Best of the Spectator

It has been yet another crazy week in the Brexit saga, with May and the EU negotiating an extension. And with a possible third meaningful vote in the horizon, what happens now? And who is to blame for the uncertainty - May, or parliament? (00:47)Plus, with the majority of doctors in the NHS now coming from abroad, why are we not training enough doctors in the UK? (16:00)And last, we take a look inside of the world of The Archers’ superfans. (33:00) With Katy Balls, James Forsyth, Sam Gyimah, Saffron Cordery, J. Meirion Thomas and Nicola Headlam. Presented by Lara Prendergast. Produced by Cindy Yu and Siva Thangarajah. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's books podcast, Sam Leith is joined by the Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer Jhumpa Lahiri. Someone whose own fiction has negotiated the cross-cultural territory of her Bengali-American identity, Jhumpa in the last few years has been negotiating a new crossing of cultures after settling in Rome with her family and starting to write fiction and memoir in Italian. She joins the podcast to discuss the Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories, which she edited, and talk about what a new language gives a writer, how the war shaped Italian literature, and why - as a professor of creative writing at Princeton - she refuses to teach creative writing.Spectator Books 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Journalist and author Rachel Johnson joins Lara and Livvy on this episode to talk about what it was like to share with a student house with Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, then budding student chef, about cooking rice found in a Greek bin for her children, and why 'American food' is an oxymoron.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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With James Forsyth and Katy Balls. Presented by Fraser Nelson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For 30 years Damian Thompson has been bored senseless by the public pronouncements of bishops – Anglicans and Catholics. Why do they feel the need to speak in such dreary jargon? Why do interesting clergy never make it to bishop? He's joined by Harry Mount, editor of The Oldie.Holy Smoke looks at the most important and controversial topics in world religion, thoroughly dissected by a range of high profile guests. Presented by Damian Thompson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a somewhat bonkers week in Westminster. The government seems to be going into a full Brexit meltdown and it's likely that Brexit will be delayed. So, where do we go from here (00:45)? We also take a look at the Democratic Party's anti-Semitism problem (17:35) and at the end, Lara Prendergast is given a tarot reading (26:10).With Katy Balls, James Forsyth, Peter Foster, Freddy Gray, Kate Andrews and Jennifer Cownie.Presented by Lara Prendergast.Produced by Cindy Yu and Alastair Thomas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s books podcast Sam is joined by Owen Matthews to talk about the man many have claimed was the greatest spy of the 20th century, Richard Sorge, the subject of Owen’s riveting new book An Impeccable Spy (reviewed in the new issue of The Spectator by Nicholas Shakespeare). Sorge (he’s pronounced 'zorgey', by the way — not, as I introduce the podcast, idiot that I am, 'sawj'). Here was a man who supplied information that changed the course of the Second World War — and far from being the sort of glum duffelcoated figure who populates Le Carre’s “Circus” — he really did lead an existence of James Bondish extravagance. He played the Germans off against the Japanese, all for the benefit of the Russians — and did so while drinking like a fish, seducing every woman he crossed paths with, waving around samurai swords and roaring about on a motorbike. Owen has the low-down on this “bad man who became a great spy”.Literary interviews and discussions on the latest releases in the world of publishing, from poetry through to physics. Presented by Sam Leith. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An expert panel discusses the truth behind the headlines and ask: what does no deal really mean?With George Eustice, Suella Braverman, Nicky Morgan, Dominic Grieve, and James Forsyth. Hosted by Fraser Nelson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth.Presented by Fraser Nelson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary Curnock Cook is an educationalist and former head of Ucas. On this podcast, she talks about leaving school at 16, how boys suffer from the real gender gap in education, and why it would be 'ludicrous' to abolish university tuition fees.Presented by Katy Balls. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.