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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:

Coffee House Shots: John Curtice on the local elections Apr 26, 2025

Show notes

Legendary pollster Prof Sir John Curtice joins the Spectator’s deputy political editor James Heale to look ahead to next week’s local elections. The actual number of seats may be small, as John points out, but the political significance could be much greater. If polling is correct, Reform could win a ‘fresh’ by-election for the first time, the mayoralties could be shared between three or more parties, and we could see a fairly even split in terms of vote share across five parties (Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Conservatives, the Green party, and Reform UK).
The 2024 general election saw five GB-wide parties contest most seats for the first time. These set of local elections could solidify this ‘five-party political system'. In fact, says John, ‘Reform have already won these local elections’ by virtue of being able to contest all the seats available. Are we headed for a different kind of politics in Britain?
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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Spectator Out Loud: Owen Matthews, Matthew Parris, Marcus Nevitt, Angus Colwell and Sean Thomas Apr 25, 2025

Show notes

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Owen Matthews reads his letter from Rome (1:21); Matthew Parris travels the Channel Islands (7:53); Reviewing Minoo Dinshaw, Marcus Nevitt looks at Bulstrode Whitelocke and Edward Hyde, once close colleagues who fell out during the English civil war (15:19); Angus Colwell discusses his Marco Pierre White obsession, aided by the chef himself (21:26); and, Sean Thomas provides his notes on boredom (26:28).
Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

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The Edition: See change, A.I. ghouls & long live the long lunch! Apr 24, 2025

Show notes

This week: the many crises awaiting the next pope
‘Francis was a charismatic pope loved by most of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics’ writes Damian Thompson in the cover article this week. But few of them ‘grasp the scale of the crisis in the Church… The next Vicar of Christ, liberal or conservative’ faces ‘challenges that dwarf those that confronted any incoming pope in living memory’.
Ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral this weekend, Damian joined the podcast alongside the Catholic theologian Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith to unpack all the political intrigue underpinning the upcoming papal conclave. They say that he who enters the conclave as a pope, leaves as a cardinal – do we have any clues to who could emerge as Francis’s successor?(1:01)
Next: the ghastliness of AI ghouls
The late Lily Parr – a chain-smoking, 6ft, Lancastrian, lesbian pre-war footballer – has been resurrected via an AI avatar. All fun and games at first glance but, as Mary Wakefield writes in the magazine this week, what the AI’s creators have summoned is ‘a ghoul, a flimsy echo of Parr, infused with the spirit of Gen Z’, lacking the original’s character. Aside from the obvious issues, is this ethical, or even legal?
Mary worries that overworked and underpaid teachers could soon deploy AI to summon the spirit of Churchill or Shakespeare. How concerned should we be about AI creep? Mary joined the podcast to discuss. We thought who better to ask about AI than AI itself so ChatGPT’s latest AI model joined Mary to answer a few questions… (19:09)
And finally: long live long lunch!
Kenton Allen writes in defence of the traditional business lunch in the magazine this week. And it should be two hours at a minimum. This isn’t a ‘long’ lunch, he says, but a ‘proper’ lunch. What does the decline of the work lunch tell us about society today? Kenton joined the podcast alongside the Spectator’s restaurant critic Tanya Gold. They say there was a serious purpose to a long lunch, something being lost today by the modern workforce. Plus, they share their restaurant tips for the best long lunch. (27:46)
Presented by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.
Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.

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The Book Club: why are Gen Z turning to Christianity? Apr 23, 2025

Show notes

My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is Lamorna Ash, author of Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever: A New Generation’s Search for Religion. She describes to me how a magazine piece about some young friends who made a dramatic conversion to Christianity turned into an investigation into the rise in faith among a generation that many assumed would be the most secular yet — and into a personal journey towards religious belief.

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Table Talk: Roger Pizey, Head of Pastry at Fortnum and Mason Apr 22, 2025

Show notes

Roger Pizey is a baker, chef and one of the most influential pâtissiers in the UK. He started his culinary journey as an apprentice at La Gavroche under Albert Roux before taking on the role of head of pastry at Marco Pierre White’s Harveys, during the time it achieved three Michelin stars. He has since worked at a number of London institutions and now serves as the head of pastry at Fortnum and Mason.
On the podcast he tells Liv and Lara about childhood memories of Manchester tart, what he learnt from Albert Roux and Marco Pierre White, and why Fortnum’s rose éclair is the perfect dessert.
Photo credit: Michael Barrow

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Women With Balls: Deborah Mattinson Apr 22, 2025

Show notes

Deborah Mattinson joined the House of Lords as a Labour peer in February. Her involvement in politics began when she worked alongside Peter Mandelson and Philip Gould to create Labour’s Shadow Communications Agency for Neil Kinnock. In 1992 she co-founded Opinion Leader Research, and she went on to advise Tony Blair ahead of the 1997 election and later became Gordon Brown’s chief pollster. In 2021 she was appointed Director of Strategy for Keir Starmer, a position she held until stepping down following last year’s landslide victory.
On the podcast, Deborah tells Katy Balls about growing up as a Labour supporter with a father active in local Tory politics, the work hard/play hard culture of advertising in the 1980s and how to decipher what voters really think during focus groups. They also talk about the differences between the 1987, ‘92, and ‘97 campaigns, the ‘Hero voters’ that were key to Labour’s electoral success in 2024 and how Labour can best tackle the threat from Reform today. With experience working with Labour spanning four decades, they touch on the Labour giants she worked with, including Alf (now Lord) Dubs, Peter (now Ambassador – also Lord) Mandelson and, more recently, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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Holy Smoke: Pope Francis dies – what will his legacy be? Apr 21, 2025

Show notes

Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, has died.
The Argentinian, the first Latin American – and the first Jesuit – to lead the Church, has been the head of the Holy See for 12 years, succeeding Pope Benedict XVI who resigned in 2013. Francis presided over the funeral of his predecessor, who died in 2022 – a first in modern history. But Francis’s leadership has been historic for many other reasons. In fact, says Damian Thompson, his reign has been ‘one of the most memorable, if controversial – not just in recent years but in recent centuries’. Liberals lauded his position on a number of social issues, while Conservatives saw the papacy as over-reaching and out of touch with every-day Catholics. But is it really that simple?
Catholic priest and theologian Father Alexander Lucie-Smith joins Damian to react to the news of the Pope’s death. Fr Alexander says that while Francis ‘defies summary’, it is incredible to consider how far the papacy has changed when comparing him to his predecessors, even those of the 20th Century like Pope Pius XII. What will his legacy be?
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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Coffee House Shots: How the Liberal Democrats conquered Middle England Apr 21, 2025

Show notes

The Liberal Democrats’ foreign affairs spokesperson Calum Miller, elected as the new MP for Bicester and Woodstock last year, joins James Heale to talk about the ambitions of the party that became the largest third party in Parliament in 100 years at the 2024 general election. They want to overtake the Conservatives to be the second party in local government – could they one day overtake the Tories to become the official opposition?
A former civil servant, Oxford University policy manager and councillor, Calum joins Coffee House Shots to talk about why he got into politics, how Brexit radicalised his desire for good governance and why, for all the fun, there is a serious point behind Ed Davey’s stunts.
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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Holy Smoke Easter special: in praise of faithful dissent, a conversation with Nigel Biggar and Mary Wakefield Apr 20, 2025

Show notes

The Easter issue of the Spectator includes two provocative articles exploring aspects of Christianity.
Nigel Biggar, Regius professor emeritus of moral theology at Oxford University, now a Conservative peer, celebrates the heroic ‘faithful dissent’ of Christian heroes such as Thomas More and Helmuth von Moltke, who lost their lives rather than defend injustice.
Meanwhile Spectator columnist Mary Wakefield interviews Roman Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury. She’s inspired by his holiness but depressed by his use of ‘C of E bureaucratese’ to uphold liberal orthodoxy on subjects such as gender ideology. But, she says they can share an uncomfortable space together within faith.
In this episode of Holy Smoke, Nigel and Mary join Damian Thompson, who asks them: how can Christians embrace ‘faithful dissent’ in an era of conformist Christian leaders who parrot the platitudes of secular opinion?
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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Coffee House Shots: 10 years of politics as Balls bows out Apr 19, 2025

Show notes

Katy Balls joins Coffee House Shots for the last time as the Spectator’s political editor. Having joined the magazine ten years ago – or six prime ministers in Downing St years – what are her reflections on British politics? Katy’s lobby lunch partner from the Financial Times Stephen Bush joins Katy and Patrick Gibbons to try and make sense of a turbulent political decade, work out where the greatest risk is to the current Labour government, and attempt to make some predictions for the next ten years.
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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