Best of the Spectator - TopPodcast.com

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

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:

Lessons from history: improving UK railways for passengers Mar 10, 2022

Show notes

The UK has recently lifted almost every Covid restriction and with that, thousands of commuters will return to their offices. Will those memories of delays, cancellations, costly tickets and overcrowding come back to haunt the commuter? Most of the problems are linked to the patchwork of Victorian infrastructure that has struggled to meet the demands of the modern-day passenger.
With grandstanding projects like Hs2 dominating the headlines, is this the kind of investment that's best spent for the consumer? And with other issues on the rise, such as extreme weather conditions, inflation and flexible working patterns, how will the industry prepare itself?
Joining Kate Andrews for this Spectator Briefings podcast is writer, broadcaster and specialist in railways, Christian Wolmar, Caroline Donaldson who is the managing director of West Coast Partnership Development. Finally, Wendy Morton, the Rail Minister at the Department for Transport.
This podcast is kindly sponsored by West Coast Partnership.

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

Women With Balls: how to fight back online scams? Mar 09, 2022

Show notes

During the pandemic, we spent more time online than ever before and this has seen a boom in online fraud. It's estimated that scam adverts have tricked 1 in 10 people on the biggest online platforms into paying for fake products. In 2020, almost 150,000 fraud cases were recorded with losses reported of up to £500 million.
For the scammers, they will do anything to convince you to key in your card details and this problem has shown no sign of slowing down. The online safety bill is expected to pass Parliament in March 2022. As things stand, the government hasn't included online fraud as a type of harm when it comes to certain adverts. So could the online safety bill be an effective solution?
To discuss this, Katy Balls is joined by Nicky Morgan, former Culture Secretary and chair of the Treasury Select Committee. Now a member of the House of Lords, Nicky is chairing a new inquiry into digital fraud. Also on the podcast is Lucy Powell, the Shadow Culture Secretary for Labour and Liz Ziegler who is the retail bank fraud and financial crime director at Lloyds Banking Group.
This podcast is kindy sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group.

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

The Book Club: Tom Burgis Mar 09, 2022

Show notes

In this week's Book Club podcast, Sam talks to the investigative reporter Tom Burgis – just days after the High Court threw out an attempt from a London-based company run by eastern European oligarchs to suppress his book Kleptopia: How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World. Tom tells Sam how massacres in Kazakhstan connect to the City of London, how western legal frameworks struggle to cope with international crime, how international kidnapping can be perfectly legal, why Tony Blair helped launder the reputation of a blood-soaked dictator – and how the conflict in Ukraine is the new front line of an ongoing world war between kleptocracy and democracy.

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

Americano: The kleptocratic connections between the US and Ukraine Mar 09, 2022

Show notes

Freddy sits down with Casey Michel, author of the book American Kleptocracy. On the podcast Casey talks about the curious and rather shady financial ties between Ukraine and America.

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

Marshall Matters: Svyatoslav Vakarchuk Mar 07, 2022

Show notes

On this week's episode of Marshall Matters, Winston speaks with Svyatoslav Vakarchuk in Ukraine. Svyatoslav is the lead singer of Ukraine’s biggest band, Okean Elzy. He has also served in the Ukrainian parliament. Speaking to him on the eleventh day of conflict he describes his experience so far, the atmosphere of his invaded country and what he hopes for looking forward.

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

Chinese Whispers: Freud and China – a love affair Mar 07, 2022

Show notes

This episode of Chinese Whispers is slightly different – instead of taking a look at a theme within China, Cindy and her guest see China through the eyes of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Professor Craig Clunas, chair of art history at Oxford University, has curated a new exhibition at London’s Freud Museum, which displays Freud’s collection of Chinese antiquities. On this episode, Cindy talks to Craig about what these pieces – jades and figurines – meant to Freud, especially in the context of 20th century Europe, where there was appreciation of Chinese art but, as they discuss, not quite the matching level of knowledge. They also chat about the reception of Freud’s theories in China, especially given the country’s turbulent intellectual history since the May Fourth Movement a hundred years ago. Craig sums up the love affair between Freud and China nicely:
‘Just like Freud is using his Chinese things to think with, Chinese thinkers are using Freud to think with.’
The exhibition itself is small but fascinating, and runs until 26 June.
As mentioned in the episode, here is the link to a previous edition of Chinese Whispers with Rana Mitter, for those who want to hear more about China since the May Fourth Movement: https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/china-s-long-history-of-student-protests.

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

Spectator Out Loud: Freddy Gray, Lionel Shriver and Philip Patrick Mar 05, 2022

Show notes

On this week's episode, we'll hear from Freddy Gray on his time spent on the Poland–Ukraine border. (00:52)
Next, Lionel Shriver on the return of actual badness. (06:28)
And finally, Philip Patrick on the strange east Asian practice of hiring a ‘White Monkey’. (15:13)
Produced and presented by Sam Holmes
Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher.

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

The Edition: Putin's rage Mar 03, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s episode: What’s the mood on the ground in Ukraine and Russia?
For this week’s cover piece, Owen Matthews asks whether the invasion of Ukraine will mean the end of Putin’s regime. And in this week’s Spectator diary, Freddy Gray reports on pride and paranoia on the streets of Lviv. They join the podcast, to talk about Russia’s future and Ukraine’s present. (00:49)
Also this week: Is Germany ready to tackle its dependence on Russian gas?
In response to Russia’s invasion, Germany has abandoned its Nord Stream 2 pipeline, sent lethal weapons to Ukraine and, most strikingly of all, has committed to the Nato target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence - a €100 billion fund. James Forsyth, who writes about Germany’s new reality in this week’s magazine, joins the podcast along with Stefanie Bolzen, a journalist for Welt. (17:18)
And finally: Are traditional British brands losing their soul?
Harry Wallop, in this week’s Spectator, wonders why some of Britain's oldest and most distinctive brands are trashing their reputation. They are selling out, changing the very thing that made them special in order to appeal to foreign millionaires. He joins the podcast along with a popular culture expert. Nick Ede.(29:40)
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: Christopher de Bellaigue Mar 02, 2022

Show notes

In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam is joined by the historian Christopher de Bellaigue to talk about The Lion House, his scintillating and idiosyncratic new book about the great Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. It’s all here: massacres, sieges, over-mighty viziers, Venetian perfidy, and… true love?

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

Marshall Matters: Artemy Troitsky Feb 28, 2022

Show notes

On this week’s episode of Marshall Matters, Winston speaks with Russian author, journalist and culture and music historian Artemy Troitsky. Troitsky has had a long history of being anti-establishment. In the 80s he was blacklisted by the Soviet Union. But it wasn’t until Putin's rule that he felt he finally had to leave his motherland. We discuss the current conflict, Putin and the mindset of Russians today.

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

Related Podcasts