Best of the Spectator

By: The Spectator
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  • Summary

  • Home to the Spectator's best podcasts on everything from politics to religion, literature to food and drink, and more. A new podcast every day from writers worth listening to.
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Episodes
  • Spectator Out Loud: Matthew Parris, Joanna Bell, Peter Frankopan, Mary Wakefield and Flora Watkins

    Spectator Out Loud: Matthew Parris, Joanna Bell, Peter Frankopan, Mary Wakefield and Flora Watkins
    Nov 23 2024
    On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: pondering AI, Matthew Parris wonders if he is alone in thinking (1:10); Joanna Bell meets the leader of the Independent Ireland party, Michael Collins, ahead of the Irish general election later this month (8:41); Professor Peter Frankopan argues that the world is facing a new race to rule the seas (17:31); Mary Wakefield reviews Rod Dreher’s new book Living in wonder: finding mystery and meaning in a secular age (28:47); and, Flora Watkins looks at the Christmas comeback of Babycham (34:10).

    Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.
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    38 mins
  • Americano: the ‘experts’ who enabled RFK Jr’s rise

    Americano: the ‘experts’ who enabled RFK Jr’s rise
    Nov 22 2024
    The nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr to be secretary of health and human services in the second Trump administration has horrified ‘experts’. A left-wing Democrat who admires the late Venezuelan Marxist dictator Hugo Chavez, hates big business, rails against the ultra-processed food that Donald Trump likes to eat and wants climate sceptics jailed.

    But in the magazine this week Matt Ridley explains how the experts who now bash him have contributed in putting him where is, and that official Covid misinformation has contributed to his rise. So what could he do in office? Will he release these Covid files? Matt joins Freddy to discuss.
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    22 mins
  • The Edition: Streeting vs Starmer, medical misinformation & the surprising history of phallic graffiti

    The Edition: Streeting vs Starmer, medical misinformation & the surprising history of phallic graffiti
    Nov 21 2024
    This week: Wild Wes.

    Ahead of next week’s vote on whether to legalise assisted dying, Health Secretary Wes Streeting is causing trouble for Keir Starmer, writes Katy Balls in the magazine this week. Starmer has been clear that he doesn’t want government ministers to be too outspoken on the issue ahead of a free vote in Parliament. But Streeting’s opposition is well-known. How much of a headache is this for Starmer? And does this speak to wider ambitions that Wes might have?

    Katy joins the podcast to discuss, alongside Labour MP Steve Race. Steve explains why he plans to vote in favour of the change in the law next week (00:57).

    Then: how concerned should we be about medical misinformation?

    President-elect Donald Trump has announced vaccine sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his pick for Secretary of Health and Human Services in the US. In the magazine this week, Matt Ridley explains that it’s not the man himself that’s as interesting, as the reasons how he has ended up in such a position: scientific misinformation has fuelled his rise. So how concerned should we be about medical misinformation? Firstly, Matt joined the podcast to explain his thesis and why reactions to the covid pandemic are to blame (16:24).

    Later, Sander van der Linden, professor of social psychology at the University of Cambridge, also joins the podcast to discuss his concerns and how susceptible we are here in Britain to misinformation (23:46).

    And finally: did you know that crude graffiti has a storied history?

    Harry Mount examines the notorious penis gang that has appeared in Dulwich, daubing penises across trees. Whatever you think of such graffiti, scribbling phalluses, and even erotic art, are actually as old as time – from ancient Rome to India. What’s the line between graffiti and erotic art? And should Westerners be less prudish when confronted with these images? Harry joins the podcast alongside Indian academic Dr Alka Pande (30:50).

    Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.

    Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
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    43 mins

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