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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 London survive coronavirus? Aug 06, 2020

Show notes

London is the motor to Britain’s economy, so how can it rebuild after the pandemic? (00:55) How can the new Tory leader in Scotland, Douglas Ross, keep the United Kingdom together? (17:50) And why the looming conflict between India and China isn’t in Kashmir, but rather in the Bay of Bengal. (29:33)
With economist Gerard Lyons; historian Simon Jenkins; The Spectator’s Scotland editor Alex Massie; The Spectator’s political editor James Forsyth; historian Francis Pike; and author Jonathan Ward.
Presented by Katy Balls.
Produced by Gus Carter and Max Jeffery.

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

The Book Club: Adam Rutherford and Thomas Chatterton Williams: talking about race Aug 05, 2020

Show notes

In this week’s podcast, we're replaying an episode that first aired earlier this year, but seems more relevant now than ever. Sam is joined by two writers to talk about the perennially fraught issue of race. There’s a wide consensus that discrimination on the basis of race is wrong; but what actually *is* race? Does it map onto a meaningful genetic or scientific taxonomy? Does it map onto a lived reality - is it possible to generalise, say, about 'black' experience? And can we or should we opt out of or ignore it? Adam Rutherford and Thomas Chatterton Williams approach these issues from very different angles: the former, in How To Argue With A Racist, brings genetic science to bear on the myths and realities of population differences; while the latter describes in Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race how after half a lifetime strongly attached to the idea of his own blackness, the arrival of his blonde haired and blue eyed daughter made him rethink his worldview.
Subscribe to the Spectator's first podcast newsletter here and get each week's podcast highlights in your inbox every Tuesday.

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

Coffee House Shots: What's behind the excess deaths statistics? Aug 04, 2020

Show notes

Statistics released this week showed that England had the worst excess death rate in Europe during the first half of 2020. Katy Balls speaks to Kate Andrews and Carl Heneghan, professor of Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University about what's behind the numbers.
Subscribe to the Spectator's first podcast newsletter here and get each week's podcast highlights in your inbox every Tuesday.

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

Chinese Whispers: what do the 'wolf warrior' diplomats want? Aug 03, 2020

Show notes

Earlier this year, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson gave credence to the conspiracy theory that the US military took coronavirus to China. It's just one example of a new school of diplomacy that has dominated Chinese foreign policy - the 'wolf warriors'. But does this approach work, or does it merely antagonise the world? Professor Todd Hall is a Chinese foreign policy expert at Oxford University, and tells Cindy Yu about what the wolf warriors say about China's view of the world.
A fortnightly podcast on the latest in Chinese politics, society, and more. Presented by Cindy Yu. Listen to past episodes here.
Subscribe to the Spectator's first podcast newsletter here and get each week's podcast highlights in your inbox every Tuesday.

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

Spectator Out Loud: Freddy Gray, Douglas Murray, and Katy Balls Aug 01, 2020

Show notes

On the episode this week, Freddy Gray, editor of the Spectator's US edition, reads his cover piece on the real Joe Biden. We also hear from Douglas Murray on the trial of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp - and about allegations that can't be proved or disproved. At the end, Katy Balls relays the government's anxiety over a second wave.
Subscribe to the Spectator's first podcast newsletter here and get each week's podcast highlights in your inbox every Tuesday.

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

The Edition: who is the real Joe Biden? Jul 30, 2020

Show notes

Joe Biden is leading Donald Trump in the polls, so what is at the root of his appeal? (00:50) The government is anxious about a second wave - can it avoid repeating its mistakes? (11:15) And Rachel Johnson on her generation of high flyers and early retirees (23:30).
With editor of the Spectator's US edition, Freddy Gray; our economics correspondent Kate Andrews; deputy political editor Katy Balls; former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt; journalist Rachel Johnson; and comedian Dominic Frisby.
Presented by Cindy Yu.
Produced by Cindy Yu, Max Jeffery, and Sam Russell.

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

The Book Club: the making of Kew's Palm House Jul 29, 2020

Show notes

In this week's books podcast, Sam's guest is Kate Teltscher, who tells the fascinating story of one of the greatest showpieces of Victorian Britain: the Palm House in Kew Gardens. Though the gardens and their glassy centrepiece are now a fixture of London's tourist map, as her new book Palace of Palms reveals, they very nearly weren't. She tells Sam how a team of brilliant mavericks used cutting-edge science and engineering to build one of the greatest constructions of its era... in just the wrong place. With walk-on parts for Darwin, Humboldt and Alfred Russel Wallace, she reveals the way in which Victorian botany extended its tendrils through the whole Empire, shows how the palm was seen as the "prince of plants", and describes the quest for the palm of all palms, the elusive coco-de-mer.
Subscribe to the Spectator's first podcast newsletter here and get each week's podcast highlights in your inbox every Tuesday.

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

Holy Smoke: can art lead non-believers to Christianity? Jul 28, 2020

Show notes

The new Holy Smoke episode is a significant departure from our usual formula. It’s a discussion about the profound and neglected meaning of Christian art. Professor Ben Quash of King’s College London is interviewed not by me but by Carmel Thompson – my sister, who has appeared twice on Holy Smoke to talk about her battle with ovarian cancer but is determined not to be defined by her illness.
This is a truly engrossing episode inspired by Carmel’s conviction that art depicting Christian subjects – and that includes most of the great art produced in the West up to and including the Renaissance – is too often examined from a purely aesthetic point of view.
Obviously you’ll get far more out of this discussion if you can see what Carmel and Ben are talking about with such infectious enthusiasm, so here are the artworks chosen by Ben.
Holy Smoke is hosted by Damian Thompson, who dissects the most important and controversial topics in world religion, with a range of high profile guests. Click here to find previous episodes.

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What's going on in Portland? Jul 27, 2020

Show notes

Freddy Gray talks to the journalist and author Nancy Rommelmann about the ongoing protests in Portland, Oregon as Trump begins to send in federal forces.
Americano is a series of in-depth discussions on American politics with the best pundits stateside. Presented by Freddy Gray, editor of the Spectator's US edition. Click here to listen to previous episodes.

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

Spectator Out Loud: Owen Matthews, Lionel Shriver, and Peter Hitchens Jul 25, 2020

Show notes

Owen Matthews on Russia's plan to unleash chaos in the West (00:50); Lionel Shriver on the peculiar similarities between the open letter and the ransom note (11:00); and Peter Hitchens on why he won't be wearing a mask when he's giving blood (19:40).
Spectator Out Loud is a weekly podcast featuring some of the writers from the issue that week, reading out their pieces. Click here for previous episodes.

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

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