The Critic Show

On this episode of The Critic podcast, Deputy Editor Graham Stewart is joined by Professor Phillips O'Brien and The Critic's sketch-writer Robert Hutton to discuss whether the wartime myth of the “plucky Brit“ is an accurate way of viewing Britain in the 1940s.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.outpoststudios....

Welcome back to The Critic Narrated, where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors. In this episode, Robert Thicknesse narrates his Man About Town column from the December/January double issue, Welcome to Londongrad; Alexander Larman laments the myth of the Victorian Christmas for this issue's sacred cow, and, in his architecture column, Charles Saum...

Welcome back to The Critic Narrated , where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors.  In this episode, Felipe Fernández-Armesto says that empty shelves need not mean dreary eating in his column from the December/January issue of The Critic : “The art of fast food”, while Daisy Dunn narrates her book review of Mary Beard's Twelve Caesars: Images of Po...

Welcome back to The Critic Narrated , where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors.  In this episode, Sarah Ditum reveals the joy of letting unexpected, accidental music in as she narrates her column from the December/January issue of The Critic : “Strange Brew”, while David Scullion says the Church of England are woefully out of touch and with fall...

In this episode, David Starkey says Feminists like Stock have made a belated rediscovery of biological reality in his column ‘ Welcome back to reality, feminists ’, while Boris Starling outlines the latest rivalry in F1 in ‘ Top Guns of the Track ’ and Claudia Savage-Gore drags woke Will back to therapy .  Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iTunes  to ensure you never you n...

Hello and welcome back to The Critic Narrated, where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors.  In this episode, Lisa Hilton reads her piece ‘How Britiain really eats’, where she relays how she enjoys a Thai feast that shows that fiery and exotic has now become mainstream. Henry Hill says a new breed of “muscular unionists” is seeking to reverse the d...

As President Macron climbs down on his deadline to punish Britain over fishing licences, David Scullion asks Patrick O'Flynn whether Britain is getting the better of the French, or if the post-Brexit deal has left UK fishermen high and dry.  Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iTunes  to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: The Scottish scallop trawler "Corn...

Welcome back to The Critic Narrated, where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors.  In this episode, Robert Hutton reads the secret diary of Boris and Carrie Johnson's dog, Dilyn, as he attends Glasgow COP26 , Josephine Bartosch, author and campaigner for women’s rights narrates her feature, ' Turning victims into folk devils ' and Robert Thicknesse...

In this episode of The Critic Narrated, Revd. Marcus Walker, Rector of Great St Bart’s in the City of London, reads his piece ‘ Resurrect Forgiveness ’, Hannah Betts narrates her column: ‘ Time for Coco ’ and Patrick Galbraith reads his piece from Country Notes, this week entitled ‘ Do the Right Thing ’. These articles are taken from the October issue of The Critic . Don’t forget to subscribe to t...

Welcome back to The Critic Podcast, and welcome to our new series: The Critic Narrated! Each week, we will be bringing you a selection articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors for you to listen to on your commute, around the house or alongside reading the written piece. Don’t forget you can visit our website to subscribe to the print issue, and to read a plethora of articles on...

After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan ignited a bitter briefing war between the President and members of the British Cabinet, it seemed that Britain's relationship with the US was on ice. But then, out of the blue, a secret trilateral agreement between the US, UK and Australia was struck, gifting Australia nuclear propulsion technology for use in their submarines, much to the chagrin of France....

In this episode of The Critic's podcast, publisher Olivia Hartley speaks to Chris Elston — A.K.A Billboard Chris — about the progression of gender ideology in Canada as well as the use of puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria. Chris has travelled the length and breadth of Canada raising awareness of these issues and has amassed an online following of over 35,000. In this podcast, Oli...

By his own admission, Vivek Ramaswamy is a traitor to his class. A self-made man who founded a successful bio-tech firm in his 20s, Ramaswamy’s story has the telltale signs of membership of America’s corporate elite. But in his new book, Woke, Inc , he takes aim at fellow business leaders for what he calls “the defining scam of our time”. According to Ramaswamy, big business’s enthusiastic embrace...

A campaign is underway to elect members to the General Synod of the Church of England under a “Save the Parish” banner . The campaign leader Marcus Walker , the Rector of St Bartholomew’s, described it as “the last chance to save the system that has defined Christianity in this country for 1000 years”. Campaigners say the Church of England hierarchy already squeezes parish churches and is planning...

The dramatic events in Afghanistan in recent days mark many things. The end of America’s longest war, the end of the post-9/11 era and the return of the Taliban. They also constitute the first and perhaps defining foreign policy crisis for US President Joe Biden. To try to make sense of the US side of the momentous Afghanistan story, the Critic’s US Editor, Oliver Wiseman spoke to Jacob Heilbrunn,...

In this episode, The Critic's publisher, Olivia Hartley, speaks to Dr Jon Pike, co-convener of the newly established  Open University Gender Critical Research Network  and a philosopher of sport and ethics, about setting up the UK’s new network for gender-critical academics and the inclusion of transwomen in women’s sport. Jon tells Olivia that, far from being a gender-critical activist group, the...

In this episode of The Critic Podcast , Jo Bartosch is joined by Helen Joyce, the Britain editor of The Economist, to talk about her new book: Trans . Bartosch and Joyce discuss the ideology of the Trans movement, the influences behind this new book and how the direction the Trans movement is taking is damaging to young homosexuals. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iTunes...

In this  Critic  podcast, the writer Alexander Larman tells  The Critic 's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, why he thinks studying English literature at university is becoming such a deadening experience. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iTunes  to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod ( incompetech.com ) Licensed under Crea...

In this podcast,  The Critic 's publisher, Olivia Hartley, talks to journalist and feminist campaigner Julie Bindel about her July feature, "When is a rape not a rape?", which covers LGBT charity Stonewall and its campaign to change the UK’s sex-by-deception clause. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iTunes  to ensure you never you never miss an episode. See acast.com/priva...

Introducing  The Critic 's new column, "This Sporting Life", Graham Stewart talks to the sports writer and  Critic  columnist, Boris Starling, about the enduring appeal of a British Lions tour — and the players who regard it to be more memorable than winning the Rugby World Cup. Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on  Spotify  and  iTunes  to ensure you never you never miss an episode. See ac...

On this week's Critic podcast, our Online editor David Scullion speaks to Christopher Howarth about the plot to remove Theresa May from office. In a real-life political thriller, the senior parliamentary researcher spills the beans for the first time about how his visit to a dying man in hospital secured a vital piece of information which led to the Prime Minister's downfall. Christopher's article...

Why are the membership numbers of the national trust falling? Are they placing themselves in socio-political conversations where they don’t belong? What is the purpose of the Trust in modern society? In this episode, Editorial Assistant at The Critic , Anna Price, speaks to Constance Watson, Assistant Editor of the Catholic Herald and author of the piece: Burned by political expedience in the June...

In this episode of The Critic Podcast , Josephine Bartosch, journalist and regular contributor to The Critic , speaks with Maya Forstater about her recent victory at the Employment Appeals Tribunal. Forstater had lost her job after posting tweets on gender recognition, following which she lost her original case at a tribunal in 2019. However, last week a High Court judge ruled that her "gender-cri...

All major parties agree that the UK needs to cut carbon emissions but is the goal of "Net Zero" achievable or will it leave us, in the words of Steve Baker MP, "quivering under duvets in the dark on windless winter nights"? On this podcast the former Brexit rebel explains his scepticism with The Critic's Online Editor David Scullion. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod ( incompetech.com )...

Should heritage be preserved at all costs or can defunct and forgotten buildings make space for better use? On this week's Critic Podcast, our Online editor David Scullion discusses with Brice Stratford about the restoration of parliament and the heel-dragging by MPs over what should be done. Stratford argues that there are parallels between today and the conditions in 1834 just before the palace...