Best of the Spectator

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.

On this week's podcast: After the markets saw off Kwarteng, Trussonomics and now Truss herself, James Forsyth writes in The Spectator that the markets will be driving British politics for the foreseeable future. He is joined by Britain economics editor at the Economist Soumaya Keynes to discuss the institutions now dictating government policy (00:56).Also this week:Looking ahead to the American midterms next month, are we heading for a 'red wave'? Freddy Gray says in his piece for the magazine that the Democrats could be in for a shellacking come November. He is joined by Washington editor at Spectator World, Amber Athey (13:41).And finally:Should the Parthenon Marbles be returned to Athens?In The Spectator this week, Noel Malcolm says this age-old question is far from simple. He is joined by Lord Vaizey, chair of the new advisory board The Parthenon Project, to consider whether we can really justify keeping the Elgin Marbles in the British Museum (21:00). Hosted by William Moore. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth, Katy Balls and Kate Andrews discuss plans to stop spiralling inflation – and a spiralling government. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is the art historian Dr Matt Lodder, whose new book is Painted People: Humanity in 21 Tattoos. He tells me how much more there is to the history of painting on the body than we commonly suppose; and how over the years the history of tattooing (and public attitudes to it) has been shaped by religion, imperialism, class and fashion. Plus, we discover the one thing on which Boomers and Gen Z can agree… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can we justify keeping the Elgin marbles in the British Museum? Join The Spectator’s James Forsyth and special guests as they discuss how to bring an end to the Parthenon Sculptures dispute.A Conservative party conference event, sponsored by The Parthenon Project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

28 per cent of the world's fertiliser supply comes from Russia and Ukraine. Since war broke out in February, fertiliser prices have rocketed to record highs because of the disruption. British farmers are under pressure as the industry deals with higher energy costs at the same time; while consumers are facing higher food prices.Is there a way to reshore our fertiliser supply chain? CCm Technologies in Swindon thinks so – and reduce emissions at the same time. They say they can make high efficiency and low polluting fertiliser from organic waste, gathered from British farms, creating a completely self-sufficient production line.For their cutting edge science, CCm Technologies won the Spectator’s Innovator of the Year awards last year, beating dozens of Britain’s most brilliant start ups. In this tense geopolitical moment, Kate Andrews caught up with Pawel Kisielewski, CEO of CCm Technologies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.