Best of the Spectator

In this week's Book Club podcast, Sam is joined by Richard Dawkins to talk about his new book Books Do Furnish A Life: Reading and Writing Science. Richard tells Sam - among much else - what makes science writing (and science fiction) exciting; the questions science can (and can't) answer; why he felt it necessary to invest so much of his time arguing against religion; and why the left recurrent laryngeal nerve of the giraffe is such an odd shape.    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sebastian de Souza is an English actor an author. On the podcast, he tells Lara and Olivia about eating too much on set, enjoying cornflakes, double cream and sugar, and writing after a drink. His new book, Kid, is out now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode, Fraser Nelson is joined by Conservative MP and former chancellor Sajid Javid; Dr Jeffrey Barrett from the Wellcome Sanger Institute; former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt; and a team of Spectator journalists.We discuss how Joe Biden has fared in his first 100 days in office, whether the government was right to intervene in plans for a European Super League, and if the Indian coronavirus variant is something to worry about.To watch the show, go to www.spectator.co.uk/tv. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode, broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby reads his diary (00:55), journalist Katja Hoyer reports on the German Greens and their poll surge (06:25) and Melissa Kite on why she's perfectly happy to stay in the country this summer (12:05). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hwaet! Our guest in this week’s Book Club Podcast is Maria Dahvana Headley, whose new book is a translation of the Anglo-Saxon classic Beowulf. She talks to us about how she has produced what she bills as a 'feminist translation' of this most macho of poems; about the poem’s braided history and complex language; and about what it tells us of the Anglo-Saxon worldview. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joe Biden is approaching his first 100 days in office. How has he fared, and has he delivered on his promise to bring about a return to normalcy? (1:15) Plus, the proposed European Super League wasn’t super after all. The six English teams invited to join the league pulled out earlier this week, and the plans have now been shelved. But will it still happen eventually? (10:30) And finally, what’s it really like to live in a listed building? (19:30)With the Spectator's US editor Freddy Gray; our economics correspondent Kate Andrews; journalist Damian Reilly; veteran football reporter Julie Welch; Spectator contributor Hamish Scott; and Liz Fuller, a buildings at risk officer for Save Britain’s Heritage. Presented by Lara Prendergast.Produced by Max Jeffery and Sam Russell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who knelt on George Floyd's neck, is currently on trial in Minneapolis. What will the city stay peaceful when the verdict is delivered, do violent viral videos do more harm than good, and should the country's political leaders call for order? Freddy Gray speaks to Scott Johnson, a lawyer and contributor to Power Line. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You might think that in a country as tightly controlled as China, diversity of opinion is hard to come by in written form. But as I find out in this episode, there is a vibrant conversation going on with vastly different views, especially in the intellectual elite amongst professors and journalists. So what do these intellectuals think, and how much can they get away with saying?With Professor David Ownby, who founded the website Reading the China Dream, which translates writings from Chinese intellectuals into English. He tells me:'A casual observer of China in the West will think that all Chinese are sitting at home, with the blinds closed, waiting for the Chinese Communist Party to fall apart before the police come and get them... But that's not the life led by most Chinese intellectuals... By knowing what they talk about, it humanises China.'In the episode, we also discuss Cai Xia, a former CCP professor now living in exile, and the article she wrote from the US. Click here to read it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week's episode, Andrew Neil is joined by Jill Rutter, senior research fellow at UK in a Changing Europe and a former civil servant; Sir Christopher Meyer, former UK ambassador to the United States; environmental campaigner Stanley Johnson; Professor Lawrence Gostin, director of the WHO's Center for National and Global Health Law; and a team of Spectator journalists.We discuss the Greensill scandal, Boris's plans to rebrand Britain, and how vaccine passports are being used in the US. To watch the show, go to www.spectator.co.uk/tv. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, author and journalist Ian Williams starts by looks at how China is using tech to expand its reach. (00:45) Then, Fiona Mountford reflects on how to deal with grief. (12:00) Finally, Deborah Ross reviews the Oscar-nominated Promising Young Woman, 'a wonderfully clever, darkly funny, stomach-knotting' revenge-thriller. (18:10) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.