Best of the Spectator

Freddy Gray The Spectator’s deputy editor speaks to Andrew Cockburn and Danielle Lee Tomson about the battle for the American right – who will win out of Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump? Also on the show, Katy Balls looks at the Home Secretary’s plans to stop migrant crossings; Ann Törnkvist on Swedish gang violence; Mary Wakefield debates Mary Dejevsky on whether cyclists should be allowed on pavements and Francesca Peacock talks about the politics of corsets. 00:00 Welcome from Freddy Gray02:54 Who will win the American right? With Andrew Cockburn and Danielle Lee Tomson23:44 Is Suella Braverman in trouble over the illegal migrant bill? With Katy Balls31:16 Why has Sweden become so violent? With Ann Tornkvist44:24 Should cyclists be allowed on pavements? With Mary Wakefield and Mary Dejevsky 56:20 Are corsets cancelled? With Francesca Peacock Theme song written and performed by Jon Barker © 2020 Jonathan Stewart Barker Publisher Jonathan Stewart Barker 100%, administered by prsformusic.comRecording © 2020 Jonathan Stewart Barker 100%, administered by ppl.com

This week: James Heale asks whether the cabinet secretary Simon Case can carry on (01:00), Cosmo Landesman tells the story of when a man – and his axe – came to visit his home in London (05:03), and Miranda Morrison warns against the damaging obsession with STEM in secondary schools (11:10). Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson. Photo Credit: © The Estate of Tom Picton

Freddy Gray speaks to Shawn McCreesh, a features writer at New York Magazine who recently spent time with Republican Congressman, George Santos.

In the cover piece of this week's magazine, deputy editor Freddy Gray writes about the fight for the American right: it's Don (Trump) vs Ron (DeSantis). Who will win? On the podcast, Freddy is joined by Amber Athey, Washington editor of The Spectator's world edition. (00:37)Political editor Katy Balls writes in this week's magazine that small boats are a big election issue. Rishi Sunak has promised to stop the illegal crossings, but what will it cost him? Katy is on the podcast with Spectator contributor Patrick O'Flynn. (10:49)And finally, would you let a man with an axe into your house for the sake of art? Cosmo Landesman's father did, and he writes about it in the magazine's arts pages this week. Cosmo joins the podcast with Igor Toronyi-Lalic, The Spectator's arts editor, to talks about destructive art. (20:28)Presented by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Max Jeffery.

On this week's Book Club podcast, my guest is Sara Wheeler, who looks back on her travelling life in Glowing Still: A Woman's Life on the Road. She tells me why it's 'a book about tits and toilets', as well as a meditation on the past and future of travel writing and a lament for the books – in one case thanks to having children and the other to the modern fatwa on 'cultural appropriation' – she didn't get to write.

Winston speaks with Perrier Award-winning comedian, writer, author and co-founder of gay rights charity Stonewall, Simon Fanshawe. They discuss the history of Stonewall, Fanshawe’s recent book ‘The Power of Difference’, his new company Diversity by Design, and how it aims to promote diversity in the workplace. Together they debate the case for and against diversity and Stonewall's 'strategic pivot' towards trans rights. 

The Chinese Communist Party likes to blame its domestic political problems on foreign interference, and it has done so since the days of Chairman Mao.But sometimes, does this paranoia, this narrative, have a point? Or at least during the depths of the Cold War, when the United States, via the CIA, was countering communism across the world through so-called ‘covert operations’.Cindy Yu's guest today is Professor John Delury, a historian at the Yonsei University in Seoul, and author of a new book looking at the history of the CIA in China. It’s called Agents of Subversion – some of the incredible exploits detailed in there are nothing short of what you'd find in a spy thriller.Pictured here is CIA agent John T. Downey, who was imprisoned by China for over two decades after an exfiltration mission over Manchuria failed. He was eventually released following Nixon's visit to China.Further listening:Bill Hayton on Liang Qichao and the other Chinese reformers whose followers became the so-called 'Third Force' discussed in this episode: https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/what-is-it-to-be-chinese/.Professor Rana Mitter and Jessica Drun on the history of Taiwan and what happened after Chiang Kai-shek fled there: https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/why-does-china-care-about-taiwan/

In response to Seymour Hersh's recent appearance on Americano, Freddy speaks with open-source intelligence analyst Oliver Alexander, who unpacks his argument against Hersh's claims about the U.S. blowing up the Nordstream pipeline.

This week: Max Jeffery reads his letter from Abu Dhabi where he visited the International Defence Exhibition (00:56), Emily Rhodes discusses the tyranny of World Book Day (05:59), and Daisy Dunn tells us about the mysterious world of the Minoans (10:22). Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.

Women make up half of the workforce in the UK. Yet when it comes to high-skilled, high-income jobs in tech, just 26 per cent of the workforce are women and 77 per cent of tech leaders are men. Jobs in tech filter into almost every sector and women from all walks of life are discovering they don’t need a maths or tech background to retrain and reinvent themselves. Over the last five years the UK’s tech sector has seen massive proliferation and investment, but given this level of growth, where are all the women? The government’s approach to bridging the gap has focused on teaching in schools. While evidently, the issue starts from a young age, should more emphasis be placed on encouraging women of all ages to learn new skills and explore opportunities that could offer a higher salary and career progression?On the podcast, Katy Balls is joined by Sharon Doherty who is the Chief People and Places Officer and Lloyds Banking Group. Nusrat Ghani, Conservative MP for Wealden and East Sussex and Minister for both Business and Trade and the Cabinet Office. Finally, Anneliese Dodds, Labour MP for Oxford East and Shadow secretary of state for Women and Equalities.This podcast is kindly sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group.