Best of the Spectator

Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts talk to Bryony Gordon, columnist at the Telegraph and author of Eat, Drink, Run. They have a frank conversation about Bryony's relationship with food and mental health, and Bryony comes clean about her toddler's metropolitan diet and why dinner parties are not her thing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Jacob Heilbrunn. Presented by Freddy Gray. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the Treasury and the Bank of England gave their forecasts for the post-Brexit economy, but is a Jeremy Corbyn government more threatening to economic growth (00:50)? In Italy, growth is a distant memory, as the economy stagnates and youth unemployment is at 35%. The government and the EU are at loggerheads over how to solve it. Is Italy the next Eurosceptic time bomb (19:40)? And last, w...

According to which bit of hype you read, there’s a copy of one of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher thrillers sold somewhere in the world every four seconds, or every seven, or every nine. It’s a cute statistic and (as Child wryly notes), there’s an element of Barnum & Bailey hucksterism to it. Sam talks to Lee Child in this episode of Spectator Books about what makes his books so successful, how he writes...

With James Forsyth and the New Statesman's Stephen Bush. Presented by Katy Balls. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What will transport look like in the year 3000? Busted thought we would live underwater, but perhaps we’ll have even figured out zero carbon travelling. This year the government made its own prediction in the form of the ‘Road to Zero’ strategy - new petrol and diesel cars are to be banned by 2040. Is this another example of the government ‘helping’ unhelpfully? We posed the question to a panel of...

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Presented by Cindy Yu. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson. Presented by Lara Prendergast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Theresa May is putting the final touches on her Brexit deal – but is this a point to celebrate, or has she left behind an irrevocably toxic legacy (00:40)? We also take a look at the Democratic Party’s new darling – Beto O’Rourke (13:10); and last, are British parents too obsessed with their children’s education (26:00)? With James Forsyth, Lord Heseltine, Freddy Gray, Karin Robinson, L...

In this week's books podcast Sam talks to Oxford's Professor of Global History Peter Frankopan about his follow-up to his bestselling history The Silk Roads. In The New Silk Roads, Peter brings his story up to date, and argues that with our Trump and Brexit obsessions, and a divided and fissiparous West still obsessed with itself, we are missing the bigger picture of what's going on in the world t...

Is nationalism, in Emmanuel Macron’s words, an ancient and modern cause of the ‘old demons’ of history? Or, as Yoram Hazony argues in his latest book, The Virtue of Nationalism, is the nation state the best way to preserve law and liberty? Yoram Hazony is an Israeli philosopher, the President of the Herzl Institute and a director at the John Templeton Foundation. Presented by Dominic Green. Hosted...

With Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth. Presented by Katy Balls. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lara and Livvy talk to Fraser Nelson about his hatred of desserts, how working in London made him a stranger in Glasgow, and wining and dining Westminster's political big dogs. Presented by Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deputy National Security Advisor Mira Ricardel is forced out of her role after a public spat with Melania Trump. Is Melania more powerful than she seems? With Jacob Heilbrunn, Editor of the National Interest. Presented by Freddy Gray. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re bringing you this podcast from the midst of the Brexit omni-shambles, and this episode contains a special Brexit edition (15:05). But before that, something just as monumental is happening on the other side of the world. China is developing a social credit system to rate its own citizens and their social behaviour. Just how dangerous is this idea (00:40)? With James O'Malley, Cindy Yu, James...

Join Katy Balls on this new podcast from the Spectator - she talks to women at the top of their respective games about their passions, their battles, and what makes them tick. The first episode is with columnist and BBC Radio 5 Live broadcaster, Emma Barnett. Katy talks to Emma about stepping in for Andrew Marr, interviewing the Prime Minister, and how her granddad is her most loyal fan. Hosted on...

Sam talks to Nora Krug about her remarkable graphic work Heimat - in which this German born writer and artist discusses how it has felt to grow up in Germany and later the US with the shadow of her homeland’s war guilt, how that has issued in art, literature and humour, and about her risky attempt to discover her own family’s wartime past. Presented by Sam Leith. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...

With James Forsyth and Katy Balls. Presented by Cindy Yu. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson. Presented by Lara Prendergast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Theresa May prepares to unveil her Brexit deal, we ask: just how bad is it, and what happened to ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ (00:50)? In the American midterms, the Blue Wave didn’t happen, but Democrats did take control of the House of Representatives – what next for Trump’s presidency (17:15)? And last, as we approach Remembrance Sunday, who are the lives we are remembering, and is it...

With Geoff Dyer, one of our most wayward and wittiest writers, about his new book Broadsword Calling Danny Boy, a frame-by-frame discussion of the classic war movie Where Eagles Dare. Learn from Geoff about the importance of squinting in Clint Eastwood’s thespian toolbox, about the joy of snow-patrol Action Man, about why he shied away from plans for "Alistair MacLean: A Critical Reappraisal", and...

The young atheist writer Guy Stagg threw in his job a few years ago to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem via Rome - choosing a hazardous medieval route across the Alps. It nearly killed him: at one stage, trying to cross a broken bridge in Switzerland, he ended up partially submerged in the water, held up only by his rucksack.  On this week’s Holy Smoke podcast, Guy explains why his journey was...

With Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth. Presented by Lara Prendergast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Spectator Radio's newest addition - Table Talk. Each episode, Olivia Potts and Lara Prendergast will be joined by a guest familiar to Spectator readers. Lara and Livvy will discuss their life story, through the food and drink that has come to define it. For our inaugural episode, Livvy and Lara are joined by Prue Leith: chef, restaurateur, broadcaster, journalist, novelist and, of cours...

As Angela Merkel steps down as party leader – what was her legacy and can the EU project survive without her (00:40)? We also discuss whether WhatsApp has made it harder for MPs to plot (12:25); and last, should Brits be allowed to forage wild mushrooms (22:50)? With Douglas Murray, Sophie Pedder, Katy Balls, Paul Staines, Stewart Jackson, Daniel Butler, and Josh Barrie. Presented by Lara Prenderg...