Best of the Spectator

On this episode, writer and physicist Carlo Rovelli, ponder time and space in a world were the meaning of both has shifted. (01:00) Then, David Abulafia talks about the need for conservatives at universities. (07:29) Finally, Laura Freeman gets us ready for easter with the stories and the art depicting St Veronica. (15:27) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives but one of the biggest is the way we work– with 46% of people working from home last year. Perhaps no group has been more impacted by this than the young - from unemployment to the mental health pressures of working from small homes and a tough jobs market, this generation has been dubbed 'the Covid generation'.   But at the same time there are al...

Can the West take on China? We may need some kind of economic Nato (00:50). Are Mormons misunderstood, by Netflix and everyone else? (14:15) And what does it really mean to be Spiritual But Not Religious? (27:45). With James Forsyth, The Spectator's political editor; Iain Duncan Smith, former leader of the Conservative Party; Damian Thompson, host of the Spectator's Holy Smoke podcast; James Holt,...

Sam's guest this week is crime queen Lynda La Plante - talking about her new novel Judas Horse , and three decades of her most famous creation, Prime Suspect 's Jane Tennison. She tells Sam how she wrote her way out of acting, why so much crime drama now turns her off, why she thinks it's so important to get police work right and let baddies be baddies - and why she's haunted by Rentaghost .  Host...

Lydia Forte is the Group Director of Food & Beverage at Rocco Forte Hotels. On the podcast, she tells Lara and Liv about missing Martini's, cooking in lockdown, and hosting a family Come Dine With Me. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Young people are now more likely to consume marijuana than smoke tobacco. Is weed just a benign stimulant, or is Big Dope pushing a drug that could lead to a schizophrenia epidemic? Freddy Gray speaks to Madeleine Kearns, staff writer at National Review and the author of the cover piece in the new US edition of The Spectator . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode, Andrew Neil is joined by Andrew Adonis, a Labour peer and chair of the European Movement; Jackie Baillie, the deputy leader of Scottish Labour who sits on the Holyrood committee investigating whether Nicola Sturgeon broke the ministerial code; Spectator contributor Brigid Waddams; and a team of Spectator journalists. We discuss whether the EU will ban vaccine exports, wheth...

On this episode, Katja Hoyer looks at Ursula von der Leyen past mistakes. (00:45) Then, Fraser Nelson says the Defence Review could be a sign that Britain is learning from its foreign policy failings. (04:10) Finally, Toby Young explains the downsides to owning a small dog. (13:05) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A piece of digital art by the illustrator Beeple has sold for $69 million. Is it worth the cash, or just a picture on a screen? Freddy Gray talks to Nima Sagharchi, director of Middle Eastern, Islamic and South Asian art at Bonhams auctioneers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the EU threatens a vaccine export ban, is their blind panic a sign of incoming crisis? (1:15) Plus, will a new Instagram account for teenage girls to report sexual assault restart a battle of the sexes? (18:05) And finally, what is it like to be one of the last British babies born under the Raj? (28:30) With Labour peer Andrew Adonis; Spectator contributors Matthew Lynn, Julie Bindel, Melanie M...

This week on the Book Club podcast, Sam is joined by the veteran foreign correspondent Michela Wrong to talk about her new book Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad . While Rwanda's president Paul Kagame has basked in the approval of Western donors, Michela argues, his burnished image conceals a history of sadism, repression and violent tyranny. She tells...

Unreliable, slow and you'll never find a charging point - those are some of the things that come to mind when thinking about electric vehicles for many drivers. But are these outdated myths? The government has less than a decade to meet its 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars. With the future of electric vehicles just around the corner, Kate Andrews talks to a panel of special guests about how...

'Scratch a communist, you’ll find a nationalist underneath’, Professor Kerry Brown, the director of the Lau China Institute at King's College London, tells me on this episode. Together with Professor Victor Shih of UC San Diego, we talk about what drives the Chinese Communist Party (hint: it's not communism), what membership means today and the policy disputes that happen behind the scenes. And: a...

On this week's episode, Andrew Neil is joined by former Supreme Court judge Jonathan Sumption; Spectator contributor Melanie McDonagh; Conservative MP David Davis; and a team of Spectator journalists. We discuss whether the latest coronavirus data still justifies the current lockdown, how Keir Starmer is becoming irrelevant, and the SNP's efforts to censor Alex Salmond's evidence. To watch the sho...

On this episode, Cindy Yu starts by reading the leader -  The Spectator has a fight on it's hands as the Scottish Crown Office threatens a six-figure fine. (01:30) Then, Douglas Murray says the Church of England has morphed beyond recognition. (06:40) Finally, Philip Hensher says Jordan Peterson's new book, Beyond Order , is 'pretty odd'. (15:05) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf...

Elif Shafak is an award-winning Turkish-British novellist, essayist and activist. On the episode, she talks to Katy about what it was like to grow up in conservative Ankara under the strong women in her family; her prosecution by the Turkish government; and why she thinks too much information is not necessarily a virtue. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Keir Starmer becoming irrelevant? (00:50) Do the Oscars really celebrate the best that film has to offer? (15:55) Jordon Peterson is back with his new book, Beyond Order , but is it beyond readable? (25:40) With the Spectator 's political editor James Forsyth; broadcaster and former Labour adviser Ayesha Hazarika; writer Fiona Mountford; the Spectator 's arts editor Igor Toronyi-Lalic; novelist...

In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam's guest is the former editor of the Today Programme, Sarah Sands. Sarah tells him how an addiction to the buzz of news and gossip gave way in her to a fascination for the opposite, as described in her new book The Interior Silence: 10 Lessons From Monastic Life . Come for the revelations about grifting nuns and what happened to Boris Johnson’s dongle; stay for...

Geordie Willis is the creative director and brand experiences director of Berry Brothers and Rudd, Britain's oldest wine merchants. He is the eighth generation of his family to work in the business, which was founded in 1698. On the podcast, he tells Lara and Liv about his grandmother's homemade mayonnaise, being kicked out of the family business, and the secret to matching wine with food. This ep...

On this week's episode, Andrew Neil is joined by Dr Remi Adekoya, associate politics lecturer at the University of York; Spectator contributor Olenka Hamilton; Bloomberg's Javier Blas; and a team of Spectator journalists. We discuss who's to blame in the Royal knockabout, why Britain's Polish community are sceptical of the Covid vaccine, and the murky world of commodity traders. To watch the show,...

On this episode, Anil Bhoyrul starts by asking if it's racist to wonder what colour your child's skin will be. (01:05) Lionel Shriver is up next, and says the West has used China's totalitarian tactics to suppress Covid. (05:05) Melissa Kite finishes the podcast, and describes her encounter with 'obnoxious Surrey battleaxes'. (14:15) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddy Gray talks to historian Patrick Allitt, the Cahoon Family Professor of American History at Emory University, about how much the Harry and Meghan interview has really cut through to the American public. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it fair to blame Meghan for the Royal Family's problems? (00:55) Why is China censoring a book of Dante's poetry? (12:40) Would you go to moon? (24:50) With The Spectator 's US editor Freddy Gray; The Spectator's restaurant critic Tanya Gold; author Ian Thomson; Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese Studies at King's College London; The Spectator's commissioning editor Mary Wakefield; and Spectator...

Sam's guest in this week's Book Club podcast is Horatio Clare - whose superb latest book is about going mad. Heavy Light: A Journey Through Madness, Mania and Healing, tells the story of Horatio's recent breakdown and forcible hospitalisation - what he experienced, how he recovered, how it pushed him to investigate the unquestioned assumptions about 'chemical imbalances' causing mental illness, an...

Tiger mums and dads are infamous in the West, but in China the pressure is ramped up several times higher. From kindergarten to university, exams form the structure of a disciplined and competitive educational environment. It yields result - with even the poorest students in Shanghai scoring higher on maths and reading than the richest in the UK (according to PISA). But does the system value the r...