Best of the Spectator

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Presented by Isabel Hardman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of the National Interest. Presented by Freddy Gray. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson. Presented by Lara Prendergast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lorries backing up in Kent, a Mars bar shortage, and no more Rome city breaks – these are just some of the things that we have been warned about when it comes to a no deal Brexit. But what will really happen (00:45)? Plus, is China a greater force to be reckoned with than Russia (22:35)? And last, what is it with Brits and obsessing over aristocratic sex scandals (33:15)? With Lord Peter Lilley, I...

In this week’s book’s podcast Sam's guest is Jonathan Ames, a writer who has produced everything from memoir (Adventures of a Mildly Perverted Young Writer) to TV writing (Bored To Death), graphic novels (The Alcoholic), pitch-black noir (You Were Never Really Here), Wodehouse homage (Wake Up, Sir!) and now, in The Extra Man, a comic novel riffing on Henry James. We talk about why he calls so many...

With James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson. Presented by Lara Prendergast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this fascinating podcast, Dominic Green talks to author and foreign policy analyst Robert Kaplan. They look back at ‘The Coming Anarchy’ after a quarter of a century, and trace the ambitions and disasters of the last three decades of American empire, from the early Nineties to the War on Terror and the retreat of the Obama and Trump years. If you listen carefully, you can hear the clink of coff...

As we move into 2019, two big elections could shake up the rest of the year. In May, the European elections could see an unprecedented populist surge. What would that mean for the European Union (00:50)? And back home, a potential general election, and Corbyn’s chances at government have never looked better (11:15). We discuss both of these. And last, is it ever okay to call a woman ‘a girl’ (24:3...

With Henry Newman, Director of Open Europe, and Katy Balls. Presented by Lara Prendergast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s books podcast we’re going to the wars. Sam's guest is Ed Vulliamy, the veteran war correspondent who has written a fascinating memoir called When Words Fail: A Life With Music, War and Peace. In it, Ed talks about how his lifelong love of music — he saw Hendrix at the Isle of Wight — has threaded through his terrifying adventures in conflict zones from Bosnia to Iraq to the Mexican/...

Join Katy Balls as she interviews Dame Helena Morrissey - a financier, a campaigner for more women in the boardrooms, and the mother to nine children. How does she balance kids and a career? Why does she think men and women are fundamentally different? And what is the most effective way to get a raise? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s books podcast Sam talks to Chris Kraus — author of the semi-autobiographical cult novel I Love Dick and the new essay collection Social Practices — about her strange and interesting life in the New York and LA art worlds, about taking Baudrillard to a “happening” in the desert, about ambition and fame, about how art and literature feed into one another — and about why we English sho...

Dominic talks to the team of crack art critics from The New Criterion: James Panero, Benjamin Riley and Andrew Shea in this review of the best art exhibitions of the year. In between high brow chats on Michelangelo and Sir Alfred Munnings, the panel brings the energy of the New Criterion Christmas party, raging next door, with them. Is Panero coughing because he has TB, or was it induced by the pr...

Sophia Money-Coutts is former features editor at Tatler magazine, and now columnist for the Sunday Telegraph. Her new book, The Plus One, came out earlier this year. In this episode of Table Talk, Lara and Livvy talk to Sophia about how cheese fondue helped her get through her parents' divorce as a child, how an ex-boyfriend berated her poppadom manners, and the best way to juggle a clutch bag and...

So, it’s the end of the year, and we can safely say 2018 hasn’t been any less loopy than its recent predecessors. In this year’s final Spectator Podcast, we’ll be taking a look at some of the major political and cultural events of the year, with a star-studded cast of commentators and experts, and casting a look forward at 2019. We’ll be talking about Labour – it hasn’t had a great year, but is it...

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Presented by Lara Prendergast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s books podcast Sam Leith talks to the great trivia expert Mark Mason about his new The Book of Seconds: The Incredible Stories of the Ones Who Didn’t (Quite) Win. Here’s the Christmas present for all the Tory frontbenchers in your life. Who remembers the Christmas number two in the pop charts? Who got silver at the Olympics? Who was the second man to walk on the moon? Mark — my secon...

Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks passed away last week at the age of 63. A long-term fan, Dominic Green talked to Pete in November this year. They talk about experimenting with punk, performing live, and the power of music.  This interview was first released as a podcast on November 27 on Spectator USA's The Green Room podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Presented by Fraser Nelson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katy Balls talks to Liz Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, about her shameful Lib Dem past, why she loves cheese, and how The Thick Of It made her life harder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Daniel McCarthy, Editor of Modern Age. Presented by Freddy Gray. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With just days to go till the meaningful vote, the government looks set to lose it by a humiliating margin. What next for Theresa May? We ask one of the MPs opposing her deal – former universities minister, Sam Gyimah (00:50). And over on the continent, France buckles down for another weekend of riots from the gilet jaunes – can Macron give them what they want (19:05)? And last, has Britain become...

In this week's books podcast, Sam is speaking to the Pulitzer-prizewinning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin about her new book Leadership: Lessons from the Presidents for Turbulent Times -- in which she describes what Lincoln, two Roosevelts and LBJ had in common, and didn't. Obviously, they talk a bit about that nice Mr Trump -- as well as hearing how Doris had perhaps history's classiest pyjama pa...

Dominic Green talks to cinema historian Jay Glennie, author of a definitive account of the legendary and still alarming making of Performance, a 1970 release starring Mick Jagger, Anita Pallenberg, and James Fox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With James Forsyth and Katy Balls. Presented by Isabel Hardman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.