Best of the Spectator

Leroy Logan is a former superintendent at the Metropolitan Police, former chair of the Black Police Association, and author of Closing Ranks: My Life as a Cop. On the podcast, he tells Lara and Livvy about his love of apple crumble, his wife's lunchboxes, and why police officers should always stay dry.Table Talk is a series of podcasts where Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts talk to celebrity guests about their life story, through the food and drink that has come to define it. Listen to past episodes here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Damian's guest, the celebrated Irish journalist, broadcaster and playwright Mary Kenny, offers a nuanced analysis of the powerful and paradoxical world in which she grew up: one in which Catholic clergy and lay people could be simultaneously fervently pious, warm-hearted and yet paralysed by petty snobbery. She talks about how the Irish Free State handed far too much power to bishops and priests. In effect, they replaced the disappearing Anglo-Irish nobility as the new aristocracy of rural Ireland, exercising an authority over people's lives that could be generous or malevolent and sometimes a mixture of both. Holy Smoke is a series of podcasts where Damian Thompson dissects the most important and controversial topics in world religion, with a range of high profile guests. Click here to find previous episodes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a year battling coronavirus, the UK's debt now totals more than £2 trillion. In an effort to keep the economy afloat, the Treasury has paid wages, given tax relief, and even paid for people to eat out. As recently as five years ago, Conservatives would have thought this spending unsustainable. But with Boris Johnson's government being elected on a promise to 'level up' the country, will this high-spending, high-debt economy become the new normal?With Paul Abberley, CEO of Charles Stanley Wealth Managers; Jake Berry, Conservative MP and chair of the Northern Research Group; and David Miles, an economist at Imperial College London and former member of the Monetary Policy Committee. Presented by Kate Andrews. Sponsored by Charles Stanley Wealth Managers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Douglas Murray, the author of The Madness of Crowds, joins the last Americano of the year. On the episode, he and Freddy chat through the most important trends and events of the year, from China and the pandemic, to whether or not 'neocon' is still a usable term. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2020 is drawing to a close but none of us will forget this year anytime soon. For China, has it also been a watershed year? Western rhetoric hasn’t been so hawkish on China in a very long time, with talk of a second Cold War gracing commentary pages and calls to decouple supply chains. Lost in the noise is China's own turning away from the world. In a new strategy called 'dual circulation', the government is encouraging economic self-reliance. On this episode, Cindy Yu talks to Chatham House's Dr Yu Jie to find out how China is instigating its own decoupling. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Andrew Neil is joined by Professor Tim Spector, principal investigator of ZOE at Kings College London; Andrew Wilson, former SNP finance spokesperson and founding partner of Charlotte Street Partners; Rod Liddle, associate editor of The Spectator; and a team of Spectator journalists.This week, we discuss whether all the data supports increased coronavirus restrictions, if there's a case for Scottish independence, and the highs and lows of 2020.To watch the show, go to www.spectator.co.uk/tv. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the Christmas triple issue, there are four authors in this week's Spectator Out Loud. Fraser Nelson reads the leading article in our Christmas edition; Matt Ridley talks about how mRNA vaccines could revolutionise medicine; Ian Rankin reads his short story; and Cressida Bonas reflects on what it was like to have a lockdown wedding.To read more brilliant pieces from the Christmas issue, subscribe online at spectator.co.uk/voucher and get a free £20 Amazon gift voucher; or pick it up at all good newsagents. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Beethoven celebrates his 250th birthday. To mark the day, Damian Thompson talks to the composer Sir James MacMillan about how Beethoven's faith impacted his music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How will the UK's economy recover from Covid-19, and what has the pandemic revealed about the West? (01:20) Was 2020 the year we dealt a mortal blow to future viruses? (15:05) And finally, what makes Mary Gaitskill a brilliant writer, and why does Elif Shafak work to heavy metal music? (29:25)With The Spectator's political editor James Forsyth, deputy political editor Katy Balls, writer and biologist Matt Ridley, behavioural psychologist Dr Stuart Ritchie, The Spectator's literary editor Sam Leith and writer Elif Shafak.Presented by Lara Prendergast. Produced by Max Jeffery and Sam Russell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's Book Club podcast, we remember the great John Le Carre. I'm joined by one of the late writer's longest standing friends, the novelist Nicholas Shakespeare. He tells me about Le Carre's disdain for - and debt to - Ian Fleming, his intensely secretive and controlling personality, his magnetic charm, his thwarted hopes of the Nobel Prize... and why at the end of his life he acquired an Irish passport.The Book Club is a series of literary interviews and discussions on the latest releases in the world of publishing, from poetry through to physics. Presented by Sam Leith, The Spectator's Literary Editor. Hear past episodes here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.