Best of the Spectator

Capri Cafaro was a member of the Ohio Senate for 10 years before becoming a political commentator. She can often be found on American television news channels and also hosts her own food podcast, Eat Your Heartland Out .  On the podcast she talks to Lara and Olivia about memories of cooking Italian-American classics with her Grandma, how she got into politics and why she doesn't have a sweet tooth...

Author and journalist Helen Joyce speaks to Winston about the most contentious issue of the age: the transgender debate. They discussed Mermaids, Tavistock, the Scottish Gender Bill and her new book; perhaps the most authoritative on the subject. Is the growing phenomenon what Jung called a 'psychic endemic'? Listen to find out… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Uber arrived in Britain ten years ago, the app transformed the way people move around cities. All of a sudden, at the click of a button, city dwellers could order a car for a competitive price which would arrive within minutes. To some policymakers, this hailed a new way of working and putting consumers first. Since then, a lot has changed. Uber came under strict regulatory obstacles and many...

For the final round of The Spectator’s Economic Innovator of the Year Awards, our kind sponsors, Investec, hosted us at their offices on Gresham Street, London. We met 11 finalists for lunch — out of a record total of 176 entries across the whole of the UK — to pitch their ventures to our distinguished panel of judges.  Our finalists are: UpCircle Beauty, Elvie, Ultromics, Silverstream, eConsult H...

This week on Spectator Out Loud: Mary Wakefield tells us about her frustrating experience trying to give blood (00:49), James Ball says that it may be the beginning of the end for Mark Zuckerberg (07:04), and Christopher Howse reads his Notes on... signatures (16:44). Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Republican strategist Luke Thompson returns to Americano to give Freddy Gray the lowdown on how things are shaping up ahead of the midterm elections in November.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this year's Midlands and Southwest Innovator of the Year Awards, the judges met four finalists at each region respectively. These eight finalists were shortlisted down from a record 176 applications.  In Birmingham, the finalists in this podcast were MoM incubators, Hybrid Air Vehicles and Bambino Mio. The judges, Martin Vander Weyer, business editor of The Spectator met Steve Hewitt, non-exec...

On this week's podcast: After the markets saw off Kwarteng, Trussonomics and now Truss herself, James Forsyth writes in The Spectator that the markets will be driving British politics for the foreseeable future. He is joined by Britain economics editor at the Economist Soumaya Keynes to discuss the institutions now dictating government policy (00:56). Also this week: Looking ahead to the American...

Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth, Katy Balls and Kate Andrews discuss plans to stop spiralling inflation – and a spiralling government. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is the art historian Dr Matt Lodder, whose new book is Painted People: Humanity in 21 Tattoos. He tells me how much more there is to the history of painting on the body than we commonly suppose; and how over the years the history of tattooing (and public attitudes to it) has been shaped by religion, imperialism, class and fashion. Plus, we discover the one...

How can we justify keeping the Elgin marbles in the British Museum? Join The Spectator ’s James Forsyth and special guests as they discuss how to bring an end to the Parthenon Sculptures dispute. A Conservative party conference event, sponsored by The Parthenon Project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

28 per cent of the world's fertiliser supply comes from Russia and Ukraine. Since war broke out in February, fertiliser prices have rocketed to record highs because of the disruption. British farmers are under pressure as the industry deals with higher energy costs at the same time; while consumers are facing higher food prices. Is there a way to reshore our fertiliser supply chain? CCm Technologi...

I recently caught a rare viewing of a 2001 Chinese film, Lan Yu . It tells the story of two gay men falling in love and finding domestic life throughout the reform and opening years of China. The filmmakers never bothered to apply for approval from the censors, knowing that its homosexual storyline would never make it past the moralistic Communist censors. On this episode, I take a look at the pla...

For the next round of The Spectator’s Economic Innovator of the Year Awards sponsored by Investec, we met in Leeds at the Dakota hotel and restaurant.   For the Yorkshire and Northeast region, three finalists joined us for lunch — out of a record total of 176 entries across the whole of the UK — to pitch their ventures to our distinguished panel of judges. The finalists you’ll hear about on this p...

This week: Harriet Sergeant writes about why ethnicity matters in sexual abuse cases (0:30), Lionel Shriver takes aim at the American university students failing their exams, (8:06), Martin Vander Weyer looks at the latest forecasts for housing prices (17:01), and Philip Patrick thinks Japanese food is overrated (25:19). Produced and presented by Natasha Feroze.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...

Fiona Hill is a seasoned political advisor, consultant and strategist. Born in Glasgow, she began her career as the first-ever female football reporter in Scotland. Then after moving into politics, she later became the first female chief of staff in No.10 under Theresa May. In her first interview since leaving Downing Street five years ago, Fiona Hill speaks to Katy Balls about how difficult she f...

The second regional podcast for The Spectator’s Economic Innovator of the Year Award sponsored by Investec was set in the picturesque city of Edinburgh where the judges and finalists met for lunch at the Dome on George Street.  We invited four finalists for the Scotland and Northern Ireland region — out of a record total of 176 across the whole of the UK — to pitch their ventures to our distinguis...

This week: In his cover piece for the magazine Owen Matthews writes about the power struggle at the heart of Russia. He is joined by Jade McGlynn, specialist in Russian Studies at the Monterey Initiative, to discuss whether Putin might be running out of time (01:00). Also on the podcast:  Has America’s pot policy gone to pot?  In The Spectator this week Mike Adams says that US cannabis legislation...

My guest on this week's podcast is best known as a stand-up comic, and co-host of the hit second world war podcast We Have Ways of Making You Talk. Now Al Murray has produced a book – Command: How The Allies Learned To Win the Second World War – in which he looks at the progress of the war through case studies of the men who, one way and another, made a difference to it. He tells me how we turned...

Ayesha Hazarika is a journalist, broadcaster, stand-up comic and former advisor to three Labour leaders.  On the podcast, she discusses memories of her mother's chicken curry, navigating bacon sandwich-gate with Ed Miliband and why all cooked orange coloured food is 'minging'.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Winston speaks with actor James Dreyfus, star of Gimme Gimme Gimme , The Thin Blue Line and Notting Hill . They discuss his cancellation from Dr Who, the misogyny and homophobia of Trans Radical Activists, Stonewall, the LGB Alliance, and why he’s willing to put his neck on the line. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This year’s regional podcast series for The Spectator ’s Economic Innovator of the Year Awards kicked off with news of a fascinating lunch at The Ivy Cafe in Manchester.  We invited four finalists for the North West region — out of a record total of 176 across the whole of the UK — to pitch their ventures to our distinguished panel of judges. The finalists you’ll hear about on this podcast are: Lo...

Freddy Gray, The Spectator ’s deputy editor, speaks to former Pentagon official, and the author of The Strategy of Denial , Elbridge Colby about the risk of nuclear war with Russia: ‘I’m very suspicious of the ability to control the escalation.’ – Elbridge Colby Mark Galeotti, a Spectator contributor and the director of Mayak Intelligence, joins Elbridge, and says we ned to get tougher with Putin....

This week: Kate Andrews laments how Truss is hurting the free-market cause (00:51), Anthony Whitehead explains the 'arrogance' of the latest environmental activist movement the Tyre Extinguishers (06:42) and Michael Simmons reads his notes on barcodes (12:54). Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Freddy speaks to Madeleine Kearns, staff writer at the National Review, about President Joe Biden's decree that cannabis possession should no longer be a federal crime. Is this a vote winner or will the decision end in disaster?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.