Best of the Spectator

My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is the film writer Peter Biskind. In his new book Pandora’s Box, he tells the story of what’s sometimes called “Peak TV” – and how a change in business model (from network to cable to streaming) unlocked an extraordinary era of artistic innovation, and uncovered an unexpected darkness in the public appetite to be entertained.

John Nichol is a former RAF Tornado navigator who, during the first Gulf War in 1991, was famously shot down, paraded on television and held prisoner by Saddam Hussein. John wrote movingly about his experience in his first book, 'Tornado Down', and has gone on to write fifteen more best-selling books. His latest, 'Eject, Eject', is out now. He also loves food, is very fond of cooking and often posts pictures on social media of his many and varied culinary creations.Presented by Olivia Potts.Produced by Linden Kemkaran.

Every year, The Spectator travels the country in search of the best and boldest new companies that are disrupting their respective industries. In a series of five podcasts, we will tell you about the finalists for 2023's Innovator of the Year Awards, sponsored by Investec. The awards winners will be announced in a prize ceremony in November.This episode will be focusing on the manufacturing and engineering category. Some of the nominees have found novel uses for old materials, often finding a much more sustainable way of producing things. A couple of them use cutting edge engineering – including graphene, a miracle material rediscovered right here in the UK, by the University of Manchester. Britain is, of course, the home of the industrial revolution. These modern homegrown champions are keeping that legacy alive.Martin Vander Weyer, The Spectator's business editor, judges the awards and hosts this podcast along with three other judges: Gabriel Fysh, entrepreneur and Director at Transcend Packaging, a former winner of the awards; Ian Ritchie CBE, an engineer and entrepreneur, who sits on the board of a number of companies in Scotland and in the IT and engineering sphere; and Michelle White, co-head of Investec's private office.The finalists in this category are:The Cheeky Panda, which makes tissue and hygiene products from bamboo.THIS™, which makes meaty-tasting plant-based foods, from sausages to chicken.QLM Technology Ltd, which has invented a quantum gas lidar technology to detect greenhouse gases.MacRebur Limited, which uses waste plastic to replace bitumen in road surfacing.Partful, which helps manufacturers with an end-to-end repair process by locating components and parts.Graphene Innovations Manchester, which aims to replace highly-emitting cement with graphene in construction.Equipmake, which produces ultra-high-performance electric motors, power systems and vehicle drivetrains.Paragraf, which mass produces graphene-based electronic devices using standard semiconductor processes.

This week: Katy Balls discusses the SNP’s annual conference and asks what will it take to hold the party together if things get much tougher over the next twelve months (01:10), Christina Lamb goes to Ukraine, only to be told that she’s 'at the wrong war' as events unfold rapidly in the Middle East (06:55), and Sam Leith chats to the man who heads up the tiny publishing house that regularly churns out Nobel Prize winners (12:13). Produced and presented by Linden Kemkaran. 

This week Freddy speaks to Dennis Ross, former Middle East coordinator under President Clinton and current Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. They discuss Biden's visit to Israel this week, how his policy towards the Middle East borrows from Trump and Obama, and how we can discern between the public posturing and private desires of Middle Eastern states. 

Kate Mosse is an international best-selling author who’s sold millions of books, translated into 38 different languages. She describes herself as a feminist and has worked hard to champion other female authors by creating the Women’s Prize for Fiction and non fiction - now the UK’s most prestigious annual book award.Kate isn’t afraid to use her platform to address issues she feels strongly about. In 2013, she was awarded an OBE for services to women and literature. Born in West Sussex, my guest still lives there now, alongside her childhood sweetheart and they have two children.

On the podcast:In The Spectator's cover piece Jonathan Spyer writes that as America's role in international security diminishes history is moving Iran’s way, with political Islam now commanding much of the Middle East. He is joined by Ravi Agrawal, editor in chief of Foreign Policy and host of the FP Live podcast, to discuss whether America is still the world's policeman. Also this week:In the magazine this week, The Spectator’s literary editor Sam Leith speaks to Jacques Testard, publisher at Fitzcarraldo Editions, the indie publishing house which has just won its fourth nobel prize in under ten years. They have kindly allowed us to hear a section of their conversation in which they discuss the joy of translations, how a literary publishing house should exist as a work of art in and of itself and why winning prizes isn’t everything. And finally:In his arts lead, journalist Dan Hitchens reviews Georgian Illuminations, an exhibition at Sir John Soane's Museum on the golden age of public spectacle. He joins the podcast alongside Louise Stewart, co-curator of the exhibition, to uncover how the Georgian's invented nightlife.Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore. Produced by Oscar Edmondson. 

My guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is the novelist Sandra Newman, whose new book Julia retells George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four from Julia’s point of view. We discuss the spaces Orwell’s classic left for her own novelistic imagination, what we do and don’t know about the world of Big Brother, and whether the misogyny in Orwell’s original belongs to the author or the dystopia he depicts.

When China brokered a historic detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran earlier this year, it seemed that a new phase in world history – and certainly in Chinese foreign policy – had opened up. Instead of the US being a policeman of the world, it was the rising power, China, that was stepping into that role. Whereas Chinese foreign policy had previously only really cared about promoting trade and silencing dissidents, it seemed that perhaps, now, Beijing was taking a more leadership role in global diplomacy and security issues.And yet the events of the last week and China’s response to them have shown that perhaps the country isn’t ready for that responsibility just yet. In response to the horrors unfolding in Israel and later Gaza, Beijing has given only lukewarm statements, calling for 'relevant parties to remain calm, exercise restraint and immediately end the hostilities to protect civilians'. At no point has it condemned Hamas by name.So what does this mean for China’s grander ambitions in the Middle East? With me to discuss is Tuvia Gering. During peacetime, his full time role is as a researcher on China and the Middle East, with the Israeli thinktank the Institute for National Security Studies and he is also a nonresident fellow in the Atlantic Council.But in the last week, as with all Israelis, his life has been changed forever. He’s now been called up for active duty.What you’re about to hear is an incredibly well informed but raw contribution from an expert whose research interests have come crashing into his real life.

This week Paul Wood delves into the complex background of the Middle East and asks if Iran might have been behind the Hamas attacks on Israel, and what might come next (01:11), James Heale ponders the great Tory tax debate by asking what is the point of the Tories if they don’t lower taxes (13:04) and Robin Ashenden on how he plans to introduce his half Russian daughter to the delights of red buses, Beefeaters and a proper full English (18:36).Produced and presented by Linden Kemkaran