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:

The Book Club: the kaleidoscopic Beatles Apr 08, 2020

Show notes

My guest in this week's podcast is the multi-talented satirist Craig Brown, whose new book One Two Three Four: The Beatles In Time is, I feel confident in guessing, the most entertaining book about the Fab Four ever written. Craig joins me to talk about how he goes about his jackdaw work picking out the most curious and striking details from the mass of information in his research, what attracts him to his subjects, and why Paul McCartney has always been his favourite Beatle. Plus: a flabbergasting cameo for our own Stephen Bayley.
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.

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

The Book Club: John Carey on a history of poetry Apr 07, 2020

Show notes

This week's Book Club podcast features one of the great wise men of the literary world: Professor John Carey - emeritus Merton Professor of English at Oxford, author of authoritative books on Milton, Donne and Dickens as well as the subject-transforming broadside The Intellectuals and the Masses. (He's also lead book reviewer for a publication we shall call only the S****y T***s, but we pass over that.) In his new book, A Little History of Poetry, he sweeps us with his usual elan from the Epic of Gilgamesh to the backyard of Les Murray. I asked him (among other things) what constitutes poetry, why 'Goosey Goosey Gander' has it all, what he discovered in his researches, and why the so-called New Criticism got old.
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.

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

Americano: could the coronavirus lead to an American secession? Apr 06, 2020

Show notes

Freddy Gray talks to author and professor Frank Buckley about the divisions in American society.
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.

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

Audio Reads: Matthew Parris, Lionel Shriver, and Isabel Hardman Apr 04, 2020

Show notes

The Spectator is meant for sharing. But in the age of coronavirus, that might not be possible. This new podcast will feature a few of our columnists reading out their articles from the issue each week, so that you don't miss out. It's a new format, so tell us what you think at podcast@spectator.co.uk.
Matthew Parris warns against comparing coronavirus to the war, Lionel Shriver fears the economic repercussions, and Isabel Hardman explains why stockpiling hens isn't such a good idea.

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

Holy Smoke: Unlock the churches! Apr 03, 2020

Show notes

Harry Mount, the editor of The Oldie, is appalled that thanks to the coronavirus regulations, he can't seek spiritual comfort in any of Britain's glorious churches. And he's not a religious believer.
In this week's Holy Smoke podcast, Harry tells me why the ban on even entering a church is so pointless: he describes it as a giant exercise in 'our old friend, virtue-signalling' by the Anglican and Catholic hierarchies. I couldn't agree more. It was the bishops, not the Government, who came up with the idea of a total lockdown. One minute they're opening their cathedrals to helter-skelters and crazy golf; the next they're grossly exaggerating the health risks of solitary and well-regulated visits to churches. (No one disputes that a temporary ban on public liturgies is necessary.)
But this episode is about much more than the current outbreak of control-freakery from their Lordships. Harry Mount is an agnostic; why does he feel the need to visit churches? His answer to this question is fascinating and uplifting.
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.

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

The Edition: coronomics and the reality of a surreal crash Apr 02, 2020

Show notes

On the podcast this week, we take a look at the exceptional nature of 'coronomics' and what comes after (00:55), how the Swedish are dealing with coronavirus differently (18:50), and lessons in solitude from a polar explorer (31:15).
With Kate Andrews, Lionel Barber, Fredrik Erixon, Yascha Mounk and Geoff Wilson.
Presented by Cindy Yu.
Produced by Cindy Yu and Gus Carter.

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

That's Life: with Andrew Doyle Apr 01, 2020

Show notes

On the latest episode, Andy and Benedict talk to comedian and author Andrew Doyle, the brains behind the Twitter persona 'Titania McGrath'. Andrew explains just why he's so suited to self-isolation, the politicisation of coronavirus, and which quarantined celebrities he feels most sorry for.
That's Life is a sideways look at the events, people, words and ideas that shape the news agenda. Presented by Spectator Life’s satirist Andy Shaw and political commentator Benedict Spence. Find previous episodes here.

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

The Book Club: the warm, generous side of Andy Warhol Mar 31, 2020

Show notes

On this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam is joined by Blake Gopnik — the author of a monumental new biography of Andy Warhol. Blake tells Sam how everything — fame, money, and other human beings — were 'art supplies' to Warhol, but that underneath a succession of contrived personae Warhol could be warm, generous and even romantic; that the affectlessness of his art was not the expression of an affectless man; and that if he’d lived on, Gopnik thinks, he could have produced something equal to the late work of Titian.
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.

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

Holy Smoke: Beethoven's victory over sickness and fear Mar 30, 2020

Show notes

This week's Holy Smoke podcast is a celebration of what must surely be the most inspiring piece of music ever written by a sick man recovering from illness – the slow movement of Beethoven's String Quartet, Op. 132, which he entitled 'A Song of Thanksgiving to the Deity by a Convalescent'.
The relevance of this sublime music hardly needs spelling out. But what makes this episode particularly special is that, when they learned of the plans for the podcast, a brilliant young string quartet based in Kansas City, which calls itself The Opus 76 String Quartet, offered to record it for us. And that's what they did, without charging a fee, in the lovely acoustic of Visitation Parish Church just before it closed its doors because of the virus. They made a video of their luminous performance, which you can find on the Spectator's website, and there are two short extracts in the episode.
My guest is the leader of the quartet, Keith Stanfield, who must be the only classical chamber musician in history to have played football in a World Cup qualifying match, for his mother's country, Western Samoa. I couldn't resist asking him about that.
He and his colleagues went to heroic lengths to play Beethoven's 'Song of Thanksgiving' for Holy Smoke. Do tune in.
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.

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

Audio Reads: Douglas Murray, Tanya Gold, and Mark Mason Mar 28, 2020

Show notes

The Spectator is meant for sharing. But in the age of coronavirus, that might not be possible. This new podcast will feature a few of our columnists reading out their articles from the issue each week, so that you don't miss out. It's a new format, so tell us what you think at podcast@spectator.co.uk.
Douglas Murray asks, where do we find purpose? Tanya Gold writes on the Cornish revolt against second-home owners, and Mark Mason's gives tips from history on working from home.

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

Related Podcasts