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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:

Spectator Out Loud: Oliver Basciano, Mary Wakefield and Fiona Mountford Sep 24, 2022

Show notes

This week on Spectator Out Loud, Oliver Basciano warns that we should brace ourselves for a coup in Brazil (00:53). Then, is three – or more – a crowd? Mary Wakefield discuses this in her Spectator column (08:41), before Fiona Mountford tells us about the sad demise of church pews (14:55).
Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.

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The Edition: Cornered Sep 22, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode:
For the cover of the magazine, Paul Wood asks whether Putin could actually push the nuclear button in order to save himself?
He is joined by The Spectator’s assistant online editor Lisa Haseldine, to discuss (01:03).
Also this week:
Why is there violence on the streets of Leicester?
Douglas Murray writes about this in his column this week and we speak to journalist Sunny Hundal and research analyst Dr Rakib Ehsan about what’s caused the disorder (13:44).
And finally:
Is three – or more – a crowd?
Mary Wakefield discusses the poly-problems or polyamory in her column in The Spectator and is joined by comedian Elf Lyons, who has written about her experience of polyamory before (26:46).
Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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Americano: what's going to happen in the midterms? Sep 22, 2022

Show notes

This week Freddy speaks to journalist and political analyst Sean Trende about what we can expect from the November midterms. Is there a red wave incoming? Or will the Democrats do better than expected?

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The Book Club: Rediscovering Josephine Tey Sep 21, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s Book Club podcast we’re talking about the best crime writer you’ve (probably) never heard of. As Penguin reissues three of Josephine Tey’s classic Golden Age novels, I’m joined by Nicola Upson, whose own detective stories (most recently Dear Little Corpses) feature Tey as a central character. She tells me about the unique character of Tey’s writing, her discreet private life, and about how she made possible the psychological crime fiction that we read now.

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Chinese Whispers: life in a mega-city Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

In the last four decades, hundreds of millions of Chinese have moved into cities. Today, two thirds of the country live in urban areas (compared to just one third in 1985), and many of these are hubs with tens of millions of people – mega-cities that many in the West have never heard of before.
What does this fast urbanisation do to communities and tradition? On this episode, Cindy Yu's guest Austin Williams (an architect turned journalist and academic) explains how these populations were thrown up into 'vertical living'. ‘If Ayn Rand had created a country, then China would be it’, says Austin. In other words, the family unit matters more than the community surrounding you.
This episode is a deep dive into urban life in China. Austin and Cindy discuss the residential compounds that we in the West have seen so much of through reporting of China's lockdowns; the demolitions required to pave the way for this wave of urbanisation, which, sadly, left some towns disembowelled without rebuilding (see Austin's film Edge Town about one such settlement outside the city of Suzhou); and they debate whether it's a good thing that traditional Chinese aesthetics are returning to the country's modern architecture.
If you enjoy this podcast, you can now register your interest for an upcoming Chinese Whispers newsletter, at www.spectator.co.uk/whispers.

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Spectator Out Loud: Owen Matthews, Cindy Yu and Alicia Healey Sep 17, 2022

Show notes

This week on Spectator Out Loud, Owen Matthews evaluates Russia’s ultra-nationalist threat (00:55), Cindy Yu reviews Perhat Tarsun’s The Backstreets (12:36) and ex-royal ladies maid Alicia Healey tells us why a handbag was the Queen’s secret weapon (15:22).
Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.

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The Edition: Queen Elizabeth II Sep 15, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s podcast:
We reflect on the life and the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
For The Spectator, A.N. Wilson writes that Queen Elizabeth was a constant in a country that has changed so much, and he is joined on the Edition podcast by Graham Viney author of Last Hurrah: The 1947 Tour of Southern Africa and the End of Empire (00:59).
Also this week:
Michael Hall takes us inside the Royal Collection and discusses the Queen’s relationship with art. He is joined by Susan Ryder, who was commissioned to paint her portrait in 1997 (13:28).
And finally:
Scott Methven recalls his time as piper to the sovereign with Anne Denholm, a former personal harpist to the now King Charles III (22:58).
Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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The Book Club: A.M. Homes Sep 14, 2022

Show notes

My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is A.M. Homes. She talks about her new novel The Unfolding, which imagines a conspiracy of angry Republicans forming after John McCain’s 2008 election defeat in the hopes of taking their America back. She talks about her history of prescience, about the deep weirdness of the Washington she grew up in, and why there’s more than one 'deep state'.

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Table Talk: With Oliver Woodhead Sep 13, 2022

Show notes

Oliver Woodhead is founder of L'Entente, the British brasserie in Paris. On the podcast, he tells Lara and Liv about what the French think about a traditional English breakfast, explains how he was inspired by London's St. John restaurant, and asks what our hosts' favourite ingredient is.

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Marshall Matters: With Laurence Fox Sep 12, 2022

Show notes

This week on Marshall Matters, Winston speaks with actor turned political activist Laurence Fox on his new film My Son Hunter, Biden corruption, being ostracised from the film industry and the importance of free speech.

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