Best of the Spectator

This week: Isabel Hardman asks whether politics and religion can mix (00:58), Christopher Howse discusses the transformative power of folk costume (08:06), and Lucy Dunn reads her notes on meal deals (19:18).  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's show, Kate Andrews The Spectator's economics editor speaks to historian Andrew Roberts about Britain's hollow army; Arlene Foster on the Northern Ireland Protocol; Andrew Drury on why he has has changed his mind about Shamima Begum; David Robertson on faith in politics and Lucy Dunn defends the meal deal. 00:00 Welcome from Kate Andrews02:14 Can Britain restock its army? With Andrew Roberts and Tobias Ellwood MP17:00 Will a deal be reached on the Northern Ireland Protocol? With Arlene Foster29:42 Is Shamima Begum dangerous? With Andrew Drury43:36 Can politicians separate faith from politics? With David Robertson 58:04 Is the meal deal on its way out? With Lucy DunnTheme 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week:In his cover piece for the magazine, Andrew Roberts says that the British Army has been hollowed out by years of underfunding and a lack of foresight when it comes to replacing the munitions we have sent to Ukraine. Historian Antony Beevor and author Simon Jenkins join the podcast to discuss Britain’s depleted military (01:04). Also this week: do religion and politics mix? In The Spectator Isabel Hardman asks why it is that only Christian politicians are forced to defend their beliefs. This is of course in light of the news this week that Kate Forbes’s bid for SNP leadership may be derailed by her views on gay marriage. She is joined by former leader of the Liberal Democrats Tim Farron, who also writes for the magazine this week about his experience of – what Isabel calls – the secular inquisition (17:16). And finally: Christopher Howse writes about the transformative power of folk costume in his arts lead for The Spectator. He is joined by Mellany Robinson, project manager at the Museum of British Folklore and co-curator of the new exhibition Making Mischief: Folk Costume in Britain (27:55).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 is Robert Douglas-Fairhurst. In his new book Metamorphosis: A Life in Pieces, Robert describes how being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis plunged him from his comfortable life as an English literature professor at Oxford into a frightening and disorienting new world; and how literature itself helped him learn to navigate around it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddy Gray speaks to award-winning journalist and reporter Seymour Hersh to discuss his recent Substack article titled How America took out the Nord Stream pipeline.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every protest needs an anthem, and for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, 'Nothing to My Name' by Cui Jian became that emblem. Cui was one of China's earliest rockers, taking inspiration from the peasant music of China's northwest and fusing it with the rock 'n' roll that was beginning to arrive in the country. It put rock music – and the Chinese interpretation of it – under the national spotlight.On this episode Cindy Yu talks to Kaiser Kuo, host of the China Project's Sinica podcast, who also happens to be a founding member of Tang Dynasty, one of China's earliest and greatest rock bands. They talk about how a China opening up after the Cultural Revolution allowed in this decidedly western musical genre, how it fused with Chinese musical traditions upon contact, and its lasting association with the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week: Anshel Pfeffer discusses Bibi's recent misstep (00:54), Laura Gascoigne reads her arts lead on Vermeer's women (06:54), and Simon Barnes examines the cultural life of orcas (14:32). Produced and presented by Oscar Edmondson.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this special episode of Women With Balls, the government’s Attorney General, Victoria Prentis joins Katy along with Vika … a young Ukrainian woman who came over to the UK under the Homes For Ukraine scheme after the war began. On the podcast, Victoria talks about how life has changed since Vika joined the family and as part of her role in government, working with the Ukrainian prosecutor general who will conduct war crimes tribunals. Vika tells Katy about the steps taken to escape Kyiv at the start of the war; her new life in Oxfordshire having been taken in by the community and what she misses about her home in Ukraine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week:What next after Sturgeon?In her cover piece for the magazine, The Spectator's political editor Katy Balls considers what Sturgeon's exit means for the future of Scotland – and the Union. She is joined by Iain Macwhirter, author of Disunited Kingdom, to discuss whether Scottish independence can survive after Sturgeon (01:09).Also this week:Elif Shafak writes a moving diary in The Spectator, reflecting on the terrible earthquakes that hit her homeland Turkey, and neighbouring Syria. She is joined by Turkey correspondent at the Financial Times Adam Samson, to assess President Erdogan's reaction to the disaster (15:03). And finally: In the magazine this week journalist Andrew Stuttaford writes about America's fascination with unidentified flying objects, and is joined by Michael Garrett, director of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (26:23).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 scholar and biographer Richard Bradford, whose new book Tough Guy: The Life of Norman Mailer looks at the rackety life and uneven oeuvre of one of the big beasts of 20th-century American letters. Mailer, as Richard argues, thought his self-identified genius as a writer licensed any amount of personal bad behaviour – up to and including stabbing one of his wives. As the book makes clear Mailer was a racist, misogynist, homophobe, thug and a boor. But was he also, actually, any good? And will he last? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.