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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:

The Edition: Can Elon Musk take on the tech censors? Apr 28, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode: Is Elon Musk heading for a clash with the British Government over free speech?
Elon Musk is buying Twitter. But might the Tesla CEO be in for a battle he wasn’t expecting with the UK government? Spectator Editor Fraser Nelson writes about this potential clash in this week’s issue and he joins the podcast to expand on his thesis. (00:49)
Also this week: Where is it ever ok to stare at someone?
If you’ve been on the tube recently you might have spotted a rather startling sign. This poster warns passengers about intrusive staring on public transport, so as to protect women from feeling intimidated on their commute. But who, we ask, will speak up for those who love staring at people on public transport? The answer is Cosmo Landesman who defends his love of people watching in this week’s Spectator. He joins the podcast along with Emily Hill who also has written for us on how silly she thinks this policy is. (09:56)
And finally: Is getting a fringe a cry for help?
Martha Gill writes in this week’s Spectator on the subject of fringes. Why have they come to signify a difficult or traumatic phase in a woman’s life? She joins the podcast along with celebrity hairdresser Cristiano Basciu who has a defence of the fringe. (17:35)
Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore
Produced by Sam Holmes
Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:www.spectator.co.uk/voucher
Listen to Lara's food podcast Table Talk: https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk

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

Women With Balls: the Nadine Dorries edition Apr 28, 2022

Show notes

Nadine Dorries is the Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sports and MP for Mid Bedfordshire. After leaving school at 16, Dorries went on to become a nurse and an entrepreneur before entering politics at the age of 49. She was a minister in the Department of Health during the pandemic, and in her current role is leading five bills at DCMS through Parliament, including the controversial Online Safety Bill.
On the podcast, she talks to Katy Balls about her plans for the BBC and Channel 4, why she believes much of the criticism against her comes from those unable to accept her background, and where her red line would be in sticking up for Boris Johnson, as one of his most loyal allies.

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The Book Club: Stephen Dodd Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

In this week's Book Club podcast, our subject is the Japanese writer Yukio Mishima - whose novel Beautiful Star is being published in English for the first time this month. My guest is its translator Stephen Dodd, who explains the novel's peculiar mixture of profound seriousness and humour, and its mixture of high literary seriousness with, well, flying saucers. He tells me about Mishima's sheltered life and shocking death, his place in Japanese literary culture, and the way the hydrogen bomb hangs over this remarkable and strange novel.

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Table Talk: Ameer Kotecha Apr 26, 2022

Show notes

Ameer Kotecha is a British diplomat, pop-up chef and food writer. His first cookbook the Platinum Jubilee Cookbook, in which he chronicles 70 recipes related to the Royals, Diplomacy and the Commonwealth comes out on April 28th. He has also launched alongside Fortnum & Mason's the Platinum Pudding competition, which hopes to discover the next best British dessert.
On the podcast, Ameer talks to Lara and Liv about how his childhood was the perfect blend of British food with Indian influences, how he ran a school-wide campaign for seconds and how in all of his years as a diplomat, he has never been offered a Ferrero Rocher.
For more recipes and recommendations, sign up to The Spectator’s free monthly food and drink email, The Take Away, at www.spectator.co.uk/oliviapotts

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A vision for the future: Can Britain become a biotech superpower? Apr 25, 2022

Show notes

The UK's vaccine programme was hailed by the government as a success story for Global Britain. It became an example of how Britain could speed up regulation, reduce bureaucracy and become a worldwide home for tech and innovation in life sciences.
The government recently published a Life Sciences Vision, but how much vision was there? This podcast will look at the importance of the industry, the hurdles that it faces and its contribution to the government's Global Britain agenda.
Fraser Nelson, the editor of The Spectator is joined by Anthony Browne, Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire; Zoe Martin, a policy manager at Cancer Research and Samin Saeed who is the medical director & chief scientific officer for Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd.
This podcast is kindly sponsored by Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd.

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The Week in 60 Minutes: Macron's ego and Putin's propaganda Apr 24, 2022

Show notes

John Connolly, The Spectator's news editor, is joined by Mark Galeotti, director of Mayak Intelligence; Freddy Gray, The Spectator's deputy editor; Cindy Yu, The Spectator's broadcast editor; Jade McGlynn, a Russia expert from the University of Oxford; James Forsyth, The Spectator's political editor; Katy Balls, The Spectator's deputy political editor; Isabel Hardman, The Spectator's assistant editor; and Spectator contributor Jonathan Miller.
This episode:
(01:35) Can Boris Johnson keep going? With Katy Balls, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman
(16:17) Why are Russians supporting the Ukraine war? With Mark Galeotti and Jade McGlynn
(34:32) – Shanghai lockdown: when will it end? With Cindy Yu?
(48:53) – Marcon vs Le Pen: who won the TV debate? With Freddy Gray and Jonathan Miller

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Spectator Out Loud: Jonathan Miller, Cindy Yu and Laura Freeman Apr 23, 2022

Show notes

On this week's episode, Jonathan Miller says that whoever wins France's election on Sunday, the country is going to the dogs. (01:00) After, Cindy Yu says that China's online censors are struggling to suppress critics of the Shanghai lockdown. (07:47) And, to finish, Laura Freeman reviews a Walt Disney exhibition at the Wallace Collection. (12:06)
Entries for this year's Innovator Awards, sponsored by Investec, are now open. To apply, go to: www.spectator.co.uk/innovator

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Women With Balls: Generation spent Apr 22, 2022

Show notes

The cost of living is rising, as is the cost of renting. Zoopla estimates that rents are rising at the fastest rate in 14 years, which means that the average rent in the UK is now over £1000 a month.
This is partly a pandemic effect, especially in London as people return to offices. But Covid has also shaken people’s financial security - the Citizens Advice Bureau found that more than one in three renters felt insecure about their ability to stay in their tenancy during the pandemic. And women were disproportionately impacted - during the pandemic, mothers were more likely to be put on furlough or even lose their jobs.
Rising prices are not the only problem with the UK’s private rentals market - slow or unethical landlords, unsafe properties or short term tenancies are all problems faced by renters. What more can be done for the almost five million private renters in the UK?
Katy Balls, The Spectator's deputy political editor is joined by Nickie Aiken, the Conservative MP for Cities of London and Westminster; Karen Buck, the Labour MP for Westminster North, who is also the vice-chair for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the private rental sector; and Esther Dijkstra, managing director of Intermediaries at Lloyds Banking Group, who are kindly sponsoring this podcast.

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The Edition: How much longer can Boris Johnson keep going? Apr 21, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode: Is Boris going to limp on?
In her cover piece this week, Katy Balls writes that although Boris Johnson believes he can survive the partygate scandal, he has some way to go until he is safe, while in his column, James Forsyth writes about why the Tories have a summer of discontent ahead of them. They both join the podcast to speculate on the Prime Minister’s future. (00:44)
Also this week: Why is the Rwandan government taking our asylum seekers?
We have heard the arguments behind the Home Office’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda. But why is Rwanda up for this arrangement? Michela Wrong, the author of Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad, explores this question in this week’s Spectator and she joins the podcast along with MP Andrew Mitchell. (14:50)
And finally: Can AI take on the art world?
Sean Thomas writes in this week’s magazine about how some AI programs appear to have become rather good at painting. But what does this mean for the future of art? He joins the podcast along with Lukas Noehrer the organiser of The Alan Turing Institute’s AI & Arts group and Professor Stefano Ermon of Stanford whose research has made much of this technology possible. (28:16)
Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore
Produced by Sam Holmes
Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:www.spectator.co.uk/voucher
Listen to Lara's food podcast Table Talk: https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk

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

The Book Club: Gideon Rachman Apr 20, 2022

Show notes

Sam's guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is the FT’s foreign affairs columnist Gideon Rachman. In his new book The Age of the Strongman, he takes a global look at the rise of personality-cult autocrats. He tells Sam what they have in common, what’s new about this generation of strongman leaders - and why his book places Boris Johnson in a cast including Putin, Orban, Bolsonaro and Duterte.

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

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