Best of the Spectator

This week:In his cover piece Douglas Murray writes that museums are turning against their own collections. He is joined by the historian Robert Tombs to discuss whether a culture of self-flagellation is harming British museums (00:56).Also this week:For the magazine The Spectator’s assistant editor Cindy Yu writes that the tune is changing in China. She is joined by Professor Kerry Brown, director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College London to consider what the recent protests could mean for the Chinese Communist Party (13:24).And finally:Nicholas Lezard writes in The Spectator about how to beat London's expanding Ultra Low Emissions Zone. He is joined by journalist Tanya Gold to investigate an elegant loophole in the plans (24:56). Hosted by William Moore. Produced by Oscar Edmondson. 

My guest on this week's Book Club podcast is Rupert Shortt, whose stimulating new book The Hardest Problem addresses one of the oldest difficulties in theology: "the problem of evil". Is this something the religious and the secular can even talk meaningfully about? What's the great challenge Dostoevsky throws up? And what did Augustine get right that Richard Dawkins gets wrong? 

It’s fair to say that the tobacco industry is one of the most controversial ones out there, with the phrase ‘Big Tobacco’ almost a meme, a shorthand for unscrupulous business practices. No wonder then that tobacco companies are trying to remake themselves, companies like Philip Morris International. PMI has a history dating back to the 1840s, and yet, today, their tagline is now ‘Delivering a smoke-free future’. Over the course of ten years, they’ve seen a third drop in the volume of cigarette sales. They’re keen to talk about their story of ‘transformation’, which is why they’ve sponsored this podcast. So what’s really going on? Cindy Yu talks to David Miller, a lecturer at Princeton where he specialises in faith and ethics. He’s been commissioned by PMI to author a report all about ‘corporate change’.We also speak to Moira Gilchrist, Vice President of Strategic and Scientific Communications at PMI, Martin Vander Weyer, the Spectator’s business editor, and Professor John Kotter, a leading business theorist at Harvard Business School.This podcast was sponsored by Philip Morris International (PMI) but produced under the sole editorial control of The Spectator. Therefore the views expressed represent those of the commentators featured and do not necessarily represent the views of PMI.

As Britons live longer and the population ages, society will soon have to rethink what it means to be of ‘working age’. Training and learning will have to be offered to older age groups who are healthier and more capable of work than their predecessors; while healthcare room to improve in making sure that health conditions are not barring those who wish to work from working. What can employers and the government do, armed with the right information and analysis, to prepare for this transition?On the special podcast episode, Martin Vander Weyer, The Spectator’s business editor is joined by Guy Opperman, Minister for Employment at the Department of Work and Pensions, Dame Carol Black DBE, FRCP who is a physician and academic; and Catherine Foot, who is the Director of Phoenix Insights.This podcast is kindly sponsored by Phoenix Group.

Comparisons with 1989’s Tiananmen Square protests are too often evoked when it comes to talking about civil disobedience in China. Even so, this weekend’s protests have been historic. It’s the first time since the zero Covid policy started that people across the country have simultaneously marched against the government, their fury catalysed by the deaths of ten people in a locked down high rise building in Xinjiang. Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Xi’An, Urumqi, Nanjing (Cindy Yu's home city) have all seen protests over the weekend. Most of them attack the zero Covid policy, but some have called out ‘Down with Xi Jinping’.After two days of protests, these cities, especially Shanghai, now see heavy police presence, with the authorities searching phones of any seeming troublemakers. This weekend’s burst of free speech may already have been snuffed out. Can the protestors sustain their momentum given the tight grip of the state? Cindy is joined by Professor Jeff Wasserstrom at UC Irvine, an expert on protests in the mainland and Hong Kong, and Isabel Hilton, a long time China watcher and founder of China Dialogue.

This week: James Heale reads his interview with former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice (00:50), Lionel Shriver asks what's the price of fairness (05:38), and Tangil Rashid reflects on the BBC at 100 (14:01).Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.  

On this week's podcast:Could China be the key to peace in Ukraine?In his cover piece for the magazine this week Owen Matthews reveals the covert but decisive role China is playing in the Ukraine war. He is joined by The Spectator's Cindy Yu, to discuss what Xi's motivations are (00:53). Also this week: Harriet Sergeant writes that the Iran is at war with its own children as it cracks down on young protesters. She is joined by Ali Ansari, founding director if the Institute for Iranian Studies, to consider the fragility of the Iranian regime (14:32). And finally: Julie Bindel says in the magazine this week that after recent controversy the Society of Authors is no longer fit for purpose. She is joined by historian, author, and former chair of the society Tom Holland, to debate whether it's time to replace the institution (23:56). Hosted by William Moore. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

In this week’s Book Club podcast, I’m talking to two of the brave souls who turn recent political dramas into the sort of quickly written books we might call the second draft of history. I’m joined by the FT’s Sebastian Payne, author of The Fall of Boris Johnson, and our own James Heale, co-author of a Liz Truss biography, Out Of The Blue, which notoriously was so rapidly overtaken by events that she was out before it was. They tell me how they disentangle their duties in their day jobs as political reporters from what they owe their book readers, how differently sources will speak to authors than journalists, what the day to day press got wrong – and whether they think history will look more kindly on their subjects than the front pages.

Freddy Gray talks to the comedian and media and culture editor of American Greatness Tim Young, about Twitter, Donald Trump and the Republican race for president in 2024.

This week: Paul Wood writes about meeting Syria’s underground drug lords (0:30) Mary Wakefield warns us of the perils of psychoactive drug therapy (10:30) and Melissa Kite defends her friend who has been excluded from AA (17:13).