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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:

The Book Club: was Ernest Bevin Labour's Churchill? Jul 01, 2020

Show notes

In this week's books podcast I'm joined by Alan Johnson and Andrew Adonis to talk about the latter's new biography of a neglected great of British political history: Ernest Bevin: Labour's Churchill. He was, in Andrew's estimation, the man who did most to save Europe from Stalin. So why has Bevin been so forgotten? In what way was he Churchillian? What would he have made of the current state of the Labour party? And will we ever see his like again?
Click here to try 12 weeks of the Spectator for £12 and get a free £20 Amazon gift voucher.

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Coronomics: how countries suffered from 'the lost months' of Covid Jun 30, 2020

Show notes

Reporter at Canada's Globe and Mail, Robyn Doolittle, joins the panel this week to discuss what went wrong in Canada. Speaking to a series of infectious-disease experts, health officials and politicians, Robyn and her team pieced together an image of the 'lost months' - a period between January and March when more should have been done to prevent the pandemic. Also on the podcast: Kate Andrews gives an update on the latest in Leicester; Jennifer Creery reports on Hong Kong's latest worry - an influx of migrant workers; and Fredrik Erixon reflects back on Sweden's laissez-faire approach.
Read the articles discussed here:
Hong Kong: https://asiatimes.com/2020/06/hold-quarantine-centre-plea-as-domestic-workers-return/Sweden: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sweden-self-isolation-in-the-country-that-didnt-do-lockdown-jdjdsc8mmCanada: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/investigations/article-canadas-lost-months-when-covid-19s-first-wave-hit-governments-and/UK: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/hundreds-more-people-diagnosed-covid-4272970
The Spectator is looking for the UK's brightest entrepreneurs for our Economic Innovator of the Year Awards, sponsored by private bank Julius Baer. If you run a business that brings radical positive change and is capable of achieving national or international impact, we want to hear from you. Apply by 1 July at www.spectator.co.uk/innovator.

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Table Talk: Rory Sutherland Jun 29, 2020

Show notes

Rory Sutherland is the vice-chairman of the renowned advertising firm, Ogilvy, and the Spectator's 'Wiki Man' columnist. On the podcast, he talks to Lara and Olivia about everything and anything from the dreadful British food of the 70s, why he loves chain restaurants, and the best and worst kitchen gadgets. As well as his incredibly eclectic and international death row meal.
Table Talk is a series of podcasts where Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts talk to high profile guests about their life story, through the food and drink that has come to define it. Listen to past episodes here.
The Spectator is looking for the UK's brightest entrepreneurs for our Economic Innovator of the Year Awards, sponsored by private bank Julius Baer. If you run a business that brings radical positive change and is capable of achieving national or international impact, we want to hear from you. Apply by 1 July at www.spectator.co.uk/innovator.

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

Spectator Out Loud: Kevin Hurley, Alicia Munckton, and James Delingpole Jun 27, 2020

Show notes

On this week's episode, former police officer Kevin Hurley reads his piece on how top police officers get disillusioned in the job; Alicia Munckton talks about the private-state divide in education during this lockdown; and James Delingpole reviews Alan Bennett's new Talking Heads, and explains why he's not a fan.
The Spectator is looking for the UK's brightest entrepreneurs for our Economic Innovator of the Year Awards, sponsored by private bank Julius Baer. If you run a business that brings radical positive change and is capable of achieving national or international impact, we want to hear from you. Apply by 1 July at www.spectator.co.uk/innovator.

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

Is nuclear power the answer to climate change? Jun 26, 2020

Show notes

Fans of nuclear energy say that it is efficient, reliable, and greener than fossil fuels. The government's Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050 target may not be achievable without a helping hand from nuclear. But its critics say that it's costly for the taxpayer, prone to delays, and damaging for local ecosystems. What's more, Hinkley Point demonstrated the risk of foreign investment in key infrastructure. Is Britain going to need more nuclear power plants, or is there a better way? Kate Andrews speaks to a panel of guests to discuss this and more:
Bim Afolami, Conservative MP for Hitchin and Harpenden
Professor Simon Taylor, author of The Fall and Rise of Nuclear Power in Britain
Julia Pyke, Nuclear Development Director at EDF Energy
This podcast is sponsored by EDF Energy.

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The Edition: the thin blue line Jun 25, 2020

Show notes

On the podcast this week, a former police officer gives his take on why black youths loathe the police (01:05); we discuss why Downing Street would prefer Joe Biden to win (17:25); and will anything really change after the pandemic? (30:50).
With former Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner Kevin Hurley; campaigner Katrina Ffrench; the Spectator's Political Editor James Forsyth; the Spectator's Economics Correspondent Kate Andrews; and our columnists Matthew Parris and Rory Sutherland.
Presented by Cindy Yu.
Produced by Cindy Yu and Beth Stamp.
Click here to try 12 weeks of the Spectator for £12 and get a free £20 Amazon gift voucher.

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

The Book Club: are humans altruistic by nature? Jun 24, 2020

Show notes

In this week’s Book Club podcast my guest is the historian Rutger Bregman. In his new book Humankind, Rutger argues that practically every novelist, psychologist, economist and political theorist has got it all wrong: humans are naturally caring, sharing and altruistic... and far from being the one thing that stands in the way of a Hobbesian war of all against all, 'civilisation' is actually what makes us behave badly. You’re probably thinking: 'Come off it, hippy.' Why not see if he can change your mind?
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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Coronomics: is reopening possible without a tracing app? Jun 23, 2020

Show notes

Germany has launched its contact tracing app, but is it the only way to get out of lockdown? Kate Andrews talks to a panel of international guests and hears about the situation from Italy, where concerns over tourism and getting their cities back are conflicting the residents of Venice and Rome; from Germany, where uptake on the new app has been good; and from America, on how even 'science' is becoming partisan.
With Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli from Rome, Nick Gillespie from New York, and Constantin Eckner from Berlin.
Presented by Kate Andrews.
The Spectator is looking for the UK's brightest entrepreneurs for our Economic Innovator of the Year Awards, sponsored by private bank Julius Baer. If you run a business that brings radical positive change and is capable of achieving national or international impact, we want to hear from you. Apply by 1 July at www.spectator.co.uk/innovator.

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

That's Life: with Leo Kearse Jun 22, 2020

Show notes

Leo Kearse is a Scottish comedian and writer. On the podcast, he talks to Ben and Andy about the irony of alt-right protestors making Nazi salutes in central London; the difficulty in pinning down the changing definition of a 'racist'; and why Patrick Hutchinson, the BLM protestor who carried a man out of a protest getting violent, was his man of the month.
Presented by Andy Shaw and Benedict Spence.
Click here to try 12 weeks of the Spectator for £12 and get a free £20 Amazon gift voucher.

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

Spectator Out Loud: Laurence Fox, Lucy Kellaway and Toby Young Jun 20, 2020

Show notes

This week's episode features actor Laurence Fox on the pitfalls of wrongthink; teacher Lucy Kellaway on the true cost to students of classroom closures; and Toby Young on what happened when he tested negative for antibodies.
The Spectator is partnering with private bank Julius Baer to find the UK's brightest entrepreneurs for our Economic Innovator of the Year Awards. If you run a business that brings radical positive change and is capable of achieving national or international impact, we want to hear from you. Apply by 1 July at www.spectator.co.uk/innovator.

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

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