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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:

Chinese Whispers: reinventing the Chinese language Apr 04, 2022

Show notes

After defeat in the Second Opium War, Chinese intellectuals wracked their minds for how the Chinese nation can survive in the new industrialised world. It’s a topic that has been discussed on this podcast before – listeners may remember the episode with Bill Hayton, author of The Invention of China, where we discussed the reformers and revolutionaries like Liang Qichao and Kang Youwei. But for some reformers, the problem with China wasn’t just feudal politics or Confucian staleness, but its ancient language.
Spoken Chinese could be any of a vast number of regional dialects which were too often mutually unintelligible. Meanwhile, written Chinese was extremely complicated, not helping the rock bottom literacy rates of the common people (30 per cent for men and 2 per cent for women). Literary and official writing were also uniformly written in 'classical Chinese', a concise poetic form of the language which was not the way that people spoke (the vernacular). The difference can be thought of as the difference between Latin and English pre-Reformation. Of even more concern was the fact that Chinese wasn’t easily adaptable to the new communication technologies that were revolutionising the world at the time, like telegraphy and typewriters (above, a picture of a 1986 model of the Chinese typewriter). These western-invented methods were based on alphabetic languages – which Chinese simply isn't.
Earlier this year, I reviewed Kingdom of Characters, the new book from Jing Tsu, who is Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale. Jing’s book is an excellent account of the efforts to simplify, modernise and adapt this ancient language from Chinese and westerners alike. She joins me on this episode to talk through all of the problems outlined briefly here, and how a series of reformers, politicians and linguists throughout the 20th century tried to resolve these problems – sometimes with solutions nothing short of extraordinary. Of her mission, Jing says: 'I wanted to put a western reader in the shoes of these adorable, curmudgeonly, hard to take but utterly human Chinese characters'.
We discuss the different upbringings we had – me in the People's Republic of China and Jing in the Republic of China (Taiwan) – and how that impacts our relationship to the traditional and simplified versions of the Chinese script and how important that script is to the Chinese national identity. We talk about the incredible and often positive influence westerners had on this language revolution (a narrative to do with that century of humiliation I didn't hear much about in a traditional Chinese upbringing). And explore whether Chinese could ever be the lingua franca that English is.

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Spectator Out Loud: Christopher Howse, Richard Florida and Olivia Potts Apr 02, 2022

Show notes

On this week's episode, we'll hear from Christopher Howse on the destruction of Ukrainian churches. (00:50)
Next, Richard Florida on how Covid has changed London for the better. (13:52)
And finally, Olivia Potts on her love of the crisp sandwich. (23:56)
Produced and presented by Sam Holmes
Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher.

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Americano: Can the west end the Ukraine war? Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

The Spectator's contributing editor Paul Wood interviews Dr Fiona Hill of the Brookings Institution, who also served as a director within President Trump's national security council, where her brief focused on Europe and Russia. This conversation was a joint production with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting.
Founded in 1991, IWPR is a non-profit organization that works with independent media and civil society to promote positive change in 30 countries around the world. IWPR has been working with media and civil society in Ukraine since 2016 and has local staff in Kyiv, Lviv, and Bila Tserkva, as well as contacts at more than 50 local media and civil society organizations. IWPR’s Executive Director, Anthony Borden, has himself been leading coordination efforts in Ukraine and we are currently supporting local journalists through the Ukraine Voices initiative.

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The Edition: Biden's war Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode: Is Biden’s approach to the war in Ukraine more calculating than it seems?
For this week’s cover piece, in this week’s cover piece, Matt Purple examines Biden’s response to the situation in Ukraine. The good, the bad and the gaffs. He joins the podcast along with the founder of Political Human Emma Burnell. (00:52)
Also this week: How many of Ukraine’s churches have been destroyed?
In this week’s issue, Christopher Howse writes poignantly on the destruction of Ukrainian churches and how Vladimir Putin, a man claiming to be a defender of Christianity is desperate to keep the images of destroyed holy sites out of the news. He joins the podcast along with the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Great Britain, His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas Loulias. (11:26)
And, finally: 40 years on from the Falklands War, why are there still tensions over the islands?
It has been 40 years since the war between the UK and Argentina over the Falklands and in this week’s Spectator Robert Taylor writes about the impact that conflict still has on the territory. He joins the podcast along with native Argentinian and Professor of International Law of The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Marcelo G. Kohen. (22:43)
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

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The Book Club: Helen Bond and Joan Taylor Mar 30, 2022

Show notes

In this week's Book Club podcast, we ask: did the chroniclers of the early Church cover up evidence that the disciples and evangelists of Christ were as often women as men? Sam's guests are the scholars Helen Bond and Joan Taylor, authors of Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples. They pick out the hints and clues that, they say, indicate that women were doing more than just cooking, mourning and anointing in first-century Judaea – despite the difficulties of keeping track of all those Marys and Salomes.

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Table Talk: Lance Forman Mar 29, 2022

Show notes

Lance Forman is the owner of H. Forman & Son, Britain's leading salmon smokers and author of Forman's Games. He was elected a Brexit Party MEP for London in the 2019 European election but quit the party to endorse the Conservatives.
On the podcast, Lance reflects on his childhood in a traditional Jewish upbringing, eating smoked salmon sandwiches every day for his packed lunch. Lance brings in some of the foods made by his gourmet food delivery company, Forman & Field. This included smoked salmon blinis with cream cheese and their latest creation, a Victoria sponge ahead of the Queen's Jubilee.
Come to the East End to learn all about curing and smoking salmon with Lance Forman of H. Forman & Son, suppliers of our celebrated Spectator Winemaker Lunches. Buy your tickets here

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Spectator Out Loud: Damian Thompson, Jade McGlynn and Nick Newman Mar 26, 2022

Show notes

On this week's episode, we'll hear from Damian Thompson on the Patriarch in league with Putin. (00:58)
Next, Jade McGlynn on how Russian TV is presenting the war to its people. (08:46)
And finally, Nick Newman asks how should cartoonists respond to war? (17:35)
Produced and presented by Sam Holmes and Max Jeffery
Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher.

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Women With Balls: the Anji Hunter edition Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

Anji Hunter is the former gatekeeper to Tony Blair's Labour government. She was once described as the most influential non-elected person in Downing Street and became one of Blair's closest confidantes. Acting as an alliance broker, Anji worked across businesses and the media, including Murdoch's empire.
After decades by Blair's side, Anji moved to the private sector to take up various roles across industries from BP to the Royal College of Engineering. As Boris Johnson welcomes the new Anji Hunter of 10 Downing Street, Samatha Cohen, Anji reflects on what it takes to do her former job – you've got to have balls.

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The Edition: Turkey's dilemma Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode: could President Erdogan broker a peace deal between Putin and the West?
For this week’s cover piece, Owen Matthews has written about how Turkey’s President Erdogan became a key powerbroker between Vladimir Putin and the Western alliance. On the podcast, Owen is joined by Ece Temelkuran, a political thinker, author, and writer of the book How to Lose a Country. (1:13)
Also this week: a look at Tina, the drug devastating the gay community.
Dr Max Pemberton has written about Tina, a dangerous drug often used at chemsex parties. Max joins us now along with Philip Hurd, a chemsex rehabilitation professional and trustee of Controlling Chemsex. (14:02)
And finally: Are The Oscars losing their relevance?
Toby Young writes for The Spectator this week about The Oscars ceremony. John Ringo once coined the term ‘get woke and go broke’ to describe businesses that drive consumers away with their politically worthy causes. Could the same be said for The Oscars? Toby joins The Edition podcast along with Fiona Mountford, a theatre critic and regular contributor for The Spectator. (24:51)
Hosted by William Moore.
Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:www.spectator.co.uk/voucher

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Chinese Whispers: the Taiwanese view on Ukraine Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

Taiwan is not Ukraine. But despite the very important differences in their situations, the Russian invasion can still shed much light on Taiwan's future. Even many Taiwanese think so – and have followed the developments closely, with solidarity marches held for Ukraine, protests at the Russian embassy and the Ukrainian flag lighting up Taiwanese buildings.
On this episode of Chinese Whispers, my guests and I discuss the mainstream take on Ukraine (and also the not so mainstream – such as the view that America can't be relied upon, given it hasn't despatched troops to Ukraine). I'm joined by Brian Hioe, editor of New Bloom, an online magazine covering youth culture and politics in Taiwan, and Professor Kerry Brown from Kings College London, author of The Trouble with Taiwan.
We give a primer on Taiwanese politics – what does the thriving democracy look like? How are elections held, and what are the major political parties? We discuss how China – instead of particular social or economic issues – is the main political topic dividing the left and the right (the 'Greens' and the 'Blues'), and whether, with mainstream Taiwanese opinion becoming ever hawkish on China in the aftermath of the Hong Kong National Security Law, the more pro-China forces in Taiwanese politics, such as the Kuomintang, really have a future in the country (Kerry says: ‘I don’t think the KMT can be written off.')
In a crowded continent, there are also other power-brokers. We talk about the influence of America, and where Japan – Taiwan's erstwhile coloniser – fits in with all this. There have been calls for Japan to be more heavily armed in order to deter a Chinese invasion. How would the Taiwanese feel about that? Brian tells me:

‘Views of Japan differ sharply between the pan-green and the pan-blue camp. For the KMT, they remember a lot of the Sino-Japanese war and the crimes committed by the Japanese from that period. But for the pan-greens, who are sometimes descended from those that were in Taiwan for the Japanese colonial period, [remember] the period as a time of higher living standards and improved education, and in which Taiwan is being brought up as a colony rather than these political killings and mass violence, etc. They have a much more romanticised views of a Japanese colonial period.’

In the end, economics may supersede politics. If President Tsai Ing-wen can't deliver on the economy given her tough stance on China (which is still Taiwan's biggest trading partner), then domestic politics may be in for another shakeup. As Kerry says: ‘It’s the issue that we all wrestle with. Their biggest economic partner is also their biggest security threat’.
Additional listening: do tune in to a previous episode with Professor Rana Mitter, if you need a primer on why exactly Taiwan's history means that it is in this position and how the shared language and culture with the People's Republic of China came about
https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/why-does-china-care-about-taiwan-.

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