The Spectator Podcast

The Catholic Church will acquire its first millennial saint today, when Pope Leo XIV canonises someone who, if he were alive today, would be young enough to be his son. Carlo Acutis, a ‘computer geek’ from a prosperous Italian family, died aged just 15 in 2006. In this episode of Holy Smoke, Damian Thompson talks to Mgr Anthony Figueiredo and the Italian-based journalist Nicholas Farrell about the extraordinary phenomenon of St Carlo, the miracles associated with him – and the scepticism they arouse – and a mean-spirited attack on him by one of the late Pope Francis’s closest advisers. Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Tim Shipman interviews shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick (plus – Tim explains the significance of Jenrick’s arguments in a special introduction); Colin Freeman wonders why the defenders of Ukraine have been abandoned; Rachel Clarke reviews Liam Shaw and explains the urgency needed to find new antibiotics; Michael Gove reviews Tom McTague and ponders the path that led to the UK voting to leave the EU; and, Melanie Ferbreach provides her notes on made-up language.Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First: Reform is naff – and that’s why people like itGareth Roberts warns this week that ‘the Overton window is shifting’ but in a very unexpected way. Nigel Farage is ahead in the polls – not only because his party is ‘bracingly right-wing’, but ‘because Reform is camp’. Farage offers what Britain wants: ‘a cheeky, up-yours, never-mind-the-knockers revolt against our agonisingly earnest political masters’.‘From Farage on down,’ Roberts argues, ‘there is a glorious kind of naffness’ to Reform: daytime-TV aesthetics, ‘bargain-basement’ celebrities and big-breasted local councillors. ‘The progressive activists thought they could win the culture war simply by saying they had won it’, but ‘the John Bulls and Greasy Joans are stirring again’. Roberts loves how ‘the current excitement over flag-raising’ is the ‘conniptions’ it gives to ‘the FBPE crowd’. Of course, for Farage, planning for government ‘really cannot be a pantomime affair’. But ‘in these grim times’ we ‘need the romping Reform’. Gareth joins the podca

My guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is the Albanian-born political philosopher Lea Ypi, whose new book Indignity: A Life Reimagined reconstructs the story of her grandmother’s early life amid the turbulence of the early and mid twentieth century. She talks to me about using the techniques of fiction to supply the gaps in the archive, about Albania’s troubling position as a tiny power among great ones, why the fight between Kant and Nietzsche remains a live one — and how online trolls sparked her quest for a restorative account of her beloved grandmother’s life.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Gove and Madeline Grant launch ‘Quite right!’, the new podcast from The Spectator that promises sanity and common sense in a world that too often lacks both.In their first episode, they take stock of a political summer dominated by Nigel Farage, a Labour government already facing mutiny, and the curious spectacle of Tory MPs moonlighting as gonzo reporters.From J.D. Vance’s Cotswold sojourn and Tom Skinner’s bish bash bosh patriotism, to Sydney Sweeney’s jeans advert causing a culture war, Michael and Madeline discuss what really drives our politics: policies, or memes and vibes?Plus: Keir Starmer’s ‘phase two’ reshuffle – does it amount to more than technocratic jargon? And why has cosy crime conquered our screens, even as Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club stumbles upon its Netflix release?Produced by Oscar Edmondson, Oscar Bicket and Matt Miszczak. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddy Gray is joined by writer and internet ethnographer Katherine Dee. She's written about the Minneapolis school shooting and Robin Westman for Spectator World. Two children were killed and 17 others injured by a killer with a bizarre online footprint: a mix of memes, nihilism, politics and gore references. Katharine argues 'these shooters are radicalized, but in no particular direction. Their identities fragment. There is a deep fear of being forgotten.' Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Parliament returns from summer recess, three rising stars of the 2024 intake join Coffee House Shots to provide their reflections on frontline politics so far. Labour's Rosie Wrighting, the Conservatives' Harriet Cross and the Liberal Democrats' Joshua Reynolds tell deputy political editor James Heale how they have found Parliament so far, and their most – and least – favourite thing about being an MP. Plus: while they are all new, and young, MPs, their parties' fortunes have all varied wildly – how have they dealt with that?Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What links the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and St Peter's in Rome with the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, and Canaanland in Ota, Nigeria? These are just some of the churches that Anglican priest and writer the Revd Fergus Butler-Gallie highlights in his new book Twelve Churches: An Unlikely History of the Buildings that made Christianity. The Anglican priest and writer joins Damian Thompson on Holy Smoke to explain how each Church not only tells a story but also raises a surprising dilemma for modern believers.Fergus aims to tell the history of the Churches 'warts and all' and argues that, from Turkey to Britain, today’s Christians must be prepared to defend their religious spaces. Also, why is the Church of England one of the worst offenders when it comes to preserving its heritage? Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Daily Telegraph have run a story this week that Angela Rayner may have dodged stamp duty on her second home. But beyond the story, its the photos of the Deputy Prime Minister on the beach at Hove – drinking and vaping – that went viral. Christian Calgie, senior political correspondent for the Daily Express, joins James Heale to unpack the story and the wider questions it raises for British politics, but also to discuss Rayner herself. Could 'teflon Ang' turn around the Labour Party's fortunes? And why do so many people – including many Tories – like her so much?Produced by Megan McElroy and Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Tom Slater says that Britain is having its own gilet jaunes moment; Justin Marozzi reads his historian’s notebook; Iben Thranholm explains how Denmark’s ‘spiritual rearmament’ is a lesson for the West; Angus Colwell praises BBC Alba; and, Philip Womack provides his notes on flatmates.Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First: an economic reckoning is looming ‘Britain’s numbers… don’t add up’, says economics editor Michael Simmons. We are ‘an ageing population with too few taxpayers’. ‘If the picture looks bad now,’ he warns, ‘the next few years will be disastrous.’ Governments have consistently spent more than they raised; Britain’s debt costs ‘are the worst in the developed world’, with markets fearful about Rachel Reeves’s Budget plans. A market meltdown, a delayed crash, or prolonged stagnation looms. The third scenario, he warns, would be the bleakest, keeping politicians from confronting Britain’s spendthrift state. We need ‘austerity shock therapy’ – but voters don’t want it. To discuss further, we include an excerpt from a discussion Michael had with our deputy editor Freddy Gray and economist Paul Johnson for Spectator TV. Next: can the foster system survive? ‘The foster system in this country is collapsing,’ Mary Wakefield warns. There around 80,000 children who need homes, but ‘a catastrophic l

This week's Book Club podcast marks the 80th anniversary this year of the publication of Brideshead Revisited. This conversation is from the archives, originally recorded in 2020 to mark its 75th anniversary.To discuss Evelyn Waugh's great novel, Sam Leith is joined by literary critic and author Philip Hensher, and by the novelist's grandson (and general editor of Oxford University Press's complete Evelyn Waugh) Alexander Waugh. What made the novel so pivotal in Waugh's career, what did it mean to the author and how did he revise it? And why have generations of readers, effectively, misread it? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Immigration returned to the headlines over the past week after the High Court granted an injunction forcing the removal of migrants from a hotel in Essex – a ruling that could have wider implications for similar cases across the country. At the same time, the sight of Union Jacks and St George’s Crosses appearing in towns and cities has sparked a debate over whether flag-flying is a symbol of patriotism or a sign of growing division.On this podcast, originally recorded for Saturday's Coffee House Shots, Lucy Dunn is joined by Lord Hannan and trade unionist Paul Embery to ask: what kind of country is Britain becoming? Paul argues that rapid cultural change, combined with economic decline, has left many people feeling disoriented and neglected. Dan Hannan warns that national symbols once seen as unifying risk becoming sectarian markers, echoing Northern Ireland’s politics of identity.They debate the failures of integration policy to the dangers of what Embery calls ‘soft Lebanonisation’ – a creeping communalism

Today James Heale has been on quite the magical mystery tour. Bundled into a bus at 7.45 a.m. along with a group of other hacks, he was sent off to an aircraft hangar in Oxfordshire where Nigel Farage finally unveiled his party’s long-awaited deportations strategy. The unveiling of ‘Operation Restoring Justice’ was accompanied by some impressive production value, including a Heathrow-style departure board and an enormous union flag.The headlines of Farage’s mass deportation initiative are as follows: Reform will leave the ECHR and disapply the Refugee Convention for five years if elected in 2029; a new British Bill of Rights will be introduced, with all government departments required to make the migration crisis their number one ministerial priority; and all this at a cost of £2 billion. But how realistic is it? And since we now have headline deportation plans from the parties at the top of the polls (just), which is more impressive?Oscar Edmondson speaks to James Heale and Karl Williams, research director a

Freddy Gray speaks to Christopher Mondics who is a legal affairs writer about how the left-wing orthodoxy has destroyed Protestantism in America. They discuss the mainline denominations in America, how 'wokeness' infiltrated the churches and why, despite some drop off, religion is still so present in America. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Svitlana Morenets says that Trump has given Zelensky cause for hope; Michael Simmons looks at how the American healthcare system is keeping the NHS afloat; Ursula Buchan explains how the Spectator shaped John Buchan; Igor Toronyi-Lalic argues that art is no place for moralising, as he reviews Rosanna McLaughlin; Richard Morris reveals how to access the many treasures locked away in private homes; and, Mark Mason provides his notes on bank holidays.Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since the government’s decision to proscribe the group Palestine Action, arrests have mounted across the country, raising questions not only about the group’s tactics but also about the government’s handling of free speech and protest rights.On today’s special edition of Coffee House Shots, Michael Simmons is joined by The Spectator’s James Heale and journalist Ash Sarkar to debate whether this is evidence of an increasingly authoritarian bent to Starmer’s Labour. Has the ban made prosecutions easier, or has it created a chilling effect on freedom of expression? And is this further evidence of the overreach of the attorney-general, Lord Hermer?Also on the podcast, with Keir Starmer’s majority secured but his party’s membership dwindling, is there space for a new populist party to Labour’s left? Ash defends Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana’s efforts to establish Your Party. Should they be taking a leaf out of Reform’s playbook?Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv

US President Donald Trump claims Washington, D.C. has been "overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals". There are lots of stories about crime, including one very bizarre incident involving a sandwich. Just how unsafe is D.C.? Freddy Gray is joined by US managing editor Matt McDonald and Isaac Schorr, staff writer at Mediaite, who has written a piece on his experience in Washington for Spectator World. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First: Putin has set a trap for Europe and Ukraine ‘Though you wouldn’t know from the smiles in the White House this week… a trap has been set by Vladimir Putin to split the United States from its European allies,’ warns Owen Matthews. The Russian President wants to make a deal with Donald Trump, but he ‘wants to make it on his own terms’. ‘Putin would like nothing more than for Europe to encourage Ukraine to fight on… and lose even more of their land’. But, as Owen writes, those who count themselves among the country’s friends must ask ‘whether it’s time to choose an unjust peace over a just but never-ending war’. Have European leaders walked into Putin’s trap? Owen joins the podcast alongside Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times. Next: Lionel Shriver, Toby Young & Igor Toronyi-Lalic on the decline of shame in society A rise in brazen shoplifting, attempts to police public spaces and moralising over ‘Art’ – these are all topics touched on by columnists Lionel Shriver and Toby Young and A

Sam Leith's guest for this week's Book Club podcast is Max Hastings. Max joined Sam earlier this year for a live recording to discuss his new book Sword: D-Day, trial by battle, which tells the story of the individual stories who risked their lives as part of Operation Overlord. The discussion was arranged to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. On the podcast Max tells Sam about why he was drawn to chronicle war, why it is important to remember all victims and not just the ‘traditional heroes’, and whether there was an alternative to D-Day at the time. Plus, how serious a moment does he think we face today, compared with 1945? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.