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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:

Americano: the unbearable mawkishness of modern American politics Dec 04, 2020

Show notes

From Brett Kavanaugh to Joe Biden, American politics too often seems to be a display of emotions rather than policies. On the podcast, Freddy Gray talks to political analyst Thomas Frank, author of The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism.

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The Edition: The Sturgeon paradox Dec 03, 2020

Show notes

Despite her government’s underperformance on education, health and Covid-19, Nicola Sturgeon’s popularity continues to climb – why? (01:10) Does spending more on overseas aid mean we care more? (14:05) And finally, are we all followers of the cult of casualness? (26:25)
With The Spectator’s Scotland editor Alex Massie, former SNP finance spokesperson Andrew Wilson, development adviser Gilbert Greenall, former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell, journalist Melanie McDonagh and editor of The Oldie, Harry Mount.
Presented by Lara Prendergast.
Produced by Max Jeffery, Cindy Yu and Matt Taylor.

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The Book Club: Shuggie Bain Dec 02, 2020

Show notes

Sam's guest on this week's Book Club podcast is the winner of the 2020 Booker Prize, Douglas Stuart. His first novel, Shuggie Bain, tells the story of a boy growing up in poverty in 1980s Glasgow with an alcoholic single mother. It's a story close to the author's own. He joins Sam from the States to tell him about the ten years he spent writing the book and the dozens of rejections he had from publishers, how moving to the States made him see Glasgow more clearly - and how he went from growing up in a house without books to winning the Booker prize for his first novel.
The Book Club is a series of literary interviews and discussions on the latest releases in the world of publishing, from poetry through to physics. Presented by Sam Leith, The Spectator's Literary Editor. Hear past episodes here.

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Table Talk: with Pen Vogler Dec 01, 2020

Show notes

Pen Vogler is the author of Scoff, which describes the history of food in the British class system. On the podcast, she tells Lara and Liv about being vegetarian for a year, eating at Oxford colleges in the 1980s, and why avocados are so popular.
Table Talk is a series of podcasts where Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts talk to celebrity guests about their life story, through the food and drink that has come to define it. Listen to past episodes here.

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Americano: Will the Biden presidency mean more wars? Nov 30, 2020

Show notes

Joe Biden's supporters say he will restore America's standing in the world, but with his foreign policy team looking like an Obama-era reunion, will the country simply become more interventionist? Freddy Gray speaks to Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, senior adviser at the Quincy Institute, about whether a Biden presidency will mean more wars.
Americano is a series of in-depth discussions on American politics with the best pundits stateside. Presented by Freddy Gray, editor of Spectator USA. Click here to listen to previous episodes.

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The Week in 60 Minutes: Vaccine scepticism and the Brexit deadline Nov 29, 2020

Show notes

Andrew Neil is joined by Sir Ivan Rogers, the UK's permanent representative to the EU between 2013 and 2017; Dr Stuart Ritchie, a behavioural scientist at Kings College London; and a team of Spectator journalists.
On this week's episode, we discuss how the government plans to pay for coronavirus; whether you can persuade vaccine sceptics; and if a Brexit deal is on the horizon.
To watch the show, go to www.spectator.co.uk/tv.

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Spectator Out Loud: Rod Liddle, Paul Embery and Rachel Johnson Nov 28, 2020

Show notes

On this week's episode, Rod Liddle reflects on the public sector pay freeze, and wonders why teachers won't teach. (00:50) Next, Paul Embery argues that the Labour Party has become disassociated with the working class. (07:03) Finally, Rachel Johnson explains why she wishes Christmas was cancelled. (17:40)

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Women With Balls: with Gillian Keegan Nov 27, 2020

Show notes

Gillian Keegan is the minister for apprenticeships and skills, and Conservative MP for Chichester. She previously worked at Natwest, Mastercard, Travelport and Amadeus. On the podcast, she tells Katy about growing up in a Labour stronghold, working in a car factory, pitching to be apprenticeships minister, and having her social life ruined by a friend's advice to have a perm.
Women With Balls is a podcast series where Katy Balls speak to women at the top of their games. To hear past episodes, visit spectator.co.uk/balls.

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The Edition: when will the country truly recover from the virus? Nov 26, 2020

Show notes

The vaccine might be just around the corner, but can the country truly recover? (01:00) How can the Labour party win back the working class? (11:15) And finally, should we celebrate the new statue of Mary Wollstonecraft? (23:10)
With The Spectator's political editor James Forsyth, chair of the Health Select Committee Jeremy Hunt, firefighter and writer Paul Embery, Times Radio presenter and former Labour MP Gloria de Piero, The Spectator's radio critic Kate Chisholm, and Spectator contributor and feminist writer Julie Bindel.
Presented by Lara Prendergast.
Produced by Cindy Yu, Max Jeffery, Matt Taylor and Sam Russell.

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The Book Club: War Against the BBC Nov 25, 2020

Show notes

On this week's Book Club podcast, we're talking about a subject that never ceases to arouse strong feelings: Auntie Beeb. Sam's guests, Patrick Barwise and Peter York, say - in their new book The War Against The BBC: How an unprecedented combination of hostile forces is destroying Britain's greatest cultural institution... And why you should care - that if we lose the BBC we will miss it. But isn't it a soft-left Establishment mouthpiece, riddled with groupthink and funded by an anachronistic and unjustifiable tax? Isn't it a market-distorting, bureaucratic, top-heavy behemoth that we're better off without? They make the case, here, for why not.

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