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Best of the Spectator — News & Politics
Best of the Spectator

Home to the Spectator’s best podcasts on everything from politics to religion, literature to food and drink, and more. A new podcast every day from writers worth listening to.

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Latest Episodes:

The Book Club: Madeleine Bunting May 10, 2023

Show notes

In this week's Book Club podcast my guest is the writer Madeleine Bunting, whose new book is The Seaside: England's Love Affair. She tells me how the great seaside resorts came into their 19th century pomp, how abrupt was their mid-century decline, and of the terrible desolation that has succeeded the idyll of donkey rides, ices and fish and chips.

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Table Talk: Niki Segnit May 09, 2023

Show notes

Niki Segnit is the author of the hit cooking books The Flavour Thesaurus and Lateral Cooking. Her new book The Flavour Thesaurus more flavours: Plant-led pairings, recipes and ideas for cooks, is out this Thursday 11th May.
On the podcast she speaks to Lara and Liv about weird and wonderful flavour combinations, her childhood fascination with Oxo cubes and why she has gone plant-led for her new book.

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Spectator Out Loud: William Moore, Katy Balls, Dan Hitchens and Ysenda Maxtone Graham May 06, 2023

Show notes

This week: William Moore recalls the 1953 coronation with those that were there (01:02), Katy Balls reads her politics column (10:13), Dan Hitchens discusses the art of coronation (16:20) and Ysenda Maxtone Graham reads her review of The Seaside by Madeleine Bunting (25:20).
Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.

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Americano: what's happening to digital media? May 05, 2023

Show notes

Freddy Gray speaks to journalist Ben Smith, whose new book Traffic is an origins story for digital media. On the podcast they discuss how a new genre of journalism was birthed from a desire to cause trouble online, whether woke culture spawned from digital media and if we are nearing the end for the social internet.

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Women With Balls: Sam McAlister May 05, 2023

Show notes

Sam McAlister is a producer and author of Scoops: The BBC's Most Shocking Interviews from Prince Andrew to Steven Seagal. When she worked for Newsnight, she was the producer who secured the infamous interview with Prince Andrew, conducted by Emily Maitlis. This interview eventually led to Prince Andrew being suspended from public duties and stepping back from all of his patronages. McAlister is now being portrayed by the actress Billie Piper in a coming Netflix adaptation of the Prince Andrew interview.
On the episode, she tells Katy about coming from a 'grafting, entrepreneurial' family and how that informed her competitiveness; her brief career in law; and the behind-the-scenes story of how she secured the interview.
Produced by Natasha Feroze and Cindy Yu.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Edition: a King in a hurry May 04, 2023

Show notes

This week:
In his cover piece for the magazine, Daily Mail writer, author of Queen of Our Times and co-presenter of the Tea at the Palace podcast, Robert Hardman looks ahead to the reign of King Charles III. He joins the podcast alongside historian David Starkey, who is interviewed in the arts pages of The Spectator by Lynn Barber (01:10)
Also this week:
Sean Thomas writes about generational reparations, that is: whether families with murky pasts should pay compensation for their ancestors’ wrongdoings. He is joined by Professor Christine Kinealy, historian and author This Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845-52, to ask whether generational reparations are simply a token gesture (20:58).
And finally:
Journalist Yannic Rack writes about the battle to restore Britain's hedgerows in The Spectator. He is joined by Clive Matthew, hedgelayer and founder of the National Hedgelaying Society to learn about the art of hedgelaying (30:29).
Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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The Book Club: Shehan Karunatilaka May 03, 2023

Show notes

My guest in this week's Book Club podcast is Shehan Karunatilaka, author of last year's Booker Prize winner The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Shehan tells me about writing a novel whose protagonist is dead on page one, about putting the chaos of Sri Lanka's long civil war on the page, and about the importance of Shakin' Stevens to a teenager in 1980s Colombo.

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Young and jobless: Is the government letting down China's Generation Z? May 01, 2023

Show notes

Hidden in March’s GDP figures was a shocking statistic – a fifth of Chinese 16 to 24 year olds are out of work. This is a near record high, and the economic background to a fresh wave of disillusionment among China’s young.
It has led to the creation of a new meme - you’ve heard of lying flat, but young people are now comparing themselves to a Republican-era literary character, Kong Yiji.
On this episode, Cindy Yu is joined by the journalist Karoline Kan, author of Under Red Skies: The Life and Times of a Chinese Millennial. They talk about the Kong Yiji trend, why prospects are so thin for the most educated Chinese generation, and what this all means for the government's claims to economic competence.

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Americano: is Joe Biden a good Catholic? Apr 29, 2023

Show notes

Freddy Gray speaks to Ed Condon who is the editor of The Pillar On the podcast they talk about Biden's Catholicism; how it plays out in his politics and whether it will be a big part of his presidential campaign.

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Spectator Out Loud: Mary Wakefield, Jenny McCartney & Robert Gore-Langton Apr 29, 2023

Show notes

This week: Mary Wakefield explains why the NHS is broken; Jenny McCartney on the unproductive 'productivity gurus' and Robert Gore-Langton on Richard Burton’s botched Hamlet.
Produced by Natasha Feroze.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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