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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:

Women With Balls: with Nikki da Costa Oct 22, 2021

Show notes

Nikki da Costa is the former director of legislative affairs at No 10 Downing Street. She served under Theresa May and Boris Johnson and was pivotal in the government's wrangles with Parliament over Brexit. On the podcast, she talks to Katy Balls about why she and David Davis didn't quite get on; why she quit May's government and rejoined under Johnson; and what it was like to carry through her brainchild - the prorogation of Parliament - under scrutiny from the entire country and, eventually, the Supreme Court.

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The Edition: Plan Z Oct 21, 2021

Show notes

In this week’s episode: Who is Eric Zemmour – can he take on President Macron?
In our cover story this week, Freddy Gray looks at the rise of Eric Zemmour, the TV presenter who looks set to stir up French politics ahead of next year’s election. Freddy is joined on the podcast by Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief for The Economist and a biographer of French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss. (00:46)
Also this week: Is the Prevent anti-radicalisation programme failing?
Douglas Murray says in this week’s issue that Prevent is failing to tackle Islamic extremism in the UK. He talks about the changes Prevent needs to make along with William Baldet, a Prevent Coordinator. (11:46)
And finally: what’s it like to dine naked?
Last week Cosmo Landesman went to a dinner party with a twist. All the guests were naked. Cosmo gives some nude dining tips along with Olivia Potts, our cookery columnist. (26:19)
Hosted by Lara Prendergast
Produced by Sam Holmes

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Are progressive elites destroying the idea of America? Oct 21, 2021

Show notes

Freddy Gray talks to the academic Victor Davis Hanson about his latest book The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America.

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The Book Club: James Holland Oct 20, 2021

Show notes

In this week's Book Club podcast Sam is joined by the historian James Holland to talk about his fascinating new book Brothers In Arms: One Legendary Tank Regiment's Bloody War from D-Day to VE-Day. James's story follows the Sherwood Rangers from El Alamein to the D-Day Landings, and on through the last push through Europe into Germany. On the podcast he tells Sam how he put together this richly detailed account and what it was like, hour by hour and day by day, for the men who fought in tanks.

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Podcast special: Can green growth supercharge the north? Oct 20, 2021

Show notes

Will the green agenda really create new jobs - or will the cost of net zero dampen economic growth? Katy Balls, the Spectator's deputy political editor is at Conservative Party Conference for a live recording with:
Will Gardiner, CEO of Drax
Jake Berry MP, chair of the Northern Research Group
Bim Afolami MP, chair of the Parliamentary Renewable & Sustainable Energy Group Shevaun Haviland, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce
Ben Houchen, Tees Valley Mayor

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Aftershock: Education Oct 19, 2021

Show notes

Aftershock is an occasional podcast series by award-winning journalist Isabel Hardman. In every episode she asks how we can fix the damage caused by the pandemic to a different part of British society.
In this episode, Isabel looks at how schoolchildren have been affected by 18 months of lockdowns and remote schooling. Some have been hit harder than others: in fact, there are now more children missing from school rolls than at the start of the pandemic. Where have these ‘ghost children’ gone? And does the government’s response come anywhere close to being enough to stop Covid from being a blight on the rest of their lives, rather than an episode most can easily recover from?
Featuring: James Scales, head of the Education Policy Unit at the Centre for Social Justice; two young people from the Leicestershire Cares charity; Jan Appleton, who is the director of the Eagle’s Nest Project; Lord Blunkett who was education secretary in the Blair government, Rachel de Souza, the children's commissioner for England, and Robert Halfon, the chair of the education select committee.

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Chinese Whispers: Will Xi invade Taiwan? Oct 18, 2021

Show notes

Last week, the US and Canada each sent a warship through the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan has appealed to the US for faster delivery of fighter aircraft. It's been a tense month in the Strait, kicked off by China's celebration of its national day on October 1 through flying a record number of aircraft through Taiwan's air defense identification zone. Could war really happen? Could China really successfully take Taiwan?
Cindy Yu speaks to Oriana Skylar Mastro, fellow at Stanford and the American Enterprise Institute, whose detailed piece for Foreign Affairs took a close look at China's military options: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2021-06-03/china-taiwan-war-temptation.
To find out just why China cares about Taiwan so much, tune into a previous episode of Chinese Whispers where Cindy Yu speaks to Professor Rana Mitter and analyst Jessica Drun: https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/why-does-china-care-about-taiwan-.

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Podcast special: Can fast food ever be green? Oct 17, 2021

Show notes

Can the company that feeds the world beef burgers lead hospitality in reaching net zero? That’s what McDonald’s hopes to do as they lay out their Plan for Change 2021. With 1400 restaurants, over 23,000 British and Irish farmers and four million customers visiting them every day, will it be enough? Or is it just a drop in the ocean? McDonald’s strategy will result in a number of sustainability-oriented improvements in four key areas: Planet, People, Restaurants, and Food. We’ll be taking a look at each one of these, in addition to discussing the challenges the fast-food giant will face. Kate Andrews is joined by a panel of three guests to discuss this and more:
Duncan Baker, Conservative MP for North Norfolk.
Giles Gibbons, founder and CEO, Good Business.
Beth Hart, Vice President Supply Chain and Brand Trust at McDonald’s.
This podcast is sponsored by McDonald’s.

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Spectator Out Loud: Douglas Murray, Paul Wood, Tanya Gold Oct 16, 2021

Show notes

On this week's episode, we’ll hear Douglas Murray on how the pandemic has made cynics of us all. (00:50)
Paul Wood on why after 10 years he and his family are leaving Lebanon. (08:02)
And finally Tanya Gold gives her review of a Batman-themed restaurant. (14:32)
Produced and presented by Sam Holmes

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The Edition: Baby doomers Oct 14, 2021

Show notes

In this week’s episode: Why are a growing number of people putting the planet before parenthood? Madeleine Kearns writes about this phenomenon in this week’s issue and thinks that some of these fears might be unfounded. Tom Woodman author of Future is one of these people that Madeleine’s piece talks about. Tom has very real worries about bringing a child into the world. It's not only the least green thing he could do but also that the standard of living for that child could be severely limited due to a climate catastrophe. (00:47)
Also this week: Has Boris Johnson brought Conservatism full circle? That’s the argument Tim Stanley makes in this week’s Spectator. He joins Lara on the podcast along with one of the MPs mentioned in the piece, Steve Baker. (12:50)
And finally: What is the state of the Booker Prize shortlist? The Booker Prize shortlist has been released and it’s fair to say one of our critics Philip Hensher is not too impressed with the batch. But how are these books selected? What are the criteria? Can a Booker Prize winner be funny? To answer all those questions, Philip joins Lara along with The Spectator’s Books Editor and former Booker judge, Sam Leith. (20:51)
Hosted by Lara Prendergast
Produced by Sam Holmes

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