Best of the Spectator

On this week's episode, James Forsyth talks about Boris Johnson's impossible mission - to rewire Whitehall (01:00), Douglas Murray on woke books (09:00), and Leaf Arbuthnot on the underground world of lockdown speakeasies and theatre (17:15).Click here to try 12 weeks of the Spectator for £12 and get a free £20 Amazon gift voucher. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chloe Smith is the Conservative MP for Norwich North and minister at the Cabinet Office. She entered parliament at the age of 27 and rose through the ranks quickly. In 2012, she was interviewed by Jeremy Paxman in what has been described as a 'car crash interview' when she was sent out to defend then-Chancellor George Osborne's U-turn on fuel duty. On the podcast, she talks to Katy about what it was like to do that interview and the aftermath, why she proposed to her husband, and what it was like to receive a fake anthrax package.Women With Balls is a podcast series where Katy Balls speak to women at the top of their respective games. To hear past episodes, visit spectator.co.uk/balls.Click here to try 12 weeks of the Spectator for £12 and get a free £20 Amazon gift voucher. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Prime Minister is trying to reform the civil service. He's not the first to try - so will he succeed? (00:50) The stakes for success are high, as his opponent is no longer Jeremy Corbyn, but the more impressive Keir Starmer. How have Starmer's first almost 100 days gone? (15:45) And last, how widespread is loneliness? (29:45)With the Spectator's political editor James Forsyth; Jill Rutter from UK In a Changing Europe; our deputy political editor Katy Balls; former C4 Economics Editor Paul Mason; author Leaf Arbuthnot; and Andy Nazer from the Campaign to End Loneliness.Presented by Cindy Yu.Produced Cindy Yu and Beth Stamp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's books podcast I'm joined by Alan Johnson and Andrew Adonis to talk about the latter's new biography of a neglected great of British political history: Ernest Bevin: Labour's Churchill. He was, in Andrew's estimation, the man who did most to save Europe from Stalin. So why has Bevin been so forgotten? In what way was he Churchillian? What would he have made of the current state of the Labour party? And will we ever see his like again?Click here to try 12 weeks of the Spectator for £12 and get a free £20 Amazon gift voucher. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Reporter at Canada's Globe and Mail, Robyn Doolittle, joins the panel this week to discuss what went wrong in Canada. Speaking to a series of infectious-disease experts, health officials and politicians, Robyn and her team pieced together an image of the 'lost months' - a period between January and March when more should have been done to prevent the pandemic. Also on the podcast: Kate Andrews gives an update on the latest in Leicester; Jennifer Creery reports on Hong Kong's latest worry - an influx of migrant workers; and Fredrik Erixon reflects back on Sweden's laissez-faire approach.Read the articles discussed here:Hong Kong: https://asiatimes.com/2020/06/hold-quarantine-centre-plea-as-domestic-workers-return/Sweden: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sweden-self-isolation-in-the-country-that-didnt-do-lockdown-jdjdsc8mmCanada: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/investigations/article-canadas-lost-months-when-covid-19s-first-wave-hit-governments-and/UK: https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/hundreds-more-people-diagnosed-covid-4272970The Spectator is looking for the UK's brightest entrepreneurs for our Economic Innovator of the Year Awards, sponsored by private bank Julius Baer. If you run a business that brings radical positive change and is capable of achieving national or international impact, we want to hear from you. Apply by 1 July at www.spectator.co.uk/innovator. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rory Sutherland is the vice-chairman of the renowned advertising firm, Ogilvy, and the Spectator's 'Wiki Man' columnist. On the podcast, he talks to Lara and Olivia about everything and anything from the dreadful British food of the 70s, why he loves chain restaurants, and the best and worst kitchen gadgets. As well as his incredibly eclectic and international death row meal.Table Talk is a series of podcasts where Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts talk to high profile guests about their life story, through the food and drink that has come to define it. Listen to past episodes here.The Spectator is looking for the UK's brightest entrepreneurs for our Economic Innovator of the Year Awards, sponsored by private bank Julius Baer. If you run a business that brings radical positive change and is capable of achieving national or international impact, we want to hear from you. Apply by 1 July at www.spectator.co.uk/innovator. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode, former police officer Kevin Hurley reads his piece on how top police officers get disillusioned in the job; Alicia Munckton talks about the private-state divide in education during this lockdown; and James Delingpole reviews Alan Bennett's new Talking Heads, and explains why he's not a fan.The Spectator is looking for the UK's brightest entrepreneurs for our Economic Innovator of the Year Awards, sponsored by private bank Julius Baer. If you run a business that brings radical positive change and is capable of achieving national or international impact, we want to hear from you. Apply by 1 July at www.spectator.co.uk/innovator. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fans of nuclear energy say that it is efficient, reliable, and greener than fossil fuels. The government's Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050 target may not be achievable without a helping hand from nuclear. But its critics say that it's costly for the taxpayer, prone to delays, and damaging for local ecosystems. What's more, Hinkley Point demonstrated the risk of foreign investment in key infrastructure. Is Britain going to need more nuclear power plants, or is there a better way? Kate Andrews speaks to a panel of guests to discuss this and more:Bim Afolami, Conservative MP for Hitchin and HarpendenProfessor Simon Taylor, author of The Fall and Rise of Nuclear Power in BritainJulia Pyke, Nuclear Development Director at EDF EnergyThis podcast is sponsored by EDF Energy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On the podcast this week, a former police officer gives his take on why black youths loathe the police (01:05); we discuss why Downing Street would prefer Joe Biden to win (17:25); and will anything really change after the pandemic? (30:50).With former Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner Kevin Hurley; campaigner Katrina Ffrench; the Spectator's Political Editor James Forsyth; the Spectator's Economics Correspondent Kate Andrews; and our columnists Matthew Parris and Rory Sutherland.Presented by Cindy Yu.Produced by Cindy Yu and Beth Stamp.Click here to try 12 weeks of the Spectator for £12 and get a free £20 Amazon gift voucher. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s Book Club podcast my guest is the historian Rutger Bregman. In his new book Humankind, Rutger argues that practically every novelist, psychologist, economist and political theorist has got it all wrong: humans are naturally caring, sharing and altruistic... and far from being the one thing that stands in the way of a Hobbesian war of all against all, 'civilisation' is actually what makes us behave badly. You’re probably thinking: 'Come off it, hippy.' Why not see if he can change your mind?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.