Best of the Spectator

Sarah Vine is a columnist for the Daily Mail and formerly wife of Cabinet minister Michael Gove. On the podcast, Sarah talks to Katy about growing up in Italy, working her way up tabloid journalism (including what it was like to work for Paul Dacre), and her reflections on being a columnist with a politician (ex-)husband. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode: Are migrants the new munitions? In our cover story this week, our political editor James Forsyth looks at the growing troubles in Eastern Europe and how this small part of the world stage could end up splintering the scaffolding of global peace. He is joined on the podcast by Mary Dejevsky, a columnist for the Independent. (00:42)Also this week: Will the monarchy survive past Elizabeth II?The royal family is not in a good way, with the Queen missing multiple appearances due to ill health, a prince under investigation, and the continuing cold war between William and Harry, will the monarchy survive past Elizabeth II? That’s the question Freddy Gray asks in this week’s Spectator. He joins the podcast along with Patrick Jephson a former private secretary to Princess Diana, who also covers the royals in this week’s issue. (17:21)  And finally: Why is the mullet making a comeback? Mullets. A hairstyle made popular in the 70s, but more recently the butt of many a joke is making something of a fashionable comeback. Hannah Moore writes about the return of the mullet in this week’s Spectator. She joins talks on the podcast with Mike Lawson of Beardbrand who has also noticed this retro return. (29:09)Hosted by Lara PrendergastProduced by Sam HolmesSubscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:www.spectator.co.uk/voucher Listen to Lara’s food-based interview show, Table Talk:https://www.spectator.co.uk/tabletalk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam's guest on this week's Book Club podcast is the historian Tessa Dunlop. Tessa's new book is Army Girls: The Secrets and Stories of Military Service from the Final Few Women Who Fought In World War Two. She tells Sam about how she gathered testimony and formed friendships with the nonagenarian veterans of the Second World War amid the Covid lockdown; about the class-ridden rivalries between the women's services; and how while still not officially in the front line, women during the war nevertheless found themselves in the thick of it.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deng Xiaoping used to say, 'let some people get rich first'. Four decades on from the start of his economic experiment with marketisation, Xi Jinping is, these days, talking about 'common prosperity' instead - prosperity for the many, not the few. But what does this new economic direction mean in practice, and could it, in fact, stifle the very market forces that made so-called 'socialism with Chinese characteristics' so successful?Joining Cindy to read between the tea leaves is George Magnus, economist and author of Red Flags: Why Xi's China is in Jeopardy. We discuss how unequal China really is, what we know about common prosperity so far (e.g. arm-twisted philanthropy from billionaires like Jack Ma) and what Chinese public opinion might make of it all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddy Gray talks to Iain Dale about his new book 'The Presidents', which takes a look at every holder of the office from George Washington to Joe Biden.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode, we’ll hear from Mary Wakefield about the pattern of misandry in modern media. (00:48)Then Lloyd Evans on the British tradition of the pub theatre. (07:19)And finally, Tanya Gold on getting drunk on tiramisu. (13:55)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.

Freddy Gray talks to Michael Wolff about his latest book 'Too Famous', and looks back at how the quest for fame has affected politics over the last two decades. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode: Who is advising the PM? In our cover story this week, our editor Fraser Nelson takes a deep dive into No. 10 politics and finds a court of chaos inside. With a large parliamentary majority, an extremely young team and the departure of Domonic Cummings is there anyone left in the Conservative party who can stand up to the Prime Minister? Fraser talks on the podcast with former Conservative party chairman, Kenneth Baker on the reign of King Boris. (00:45)Also this week: Should the West be prepared to defend Taiwan?Tensions over the island of Taiwan are rising at an alarming rate. In The Spectator this week Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy at King’s College, and Elbridge Colby, author of Strategy of Denial, both write about what the West can do to defend Taiwan’s autonomy. On the podcast, Alessio and Elbridge talk further about the future of this disputed territory. (17:09)  And finally: How do you join the world of underground chess? One of the world’s oldest games is making something of a comeback, with underground chess clubs starting up all over the world. Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, CEO of UK music, writes about this phenomenon in this week’s Spectator. He joins the podcast along with Nick Moar, The Spectator’s social media editor and chess enthusiast to discuss their favourite pastime. Nick and James are also joined by the grandmaster himself, Malcolm Pein who wanted in on the fun. (30:56)Hosted by Lara PrendergastProduced by Sam HolmesSubscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:www.spectator.co.uk/voucher Listen to Lara’s food-based interview show, Table Talk:https://www.spectator.co.uk/tabletalk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam's guest on this week's Book Club podcast is Armando Iannucci – the satirist behind Alan Partridge, The Thick of It, Veep and The Death of Stalin. What many of his fans might not know is that he's also a devoted scholar of Milton – whose influence is to be found in his first published poem Pandemonium: Some Verses on the Current Predicament. Armando tells Sam what hurt him into verse, identifies the moment that led him to abandon an English Literature PhD for a career in comedy – and explains why there's as much sadness as savagery in his mock-epic description of the Covid epidemic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dee Rettali is an artisan baker. She founded Patisserie Organic in 1998, and afterwards the Fortitude Bakehouse in London. She is the author of Baking with Fortitude: sourdough cakes and bakes. On the podcast, she tells Lara and Liv about enjoying tinned fish, relying on the custom of cyclists in lockdown, and learning from 1970s French patisserie that baking was better without kitchen machinery. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.