court
• whistleblower
• Andrew O’Hagan
• Tam Dalyell

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The London Review of Books

Books & works: The Belgrano Diary

More episodes of The Belgrano Diary

• Aftershock: The War on Terror – Episode 1: With Us or Against Us · November 21, 2025 · 45 min
• Introducing ‘Aftershock: The War on Terror’ · November 15, 2025 · 4 min
• Episode 5: The Hounds · April 25, 2024 · 52 min
• Episode 4: The Crown Jewels · April 18, 2024 · 54 min
• Episode 3: Small Lies Big Lies · April 11, 2024 · 52 min
• Episode 2: Gotcha! · April 4, 2024 · 58 min