Best of the Spectator

This week: In her cover piece for The Spectator, Harriet Sergeant asks what's happened to the 140,000 pupils who have been 'severely absent' from school since the pandemic. She is joined by The Spectator's data editor Michael Simmons to account for the staggering number of children who were failed by the government's Covid response (01:08). Also this week: Owen Matthews, The Spectator's Russia correspondent, looks at the opposition candidate who could usurp President Erdogan in Turkey. He joins the podcast alongside Turkish journalist Ece Temelkuran to discuss whether it really could be the end of Erdogan's two decade long hold over Turkish politics (14:48). And finally: Kara Kennedy, staff writer at Spectator World, writes this week about her upbringing in the Welsh 'murder capital' Pontypridd, and her own near miss with a recently convicted killer. She is joined by Welsh crime writer and psychologist Emma Kavanagh, to examine Wales's murderous reputation (24:36).  Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

My guest on this week's Book Club podcast is the writer Victoria Smith, whose new book Hags: The Demonisation of Middle-Aged Women explains why one of the oldest forms of misogyny is seeing a vicious resurgence in our own age. She says some of the worst of it now comes from young women. She tells me why she thinks feminists of each new generation seem destined to forget or reject the lessons learned by the previous one, and why female bodies – and the life experiences which go with them – are something that can't be wished away by postmodern theory.

As Xi Jinping visits Vladimir Putin in Russia this week, this episode of Chinese Whispers is returning to one of the missions of this podcast series – to look at things as the Chinese see them. My guest today is Zhou Bo, a retired Senior Colonel of the People’s Liberation Army whose military service started in 1979. He is now a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University. He’s an eloquent and informed advocate of Beijing’s perspective.On the podcast, we discuss why China hasn’t criticised Russia more, despite its purported support for sovereignty, to what extent it really means its peace plan, and whether China is about to invade Taiwan.We recorded most of this podcast two weeks ago, so when Xi’s visit to Moscow was announced last week, Bo kindly agreed to rejoin the podcast and give his take on the visit too.Chances are, you won’t agree with most of the things Bo says, and as you’ll hear, I didn’t on some issues either. Even so, Beijing will continue to play a crucial role in the war, and so it remains important for the West to understand how the Chinese see things.

Freddy Gray is joined by Joe Weisenthal, co-host of the Odd Lots podcast at Bloomberg. On the podcast, Joe talks about the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, and the moral hazard of state intervention. How gloomy should people be?

This week: Cindy Yu discusses Britain’s invisible East Asians (00:51), Leah McLaren discloses the truth about single motherhood (06:02), and Hannah Tomes reads her notes on dining alone (12:08). Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson. 

Ash Regan is the MSP for East Edinburgh who has served as minister for community safety. Since Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation, she has put herself forward to be the next First Minister for Scotland. Born in Biggar, Ash moved to England as a child and grew up in Devon. She surprised her family during the referendum for Scottish Independence, deciding she would vote to leave. Ash began her foray into politics as a campaigner before running for elected office. She was little known outside of the Holyrood bubble until she quit as community safety minister over plans to allow people to self-identify their gender.On the podcast, Ash talks about life before politics; the challenges of the campaign trail; her plans for an independent Scotland, and why she voted against the Gender Recognition Act. 

On the podcast:The Spectator's economics editor Kate Andrews looks back on a week of economic turbulence and asks whether we should be worried, for her cover piece in the magazine. She is joined by the economist – and former 'Trussketeer' – Julian Jessop, to discuss whether we are entering a new era of economic uncertainty (01:06).Also this week:In the magazine, The Spectator’s deputy features editor Gus Carter says that the culture of toxic masculinity has gone too far, and that young men are being marginalised in schools and online as they are repeatedly told that they are a danger to women. He is joined by the Times columnist Hugo Rifkind, to explore how today's sexual politics is impacting young men (13:21).And finally:In the books section of the magazine, Philip Hensher reviews Oliver Soden’s new biography of the actor, writer, singer and playwright Noel Coward. Oliver joins the podcast alongside regular Spectator contributor Alexander Larman to consider Coward's life and legacy (27:44). Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast. Produced by Oscar Edmondson. 

Sam Leith's guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is the writer and editor Ian Buruma, to talk about his new book Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and Survival in World War Two. A Chinese princess who climbed into bed with Japanese nationalist gangsters; an observant Jew who sold his co-religionists to the Nazis; and Himmler’s personal masseur. Ian describes how their stories link and resonate, and how murky morality gets in a time where truth loses its meaning altogether.Produced by Cindy Yu.

Winston speaks with Twitter files journalist David Zweig just as the Twitter files scandal goes to congress. They discuss the significance of the hearing, Big Tech/government censorship, what he uncovered when working on the story, the failure of journalists and government during Covid, myocarditis, mask-efficiency, and the link between free speech and bodily autonomy.

Eleanor is a features writer and columnist for the Daily Telegraph where she writes the the regular food column The Art of Friday Night Dinner. Her new book – of the same name – is released on the 30th March and includes recipes for every kind of Friday night. On the podcast she reminisces about her mother's famous tomato sauce, takes us through her perfect Friday night and explains why she has always loved gathering friends around the kitchen table.(Photo credit: Sophie Davidson)