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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- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 33 minutes
- Episodes
- 2368
- Years Active
- 2016 - 2025
Women With Balls: Lisa Cameron
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. …
00:32:05 |
Fri 10 May 2024
The Edition: how universities raised a generation of activists
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 …
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 …
00:38:40 |
Thu 09 May 2024
The Book Club: Jackie Kay
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 uni…
00:38:58 |
Wed 08 May 2024
Table Talk: Michael Zee
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 …
00:27:48 |
Tue 07 May 2024
Americano: Is Donald Trump really going to be a dictator?
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 ca…
00:24:36 |
Sun 05 May 2024
Spectator Out Loud: Sean Thomas, Kara Kennedy, Philip Hensher, Damian Thompson and Toby Young
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 …
00:34:34 |
Sat 04 May 2024
Americano: is the West heading towards annihilation?
Freddy speaks to Victor Davis Hanson, classicist, military historian and political commentator.
They discuss his new book The End of Everything, and ask whether the west should be taking note of histo…
They discuss his new book The End of Everything, and ask whether the west should be taking note of histo…
00:54:55 |
Fri 03 May 2024
The Edition: is Rishi ready for the rebels?
This week:
Survival plan: is Rishi ready for the rebels? Ever since his election, Rishi Sunak has been preparing for this weekend – where the most likely scenario is that dire local election results a…
Survival plan: is Rishi ready for the rebels? Ever since his election, Rishi Sunak has been preparing for this weekend – where the most likely scenario is that dire local election results a…
00:33:30 |
Thu 02 May 2024
The Book Club: Ariane Bankes
On this week's Book Club podcast I'm joined by Ariane Bankes, whose mother Celia was one of the great beauties of the early twentieth century. Ariane's new book The Quality of Love: Twin Sisters at t…
00:35:10 |
Wed 01 May 2024
Americano: Coleman Hughes on neo-racism, US election, and The View
Freddy Gray speaks to writer, podcaster and musician Coleman Hughes. His latest book The End of Race Politics, The: Arguments for a Colorblind America put forward Martin Luther King's teachings for a…
00:47:12 |
Tue 30 Apr 2024
Chinese Whispers: How China is quietly cutting out American tech
Last week, President Joe Biden finally signed into law a bill that would take TikTok off app stores in the US, eventually rendering the app obsolete there. This is not the end of the saga, as TikTok …
00:32:16 |
Mon 29 Apr 2024
Americano: does America run Britain?
Freddy speaks to Angus Hanton, entrepreneur and author of Vassal State: How America Runs Britain, and William Clouston, leader of the Social Democratic Party. They discuss the ‘Special Relationship’ …
00:44:35 |
Sun 28 Apr 2024
Spectator Out Loud: Douglas Murray, Lionel Shriver, Mark Mason and Graeme Thomson
On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: reporting from St Helena, Douglas Murray reflects on the inhabitants he has met and the history of the British Overseas Territory (1:12); Lionel Shriver opines on t…
00:28:19 |
Sat 27 Apr 2024
Women With Balls: how can Britain back women-led businesses?
Young, female entrepreneurship is on the rise. Two years ago, 17,500 businesses were founded by women aged 16-25, which is 22 times greater than in 2018. Now, 20 per cent of all businesses across the…
00:27:25 |
Fri 26 Apr 2024
The Edition: China's global spy network
This week: The Xi files: China’s global spy network.
A Tory parliamentary aide and an academic were arrested this week for allegedly passing ‘prejudicial information’ to China. In his cover piece Nige…
A Tory parliamentary aide and an academic were arrested this week for allegedly passing ‘prejudicial information’ to China. In his cover piece Nige…
00:37:28 |
Thu 25 Apr 2024
The Book Club: Kathryn Hughes
My guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is the author and historian Kathryn Hughes, whose new book Catland tells the story of how we learned to love pusskins. Content warning: contains Kipling, Edw…
00:40:21 |
Wed 24 Apr 2024
Table Talk: Joel Golby
Joel Golby is a journalist who has written for – among others – Vice and the Guardian, where he has a regular column, the watcher, reviewing television. He has since translated his skill for wry obse…
00:39:14 |
Tue 23 Apr 2024
Americano: what Trump’s ‘hush money’ trial tells us about the American legal system
Freddy Gray is joined Alan Dershowitz, American lawyer and author of Get Trump: the threat to civil liberties, due process, and our constitutional rule of law. They discuss Trump’s ‘hush money’ trial…
00:21:22 |
Sat 20 Apr 2024
Spectator Out Loud: Svitlana Morenets, Mary Wakefield, Max Jeffery, Sam Leith and Richard Bratby
On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: In light of the help Israel received, Svitlana Morenets issues a challenge to the West to help Ukraine (1:15); Mary Wakefield questions the slow response to the Min…
00:34:26 |
Sat 20 Apr 2024
Americano: is the criticism of Biden's Middle East policy fair?
Freddy speaks to the diplomat and author Dennis B Ross, who worked under presidents George H W Bush and Bill Clinton. He was a special advisor on the Persian Gulf. They discuss the escalation of tens…
00:28:47 |
Fri 19 Apr 2024
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