Freddy Gray talks to Amber Athey and Matt McDonald about the results of the race for the governorship of Virginia and more.

Spectator Radio

What do last week's defeats mean for the Democrats?

Ruth Davidson is the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives and now sits in the House of Lords as the Baroness of Lundin Links. On the episode, she speaks to Katy about her happy upbringing as an active tomboy despite a near-death car accident at the age of five; her mother's reaction when she left the BBC to join the Scottish Tories ('she was appalled'); and gave a punchy defence of Theresa May ('I absolutely think the Party did her wrong').

Women With Balls: with Ruth Davidson

In this week’s episode: Has the Biden Presidency stalled or crashed? In our cover story this week, Freddy Gray assesses the state of the Biden presidency. With steadily lowering approval ratings, a disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, and this week’s failure of the Democrats to hold on to the Virginia Governorship, how much trouble is the US’s oldest inaugurated president in? Freddy talks to Lara along with Emily Tamkin, the US editor of the New Statesman and co-host of the World Review Podcast.  (00:49) Also this week: Should we welcome or fear the Metaverse? Kit Wilson writes in The Spectator this week about Facebook’s new venture into the Metaverse, a concept that most of us probably hadn’t heard of until last week. To layout the roadmap for what our journey into this new digital reality might look like, Kit joins the podcast along with Tom Renner, a software engineer for NavVis. (12:55)     And finally: Is the idea of ‘buy now pay later’ financially precarious for young people? Gus Carter has been exploring the new Swedish-born app that is blowing up with the youth: Klarna. On its face, it seems to just be a modern replacement for a credit card with some gifts thrown in, but could this ‘buy now pay later’ model have some unexpected consequences for its users? Gus talks about his findings along with the author of the blog Young Money Iona Bain.  (27:33) Hosted by Lara Prendergast   Produced by Sam Holmes Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher: www.spectator.co.uk/voucher  Listen to Lara’s food-based interview show, Table Talk: https://www.spectator.co.uk/tabletalk 

The Edition: Superbad

Over the past months, under the weight of a global pandemic, scientists and medical professionals have had to rethink the way they do things. We found not one - but numerous - vaccines within the space of a year; new treatments have been discovered, some repurposed from existing drugs; and manufacturers and politicians alike have had to think creatively to plug the gaps of the pandemic. There must be lessons we can learn from this experience - things that big pharma and scientists can do better in the future, having this time round done so in emergency circumstances. That’s the topic of this special episode of The Spectator’s podcast, sponsored by the pharmaceutical company Novartis. I’m delighted to be joined by a panel of expert guests. Chinmay Bhatt, Managing Director in the UK for Novartis, who we pressed on the importance of data science in pharmaceuticals. Professor Paul Martin, a sociologist tasked with finding better ways to collaborate between the medical sector and other sectors, who enlightened us on the un-mined potential of repurposing existing drugs. And Dr Nicole Mather, the Life Sciences Lead at the technology company IBM, who has been crucial to the UK’s pandemic response and working with regulators. She nicely summed up - through the lens of regulation - the kind of corners that can be cut, without compromising on healthcare quality: 'What Covid has been really helpful in, is helping us think about what's really essential. So a lot of the regulatory process has been pared back, or been able to run in parallel. So regulators are not doing away with any steps - just addressing them in a more thoughtful fashion'.

Lessons from the pandemic: collaboration in healthcare

In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam's guest is Claire Tomalin. Claire’s new book, The Young H G Wells: Changing the World, tracks the extraordinary life and rocket-powered career of one of the most influential writers of the Edwardian age. She talks to Sam about how drapery’s loss was literature’s gain, why casting the goatish Wells as a #metoo villain isn’t quite right - and why we should all be reading Tono-Bungay. Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher: www.spectator.co.uk/voucher 

The Book Club: Claire Tomalin on Young H G Wells

It's not easy to talk about the Cultural Revolution inside China - let alone teach it. In recent years, one of the last professors to have taught the period has been hounded out of her role at a top university. Sun Peidong has now taken a post at Cornell, after Chinese journals stopped publishing her work, the university party secretary banned her lectures, and even her students turned on her - denouncing Sun as if she were an 'anti-revolutionary' of the very period she taught. In this frank discussion, Cindy Yu interviews Sun about academic freedom and diversity of thought on Chinese campuses; about what it was like to shed light on a taboo subject to younger generations; and why she left China. It's an indictment on modern Chinese discourse that an internationally-renowned scholar such as Sun is now lost to Chinese academia. ‘Look at China, now we have a huge impact. If we cannot handle our own social problems, what kind of impact will we leave to the whole [of] humankind?’ She asked me. And on whether China has got over the Cultural Revolution: ‘If you forbid people, professors, or students, or young generation, to have [the] opportunity to fully discover the history – and the dark side of the history – how can you imagine that our nation can move on?’

Chinese Whispers: healing the 'cancer' of the Cultural Revolution

As the global shortage of gas continues to drive up energy costs, we take a look at these rising energy prices and the cost of living crisis that looms over the UK. How can we protect people from fuel poverty when bills are predicted to rise by hundreds of pounds? Moreover, as COP26 kicks off, how can this crisis be framed within the government's plans for a green future? Kate Andrews speaks to Rebecca Sedler, the director for policy and regulation at EDF, Alan Brown MP, shadow SNP spokesperson on energy and climate change and Jonny Marshall, who is a senior economist at the Resolution Foundation.  This podcast is sponsored by EDF.

Podcast special: Will there be a cost of living crisis this winter?

Freddy Gray is joined by Peter Hitchens, Spectator contributor; Glenn Greenwald, journalist and author; Tim Spector, principal investigator on the ZOE app; Rod Liddle, The Spectator's associate editor; Ben Smith, New York Times media columnist; Peter Betts, lead climate negotiator for the European Union, 2010-16; and Spectator journalists. We discuss the Autumn Budget, whether drugs or mental illness are more to blame for terrorism, and the people behind Frances Haugen's Facebook leak. To watch the episode, click here. 

The Week in 60 Minutes: Hitchens on drugs and Facebook fiasco

On this week's episode, we hear from Max Jeffery on his first impressions visiting Israel. (00:45) Then Kate Andrews on her difficult relationship with Newcastle Football Club. (04:58) And finally, Maggie Fergusson's review of the new book Blacksmith: Apprentice to Master: Tools and Traditions of an Ancient Craft. (10:53) Produced and presented by Sam Holmes

Spectator Out Loud: Max Jeffery, Kate Andrews, Maggie Fergusson

Freddy Gray talks to Ben Schreckinger, political correspondent at Politico, about his new book, The Bidens: Inside the First Family's Fifty-Year Rise to Power.

Americano: What do we know about Joe Biden's family dealings?

These days the Conservative party is not just associated with the colour blue - it’s also the winner of the red wall seats; the pursuer of a green agenda. But do these new identities, achieved under Boris Johnson, all fit together? In particular, critics often label tackling climate change as a middle class pursuit, not what ‘real people’ around the country are concerned with. And indeed, the Treasury and BEIS have put the costs of net zero at £70bn a year, so what does that mean for the less well off in society, especially those in the Tories’ new constituencies in the red wall? This discussion was recorded at Conservative Party Conference on October 5. Cindy Yu, The Spectator's broadcast editor, talks to Andrew Griffith MP, the government's net zero business champion and parliamentary private secretary; Sarah Longlands, chief executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies; and Nick Baird, group director of corporate affairs at Centrica, which is kindly sponsoring this podcast.

Podcast special: turning the red wall green

In this week’s episode: Can Cop26 deliver on its grand promises? In our cover story this week, Fraser Nelson assesses the state of the upcoming Cop26 summit in Glasgow and questions their very effectiveness in dealing with climate change in a world of global players with very different priorities. He is joined on the podcast by reporter Jess Shankleman, who is covering Cop26 for Bloomberg. (00:48) ‘This one’s in Glasgow, but you’d best think of it as the Edinburgh Festival for environmentalism. Lots of fun, lots of debates, lots of protests, lots of street action, but not really any much of concrete substance.’ – Fraser Nelson   Also this week: Is it moral to bribe your child to go to church? Theo Hobson is paying his daughter to go to church and get confirmed. But how holy is this practice? Theo's idea is judged on the podcast by a holy trinity of priests: Steve Morris, Daniel French, and Nicholas Cranfield. (13:28)  ‘I’d be very worried if there was a suggestion that they as younger people are being prevailed upon to answer the right questions and say ‘actually Dad I do now believe!’ Simply for the exchange of some filthy lucre.’ – Rev. Nicholas Cranfield   And finally: What are the ups and downs of book clubs? Author Elisa Segrave was cancelled from a book club event after an email of hers apparently ‘hurt’ some members. This inspired her analysis of the book club concept for this week’s Spectator. Along with Simon Savidge the founder of Savidge Reads, she talks about her and her friends' bumpy relationship with book clubs. (25:10) ‘I was always really excited for what that next choice would be because it was like a mystery until that final moment or final glass of wine.’ – Simon Savidge Hosted by Lara Prendergast Produced by Sam Holmes

The Edition: Cop out

In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam Leith's guest is the historian Jane Ridley, talking about her new book George V: Never A Dull Moment. She tells him there’s so much more to the 'boring' monarch than shooting grouse and collecting stamps. Hear how he navigated some of the worst constitutional crises in memory, saved the British monarchy as the grand dynasties of Europe started toppling… and then inadvertently imperilled it again by his treatment of his son and heir.

The Book Club: Jane Ridley on George V

Rachel Roddy is an author and food writer based in Rome. She has written for several publications, including the Financial Times, the Telegraph, Food and Wine, The Spectator, and has a weekly column in the Guardian. On the podcast, Rachel talks to Lara and Liv about growing up in Hertfordshire, coping with an eating disorder, why she chose to move to Italy and life under lockdown there over the past 18 months. Her latest book, An A to Z of Pasta, is available to buy now.

Table Talk: With Rachel Roddy

On this week's episode, we’ll hear Douglas Murray on how the Prevent scheme has lost sight of its founding intention. (00:43) Then Owen Matthews on Rome’s rubbish. (12:35) And finally, Lionel Shriver gives her review of Dave Chappelle’s transgressive new Netflix Special. (19:20) Produced and presented by Sam Holmes

Spectator Out Loud: Douglas Murray, Owen Matthews, Lionel Shriver

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