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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.

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

Latest Episodes:

Blue Murder Jul 14, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode:
The knives are out in the Tory leadership fight, who looks likely to make the final two?
Fraser Nelson writes this week’s cover piece about the Tory leadership race. He’s joined by the Telegraph’s Allison Pearson (0.49).
Also this week:
Mary Wakefield challenges Stonewall's guidelines for parents with trans children. One of these parents is Tammy Plunkett, a former nurse, life coach and author ofBeyond Pronouns (21.43).
And finally:
James Ball reviews Matthew Ball’s The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionise Everything for the magazine this week. James is joined by Sid Venkataramakrishnan from the Financial Times to discuss the future of the Metaverse (36.21)
Hosted by Lara Prendergast & William Moore
Produced by Natasha Feroze
Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher: www.spectator.co.uk/voucher

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

The Book Club: Partition Voices Jul 13, 2022

Show notes

Sam's guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is Kavita Puri, whose book Partition Voices excavatesthe often traumatic memories of the last generation to remember first-hand the mass migration and bloody violence of the partition of India. She tells Sam why the story has been so shrouded in silence – there isn’t a memorial to Partition, she says, anywhere on earth – and yet how it has shaped the UK’s population and politics ever since, and she says why she believes it’s vital that empire and the end of empire be taught in every British school.

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Investing today: how tech can change the face of finance Jul 12, 2022

Show notes

Staying on top of your personal finances has never been easier. Anyone can now buy and sell stocks at the tap of a phone screen, with even more progress in fintech just around the corner. What does this bold new world of investing mean for markets, policymakers and everyday investors? Does smart technology mean easy decisions? Will technology ever replace the human touch? And what tools are out there for the less digitally savvy?

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Chinese Whispers: the next technological arms race Jul 11, 2022

Show notes

Semiconductors are the most important thing that you've never heard of. These little computer chips provide the processing power for everything from cars and iPhones, to unmanned drones and missiles. In Beijing's Made in China 2025 industrial strategy, through which China seeks to move up the value chain to become a high-tech superpower, semiconductor self-sufficiency was one of the targets.
Beijing is falling far behind on this target. MIC 2025 stated the aim of meeting 70 per cent of China's demand through domestic production by 2025, but, seven years on, it is only meeting 20 per cent of its domestic needs (by one estimate). The world's leading manufacturer of semiconductors is in fact in Taiwan. The Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company dominates more than half the global market, and controls 90 per cent of the cutting edge 5 to 10 nanometre sector (in this industry, size matters; the smaller the chip, the better). Even American companies like Intel outsource a substantial amount of production to TSMC.
A tech arms race is underway. In order to control the supply of this small but vital component, China and the US are desperately funnelling money into their own national champions, whilst 'kneecapping' each other's efforts, as Nigel Inkster tells Cindy Yu on this episode. He's the former director of operations and intelligence at MI6 and author of The Great Decoupling: China, America and the Struggle for Technological Supremacy.
They discuss Washington's relatively effective efforts on this front – from instituting export controls on western companies (not just American) that supply Chinese semiconductor companies, to pressurising TSMC to share its know-how worldwide (TSMC will open an Arizona branch in two years, thanks to pressure from President Trump). It's got wolf warrior and Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian hopping mad; he has accused the Americans of practising 'technological terrorism'.
Yet America's approach could be instructive for the UK, where there's a live political question over the Chinese acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab, a relatively low-end semiconductor manufacturing site that is the subject of an ongoing national security review.
Some in the West also fear that TSMC's success will lure China to invade Taiwan, while some in Taipei see the company as their 'silicon shield', Nigel says, as its accidental destruction (or at the hands of the Taiwanese or American governments) may deter China from an aggressive incursion.
On the episode, Nigel and Cindy discuss all this and more (whether China is inherently less innovative, how painful and inevitable a tech arms race would be, and Nigel's reaction to MI5 and the FBI's recent joint warning about Chinese espionage).

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Spectator Out Loud: Kate Andrews, Sean Thomas and Toby Young Jul 08, 2022

Show notes

On this week's episode: Kate Andrews on why Rishi quit (0:26). Sean Thomas on Russian émigrés who hate the war but will fight for Russia (08:32) and Toby Young on his appreciation for the other Toby Young (13.13).
Presented and produced by Natasha Feroze.

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Americano: What can Biden get from his Saudi Arabia trip? Jul 08, 2022

Show notes

Freddy Gray speaks to the journalist and The Atlantic staff writer Graeme Wood about Joe Biden’s upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia and what he will discuss with the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

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The Edition: After Boris Jul 07, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode:
After Boris, who's next?
On the day the Prime Minister resigns, Katy Balls and James Forsyth discuss the aftermath of Boris Johnson’s premiership. Who might be the next Tory leader? (0.51).
Also this week:
Who are the wealthy Russian émigrés ready to fight in the war?
Sean Thomas talks with Moscow-based journalist, Gabriel Gavin about the Russian émigrés who hate the war, but know they have to win it (19.56).
And finally:
Are 20mph speed limits causing more trouble than Brexit?
Ysenda Maxtone Graham makes this case in the magazine this week. She's joined by Cllr Johnny Thalassites from the Kensington and Chelsea borough. (22.26)
Hosted by Lara Prendergast & William Moore
Produced by Natasha Feroze.
Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher: www.spectator.co.uk/voucher

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

The Book Club: Lindsay Fitzharris Jul 06, 2022

Show notes

My guest in this week's Book Club podcast is Lindsey Fitzharris – whose new book is The Facemaker: One Surgeon's Battle to Mend the Disfigured Soldiers of World War I. At its centre is the compelling figure of Harold Gillies – ace golfer, practical joker, and pioneer of the whole field of plastic surgery. Lindsey tells me about the extraordinary advances he made and the will and skill that drove them; and the poignant story of how victims of facial disfigurement were the invisible casualties of the conflict.

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Table Talk: Lily Dunn Jul 05, 2022

Show notes

Lily Dunn is a writer, teacher and lecturer in creative writing and narrative non-fiction at Bath Spa University. Her latest book Sins of my father: a daughter, a cult, a wild unravelling is out now. On the podcast, Lily talks about her first memories picking blackberries in Cornwall, her love for all kinds of toast and her culinary experiences in Italy.

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Spectator briefings: A greener future for the north Jul 04, 2022

Show notes

Will the government's plans for revitalising the north be hampered by its plans for decarbonisation? There's increasing concern in Whitehall that these agendas contradict each other, but there's no reason that green jobs and projects can't benefit Britain's 'forgotten communities' too.
How do we ensure the north benefits from a greener, more prosperous future? How can industry best play a role? Join The Spectator's Kate Andrews as she hosts
Clare Harbord,Group Director of Corporate Affairs, Drax. Rt Hon Jake Berry MP,Chairman, NRG. Tom Pope, Deputy Chief Economist, Institute for Government and Valentine Quinio, Analyst, Centre for Cities.
The event was kindly sponsored by Drax.

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