Best of the Spectator

Cleo Watson is a former No.10 advisor to Boris Johnson and now author or the recently published book Whips, a novel set in SW1 filled with sex, politics and scandals. On the podcast, Cleo talks about her life growing up in a big family; her career into politics which began in America on Obama's campaign and led to her advising the likes of Theresa May and Boris Johnson; and her recent departure from politics which gave her the chance to finish the book. 

This week:Ahead of the release of the Barbie movie, Louise Perry writes in her cover piece about how social media is fuelling the cosmetic surgery industry. She argues that life in plastic is not, in fact, fantastic. She joins the podcast alongside the Times’s Sarah Ditum, author of the upcoming book: Toxic: Women, Fame and the Noughties, to discuss the normalisation of plastic surgery. (01:11)Also this week:In anticipation of the BBC Proms Philip Hensher writes in The Spectator that classical music has gone from being a supreme cultural statement, to just another curious musical genre. He is joined by Sir Nicholas Kenyon, former controller of BBC Radio 3 and director of the Proms and now opera critic for the Telegraph, to discuss the changing face of the BBC Proms. (16:54)And finally: The Spectator’s Damian Thompson writes about some of the misguided – as he says – initiatives by both the Church of England and the Vatican to engage with popular culture, prompting him to ask: has the Vatican abandoned beauty? He is joined by Fr Lawrence Lew, Prior and Parish Priest at Our Lady of the Rosary and St Dominic. (27:13)Presented by William Moore. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Yoram Hazony is an Israeli-American philosopher, Bible scholar, political theorist and leader of the national conservatism movement. He discusses with Winston the differences between conservatism and liberalism, the future of America and the need for religion in politics.

My guest in this week's Book Club podcast is Caitlin Moran. Having written one of the bestselling works of popular feminism of the last 20 years – How To Be A Woman – she has turned her attention to the other half of the population with her new book What About Men? I asked Caitlin why she felt she needed to write such a book, and what qualifies her to do so. She tells me why she thinks young men are turning against feminism, what she says to the people who accuse her of trading in stereotypes, and why she thinks Jordan Peterson is a poor excuse for a 'public intellectual'.

Kate Andrews, The Spectator’s economics editor is joined by Andrew Neil and Jonathan Miller to discuss the riots taking place across France. As the NHS turns 75, Sajid Javid gives his thoughts on the future of the health service. Also on the show, Katy Balls takes a look at the Tory’s by-election trouble; Freddy Gray considers the prospect of a ‘Secretary General von der Leyen’ and Tom Slater asks what's the point of trigger warnings. 

This week: Kate Andrews on the NHS and the celebrations that marked its 75th birthday (01:05), Igor Toronyi-Lalic is in Marseille watching with interest as the riots happen around him (06:57) and Ivo Dawnay describes how being related to Boris is cramping his style oversees (11:13).Produced and presented by Linden Kemkaran. 

For 75 years, the most anti-Christian regime in modern history has thrown its citizens into prison camps if they are suspected of the slightest dissent. Ten per cent of people live in modern slavery; perhaps 200,000 are behind bars. I'm talking about North Korea, of course – a regime even more abhorrent than Stalinist Russia, but which attracts suspiciously little attention from Western governments and churches unless they feel threatened by its nuclear arsenal. My guest in this episode of Holy Smoke is Timothy Cho, a Christian human rights activist who escaped from North Korea. Even as a child, he was sentenced to forced labour for the crime of watching a James Bond film. In school he was subjected to hysterical anti-Christian propaganda, but found his faith when he was thrown into a Chinese jail. (North Korean refugees are routinely rounded up by Beijing, which then returns them to the Kim family's giant prison camp.) Listen to his extraordinary testimony, and then ask yourself: why are Western governments so relaxed about the human rights abuses of this diabolical regime?

This week:In the magazine we look at the recent protests in France. The Spectator's Douglas Murray argues that racism is not the problem but that a significant chunk of the unintegrated immigrant population is. He is joined by Dr Rakib Ehsan, author of Beyond Grievance: What the Left Gets Wrong about Ethnic Minorities, to investigate why Europe riots. (01:16)Also this week:Journalist Ivo Dawnay and The Spectator’s associate editor Toby Young discuss the plight of 'politically exposed persons' in the magazine this week. This is of course in light of the news that Nigel Farage has had his bank account closed, with many speculating he has been 'debanked' simply because of his political views and associations. Ivo and Toby both join the podcast to discuss  the ‘debanking’ crisis. (18:11). And finally: Wimbledon might be on, but it is padel that William Skidelsky is more excited about in his piece for the magazine this week, as he charts the rise of the increasingly popular racket sport. He joins the podcast alongside Tia Norton, British female number one padel player. (27:45)Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

My guest in this week's Book Club podcast is Tom Whipple, science editor of the Times and author of the gripping new book The Battle of the Beams: The secret science of radar that turned the tide of the Second World War. He describes the ingenious technological, psychological and espionage battles that made electromagnetic warfare a decisive – if under-appreciated – contributor to Britain's victory in the air war and, finally, in the Normandy Landings.

Francis Fukuyama is an American political scientist and international relations scholar known for his famous book The End of History and The Last Man. Francis and Winston discuss the state of liberal democracy, whether nationalism and liberalism can be reconciled and the case for liberalism.