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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.

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

Latest Episodes:

Chinese Whispers: China's vendetta against Nato May 13, 2024

Show notes

Last week, President Xi Jinping visited Serbia. An unexpected destination, you might think, but in fact the links between Beijing and Belgrade go back decades. One event, in particular, has linked the two countries – and became a seminal moment in how the Chinese remember their history.
In 1999, the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was bombed by US-led Nato forces. Three Chinese nationals died. An accident, the Americans insisted, but few Chinese believed it then, and few do today. The event is still remembered in China, but now, little talked about in the West.
Xi’s visit was timed to the 25th anniversary of the bombing itself. ‘The China-Serbia friendship, forged with the blood of our compatriots, will stay in the shared memory of the Chinese and Serbian peoples’, Xi wrote for a Serbian paper ahead of the visit.
So what exactly happened that night in May, and what does the event – and its aftermath – tell us about Chinese nationalism today?
Cindy Yu is joined by Peter Gries, Professor of Chinese Politics at Manchester University and author of numerous books on China, including China’s New Nationalism: Pride, Politics and Diplomacy.

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Americano: Should America have a Monarch? May 13, 2024

Show notes

Freddy Gray talks to writer and philosopher Curtis Yarvin about how Alexander Hamilton was America's Napoleon, why Putin is more of a royal than King Charles, and why Yarvin admires FDR.
Yarvin is voting for Joe Biden at the next election, but not for the reasons you might think. Could Biden 2024 strengthen the case for American isolationism?
Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Megan McElroy.

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Americano: What's this revolution really about? May 12, 2024

Show notes

Freddy Gray speaks to the journalist Nellie Bowles about her new book: Morning after the Revolution: Dispatches from the wrong side of History. As someone who had fit into the progressive umbrella, her book recounts issues that arose when she started to question the nature of the movement itself.
Freddy and Nellie discuss the challenges of the progressive-conservative divide, bias within the media, and whether privilege is America's version of the class system.
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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Spectator Out Loud: Slavoj Zizek, Angus Colwell, Svitlana Morenets, Cindy Yu, and Philip Hensher May 11, 2024

Show notes

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Philosopher Slavoj Zizek takes us through his diary including his Britney Spears Theory of Action (1:08); Angus Colwell reports from the front line of the pro-Palestinian student protests (8:09); Svitlana Morenets provides an update on what’s going on in Georgia, where tensions between pro-EU and pro-Russian factions are heading to a crunch point (13:51); Cindy Yu analyses President Xi’s visit to Europe and asks whether the Chinese leader can keep his few European allies on side (20:52); and, Philip Hensher proposes banning fun runs as a potential vote winner (26:01).
Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.

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Women With Balls: Lisa Cameron May 10, 2024

Show notes

Lisa Cameron was born in Glasgow and grew up in East Kilbride, the constituency she now represents. After three elections under the SNP, she memorably defected to the Scottish Conservatives in 2023. At the time, Humza Yousaf described it as the least surprising news he’d had since becoming first minister.
On the podcast, Lisa tells Katy about the need for increased investment into mental health provision, her defection from the SNP to the Tories and why Scottish independence is a failed experiment.

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The Edition: how universities raised a generation of activists May 09, 2024

Show notes

This week:
On Monday, tents sprung up at Oxford and Cambridge as part of a global, pro-Palestinian student protest which began at Columbia University. In his cover piece, Yascha Mounk, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, explains how universities in both the US and the UK have misguidedly harboured and actively encouraged absurdist activism on campuses. Yascha joined the podcast to discuss further. (01:57)
Next: Bugs, biscuits, trench foot: a dispatch from the front line of the protests. The Spectator’s Angus Colwell joined students at tent encampments this week at UCL, Oxford and Cambridge. He found academics joining in with the carnival atmosphere. At Cambridge one don even attended with their baby in tow. ‘Peaceful protest? Rubbish it does nothing,’ a UCL student tells him. ‘Zionist attitudes start young, and we need our institutions to correct that. None of us are free until all of us are free, until Zionism is gone.’ One Jewish UCL student claims they were spat at by protestors ‘who told us to go back to Poland’. As part of his research, Angus sat down with Anwar, a spokesperson for the protestors at University College London and he sent us that conversation, which you can hear on the podcast. (17:34)
Then: Lara and Will take us through some of their favourite pieces from the magazine, including Philip Hensher’s Life column and James Delingpole’s review of Shardlake on Disney +.
And finally: should we take Beryl Cook more seriously? In his arts lead for the magazine this week, Julian Spalding writes about Beryl Cook whose unique art is celebrated by many as an exuberant take on everyday life. However she is often looked down upon within the art establishment. To coincide with a new exhibition of her work at Studio Voltaire we thought we would reappraise her legacy with Julian and Rachel Campbell-Johnston, former chief art critic at the Times. (29:44)
Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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The Book Club: Jackie Kay May 08, 2024

Show notes

This week, my guest on the Book Club podcast is the poet Jackie Kay, whose magnificent new book May Day combines elegy and celebration. She tells me about her adoptive parents – a communist trade unionist and a leading figure in CND – and growing up in a household where teenage rebellion could mean going to church. We also discuss her beginnings as a poet, her debt to Robbie Burns and Angela Davis and how grief itself can be a form of protest.

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Table Talk: Michael Zee May 07, 2024

Show notes

Michael Zee is an author, cook and the creator of SymmetryBreakfast, which started as an Instagram account, before amassing over 670,000 followers and becoming one of the ‘most popular food books of 2016’. He is now based in Italy and known for his particular brand of British-Chinese fusion food. His third book, Zao Fan: Breakfast of China, is out now.
On the podcast he tells Lara about working in his father's restaurant, the joy of char siu bao and where to find the best Chinese food in Italy.

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Americano: Is Donald Trump really going to be a dictator? May 05, 2024

Show notes

Freddy speaks to Norman Ornstein, political scientist and emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. They discuss the possibility of Donald Trump becoming a dictator, his ongoing court cases, and if there's a double standard in the treatment of Trump vs Biden.

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Spectator Out Loud: Sean Thomas, Kara Kennedy, Philip Hensher, Damian Thompson and Toby Young May 04, 2024

Show notes

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Sean Thomas worries that Paris has lost some of its charm (1:21); Kara Kennedy reports on US-style opioids arriving in Britain (8:43); Philip Hensher describes how an affair which ruined one woman would be the making of another (15:32); Damian Thompson reflects on his sobriety and his battle with British chemists (23:58); and, Toby Young argues a proposed law in Wales amounts to an assault on parliamentary sovereignty (29:26).
Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

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