Best of the Spectator

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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:

Coffee House Shots: can the Budget help push through a Brexit deal? Oct 23, 2018

Show notes

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Presented by Isabel Hardman.

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

Life 'n' Arts: History and -isms with David Pryce-Jones Oct 22, 2018

Show notes

In this week’s Spectator USA Life ’n’ Arts podcast, Dominic talks to David Pryce-Jones. Novelist, correspondent, historian, editor at National Review and, most recently, author of the autobiography and family history Fault Lines, Pryce-Jones has the longest association with the Spectator of any Life ’n’ Arts podcaster yet. In 1963, Pryce-Jones began his literary journey to the status of national treasure on both sides of the Pond by becoming books’ editor of our London mothership.

‘I think the common theme in everything that I’ve done, really, is: what makes people believe the extraordinary things they do believe?’

Presented by Dominic Green.

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Americano: who was Jamal Khashoggi? Oct 20, 2018

Show notes

Reporters can’t get enough of the gory details and the international intrigue in the Khashoggi case. But they seem to have forgotten the need to report basic facts, question their single-sourced material, and ask difficult questions of those who know far more than they let on. Who was Jamal Khashoggi?

With Matthew Brodsky, Middle East expert at the Security Studies Group.

Presented by Freddy Gray.

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Books: detective work with Sara Paretsky Oct 19, 2018

Show notes

Sam talks to the incomparable Sara Paretsky about her latest V. I. Warshawski novel Shell Game — which pits the original feminist gumshoe against art thieves, Russian mobsters and her fink of an ex-husband. They talk about keeping Vic young (skincare doesn’t come into it), chiming with MeToo and immigration anxieties in Trump’s America, whether she feels rivalrous with other female crime writers, spotting her own writerly tics, and making friends with Obama.

Presented by Sam Leith.

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Divide and rule: how has the EU taken control of Brexit? Oct 18, 2018

Show notes

This week, Brexit negotiations grind to a halt again as Brussels and the UK draw mutually exclusive red lines on the Irish border problem. We talk to James Forsyth and Dan Hannan on what next for Brexit (00:45). We also look a little deeper into the methods and mission of Bellingcat, the investigators that unveiled the true identities of the Salisbury suspects (13:25). And last, we investigate a sex industry that is trying to become more ethical (25:25).

With James Forsyth, Dan Hannan, Owen Matthews, Mary Dejevsky, Cosmo Landesman, and Renée Denyer.

Presented by Isabel Hardman.

Produced by Cindy Yu and Alastair Thomas.

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

Holy Smoke: is Sikh an ethnicity? Oct 17, 2018

Show notes

Britain could be about to acquire a new ethnicity - Sikhs. The 2021 census could have an ethnicity tick box for the community. But isn't Sikhism a religion that anyone - of any ethnicity - can follow? Hardeep Singh thinks so - and he explains why categorising his religion as an ethnicity will be dangerous for the community and multicultural Britain.

Presented by Damian Thompson.

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Coffee House Shots: why ministers haven't resigned over today's Brexit War Cabinet Oct 16, 2018

Show notes

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth.

Presented by Lara Prendergast.

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

Life 'n' Arts: what's gone wrong in American universities? Oct 15, 2018

Show notes

Dominic Green talks to Jamie Kirchick, journalist and author, on the culture wars raging in American universities.

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The Spectator Podcast: Death of a Dissident Oct 11, 2018

Show notes

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has disappeared at his country's consulate in Istanbul, with reports emerging of his brutal murder. But who was Jamal Khashoggi, why did this happen to him and what should happen next (00:38)? Also on this podcast, the Irish may harbour more anti-EU opinion than commonly thought. Is there the prospect of an 'Irexit' (12:48)? And finally, with three top public schools scrapping the common entrance exam, should we lament the demise of the eccentric admissions test for schoolchildren (22:54)?

With Bill Law, Akbar Shahid Ahmed, John Waters, Brendan O'Neill and Harry Mount.

Presented by Lara Prendergast.

Produced by Alastair Thomas.

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

Coffee House Shots: Is Theresa May facing a leadership challenge? Oct 11, 2018

Show notes

With James Forsyth and Katy Balls.

Presented by Lara Prendergast.

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