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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:

Women With Balls: Sarah Storey Jan 05, 2025

Show notes

Dame Sarah Storey is Britain’s most successful Paralympian of all time. She is a 45-time World champion, a 23-time European champion, and a 77-time world recorder breaker – including times she broke her own records. Earlier this year she won her 18th and 19th Olympic golds at the Paris 2024 games.
On the podcast, Sarah talks to Katy Balls about switching from swimming to cycling, the influence of bullying at school and the funding disparity that Paralympians face. She also talks about working with Dan Jarvis and Andy Burnham on improving cycling infrastructure, as well as her preparations for the next Olympics – Los Angeles 2028. Plus, where does she keep all those medals?
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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Spectator Out Loud: James MacMillan, Sebastian Morello, Amy Wilentz, Sam Leith and Lloyd Evans Jan 04, 2025

Show notes

This week: composer James MacMillan reads his diary on the beautiful music of football (01:11); Sebastian Morello tells us about the deep connection between hunting and Christianity (07:17); Amy Wilentz explains how Vodou fuels Haiti’s gang culture (16:14); The Spectator’s literary editor Sam Leith reviews The Virago Book of Friendship (22:38); and – from the arts pages – The Spectator’s theatre critic Lloyd Evans writes about a new play on the last days of Liz Truss and also about Bette and Joan, which includes 'brutal' and 'brilliant' portraits of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford (26:37).
Presented by Oscar Edmondson.
Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.

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Table Talk: 'Caviar Queen', Laura King Jan 03, 2025

Show notes

Laura King is affectionately known as the 'Caviar Queen' and is widely regarded as the UK's foremost caviar expert. In this special episode of the podcast Laura takes Liv and Lara through a caviar tasting: from Beluga to Oscietra.

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The Edition: the West's right turn, Michael Gove interviews Jordan Peterson & the ADHD trap Jan 02, 2025

Show notes

This week: the fight for the future of the right

From Milei in Argentina to Trump in the US, Meloni in Italy to the rise of the AfD in Germany, the world appears to be turning to the right, say James Kanagasooriam and Patrick Flynn. One country, however, seems to be the exception to this rule: our own. Britain under Keir Starmer appears to be putting on a revival of the old classic Socialism in One Country. However, beyond Westminster, the data show that Britain is not moving to the left in line with its government. While the Conservatives and Reform are locked in a near-constant struggle for supremacy, polling shows that the public are moving to the right. Both parties can pitch for the socially conservative vote, but it is on the economy that Britain’s battle for the right becomes interesting. James and Patrick joined the podcast earlier this week to unpack their cover piece.
Next: Jordan Peterson on faith, family and conservatism

In the magazine this week, our editor Michael Gove interviews Canadian psychologist and commentator Professor Jordan Peterson. His latest book, We Who Wrestle with God, explores the psychological significance of Bible stories. He spoke to Michael about supernatural relationships, the folly of Conservatives and the future of Europe. You can hear an extract from that interview on the podcast, but the full interview is available on The Spectator’s YouTube channel, Spectator TV.
And finally: the dangers of over-diagnosing ADHD

‘Just a decade or so ago I rarely saw anyone in a clinic with “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder”,’ writes Max Pemberton, a consultant psychiatrist, in The Spectator this week. Now, he says, he sees at least one case a day. Have all these people simply been undiagnosed for years? To what extent are we medicalising normal everyday issues, difficulties and problems? To discuss, Max joined the podcast alongside Mary Wakelfield, The Spectator’s commissioning editor, who has had her own run-in with the adult ADHD trap.
Presented by Lara Prendergast and William Moore.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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Coffee House Shots: is 2025 Farage’s year? Jan 02, 2025

Show notes

Happy New Year! And it could prove to be a very happy new year for Nigel Farage and the Reform Party. They provided some of the stand-out political drama of 2024, with Lee Anderson’s defection and Farage’s return, before winning five seats at the general election (as well as a hefty chunk of the popular vote). They finished the year strong with a meeting with Elon Musk, where we understand that a possible donation was discussed. Farage also gave a memorable speech at The Spectator awards, warning that a 'political revolution' is coming. With the local elections coming up in 2025, could this be the year that Reform and Farage crystallise into a real political threat?
James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Gawain Towler, former Reform UK strategist.
Produced by Natasha Feroze and Oscar Edmondson.

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The Book Club: Orhan Pamuk Jan 01, 2025

Show notes

In this week's Book Club podcast I'm joined by the Nobel Prize winning novelist Orhan Pamuk to talk about the publication of Memories of Distant Mountains: Illustrated Notebooks. Right up to early adulthood, Orhan had imagined he was destined to be a painter, but then his life took another turn. In these illustrated notebooks he marries words and images in an elliptical sort-of diary. He tells me about what he puts in and what he leaves out, how his imagination works, the artists and writers he admires, what fame has given him, and why he wishes he didn't have to talk about politics.

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Americano: what will Jimmy Carter be remembered for? Dec 31, 2024

Show notes

** Americano is nominated in the Political Podcast Awards 2025. Vote for it to win the People's Choice category here **
The former US President has died age 100 surrounded by his family in Plains. Known as the longest-lived US President in history, The Spectator's political correspondent James Heale and Freddy Gray discuss Jimmy Carter's legacy both in and out of office, how he compares to Joe Biden as one-term Presidents, and the way Jimmy Carter's Christianity shaped his politics.

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Holy Smoke: how abuse scandals shattered the Church of England but were hidden by the Vatican Dec 31, 2024

Show notes

In this end-of-year episode of Holy Smoke, Damian Thompson discusses the abuse scandals that have forced the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, to resign his post, his predecessor Lord Carey to resign his ministry as a priest, and now threaten the survival of the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cotterill.
These developments are an unprecedented disaster for the Church of England – but how many Roman Catholics realise that Pope Francis would also be facing demands for his resignation if the details of various horrifying scandals were not being allegedly concealed by the Vatican and its media allies?

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Coffee House Shots: why 2025 could redefine politics Dec 30, 2024

Show notes

Santa will have had a tricky time this year fulfilling all the Christmas wish lists in Westminster. Keir Starmer is desperately hoping for a change in the political weather, and Kemi Badenoch would like an in with Donald Trump. Ed Davey dreams that Labour’s electoral troubles will get so bad that proportional representation starts to look appealing. Nigel Farage, meanwhile, wants to avoid what usually happens with him and keep his party from falling out – or perhaps Elon Musk will give him a Christmas bonus in the form of a generous donation.
What’s certain is that 2025 will prove to be one of the most defining in recent political memory: with Starmer choosing mission-led government; Reform circling the local elections in May; hushed talk of Jeremy Corbyn forming a new party on the hard left; and Donald Trump in the White House. It’s extraordinary that so much could be up for grabs so early after Starmer’s supermajority. What might 2025 bring?
James Heale speaks to Katy Balls and Patrick Maguire, political columnist for the Times.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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Americano: did 2024 save the American dream? Dec 29, 2024

Show notes

2024 has been another year of extraordinary events in American politics. From Trump’s attempted assassination, the general election, the death of peanut the squirrel, Biden’s resignation and international wars shaping foreign policy. To discuss this year, and what impact it could have on 2025, Freddy Gray is joined by the historian Victor Davis Hanson of the Hoover Institute.

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