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Book Club, from the archives: 80 years of Brideshead Revisited Aug 28, 2025

Show notes

This week's Book Club podcast marks the 80th anniversary this year of the publication of Brideshead Revisited. This conversation is from the archives, originally recorded in 2020 to mark its 75th anniversary.

To discuss Evelyn Waugh's great novel, Sam Leith is joined by literary critic and author Philip Hensher, and by the novelist's grandson (and general editor of Oxford University Press's complete Evelyn Waugh) Alexander Waugh. What made the novel so pivotal in Waugh's career, what did it mean to the author and how did he revise it? And why have generations of readers, effectively, misread it?

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Coffee House Shots: is Britain becoming more sectarian? Aug 27, 2025

Show notes

Immigration returned to the headlines over the past week after the High Court granted an injunction forcing the removal of migrants from a hotel in Essex – a ruling that could have wider implications for similar cases across the country. At the same time, the sight of Union Jacks and St George’s Crosses appearing in towns and cities has sparked a debate over whether flag-flying is a symbol of patriotism or a sign of growing division.

On this podcast, originally recorded for Saturday's Coffee House Shots, Lucy Dunn is joined by Lord Hannan and trade unionist Paul Embery to ask: what kind of country is Britain becoming? Paul argues that rapid cultural change, combined with economic decline, has left many people feeling disoriented and neglected. Dan Hannan warns that national symbols once seen as unifying risk becoming sectarian markers, echoing Northern Ireland’s politics of identity.

They debate the failures of integration policy to the dangers of what Embery calls ‘soft Lebanonisation’ – a creeping communalism in which people retreat into their own tribes. The political class have been slow to listen, leaving space for rising resentment over immigration and national identity. So, why is Britain so uncertain of its own identity?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

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Coffee House Shots: Farage finally unveils his deportation plan Aug 26, 2025

Show notes

Today James Heale has been on quite the magical mystery tour. Bundled into a bus at 7.45 a.m. along with a group of other hacks, he was sent off to an aircraft hangar in Oxfordshire where Nigel Farage finally unveiled his party’s long-awaited deportations strategy. The unveiling of ‘Operation Restoring Justice’ was accompanied by some impressive production value, including a Heathrow-style departure board and an enormous union flag.

The headlines of Farage’s mass deportation initiative are as follows: Reform will leave the ECHR and disapply the Refugee Convention for five years if elected in 2029; a new British Bill of Rights will be introduced, with all government departments required to make the migration crisis their number one ministerial priority; and all this at a cost of £2 billion. But how realistic is it? And since we now have headline deportation plans from the parties at the top of the polls (just), which is more impressive?

Oscar Edmondson speaks to James Heale and Karl Williams, research director at the Centre for Policy Studies.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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Americano: how progressivism killed American Protestantism Aug 25, 2025

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Freddy Gray speaks to Christopher Mondics who is a legal affairs writer about how the left-wing orthodoxy has destroyed Protestantism in America. They discuss the mainline denominations in America, how 'wokeness' infiltrated the churches and why, despite some drop off, religion is still so present in America.

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Spectator Out Loud: Svitlana Morenets, Michael Simmons, Ursula Buchan, Igor Toronyi-Lalic, Richard Morris & Mark Mason Aug 24, 2025

Show notes

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Svitlana Morenets says that Trump has given Zelensky cause for hope; Michael Simmons looks at how the American healthcare system is keeping the NHS afloat; Ursula Buchan explains how the Spectator shaped John Buchan; Igor Toronyi-Lalic argues that art is no place for moralising, as he reviews Rosanna McLaughlin; Richard Morris reveals how to access the many treasures locked away in private homes; and, Mark Mason provides his notes on bank holidays.

Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

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Coffee House Shots: Starmer’s authoritarian turn – with Ash Sarkar Aug 23, 2025

Show notes

Since the government’s decision to proscribe the group Palestine Action, arrests have mounted across the country, raising questions not only about the group’s tactics but also about the government’s handling of free speech and protest rights.

On today’s special edition of Coffee House Shots, Michael Simmons is joined by The Spectator’s James Heale and journalist Ash Sarkar to debate whether this is evidence of an increasingly authoritarian bent to Starmer’s Labour. Has the ban made prosecutions easier, or has it created a chilling effect on freedom of expression? And is this further evidence of the overreach of the attorney-general, Lord Hermer?

Also on the podcast, with Keir Starmer’s majority secured but his party’s membership dwindling, is there space for a new populist party to Labour’s left? Ash defends Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana’s efforts to establish Your Party. Should they be taking a leaf out of Reform’s playbook?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

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Americano: how dangerous is Washington, D.C.? Aug 22, 2025

Show notes

US President Donald Trump claims Washington, D.C. has been "overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals". There are lots of stories about crime, including one very bizarre incident involving a sandwich. Just how unsafe is D.C.? Freddy Gray is joined by US managing editor Matt McDonald and Isaac Schorr, staff writer at Mediaite, who has written a piece on his experience in Washington for Spectator World.

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The Edition: Putin’s trap, the decline of shame & holiday rental hell Aug 21, 2025

Show notes

First: Putin has set a trap for Europe and Ukraine

‘Though you wouldn’t know from the smiles in the White House this week… a trap has been set by Vladimir Putin to split the United States from its European allies,’ warns Owen Matthews. The Russian President wants to make a deal with Donald Trump, but he ‘wants to make it on his own terms’. ‘Putin would like nothing more than for Europe to encourage Ukraine to fight on… and lose even more of their land’. But, as Owen writes, those who count themselves among the country’s friends must ask ‘whether it’s time to choose an unjust peace over a just but never-ending war’.

Have European leaders walked into Putin’s trap? Owen joins the podcast alongside Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times.

Next: Lionel Shriver, Toby Young & Igor Toronyi-Lalic on the decline of shame in society

A rise in brazen shoplifting, attempts to police public spaces and moralising over ‘Art’ – these are all topics touched on by columnists Lionel Shriver and Toby Young and Arts editor Igor Toronyi-Lalic in the magazine this week. Are these individual problems in their own right, or could they be symptomatic of wider failings in British society?

Lionel, Toby and Igor joined the podcast to try to make sense of why guilt and shame seem to have disappeared in modern Britain.

And finally: the hell of owning a holiday rental

William Cash writes in the magazine this week about the trials and tribulations of running a holiday let. He complains that the lines between hotels and holiday lets have become blurred, and people of all ages are now becoming guests from hell. He writes: ‘it has become increasingly evident that middle class families have no idea how to behave on holiday… basic guest decorum seems to belong to a different summer holiday age’.

So how did things get so bad? William joined the podcast alongside Spectator columnist Melissa Kite – who runs her own B&B in Ireland.

Plus: ahead of the long weekend, Mark Mason reveals who we can thank for bank holidays.

Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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

Book Club Live: Max Hastings Aug 20, 2025

Show notes

Sam Leith's guest for this week's Book Club podcast is Max Hastings. Max joined Sam earlier this year for a live recording to discuss his new book Sword: D-Day, trial by battle, which tells the story of the individual stories who risked their lives as part of Operation Overlord. The discussion was arranged to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. On the podcast Max tells Sam about why he was drawn to chronicle war, why it is important to remember all victims and not just the ‘traditional heroes’, and whether there was an alternative to D-Day at the time. Plus, how serious a moment does he think we face today, compared with 1945?

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Coffee House Shots: how do we get more working class people into politics? Aug 19, 2025

Show notes

Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, joins James Heale to discuss his campaign to improve working class representation in politics. Tom, newly elected in 2024, explains how getting his mum involved in local politics in West Yorkshire led him to think about the structural issues that exist preventing more people from getting involved in politics.

Plus, with both the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK challenging the traditional Labour and Conservative duopoly, what lessons can both parties learn from each other?

Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson. Photo credit: House of Commons.

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