Best of the Spectator

Over 25 million smart meters have been installed in homes across Britain. Does this mean that smart meters have been a success? In 2019, The Spectator hosted Smart Energy GB on a podcast to discuss their rollout and now we are back again to reflect on what we have learnt over the years and where there are still challenges.Have people’s understanding of smart meters changed? And are they really as efficient as they seem? Joining Kate Andrews to discuss where smart meters can fit into the net zero ambition is Fflur Lawton, head of public affairs at Smart Energy GB; Adam John, a reporter at Utility Week; and Jerome Mayhew, a Conservative MP who sits on the Environmental Audit Committee. This podcast is sponsored by Smart Energy GB. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fraser Nelson is joined by Spectator columnist Lionel Shriver; Gavin Schmidt, senior adviser at Nasa; Benny Peiser, director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation; Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of National Interest; Labour MP Stella Creasy; and Spectator journalists. We discuss whether Biden is on the decline, how the Tories found themselves in another sleaze scandal, and whether there's a problem with buy now, pay later schemes. Click here to watch the full episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode, we’ll hear from Lionel Shriver on how the Biden Administration’s border policies are a gift for Trump and the Republicans. (00:52)Then Kit Wilson on what we can expect from Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse. (09:53)Third, it's Peter Hanington talking about his love of haikus. (18:48)And finally, Robert Porter’s notes on the bagpipes. (24:32)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 Amber Athey and Matt McDonald about the results of the race for the governorship of Virginia and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ruth Davidson is the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives and now sits in the House of Lords as the Baroness of Lundin Links. On the episode, she speaks to Katy about her happy upbringing as an active tomboy despite a near-death car accident at the age of five; her mother's reaction when she left the BBC to join the Scottish Tories ('she was appalled'); and gave a punchy defence of Theresa May ('I absolutely think the Party did her wrong'). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode: Has the Biden Presidency stalled or crashed?In our cover story this week, Freddy Gray assesses the state of the Biden presidency. With steadily lowering approval ratings, a disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, and this week’s failure of the Democrats to hold on to the Virginia Governorship, how much trouble is the US’s oldest inaugurated president in? Freddy talks to Lara along with Emily Tamkin, the US editor of the New Statesman and co-host of the World Review Podcast. (00:49)Also this week: Should we welcome or fear the Metaverse?Kit Wilson writes in The Spectator this week about Facebook’s new venture into the Metaverse, a concept that most of us probably hadn’t heard of until last week. To layout the roadmap for what our journey into this new digital reality might look like, Kit joins the podcast along with Tom Renner, a software engineer for NavVis.(12:55)   And finally: Is the idea of ‘buy now pay later’ financially precarious for young people?Gus Carter has been exploring the new Swedish-born app that is blowing up with the youth: Klarna. On its face, it seems to just be a modern replacement for a credit card with some gifts thrown in, but could this ‘buy now pay later’ model have some unexpected consequences for its users? Gus talks about his findings along with the author of the blog Young Money Iona Bain. (27:33)Hosted by Lara Prendergast Produced 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.

Over the past months, under the weight of a global pandemic, scientists and medical professionals have had to rethink the way they do things. We found not one - but numerous - vaccines within the space of a year; new treatments have been discovered, some repurposed from existing drugs; and manufacturers and politicians alike have had to think creatively to plug the gaps of the pandemic.There must be lessons we can learn from this experience - things that big pharma and scientists can do better in the future, having this time round done so in emergency circumstances. That’s the topic of this special episode of The Spectator’s podcast, sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Novartis.I’m delighted to be joined by a panel of expert guests. Chinmay Bhatt, Managing Director in the UK for Novartis, who we pressed on the importance of data science in pharmaceuticals. Professor Paul Martin, a sociologist tasked with finding better ways to collaborate between the medical sector and other sectors, who enlightened us on the un-mined potential of repurposing existing drugs. And Dr Nicole Mather, the Life Sciences Lead at the technology company IBM, who has been crucial to the UK’s pandemic response and working with regulators. She nicely summed up - through the lens of regulation - the kind of corners that can be cut, without compromising on healthcare quality:'What Covid has been really helpful in, is helping us think about what's really essential. So a lot of the regulatory process has been pared back, or been able to run in parallel. So regulators are not doing away with any steps - just addressing them in a more thoughtful fashion'. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam's guest is Claire Tomalin. Claire’s new book, The Young H G Wells: Changing the World, tracks the extraordinary life and rocket-powered career of one of the most influential writers of the Edwardian age. She talks to Sam about how drapery’s loss was literature’s gain, why casting the goatish Wells as a #metoo villain isn’t quite right - and why we should all be reading Tono-Bungay.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.

It's not easy to talk about the Cultural Revolution inside China - let alone teach it. In recent years, one of the last professors to have taught the period has been hounded out of her role at a top university. Sun Peidong has now taken a post at Cornell, after Chinese journals stopped publishing her work, the university party secretary banned her lectures, and even her students turned on her - denouncing Sun as if she were an 'anti-revolutionary' of the very period she taught.In this frank discussion, Cindy Yu interviews Sun about academic freedom and diversity of thought on Chinese campuses; about what it was like to shed light on a taboo subject to younger generations; and why she left China. It's an indictment on modern Chinese discourse that an internationally-renowned scholar such as Sun is now lost to Chinese academia.‘Look at China, now we have a huge impact. If we cannot handle our own social problems, what kind of impact will we leave to the whole [of] humankind?’ She asked me. And on whether China has got over the Cultural Revolution:‘If you forbid people, professors, or students, or young generation, to have [the] opportunity to fully discover the history – and the dark side of the history – how can you imagine that our nation can move on?’ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the global shortage of gas continues to drive up energy costs, we take a look at these rising energy prices and the cost of living crisis that looms over the UK. How can we protect people from fuel poverty when bills are predicted to rise by hundreds of pounds? Moreover, as COP26 kicks off, how can this crisis be framed within the government's plans for a green future? Kate Andrews speaks to Rebecca Sedler, the director for policy and regulation at EDF, Alan Brown MP, shadow SNP spokesperson on energy and climate change and Jonny Marshall, who is a senior economist at the Resolution Foundation. This podcast is sponsored by EDF. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.