Best of the Spectator

In this week's Book Club podcast I'm joined by the New York Times 's Andrea Elliott, who won the Pulitzer Prize for her book Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in New York City. She tells me how she came to spend seven years reporting on a single, homeless family in Brooklyn, how she negotiated her duty to observe rather than participate – and what their telenovela- like experiences tell...

Winston speaks with writer, musician and host of Conversations with Coleman, Coleman Hughes. They discuss blasphemy in the music industry, counter-culture, race, reparations, colourblindness and much more... Presented by Winston Marshall  Produced by Sam Holmes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China's social credit system is notorious. This Black Mirror-esque network supposedly gives citizens a score, based on an opaque algorithm that feeds on data from each person's digital and physical lives. With one billion Chinese accessing the Internet and the growing prevalence of facial recognition, it means that their every move can be monitored – from whether they cross the road dangerously, t...

John Connolly, The Spectator ’s news editor, speaks to historian Anthony Seldon about whether Boris Johnson might resign: ‘Why on earth would he want to carry on and have more of this humiliation? Why wouldn’t want to take the dignified path of saying: “I’m going to fall on my sword.”' On the rest of the show, Spectator contributor Owen Matthews and our Wild Life columnist Aidan Hartley discuss ho...

On this week's episode:  Katy Balls reads her article on the cadets gunning for the Tory leadership. (00:52) John Connolly reads his investigation into the new warehouse ghettos where Britain is sending migrants. (06:36)  Gus Carter reads his piece on why he's not getting invited to any dinner parties. (12:05) Presented by Angus Colwell. Produced by Angus Colwell and Sam Holmes. Hosted on Acast. S...

Freddy Gray talks to journalists Jacob Heilbrunn, the editor of The National Interest, and John Daniel Davidson, senior editor of The Federalist, about the beginning of public hearings at the House Select Committee into the events of January 6th 2021. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julie Bindel is a radical feminist, journalist and activist. Growing up in Darlington, she left school aged 15, and at 16 moved to Leeds in search of – in her own words – 'scary-sounding feminists'. In the 90s, she founded Justice For Women, a feminist campaigning organisation that supports, and advocates on behalf of, women who have fought back against or killed violent men. On the podcast, Julie...

In this week’s episode: Is the Prime Minister a dead man walking? Spectator Political Editor James Forsyth and MP Jesse Norman who expressed no confidence in Monday's vote discuss the future of Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party. (00:45) Also this week: Why is there so much virtue signalling in modern advertising? Spectator  Columnist Lionel Shriver and veteran copywriter Paul Burke discuss...

In this week’s Book Club podcast, I’m joined by the writer China Miéville to talk about his new book A Spectre, Haunting: On The Communist Manifesto . China makes the case for why this 1848 document deserves our attention in the 21st century, why even its critics would benefit from reading it more closely and sympathetically, and why - in his view - the gamble of a revolutionary abolition of capit...

Nell Hudson has starred in Outlander , Victoria and the latest Texas Chainsaw Massacre film. Her debut novel, Just for Today , is out now: it’s about a group of twenty-somethings in London, having “heady, reckless fun”.  Nell speaks to Lara and Olivia about how she’s enjoying veganism and the one meat she misses, growing up on a farm, a peculiar childhood diet and the lonely eating habits of an ac...

In this week's Holy Smoke I offer some thoughts on the impressive and distinctive Christian faith of the Queen – impressive because it's so refreshingly direct compared to that of many of her politics-obsessed bishops, and distinctive because Elizabeth II is one of a dwindling band of Low Church but not Evangelical Anglicans whose favourite Sunday service is old-fashioned Matins. Questions of chur...

Fraser Nelson, The Spectator ’s editor, speaks to Louise Perry, author of The Case Against the Sexual Revolution , about why it should be harder to divorce. Elsewhere on the the show, Spectator contributor Christopher Howse discusses the monarchy with our political editor James Forsyth. Cindy Yu, host of our Chinese Whispers podcast, says China hasn’t changed all that much since the Tiananmen Squa...

On this week's episode, Robert Hardman reads his cover article on the quiet radicalism of Queen Elizabeth II (00:50); J. Meirion Thomas reads his article on the 'total triage' system that is leaving patients unable to see their GPs; and Sarah Ditum reads her review of Sandra Newman's new novel, The Men . Presented by Angus Colwell. Produced by Angus Colwell and Cindy Yu. Hosted on Acast. See acast...

In this week’s episode: Robert Hardman & Angela Levin, two of the UK’s royal specialists, explore the character of the Queen and the impact she has had on the institution of the monarchy. (00:36) Also this week: For now, it seems that Boris Johnson is hanging on after the publishing of the Sue Gray report, but how stable is his position? Could a vote of no confidence be closer than anyone expects?...

My guests in this week's Book Club podcast are Daniel Kahneman and Olivier Sibony, co-authors (with Cass R Sunstein) of Noise: A Flaw In Human Judgment . Augmenting the work on psychological bias that won Prof Kahneman a Nobel Prize, this investigation exposes a more invisible and often more impactful way in which human judgments go awry: the random-seeming variability which statisticians call noi...

All eyes are on the Communist leadership this year, as the months count down to autumn’s National Party Congress, where Xi Jinping may be crowned for a third term. But how much do we really know about the Party’s leadership? In particular, can we better understand them through looking at the experiences that they've had? Take Xi Jinping, who is what is known as a 'princeling' – his father was the...

This week on Marshall Matters Winston speaks to Rahima Mahmut. Rahima is a Uyghur singer, writer, translator and activist. They discussed the history and genocide of her people, compared CCP narrative to the Uyghur perspective, the Adrian Zenz report, her musical background and her song Tarim. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Andrews, The Spectator ’s economics editor, speaks to Emma Ashford, a senior research fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center, and Spectator contributor Ian Williams. On the rest of the show, our political team, Katy Balls and James Forsyth, discuss Sue Gray’s report and Rishi Sunak’s announcement of more money to help with the cost-of-living crisis. We also have a sneak preview of...

On this week's episode, Douglas Murray says the world is becoming claustrophobic, (00:55) Lionel Shriver struggles to get through South African airport security, (08:29) Julian Glover maps out the countryside battle lines, (16:52) and James Bartholomew buys a tank. (22:13) Produced by Angus Colwell Entries for this year's Innovator Awards, sponsored by Investec, are now open. To apply, go to: www....

Freddy Gray speaks to award-winning author and Spectator columnist Lionel Shriver about mass shootings and gun culture in the United States, in the wake of the tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Frances Haugen is an American data scientist, most well known for her whistleblowing of Facebook's failures at controlling misinformation. Her insider knowledge allowed the Wall Street Journal to publish a series of exposés about the social media platform, which became known as 'The Facebook Files'. She has testified before the US Congress, the European Parliament and the British Parliament on onl...

In this week’s episode: Ian Williams, author of The Fire of the Dragon: China’s New Cold war , and Alessio Patalano, Professor of War and Strategy in East Asia at King’s College London, talk about how the war in Ukraine has changed the thinking in Taiwan. (00:37) Also this week: Was Sue Gray’s report on Downing Street parties a game-changer or a damp squib? The Spectator ’s editor, Fraser Nelson,...

Freddy Gray speaks to Sergey Radchenko a Cold War historian and Wilson E. Schmidt Distinguished Professor at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and visiting professor at Cardiff University. They discuss a recent speech by Henry Kissinger who believes that Ukraine should made territorial concessions to Russia – is he right? Host...

My guest in the Book Club podcast this week is my namesake (but no relation) William Leith – whose new book The Cut That Wouldn't Heal: Finding My Father describes the death of his father and the way it caused him to revisit and re-evaluate his childhood. We talk about the perils and possibilities of autobiography, the difficulty of looking death in the face, and an awkward moment with Karl Ove Kn...

Born in Lisbon, Portugal. Nuno Mendes grew up on a farm which inspired a passion and understanding for food. He attended the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco but after over a decade in North America, he decided he wanted to return to Europe. Moving to London, Nuno founded the cult domestic pop-up known as The Loft Project and later went on to take over the restaurant at the Chiltern Fi...