Best of the Spectator

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**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:

Coffee House Shots: Is the May-Corbyn TV debate pointless? Nov 27, 2018

Show notes

With James Forsyth and the New Statesman's Stephen Bush.

Presented by Katy Balls.

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Podcast Special: The future of mobility – low-carbon transport for 2040 Nov 27, 2018

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What will transport look like in the year 3000? Busted thought we would live underwater, but perhaps we’ll have even figured out zero carbon travelling. This year the government made its own prediction in the form of the ‘Road to Zero’ strategy - new petrol and diesel cars are to be banned by 2040.

Is this another example of the government ‘helping’ unhelpfully? We posed the question to a panel of the leading voices of authority in the debate in a special podcast, sponsored by Shell. The resounding answer was in fact – no, government direction is helpful, in this at least.

Fraser Nelson spoke to Edmund King, the President of the AA and the voice of British motorists; Chris Stark, chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, an independent organisation that reviews government policies on the environment; and Sinead Lynch, Shell’s UK Country Chair. In a incisive half an hour chat, they talk about the big challenges facing low carbon transport today – the appalling lack of infrastructure for charging electric vehicles, the possibility of using hydrogen – yes, really – as an alternative to petrol, and the helpfulness of government targets.

Sponsored by Shell.

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Coffee House Shots: Macron's fisheries warning signals more Brexit trouble ahead Nov 26, 2018

Show notes

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Presented by Cindy Yu.

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Is May's deal worse than EU membership? Nov 23, 2018

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With Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson.

Presented by Lara Prendergast

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The Spectator Podcast: how toxic is May's political legacy? Nov 22, 2018

Show notes

This week, Theresa May is putting the final touches on her Brexit deal – but is this a point to celebrate, or has she left behind an irrevocably toxic legacy (00:40)? We also take a look at the Democratic Party’s new darling – Beto O’Rourke (13:10); and last, are British parents too obsessed with their children’s education (26:00)?

With James Forsyth, Lord Heseltine, Freddy Gray, Karin Robinson, Leah McLaren and James Delingpole.

Presented by Isabel Hardman.

Produced by Cindy Yu and Alastair Thomas; with thanks to Jack Hunter.

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Spectator Books: geopolitics and the falcon-shaped airport in Turkmenistan Nov 21, 2018

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In this week's books podcast Sam talks to Oxford's Professor of Global History Peter Frankopan about his follow-up to his bestselling history The Silk Roads. In The New Silk Roads, Peter brings his story up to date, and argues that with our Trump and Brexit obsessions, and a divided and fissiparous West still obsessed with itself, we are missing the bigger picture of what's going on in the world today. Once again, the Silk Roads -- those lines of connection between East and West running through what he calls the "heart of the world" -- are where the action is. In our conversation we look at the rise of China and asks what its vast "Belt and Road" programme means for the future shape of the world, at the deeply complex relations between the Gulf states and the nations with interests in them, at the forces at work in India, Pakistan and Iran -- and why our school curricula need to go a bit beyond the old diet of Black Death, Mary Seacole and the Second World War. Plus, Peter's (almost) diplomatic about the enduring madness of Turkmenistan.

Presented by Sam Leith.

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The Green Room: is nationalism a good thing? Nov 20, 2018

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Is nationalism, in Emmanuel Macron’s words, an ancient and modern cause of the ‘old demons’ of history? Or, as Yoram Hazony argues in his latest book, The Virtue of Nationalism, is the nation state the best way to preserve law and liberty?

Yoram Hazony is an Israeli philosopher, the President of the Herzl Institute and a director at the John Templeton Foundation.

Presented by Dominic Green.

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Will Theresa May's Brexit sales pitch work? Nov 19, 2018

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With Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.

Presented by Katy Balls.

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Table Talk: with Fraser Nelson, Editor of the Spectator Nov 16, 2018

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Lara and Livvy talk to Fraser Nelson about his hatred of desserts, how working in London made him a stranger in Glasgow, and wining and dining Westminster's political big dogs.

Presented by Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts.

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Americano: is Melania taking control of the White House? Nov 16, 2018

Show notes

Deputy National Security Advisor Mira Ricardel is forced out of her role after a public spat with Melania Trump. Is Melania more powerful than she seems?

With Jacob Heilbrunn, Editor of the National Interest.

Presented by Freddy Gray.

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