The Spectator Podcast

Advertising legend and Spectator columnist Rory Sutherland joins Michael Simmons to explain why he thinks Britain’s economic problem isn’t income, tax rates or even inequality — it’s property, rent extraction, and a national belief that housing is the safest and smartest place to store wealth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiteright This week on Quite right! Q&A: Could Britain see a snap election before 2029? Michael and Maddie unpack the constitutional mechanics – and explain why, despite the chaos, an early vote remains unlikely. They also turn to Labour’s troubles: growing pressure on Keir Starmer, restive backbenchers, and whether Angela Rayner’s sacking has boosted her chances as his successor. Plus: should the Scottish Parliament be abolished? And on a lighter note, if you won a free holiday but had to take one Labour MP, who would you choose? Produced by Oscar Edmondson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lawyer Alan Dershowitz joins Freddy Gray to react to the 20,000 newly released Epstein emails — and why he believes far more remains hidden. He discusses Trump’s appearance in the documents, the contradictions in Virginia Giuffre’s testimony, the FBI’s real “client list”, and why judges are still sealing major depositions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britain’s prisons are a legislative problem that has beset successive governments. New revelations show 91 accidental early releases in just six months, the latest in a growing pattern of administrative chaos across the criminal justice system. Between drones delivering drugs, crumbling Victorian buildings, exhausted staff and an ever more convoluted sentencing regime, what is the cause of so many blunders? And what will Labour’s promised reforms actually fix – and are more crises inevitable? James Heale speaks to Charlie Taylor, H.M. Chief Inspector of Prisons. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Megan McElroy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can the BBC be fixed? After revelations of bias from a leaked dossier, subsequent resignations and threats of legal action from the US President, the future of the corporation is the subject of this week’s cover piece. Host William Moore is joined by The Spectator’s commissioning editor, Lara Brown, arts editor, Igor Toronyi-Lalic, and regular contributor, Melanie McDonagh. They also discuss the drama of this week’s Westminster coup plot, and Melanie’s new book about why Catholicism attracted unlikely converts throughout the twentieth century. Plus: what’s the most bizarre excuse a friend has used to back out of a social engagement? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Leith’s guest this week is Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia and author of The Seven Rules of Trust. They discuss why trust is such an important value for public debate, and how it can address polarisation in society. Jimmy addresses the challenge Elon Musk has posed to Wikipedia after the entrepreneur branded the site as ‘woke’, despite the pair having a personal relationship. Sam also asks whether the internet is getting worse – and if it can be fixed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listeners on the Best of Spectator playlist can enjoy a section of the latest episode of Quite right! but for the full thing please seek out the Quite right! channel. Just search ‘Quite right!’ wherever you are listening now. This week: a crisis at the BBC – and a crisis of standards in our schools. Following the shock resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, Michael and Maddie ask whether the corporation has finally been undone by its own bias, and discuss how it can correct the leftward lurch in its editorial line. Then: Labour’s new education reforms come under the microscope. As Ofsted scraps single-word judgements in favour of ‘report cards’, could this ‘definitive backward step’ result in a ‘dumbing down’ that will rob the next generation of rigour and ambition? And will ‘Bridget Philistine’s’ war on education undo the positive legacy of the Conservatives on education? And finally, in Hollywood, actress Sydney Sweeney refuses to apologise for comments made in an interview last week – she now finds herself a heroine of the anti-woke age. Are we finally past peak woke? Produced by Oscar Edmondson. To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiteright Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Britain is facing a quiet crisis — its data is breaking down, and the government’s numbers are increasingly unreliable. In this episode of Reality Check, economics editor Michael Simmons asks what happens when the state can’t count properly. How can the Bank of England set interest rates or the Treasury balance the books when the data they rely on is wrong? And why are so many “official” statistics now being stripped of their trusted status? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiteright This week on the first ever Quite right! Q&A: What’s your most left-wing belief? Michael & Maddie confess their guilty liberal secrets on the Elgin Marbles, prison reform and private equity – or ‘the unacceptable face of capitalism’. Also this week: who would you trust to save your life on a desert island – Boris Johnson, Theresa May or David Cameron? And finally, a literary turn: from John Donne to Thomas Hardy, Michael and Maddie share their favourite poems, and make the case for learning verse by heart. Produced by Oscar Edmondson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why are Silicon Valley billionaires obsessing over Heaven & Hell, and what does it tell us about American society today? Spectator World's Arts Editor Luke Lyman joins Damian Thompson on this episode of Holy Smoke to talk about how a fascination with the Book of Revelation, the Antichrist and a techno-utopia – or techno-apocalypse – has gripped the 'tech bros'. Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What lessons does America have for our politics? While progressives look to Zohran Mamdani for inspiration on how to get elected successfully, the really important question is how to govern effectively. And here it is the Trump administration which is setting the standard, writes Tim Shipman in this week’s cover story. On day one, Donald Trump stepped into the Oval Office ready to ‘move fast and break things’, signing a flurry of executive orders with the backing of unflinching loyalists. Brits who may have been appalled by Trump in his first term are now envious of his administration’s lack of infighting and success in bringing illegal migration to a halt, as well as securing a ceasefire in Gaza, attacking Iranian nuclear sites and applying pressure on Vladimir Putin. Here in Westminster, Labour arrived in government with no clear idea what they were doing or, as things have deteriorated, what to do next. The Spectator US Editor Freddy Gray speaks to Tim Shipman. Produced by Megan McElroy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A year on from his presidential election victory, what lessons can Britain learn from Trump II? Tim Shipman writes this week’s cover piece from Washington D.C., considering where Keir Starmer can ‘go big’ like President Trump. Both leaders face crunch elections next year, but who has momentum behind them? There is also the question of who will replace Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States. Can Starmer find a candidate who can get the Americans on side? Host Lara Prendergast is joined by The Spectator’s political editor Tim Shipman, features editor Will Moore and commissioning editor Mary Wakefield. As well as the cover, they discuss Mary’s piece urging us not to ‘look away’ in the wake of the Huntingdon train stabbings; whether Zack Polanski can harness the energy seen in Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral election victory; and the growing fashion for polyamory. Plus: what books have the panel enjoyed reading this year? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam Leith's guest this week is Graham Robb. In his new book The Discovery of Britain: An Accidental History, Graham takes us on a time-travelling bicycle tour of the island's history. They discuss how Graham weaves together personal memories with geography and history, his 'major cartographic scoop' which unlocks Iron Age Britain and contemporary debates about national identity. Graham also has a discovery of interest for those who hold out hope that King Arthur really existed. Produced by Patrick Gibbons and James Lewis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listeners on the Best of Spectator playlist can enjoy a section of the latest episode of Quite right! but for the full thing please seek out the Quite right! channel. Just search ‘Quite right!’ wherever you are listening now. This week on Quite right!: Rachel Reeves goes on the offensive – and the defensive. After her surprise Downing Street address, Michael and Maddie pick over the many kites that have been flying in advance of the Budget at the end of the month. Was she softening the public up for tax rises, or trying to save her own job? Michael explains why Reeves is wrong to say that Labour’s inheritance is the reason for our current economic misfortune and says that it is ‘absolute bollocks’ that Brexit is to blame. Next, a chilling weekend of violence sparks a bigger question: are we witnessing the rise of nihilistic crime in Britain? From the Huntingdon train stabbings to rampant shoplifting, are we becoming used to the ‘anarcho-tyranny’ that is taking hold – where petty crimes go unpunished and public order breaks down? And finally, from Halloween to Bonfire Night, the culture wars go seasonal. Michael and Maddie debate whether we should loathe ‘pagan’ Halloween and instead turn 5 November into a national holiday. Produced by Oscar Edmondson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Luke Coppen looks at a new musical subgenre of Roman Catholic black metal; Mary Wakefield celebrates cartoonist Michael Heath as he turns 90 – meaning he has drawn for the Spectator for 75 years; looking to Venezuela, Daniel McCarthy warns Trump about the perils of regime change; Michael Simmons bemoans how Britain is beholden to bad data; and, Hugh Thomson looks at celebrity terrorists as he reviews Jason Burke’s The Revolutionists.   Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddy Gray sits down with academic James Orr at the Battle of Ideas in London for a live Americano podcast to discuss Vice President J.D. Vance. Having been described as 'Vance's British sherper', James responds to how likely it is that J.D. Vance will be President one day, which weaknesses could hold him back and how Vance's unique closeness to Trump in office has given him vital experience to learn on the job. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are the rich fleeing Britain? That's what the numbers suggest, but some activist groups have hit back that the data is dodgy. For the second episode of Reality Check The Spectator's economics editor Michael Simmons explains why the data shows that the wealthy are leaving Britain, and why this matters for everyone else. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘On the day of the local elections, when the Tories suffered a historic setback, Kemi Badenoch went to the gym and got her hair done,’ Tim Shipman reveals in the magazine this week. Aides insist that Badenoch has since ‘upped her game’. Her PMQs performances are improving and the CCHQ machine seems to have whirred into gear, making sure that Labour’s embarrassments – from Angela Rayner’s flat to the collapsed China scandal – don’t go unpunished. Is she finally turning the ship around after a year in the job? Michael Gove and Tim Shipman discuss. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Big Tech is under the spell of the occult, according to Damian Thompson. Artificial intelligence is now so incredible that even educated westerners are falling back on the occult, and Silicon Valley billionaires are becoming obsessed with heaven and hell. An embrace of the occult is not just happening in California but across the world – with ‘WitchTok’, a new trend of middle-class women embracing witchcraft. Is this spooky or just sad? And to what extent are they just following in the tradition of the Victorian charlatan? Host Lara Prendergast is joined by the Spectator’s associate editor – and host of the Holy Smoke podcast – Damian Thompson, alongside writers and Spectator regulators Arabella Byrne and Mark Mason. As well as the cover, they discuss: the fascinating world of the London tube network – despite the misery of the northern line; the problems facing Kemi Badenoch, the allure of Reform UK and why Trump seems to recover from every scandal; whether languages should be saved; and they celebrate cartoonist Michael Heath, who is turning 90 – meaning he has drawn for the Spectator for 75 years. Plus: what does Mark think Cliff Richard and Jeffrey Archer have in common with Donald Trump? Produced by Patrick Gibbons. The Spectator is trialling new formats for this podcast, and we would very much welcome feedback via this email address: podcast@spectator.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nat Jansz joins Sam Leith to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Moomin novels. The first of these, Comet in Moominland, was revised by author Tove Jansson a decade after the original publication date. To celebrate the anniversary Sort of Books, co-run by Jansz, is publishing this revised edition for the first time in English. Jansz discusses why she finds the books so compelling, the influence of the war on author Jansson and why she feels Jansson’s ‘quest for the truth’ was written in a way that was easy for children to understand. For Jansz, the Moomin novels had a mix of light and dark which broke the mould of previous children’s literature which was often prefaced with something traumatic. Plus – are there glimpses of the secret loves of the author hidden within the books? Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.