Best of the Spectator

It’s estimated that the average age of a British farmer is 59. This raises questions about the future of British farming. Are young people just not interested? On this episode, The Spectator’s economics editor, Kate Andrews takes a look at the next few decades for British farming. Young farmers are part of the picture, but we’ll also be discussing the role played by immigration especially post Bre...

Katy Balls, The Spectator ’s deputy political editor, speaks to Freddy Gray, our deputy editor, about the FBI raid of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence: ‘There’s some desperation to get Trump. It’s self-defeating because it justifies his narrative that the “deep state” is out to get him.’ – Freddy Gray Matt Purple, online editor of The Spectator ’s world edition, joins Freddy. On the rest of the...

On this week's episode: Katy Balls has written about what foreign policy would look like under a Liz Truss government (0:54). Rachel Johnson believes we can all learn from the Lionesses’ victory  (06:55) and Neil Clark shares Jim Corbett’s tiger hunting stories  (12.23). Presented and produced by Natasha Feroze. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nancy Pelosi’s controversial trip to Taiwan made headlines across the world this week, after President Xi’s warnings to the US ‘not to play with fire’. Furious, Beijing has responded with economic sanctions and a flurry of missiles over and around the island, as well as sanctioning Pelosi and her family. But as the West frets about possible escalation, often lacking from the discussion is what Tai...

In this week’s episode: Is China heading for a demographic disaster? Rana Mitter and Cindy Yi discuss China’s declining birth rate and what this could do to their economy. (0.52) Also this week: What would foreign policy look like under a Liz Truss government? The Spectator's deputy political editor, Katy Balls is joined by Rishi Sunak supporter, Dr Liam Fox who is the MP for NorthWest Somerset, F...

My guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is the critic, novelist and art historian Chloë Ashby. In her new book Colours of Art: The Story of Art in 80 Palettes she takes a look at how the history of colour - how it was made, how much it cost, what it was understood to mean - has shaped the history of painting. She tells me about the age-old disagreement between the primacy of drawing and colour i...

Aidan Hartley is a writer and entrepreneur. Born in Kenya, he grew up in Africa and England and has worked as a reporter for Reuters all over the world. Aidan has also written The Spectator’s Wild life column for the past 21 years. On the podcast, Aidan talks about spending his younger years on safaris in the wilderness, where mealtimes consisted of handfuls of rice cooked from metal tins on an op...

Freddy Gray speaks with Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of The National Interest, ahead of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. They discuss if this is a turning point in US relations with Taiwan, whether we are heading for world war three, or if Pelosi is calling China’s bluff.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Winston speaks with dancer and choreographer Rosie Kay. Rosie is returning to the world of dance after being forced to resign from her eponymous company in 2021 when she ran afoul of trans ideologues.  Rosie discusses the world of dance, controversial choreography, ideological capture, emotional impact of being cancelled, Virginia Woolf and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...

On this week's episode: Sam Leith looks at what TikTok and tech have done to our memories (0:34). Kate Andrews is in two minds about Trussonomics (06:50) and Toby Young tells us about a holiday to Iceland with teenage sons (12.34). Presented and produced by Natasha Feroze.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddy Gray is joined by Kate Andrews, the Spectator’s economics editor; and Mark Asquith, a fund manager, to discuss if the worst of America's inflationary pressures will soon be a thing of the past.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode: Can Rishi catch up? Katy Balls and Kate Andrews discuss Rishi Sunak’s mad dash to catch up with his rival, Liz Truss in the polls (0.55) Also this week: Is it time the UK severed ties with Chinese-made tech? Charles Parton argues this in the magazine this week. He is joined by Dr Alexi Drew, a consultant in emerging technologies and international relations (13.33) And final...

My guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is Anne Weber, author of Epic Annette: A Heroine’s Tale . She tells me how she came to uncover the remarkable story of Annette Beaumanoir, heroine of the French Resistance, partisan of the Algerian independence struggle, jailbird, exile and survivor – and why when she came to write that story down she chose to do it in verse… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...

China’s property market accounts for something between 20 and 29 per cent of the country’s total GDP. The seemingly never-ending rise of residential blocks were how ordinary people like my family could see and touch China’s miraculous economic growth. Home ownership was to be expected, especially for young men looking to marry and start a family. Across the country, 70 per cent of household wealth...

John Connolly, The Spectator ’s news editor, is joined by Spectator chairman Andrew Neil, along with the magazine's politics team, James Forsyth and Katy Balls, to discuss the latest in the Tory leadership race. On the rest of the show, The Spectator ’s deputy editor Freddy Gray and National Interest editor Jacob Heilbrunn talk about whether Trump will run for the US presidency again. Spectator ed...

On this episode of Spectator Out Loud, Hamish Badenoch says he's married to his political hero. (00:32) Martin Vander Weyer asks whether we should fire the boss of Heathrow. (05:57) Aidan Hartley looks at why country music is so popular in Africa. (14:14) Douglas Murray wonders if the Tory party has a future. (22:03) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddy Gray talks to the CEO of Truth Social, Devin Nunes, about the new network as it launches in the UK, and whether the owner Donald Trump will be seeking to launch himself back into the political arena.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Until July 6, Victoria Atkins was the Minister of State for Refugees and Minister of State for Prisons and Probation. But as dozens of her colleagues quit in the wake of Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid's resignations (which themselves followed No. 10's messy handling of the Chris Pincher affair), Atkins resigned too, writing that 'values such as integrity, decency, respect and professionalism' have ‘f...

In this week’s episode: Will Donald Trump have a second shot at the US presidency? Freddy Gray and Sarah Baxter discuss. (1.10) Also this week: A look at the history of Scotland’s paradoxical relationship between Scottish identity and the Union. The Spectator’s Scotland editor, Alex Massie talks with Murray Pittock about his book Scotland: The Global History, 1603 to Present.   (21.49) And finally...

One of Penny Mordaunt, Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss will be Britain's next prime minister. What are the contenders' answers to the big questions facing Britain? Isabel Hardman spoke to Mordaunt (00:36), Sunak (21:17) and Truss (42:15). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thom Elliott is the co-founder of Pizza Pilgrims. On the podcast, Thom tells Lara and Liv about growing up above a pub, learning to make pizza while touring Italy with his brother, and starting Pizza Pilgrims on his lunch break. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddy Gray speaks to Geoff Shullenberger, a lecturer at New York University and columnist for Compact Magazine about a range of topics, from the ideas and appeal of philosopher René Girard to transhumanism and transgenderism, and the war in Ukraine.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode: Mary Wakefield on why we should resist Stonewall’s gospel (0:31). Leo McKinstry on the worrying rise of apostrophe laws (07:02) and Melanie McDonagh on the lost art of letterheads (13.33). Presented and produced by Natasha Feroze. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Catholic Church is half way through a two-year consultation exercise that will culminate in a 'Synod on Synodality' in the Vatican next year. A synod on what? Don't worry if you're confused. No one in Rome seems to be able to define synodality, either. What will the world's bishops discuss? Probably not the figures revealing how many Catholics have taken part in this exercise, because they're...

In this week’s episode: The knives are out in the Tory leadership fight, who looks likely to make the final two? Fraser Nelson writes this week’s cover piece about the Tory leadership race. He’s joined by the Telegraph’s Allison Pearson (0.49). Also this week: Mary Wakefield challenges Stonewall's guidelines for parents with trans children. One of these parents is Tammy Plunkett, a former nurse, l...