Best of the Spectator

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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.

  1. Holy Smoke: How pistols in St Paul’s Cathedral shaped the science of sound

    -1 J

    Holy Smoke: How pistols in St Paul’s Cathedral shaped the science of sound

    In the winter of 1951 shots from a Colt revolver rang out in St Paul’s Cathedral in an experiment designed to solve the mystery of how architecture shapes sound. In this episode of Holy Smoke, Damian Thompson talks to Dr Fiona Smyth, author of a new book on the subject, and choral musician Philip Fryer, about the perfect acoustic – an increasingly important topic for churches, since many of them rely on the income from hiring themselves out as concert and recording venues. And it raises the question: should we think of a church as a musical instrument?

    17 min

  2. -2 J

    Spectator Out Loud: Paul Wood, Ross Clark, Andrew Lycett, Laura Gascoigne and Henry Jeffreys

    On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: as Lebanon reels from the exploding pagers, Paul Wood wonders what’s next for Israel and Hezbollah (1:24); Ross Clark examines Ireland’s low-tax project, following the news that they’re set to receive €13 billion… that they didn’t want (8:40); Reviewing Ben Macintyre’s new book, Andrew Lycett looks at the 1980 Iranian London embassy siege (15:29); Laura Gascoigne argues that Vincent Van Gogh would approve of the new exhibition of his works at the National Gallery (22:35); and Henry Jeffreys provides his notes on corkscrews (28:01).    Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

    32 min
  3. The Book Club: Lindsey Hilsum

    -3 J

    The Book Club: Lindsey Hilsum

    My guest on this week's Book Club podcast is Channel 4's international editor Lindsey Hilsum. In her new book I Brought The War With Me: Stories and Poems from the Front Line Lindsey intersperses her account of the many conflicts she has covered as a war reporter with the poems that have given her consolation and a wider sense of meaning as she travels through the dark places of the earth. She tells me what poets can do that reporters can't, how you put a human face on statistics, how new technology has changed her trade, and why she goes back and back into danger to bear witness.

    43 min
  4. The Edition: Farage's plan, the ethics of euthanasia and Xi's football failure

    -3 J

    The Edition: Farage's plan, the ethics of euthanasia and Xi's football failure

    This week: Nigel’s next target. What’s Reform UK’s plan to take on Labour? Reform UK surpassed expectations at the general election to win 5 MPs. This includes James McMurdock, who Katy interviews for the magazine this week, who only decided to stand at the last moment. How much threat could Reform pose and why has Farage done so well? Katy joins the podcast to discuss, alongside Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, who fought Nigel Farage as the Labour candidate for Clacton (1:02). Next: who determines the morality of euthanasia? Matthew Hall recounts the experience of his aunt opting for the procedure in Canada, saying it ‘horrified’ him but ‘was also chillingly seductive’. Does Canada provide the model for the rest of the world? Or should we all be worried of where this could lead? Matthew joined the podcast, alongside commentator Richard Hanania. Hanania is president of the Centre for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology and has hailed the Canadian model as ‘moral progress’ (19:52). And finally: why isn’t China a football superpower? Ian Williams joins the podcast to discuss his article exploring the failure of President Xi to realise his ambitions for Chinese football. Despite spending billions of yuan, why hasn’t China been more successful? Cameron Wilson, founding editor of Wild East Football, the world’s leading English-language news source on soccer in China joins too (35:44). Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

    45 min
  5. Coffee House Shots: should Labour ditch the ‘doom and gloom’ narrative?

    -4 J

    Coffee House Shots: should Labour ditch the ‘doom and gloom’ narrative?

    We have some new inflation figures today. Inflation rose 2.2 per cent in the 12 months to August. This is pretty much in line with the Bank of England's target and should be good news for Labour, so why do they persist with this doom and gloom narrative?  Elsewhere, Labour's awkward week has got more awkward with the news that Sue Gray, Keir Starmer's chief of staff, is paid more than him. Surely they could have seen this news story coming?  Oscar Edmondson speaks to Kate Andrews and James Heale. Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

    11 min
  6. Americano: Are Democrats to blame for the repeated attempts to kill Trump?

    -6 J

    Americano: Are Democrats to blame for the repeated attempts to kill Trump?

    As if there hadn’t been enough drama in America in 2024, Donald Trump has survived another assassination attempt. The attempted killing of the 45th president at his golf course in Palm Beach, Florida yesterday afternoon was not nearly as threatening or deadly as the shooting nine weeks ago in Butler, Pennsylvania - but questions remain about how the incident could have happened.  Freddy Gray is joined by Kate Andrews to discuss the second assassination attempt, the state of the race, and what's next for Donald Trump.

    23 min
  7. Chinese Whispers: a father and son at the edge of the Chinese empire

    -6 J

    Chinese Whispers: a father and son at the edge of the Chinese empire

    As a child, the New York Times journalist Edward Wong had no idea that his father had been in the People’s Liberation Army. But as he grew up, a second generation immigrant in the United States, Edward was hungry to find out more about his father and mother’s pasts in the People’s Republic of China. That hunger took him to study China at university and eventually to become the New York Times’s Beijing bureau chief. Edward’s new book, At the Edge of Empire, is a marvellously constructed work that traces his father’s journey through China as a soldier in the PLA, and his own reporting in China as an American journalist. It reveals how China has changed between the lives of father and son, but also how some aspects – such as the nature of political power – have not changed at all.  On this episode, Cindy Yu talks to Edward about the yearning of second-generation immigrants to understand their roots, why both China and America can be seen as empires, and the seventy years of change that the lives of father and son span.

    39 min
  8. Spectator Out Loud: Fraser Nelson, David Whitehouse, Imogen Yates, Sean McGlynn and Ruari Clark

    14 SEPT.

    Spectator Out Loud: Fraser Nelson, David Whitehouse, Imogen Yates, Sean McGlynn and Ruari Clark

    On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Fraser Nelson reflects on a historic week for The Spectator (1:15); David Whitehouse examines the toughest problem in mathematics (6:33); Imogen Yates reports on the booming health tech industry (13:54); Sean McGlynn reviews Dan Jones’s book Henry V: the astonishing rise of England’s greatest warrior king (20:24); and Ruari Clark provides his notes on rollies (26:18).    Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

    31 min
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À propos

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.

Informations

  • Créateur
    The Spectator
  • Années d’activité
    2014 - 2024
  • Épisodes
    501
  • Classement
    Tout public
  • Copyright
    © 145131
  • Site Web de l’émission
    Best of the Spectator

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