Best of the Spectator

Alicia Kearns is the Conservative MP for Rutland and Melton; and the first female chair of the foreign affairs select committee. Alicia built a reputation as a foreign policy powerhouse working in communications and counter-terrorism for the civil service. After leaving, she spent some time in the private sector before deciding to become an MP. In 2019 she was elected in the Conservative safe seat, Rutland and Melton where she now lives with her family. On the podcast, Alicia talks about why she left the civil service and the time she ‘came out’ as a Conservative. She also shares her love for her Rutland and Melton, describing her constituents as ‘her people’. But makes no bones about how hard she finds the job: ‘I love being able to campaign and change policy. But I can’t say I enjoy the job’. Now, as the chair of the foreign affairs select committee in Parliament, Alicia wants to improve the UK’s resilience in diplomacy and ensure Rishi Sunak won’t back away from Britain’s international responsibilities. Produced by Natasha Feroze  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's podcast:We have a new prime minister, but is Rishi Sunak ready to take on the numerous problems that James Forsyth outlines in his cover piece for The Spectator this week? James is joined by writer and pollster Matt Goodwin to debate whether the Conservatives can turn it around in time for 2024 (00:50). Also this week:Is the future of feminism conservative?Louise Perry writes for the magazine this week that there has been a rightward shift in feminist thought, spearheaded by mothers coalescing online. She is joined by Victoria Smith, author of Hags: The Demonisation of Middle-Aged Women (15:30).And finally:The Spectator's diary editor James Heale and the Sun's political editor Harry Cole, are the authors of the new book Out of the Blue: The Unexpected Rise and Rapid Fall of Liz Truss. Now immortalised as a Twitter meme, they discuss the agony of rewrites and trying to keep pace with Truss's doomed premiership (28:09). Hosted by William Moore. Produced by Oscar Edmondson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this week's Book Club podcast is the Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov – who has this year become one of the most articulate ambassadors to the West for the situation in his homeland. As a book of his recent writings, Diary of an Invasion, is published in English, he tells me about the experience of trading fiction for the "duty" of a public intellectual in wartime. As an ethnic Russian Ukrainian, he talks about what the West fails to understand about the profound differences between Russian and Ukrainian people, how their national literatures nourish and reflect these differences, how language itself has become one of the battlegrounds, and what Zelensky looked like to Ukrainians before he became a heroic war leader.       Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Capri Cafaro was a member of the Ohio Senate for 10 years before becoming a political commentator. She can often be found on American television news channels and also hosts her own food podcast, Eat Your Heartland Out. On the podcast she talks to Lara and Olivia about memories of cooking Italian-American classics with her Grandma, how she got into politics and why she doesn't have a sweet tooth.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Author and journalist Helen Joyce speaks to Winston about the most contentious issue of the age: the transgender debate. They discussed Mermaids, Tavistock, the Scottish Gender Bill and her new book; perhaps the most authoritative on the subject. Is the growing phenomenon what Jung called a 'psychic endemic'? Listen to find out… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Uber arrived in Britain ten years ago, the app transformed the way people move around cities. All of a sudden, at the click of a button, city dwellers could order a car for a competitive price which would arrive within minutes.To some policymakers, this hailed a new way of working and putting consumers first. Since then, a lot has changed. Uber came under strict regulatory obstacles and many more app-based competitors have entered the market. But the business has transformed with the times. Whilst emblematic of the gig economy, are the critics right about driver treatment? And does more regulation create barriers for the customer?Fraser Nelson, The Spectator's editor is joined on this special podcast by an Uber driver, Kasey to talk about her experience working with Uber; Andrew Brem, General Manager for Uber's UK business, Robert Colville, Sunday Times columnist and director of the Centre for Policy Studies; and Kirsty Innes who is the head of digital government at the Tony Blair Institute.This podcast is kindly sponsored by Uber.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the final round of The Spectator’s Economic Innovator of the Year Awards, our kind sponsors, Investec, hosted us at their offices on Gresham Street, London. We met 11 finalists for lunch — out of a record total of 176 entries across the whole of the UK — to pitch their ventures to our distinguished panel of judges. Our finalists are: UpCircle Beauty, Elvie, Ultromics, Silverstream, eConsult Health, Itaconix, Thought Machine, Recycleye, Project Etopia and Housekeep.The judges; Matthew Robinson who works in Private Equity with ICG; Eva-Maria Dimitriadis CEO of Conduit Connect, and finally Kate Gribbon and Michelle White from Investec.  We hope all the companies we meet gain from the networking opportunities, benefit from the accolade of being selected as finalists and enjoy the buzz, the conversation and the lunch. We hope Spectator readers and podcast listeners also enjoy following the search for this year’s ultimate winners to be announced at the gala dinner on the 11th November – and will take a few minutes to explore the finalists' websites and products.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Spectator Out Loud: Mary Wakefield tells us about her frustrating experience trying to give blood (00:49), James Ball says that it may be the beginning of the end for Mark Zuckerberg (07:04), and Christopher Howse reads his Notes on... signatures (16:44).Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Republican strategist Luke Thompson returns to Americano to give Freddy Gray the lowdown on how things are shaping up ahead of the midterm elections in November.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this year's Midlands and Southwest Innovator of the Year Awards, the judges met four finalists at each region respectively. These eight finalists were shortlisted down from a record 176 applications. In Birmingham, the finalists in this podcast were MoM incubators, Hybrid Air Vehicles and Bambino Mio. The judges, Martin Vander Weyer, business editor of The Spectator met Steve Hewitt, non-executive director of Gymshark; Clive Bawden, COO of Warwick Music and former finalist of the Innovator of the Year Awards and Michelle White representing Investec.The judges faced the tough task of comparing businesses in very different sectors and stages of development. But all four made compelling pitches – and the variety of entries is part of the fun of these awards.We hope all the companies we meet gain from the networking opportunities, benefit from the accolade of being selected as finalists and enjoy the buzz, the conversation and the lunch.  We hope Spectator readers and podcast listeners also enjoy following the search for this year’s ultimate winners – and will take a few minutes to explore the finalists' websites and products. More Economic innovator of the Year Awards podcasts coming shortly! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.