Best of the Spectator

The mail-order bride industry is booming – but today's international dating doesn't look as it used to.It turns out that it’s not so much young and uneducated Chinese women looking to marry out of the country anymore, and more middle aged and financially well off divorcees, looking for something different.The mail order bride industry is changing as the women involved are becoming more empowered with their growing wealth – and more demanding.On this episode, Cindy Yu speaks to sociologist Monica Liu, whose new book, Seeking Western Men, is all about these changing dynamics of race, class, gender and, ultimately, power. She writes about the book in an article for Sixth Tone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Ece Temelkuran on Turkey's upcoming elections (0:54); Lara Prendergast looks at Millenial Millie – a new voter demographic (05:47) and Aidan Hartley on surviving this year's drought (12:12). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddy Gray is joined by filmmaker, Alex Holder who had access to Trump’s inner circle when making the documentary Unprecedented. On the podcast, they discuss Trump's supporter base, his relationship with his children, and why Ivanka is the favourite. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week:Having been found guilty of sexual assault, is Donald Trump still in the running for the White House? In his cover piece, Niall Ferguson says he could still defy gravity. He joins the podcast alongside Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of The National Interest. (01:00) Also this week:Journalist Andrew Watts interviews the Reverend Canon Dr Jason Bray, the Bishop of St Asaph’s ‘deliverance minister’, or the Anglican priest charged with exorcising evil spirits. They both join the podcast. (17:50). And finally:Author and journalist Sophia Money-Coutts writes about the British women opting for Danish sperm donors to conceive. She joins us on the show, along with Annemette Arndal Lauritzen, CEO of the European Sperm Bank.  (34:07). Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Natasha Feroze. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's Book Club podcast my guest is the writer Madeleine Bunting, whose new book is The Seaside: England's Love Affair. She tells me how the great seaside resorts came into their 19th century pomp, how abrupt was their mid-century decline, and of the terrible desolation that has succeeded the idyll of donkey rides, ices and fish and chips. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Niki Segnit is the author of the hit cooking books The Flavour Thesaurus and Lateral Cooking. Her new book The Flavour Thesaurus more flavours: Plant-led pairings, recipes and ideas for cooks, is out this Thursday 11th May.   On the podcast she speaks to Lara and Liv about weird and wonderful flavour combinations, her childhood fascination with Oxo cubes and why she has gone plant-led for her new book.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week: William Moore recalls the 1953 coronation with those that were there (01:02), Katy Balls reads her politics column (10:13), Dan Hitchens discusses the art of coronation (16:20) and Ysenda Maxtone Graham reads her review of The Seaside by Madeleine Bunting (25:20). Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddy Gray speaks to journalist Ben Smith, whose new book Traffic is an origins story for digital media. On the podcast they discuss how a new genre of journalism was birthed from a desire to cause trouble online, whether woke culture spawned from digital media and if we are nearing the end for the social internet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam McAlister is a producer and author of Scoops: The BBC's Most Shocking Interviews from Prince Andrew to Steven Seagal. When she worked for Newsnight, she was the producer who secured the infamous interview with Prince Andrew, conducted by Emily Maitlis. This interview eventually led to Prince Andrew being suspended from public duties and stepping back from all of his patronages. McAlister is now being portrayed by the actress Billie Piper in a coming Netflix adaptation of the Prince Andrew interview.On the episode, she tells Katy about coming from a 'grafting, entrepreneurial' family and how that informed her competitiveness; her brief career in law; and the behind-the-scenes story of how she secured the interview.Produced by Natasha Feroze and Cindy Yu. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week:In his cover piece for the magazine, Daily Mail writer, author of Queen of Our Times and co-presenter of the Tea at the Palace podcast, Robert Hardman looks ahead to the reign of King Charles III. He joins the podcast alongside historian David Starkey, who is interviewed in the arts pages of The Spectator by Lynn Barber (01:10) Also this week:Sean Thomas writes about generational reparations, that is: whether families with murky pasts should pay compensation for their ancestors’ wrongdoings. He is joined by Professor Christine Kinealy, historian and author This Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845-52, to ask whether generational reparations are simply a token gesture (20:58). And finally:Journalist Yannic Rack writes about the battle to restore Britain's hedgerows in The Spectator. He is joined by Clive Matthew, hedgelayer and founder of the National Hedgelaying Society to learn about the art of hedgelaying (30:29). Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore. Produced by Oscar Edmondson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.