Best of the Spectator

In this inaugural episode of Marshall Matters, Winston interviews Ignat Solzhenitsyn on the pursuit of art, the state of classical music, the lasting influence of his father Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and the thunderous (or gentle) essay ‘Live Not By Lies’... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My dear sister Carmel died aged 57 on November 23, after a three-year cancer ordeal during which she displayed the most astonishing courage. I interviewed her twice on this podcast about her faith, her illness and her unquenchable optimism. I knew at the time that one day I'd have to record an episode paying tribute to her after she died, and here it is. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode, we’ll hear from Martin Vander Weyer on the crash of crypto.  (00:47)Next, Laurie Graham on the difficulties of downsizing. (04:20)And finally, Michael Mosbacher on the history of the fur industry. (12:20)Produced and presented by Sam HolmesSubscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:www.spectator.co.uk/voucher  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emma Gormley is managing director of daytime at ITV studios, where she controls flagship shows on the channel such as Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women. On the episode, she talks to Katy about what got her into broadcast journalism, the pressures of looking after some of the most popular shows on TV ('Having those four shows, which are juggernauts and are always in the press scrutiny, have A-lister talent... The role is everything'), and what it was like to work with Piers Morgan ('My ambition isn't to make vanilla television').  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Spectator TV this week Freddy Gray interviews the Fox News host Tucker Carlson on what role the US should play in the Russia/Ukraine conflict. Here is the full unedited conversation. 'Western European nations — which I think we at this point can trust to have weapons — should defend themselves. I mean, that's the idea of the nation state!' - Tucker CarlsonWatch the full Spectator TV episode here: https://youtu.be/YbaLQKhqwFc  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode: Will Putin invade Ukraine? For this week’s cover story, Owen Matthews argues that if Putin is going to invade Ukraine, he will do so later rather than sooner. He joins the podcast, along with Julius Strauss who reports on the mood in Odessa for this week’s magazine. (00:42)Also this week: Is Brexit working?This week marks the second anniversary of Brexit. But how successful has it been? Joining the podcast to answer that question is Lord Frost who was Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe from January 2020 until his resignation in December last year - and the journalist Ed West, who runs the Substack, Wrong Side of History (13:12)And finally: What is the allure of a classified ad? In the age of Google, classified adverts have become something of a rarity. In this week’s magazine, Anthony Whitehead explores the history, influence, and appeal of back-page ads. He joins the podcast along with Lawrence Bernstein who has been running a classified ad in the back pages of The Spectator for years. (26:18)Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William MooreProduced by Sam HolmesSubscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:www.spectator.co.uk/voucher Listen to Lara's food podcast Table Talk:https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's Book Club podcast, Sam is joined by Christopher Prendergast, Professor Emeritus of Modern French Literature at Cambridge and the author of the new book Living and Dying With Marcel Proust. In the centenary year of Proust's death (and the English publication of Swann's Way) he tells Sam (among other things) how the structure of A La Recherche is more straightforward than many think, why that madeleine was nearly a slice of toast, and about the great unsayable at the heart of Proust's great story.    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All political parties have weaknesses for jargon and buzzwords, and the Chinese Communist Party more than most. It's why Party documents – whether they be speeches, Resolutions or reports – can be hard going. Sentences like the following (from the Resolution adopted at the Sixth Plenum) abound:‘All Party members should uphold historical materialism and adopt a rational outlook on the Party’s history.’‘We need to strengthen our consciousness of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership’In other words, full of platitudes and dense Marxist terminology.So what is, then, the purpose of official Party documents? Can they ever reveal division within the Party, or say anything new at all? And throughout the fusty rhetoric, who is the audience, who are these words designed for?On this episode, Cindy is joined by two guests expert at reading the Communist tea leaves. In this wide ranging – and slightly longer than usual – Chinese Whispers, they discuss the power of political language and how the Chinese Communist Party makes the most of it, why it’s important to control the historical narrative, and exactly what, if anything, does Xi Jinping Thought entail.Her guests are Professor Rana Mitter, a historian of China at the University of Oxford and author of numerous books, the latest being China’s Good War; and Bill Bishop, who curates the newsletter Sinocism. Bill’s newsletter is a must-have round up of the most important political and economic China news, in your inbox four times a week. Very much worth every penny, and frequently featuring translated Party documents and Chinese articles.To continue the conversation, they also mention a couple of past episodes of Chinese Whispers:Cindy interviews the exiled Professor Sun Peidong about the witch hunt against her at a top Shanghai University: https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/healing-the-cancer-of-the-cultural-revolution.Cindy discusses just why Taiwan is so important to China with Rana and analyst Jessica Drun: https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/why-does-china-care-about-taiwan-.You can also find Cindy's review of Jing Tsu's Kingdom of Characters here: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-great-chinese-puzzle-how-to-adapt-the-language-to-modern-communication-technologies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode, we'll hear from Nick Moar on Twitter’s decision to suspend Politics for All.Next, Tanya Gold on the importance of chicken soup. And finally, Cindy Yu who has reviewed The Kingdom of Characters, a book on Chinese language.Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:www.spectator.co.uk/voucher Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddy Gray and Lionel Shriver discuss Joe Biden's first year at the helm of the United States, and whether he is capable of tackling the challenges poised by Vladimir Putin, rampant inflation and his own capacity for gaffes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.