The Spectator Podcast

According to which bit of hype you read, there’s a copy of one of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher thrillers sold somewhere in the world every four seconds, or every seven, or every nine. It’s a cute statistic and (as Child wryly notes), there’s an element of Barnum & Bailey hucksterism to it. Sam talks to Lee Child in this episode of Spectator Books about what makes his books so successful, how he writes, and why he wanted Goliath to win. Sam writes about it in this week's magazine.Presented by Sam Leith

With James Forsyth and the New Statesman's Stephen Bush.Presented by Katy Balls.

What will transport look like in the year 3000? Busted thought we would live underwater, but perhaps we’ll have even figured out zero carbon travelling. This year the government made its own prediction in the form of the ‘Road to Zero’ strategy - new petrol and diesel cars are to be banned by 2040.Is this another example of the government ‘helping’ unhelpfully? We posed the question to a panel of the leading voices of authority in the debate in a special podcast, sponsored by Shell. The resounding answer was in fact – no, government direction is helpful, in this at least.  Fraser Nelson spoke to Edmund King, the President of the AA and the voice of British motorists; Chris Stark, chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, an independent organisation that reviews government policies on the environment; and Sinead Lynch, Shell’s UK Country Chair. In a incisive half an hour chat, they talk about the big challenges facing low carbon transport today – the appalling lack of infrastructure for charging electri

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth.Presented by Cindy Yu.

With Katy Balls and Fraser Nelson.Presented by Lara Prendergast

This week, Theresa May is putting the final touches on her Brexit deal – but is this a point to celebrate, or has she left behind an irrevocably toxic legacy (00:40)? We also take a look at the Democratic Party’s new darling – Beto O’Rourke (13:10); and last, are British parents too obsessed with their children’s education (26:00)?With James Forsyth, Lord Heseltine, Freddy Gray, Karin Robinson, Leah McLaren and James Delingpole.Presented by Isabel Hardman.Produced by Cindy Yu and Alastair Thomas; with thanks to Jack Hunter.

In this week's books podcast Sam talks to Oxford's Professor of Global History Peter Frankopan about his follow-up to his bestselling history The Silk Roads. In The New Silk Roads, Peter brings his story up to date, and argues that with our Trump and Brexit obsessions, and a divided and fissiparous West still obsessed with itself, we are missing the bigger picture of what's going on in the world today. Once again, the Silk Roads -- those lines of connection between East and West running through what he calls the "heart of the world" -- are where the action is. In our conversation we look at the rise of China and asks what its vast "Belt and Road" programme means for the future shape of the world, at the deeply complex relations between the Gulf states and the nations with interests in them, at the forces at work in India, Pakistan and Iran -- and why our school curricula need to go a bit beyond the old diet of Black Death, Mary Seacole and the Second World War. Plus, Peter's (almost) diplomatic about the endu

Is nationalism, in Emmanuel Macron’s words, an ancient and modern cause of the ‘old demons’ of history? Or, as Yoram Hazony argues in his latest book, The Virtue of Nationalism, is the nation state the best way to preserve law and liberty?Yoram Hazony is an Israeli philosopher, the President of the Herzl Institute and a director at the John Templeton Foundation.Presented by Dominic Green.

With Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.Presented by Katy Balls.

Lara and Livvy talk to Fraser Nelson about his hatred of desserts, how working in London made him a stranger in Glasgow, and wining and dining Westminster's political big dogs.Presented by Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts.

Deputy National Security Advisor Mira Ricardel is forced out of her role after a public spat with Melania Trump. Is Melania more powerful than she seems?With Jacob Heilbrunn, Editor of the National Interest.Presented by Freddy Gray.

We’re bringing you this podcast from the midst of the Brexit omni-shambles, and this episode contains a special Brexit edition (15:05). But before that, something just as monumental is happening on the other side of the world. China is developing a social credit system to rate its own citizens and their social behaviour. Just how dangerous is this idea (00:40)?With James O'Malley, Cindy Yu, James Forsyth, Tim Montgomerie, and Sienna Rodgers.Presented by Katy Balls.Produced by Cindy Yu and Alastair Thomas.

Join Katy Balls on this new podcast from the Spectator - she talks to women at the top of their respective games about their passions, their battles, and what makes them tick. The first episode is with columnist and BBC Radio 5 Live broadcaster, Emma Barnett. Katy talks to Emma about stepping in for Andrew Marr, interviewing the Prime Minister, and how her granddad is her most loyal fan.

Sam talks to Nora Krug about her remarkable graphic work Heimat - in which this German born writer and artist discusses how it has felt to grow up in Germany and later the US with the shadow of her homeland’s war guilt, how that has issued in art, literature and humour, and about her risky attempt to discover her own family’s wartime past.Presented by Sam Leith.

With James Forsyth and Katy Balls.Presented by Cindy Yu.

With James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson.Presented by Lara Prendergast.

As Theresa May prepares to unveil her Brexit deal, we ask: just how bad is it, and what happened to ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ (00:50)? In the American midterms, the Blue Wave didn’t happen, but Democrats did take control of the House of Representatives – what next for Trump’s presidency (17:15)? And last, as we approach Remembrance Sunday, who are the lives we are remembering, and is it time to move on (28:10)?With James Forsyth, Charles Grant, Kate Andrews, Leslie Vinjamuri, Liz Hunt, and Glyn Prysor.Presented by Lara Prendergast.Produced by Cindy Yu and Alastair Thomas.

With Geoff Dyer, one of our most wayward and wittiest writers, about his new book Broadsword Calling Danny Boy, a frame-by-frame discussion of the classic war movie Where Eagles Dare. Learn from Geoff about the importance of squinting in Clint Eastwood’s thespian toolbox, about the joy of snow-patrol Action Man, about why he shied away from plans for "Alistair MacLean: A Critical Reappraisal", and about why on earth Geoff would follow a learned book about Tarkovsky’s Stalker with a discussion of a piece of late-60s schlock. Plus: what happens when you get on the wrong side of Julian Barnes.Presented by Sam Leith.

The young atheist writer Guy Stagg threw in his job a few years ago to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem via Rome - choosing a hazardous medieval route across the Alps. It nearly killed him: at one stage, trying to cross a broken bridge in Switzerland, he ended up partially submerged in the water, held up only by his rucksack. On this week’s Holy Smoke podcast, Guy explains why his journey was a pilgrimage, not just travels. And Damian talks to Harry Mount, editor of The Oldie, why he’s irresistibly drawn to church buildings while remaining an unbeliever - albeit an agnostic rather than an atheist.Presented by Damian Thompson.Produced by Connor O'Hara and Cindy Yu.This episode was first released in July this year.

With Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.Presented by Lara Prendergast.