Best of the Spectator

On this week’s episode, Roddy McDougall remembers heroes of the speedway, (01:15) Theo Zanou examines at Stanley Kubrick’s fascination with Napoleon, (07:20) Gus Carter looks at a memorial to everyday heroism, (17:20) and Toby Young explains what’s wrong with Equity’s anti-racism guidelines. (21:35) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last year of intermittent lockdowns, most of us have spent more time staring at the four walls of our living room than we ever thought possible. One of the biggest factors affecting someone's pandemic experience is the type of accommodation they're in, and 8.4 million people in England are living in unaffordable, insecure or unsuitable homes. There are, however, attempts being made to hel...

In this week’s podcast, ITV's political editor Robert Peston joins our deputy political Katy Balls to talk over this week’s cover story on the maelstrom of mayhem surrounding Boris Johnson. (1:29)  Next up, we talk to Professor Noel Sharkey, from the University of Sheffield, and Colonel Richard Kemp CBE, a veteran British Army officer, about the possibility of malevolent foreign forces wreaking ha...

In this week's Book Club podcast, Sam is joined by Richard Dawkins to talk about his new book Books Do Furnish A Life: Reading and Writing Science . Richard tells Sam - among much else - what makes science writing (and science fiction) exciting; the questions science can (and can't) answer; why he felt it necessary to invest so much of his time arguing against religion; and why the left recurrent...

Sebastian de Souza is an English actor an author. On the podcast, he tells Lara and Olivia about eating too much on set, enjoying cornflakes, double cream and sugar, and writing after a drink. His new book, Kid , is out now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode, Fraser Nelson is joined by Conservative MP and former chancellor Sajid Javid; Dr Jeffrey Barrett from the Wellcome Sanger Institute; former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt; and a team of Spectator journalists. We discuss how Joe Biden has fared in his first 100 days in office, whether the government was right to intervene in plans for a European Super League, and if the I...

On this week's episode, broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby reads his diary (00:55), journalist Katja Hoyer reports on the German Greens and their poll surge (06:25) and Melissa Kite on why she's perfectly happy to stay in the country this summer (12:05). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hwaet! Our guest in this week’s Book Club Podcast is Maria Dahvana Headley, whose new book is a translation of the Anglo-Saxon classic Beowulf . She talks to us about how she has produced what she bills as a 'feminist translation' of this most macho of poems; about the poem’s braided history and complex language; and about what it tells us of the Anglo-Saxon worldview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.c...

Joe Biden is approaching his first 100 days in office. How has he fared, and has he delivered on his promise to bring about a return to normalcy? (1:15)   Plus, the proposed European Super League wasn’t super after all. The six English teams invited to join the league pulled out earlier this week, and the plans have now been shelved. But will it still happen eventually? (10:30)   And finally, what...

Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who knelt on George Floyd's neck, is currently on trial in Minneapolis. What will the city stay peaceful when the verdict is delivered, do violent viral videos do more harm than good, and should the country's political leaders call for order? Freddy Gray speaks to Scott Johnson, a lawyer and contributor to Power Line. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

You might think that in a country as tightly controlled as China, diversity of opinion is hard to come by in written form. But as I find out in this episode, there is a vibrant conversation going on with vastly different views, especially in the intellectual elite amongst professors and journalists. So what do these intellectuals think, and how much can they get away with saying? With Professor Da...

On this week's episode, Andrew Neil is joined by Jill Rutter, senior research fellow at UK in a Changing Europe and a former civil servant; Sir Christopher Meyer, former UK ambassador to the United States; environmental campaigner Stanley Johnson; Professor Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO's Center for National and Global Health Law; and a team of Spectator journalists. We discuss the Greensil...

On this episode, author and journalist Ian Williams starts by looks at how China is using tech to expand its reach. (00:45) Then, Fiona Mountford reflects on how to deal with grief. (12:00) Finally, Deborah Ross reviews the Oscar-nominated Promising Young Woman, 'a wonderfully clever, darkly funny, stomach-knotting' revenge-thriller. (18:10) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informat...

Nusrat Ghani is the Conservative MP for Wealden, having previously served as a transport minister under the May then Johnson governments. On the podcast, she tells Katy Balls about her upbringing under a father who was a headteacher; how she narrowly escaped arranged marriage through university; and how it feels to be one of nine Brits to be sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party. Hosted on Aca...

What’s behind Boris’s plan for a green bonanza? (01:10) Can the West challenge China in the tech arms race? (14:50) Can the British handle grief? (24:05)   With Katy Balls, The Spectator ’s deputy political editor; Rachel Wolf, a partner at Public First at co-author of the 2019 Conservative manifesto; author and journalist Ian Williams; politician and author Bruno Maçães; writer Fiona Mountford; a...

In this week's Book club podcast Sam's guest is Roland Philipps - whose new book Victoire: A Wartime Story of Resistance, Collaboration and Betrayal tells the morally murky and humanly fascinating story of Mathilde Carre - a vital figure of the early days of resistance in occupied France. Roland's story describes her heroic early work; and its undoing when she was captured and turned collaborator....

Carole Hayman is a writer, broadcaster, actor and director. On the podcast, she tells Lara and Liv about facing anorexia, London in the late 70s, smoking on stage and cooking while writing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What were Prince Philip's religious beliefs? The Duke of Edinburgh had Orthodox Christian ancestry, but how was he drawn to its traditions, was he influenced by the Queen's faith, and why was he critical of Catholicism? Damian Thompson speaks to Gavin Ashenden, chaplain to the Queen from 2008 to 2017. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode, Andrew Neil is joined by Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, chief executive of UK Music and former special adviser to Matt Hancock; Spectator contributor Alexander Pelling-Bruce; Alba Party MP Kenny MacAskill; and a team of Spectator journalists. We discuss whether life will return to normal on 21 June, if a new 'retain and explain' policy will stop statue controversies, and how well Sal...

On this week's episode, Philip Eade, biographer to Prince Philip, reads his obituary of the Prince. We're also joined by Dominic Green, Spectator USA's Life and Arts Editor, who reads his article on Prince Harry's new job. Anshel Pfeffer reports on life in Israel under the vaccine passport; and Lionel Shriver on the West's self-doubt and who stands to benefit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac...

Vaccine passports seem all but inevitable in the UK and parts of the US. While some are relatively relaxed about the prospects of a de facto bio-security ID card, others are not. Spectator US contributor Bridget Phetasy is one of them, and on this episode tells Freddy Gray why she hates the 'vaxport'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will life ever return to normal? (00:50) Is the government pandering to statue protestors? (14:30) And what’s Prince Harry’s new job? (27:55) With Kate Andrews, the Spectator 's economics editor; Spectator columnist Matthew Parris; Spectator contributor Alexander Pelling-Bruce; Historic England CEO Duncan Wilson; Dominic Green, deputy editor of the Spectator 's US edition; and Sam Leith, literary...

Sam's guest this week is the broadcaster and historian Jonathan Dimbleby. In Barbarossa: Hitler's Greatest Mistake , Jonathan describes the extraordinary and horrifying story of the Nazi campaign against Stalin, and its still more extraordinary strategic and diplomatic background. It's a bloody and sometimes tragicomic parable of how dictators can become detached from reality - and in it he makes...

The pandemic has led to a surge in digitisation in so many aspects of our lives. Cloud computing, in particular, has been a cornerstone of this time - not least for stay at home employees to maintain their productivity during a turbulent time. But what actually is cloud computing, and is it all that it's set out to be? Are privacy and security concerns adequately addressed? Kate Andrews speaks to...

Cross-strait relations between China and Taiwan seem to be hotting up, with headlines frequently touting the possibility of a military takeover by Beijing. But why does China care so much about this set of islands that is around a seventh of the size of the UK? Cindy Yu speaks to historian Rana Mitter and analyst Jessica Drun about Taiwan's unique history and its modern identity. Hosted on Acast....