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: 2369
Years Active: 2016 - 2025

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Spectator Out Loud: Anshel Pfeffer, Laura Gascoigne and Simon Barnes

This week: Anshel Pfeffer discusses Bibi's recent misstep (00:54), Laura Gascoigne reads her arts lead on Vermeer's women (06:54), and Simon Barnes examines the cultural life of orcas (14:32).

Produc…

00:18:56 | Sat 18 Feb 2023

Women With Balls: Victoria Prentis and Vika

For this special episode of Women With Balls, the government’s Attorney General, Victoria Prentis joins Katy along with Vika … a young Ukrainian woman who came over to the UK under the Homes For Ukra…

00:25:30 | Fri 17 Feb 2023

The Edition: after Sturgeon

This week:

What next after Sturgeon?

In her cover piece for the magazine, The Spectator's political editor Katy Balls considers what Sturgeon's exit means for the future of Scotland – and the Union. Sh…

00:39:40 | Thu 16 Feb 2023

The Book Club: Richard Bradford

My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is the scholar and biographer Richard Bradford, whose new book Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer looks at the rackety life and uneven oeuvre of one of the…

00:38:22 | Wed 15 Feb 2023

Table Talk: Alexander Downer

Alexander Downer is an Australian former politician and diplomat, whose roles have included Leader of the Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

On t…

00:30:05 | Tue 14 Feb 2023

Spectator Out Loud: James Heale, Hannah Moore and Matthew Wilson

This week: James Heale reads his interview with Lee Anderson MP (00:54), Hannah Moore writes in defence of amateur sleuths (05:33), and Matthew Wilson discusses the rehabilitation of the rose (09:54)…

00:17:57 | Sat 11 Feb 2023

The Edition: the haunting of Rishi Sunak

This week: the haunting of Rishi Sunak.

In her cover piece for The Spectator Katy Balls says that Rishi Sunak cannot escape the ghosts of prime ministers past. She is joined by former Chief Secretary …

00:38:35 | Thu 09 Feb 2023

The Book Club: Robert Kaplan

My guest on this week's Book Club podcast is the American writer, reporter and foreign policy expert Robert Kaplan, whose new book The Tragic Mind: Fear, Fate and the Burden of Power argues that it's…

00:28:57 | Wed 08 Feb 2023

Marshall Matters: Dr Jay Bhattacharya

Winston speaks with Stanford University professor, physician, epidemiologist, health economist and public health policy expert, Dr Jay Bhattacharya. They discuss the history of the Great Barrington D…

00:55:52 | Tue 07 Feb 2023

Liz Truss: The interview

What went wrong for Liz Truss? In her first interview since leaving 10 Downing Street, she talks to Spectator TV about her leadership election, her 49-day premiership and her plans for the future. Tr…

00:51:07 | Mon 06 Feb 2023

Americano: what is America doing in Ukraine?

Freddy Gray speaks to Professor John Mearsheimer, American political scientist and international relations scholar about America's foreign policy on the war in Ukraine.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.…

00:50:48 | Sun 05 Feb 2023

Spectator Out Loud: Svitlana Morenets, Rana Mitter and Mia Levitin

This week: Svitlana Morenets explains why Ukraine won't accept compromise in any form (00:56), Rana Mitter details Japan's plans for an anti-China coalition (05:43), and Mia Levitin reads her review …

00:19:44 | Sat 04 Feb 2023

Women With Balls: Miriam Cates

Miriam Cates is the Conservative MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge. Before becoming a Member of Parliament, Miriam worked as a science teacher and business owner and spent some years raising her thre…

00:26:35 | Fri 03 Feb 2023

The Edition: how will it end?

On the podcast this week:

How will the war on Ukraine end?

This is the question that Russia correspondent Owen Matthews asks in his cover piece for The Spectator. He is joined by Rose Gottemoeller, for…

00:41:42 | Thu 02 Feb 2023

The Book Club: Tania Branigan

My guest in this week's Book Club podcast is the reporter Tania Branigan, whose experience as a correspondent in China led her to believe that the trauma of the Cultural Revolution was the story behi…

00:56:32 | Wed 01 Feb 2023

Can the UK secure its precarious energy supply?

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed the insecurity of the UK’s energy supply. We may not have been reliant on Russian gas like our European neighbours, but that didn’t mean we avoided higher energy …

00:32:01 | Mon 30 Jan 2023

The Week in 60 Minutes: Tory sleaze & Biden's docudrama

Katy Balls, The Spectator’s political editor is joined by Isabel Hardman and John Curtice to talk about her cover piece on the latest Tory sleaze scandals. Also on the show, Mike Martin and Richard B…

00:52:10 | Sun 29 Jan 2023

Spectator Out Loud: Matthew Parris, Lionel Shriver and Gus Carter

On this week’s episode, Matthew Parris wonders what ‘winning’ in Ukraine really means (00:52), Lionel Shriver says she’s fighting her own war against words (08:43), and Gus Carter wonders whether it’…

00:24:16 | Sat 28 Jan 2023

Americano: Will America smash its debt ceiling?

Freddy Gray talks to the Bloomberg journalist and podcaster Joseph Weisenthal about the likely rise America’s debt ceiling… once again.