Episodes

  • The Book Club: Collected Poems of Roger McGough

    The Book Club: Collected Poems of Roger McGough
    Jul 17 2024
    My guest in this week's Book Club podcast is Roger McGough, whose new The Collected Poems: 1959-2024 anthologises a poetic career 65 years long and counting. Roger tells me about revisiting his old work and making it new, why he's 'not being serious' about the future of Poetry Please, and how he narrowly missed being on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.
    Show more Show less
    35 mins
  • Americano: Will JD Vance bridge America's class divide?

    Americano: Will JD Vance bridge America's class divide?
    Jul 16 2024
    Journalist Christopher Caldwell joins Freddy Gray to discuss Donald Trump's running mate, JD Vance. Once 'never Trump', now a close ally of the former president; what's JD Vance's route into Trumpian politics? Freddy and Christopher also ask who is JD Vance, what's Hillbilly Elegy, and what's the strategy behind Donald Trump's choice?
    Show more Show less
    27 mins
  • Americano: Why did the Secret Service fail Donald Trump?

    Americano: Why did the Secret Service fail Donald Trump?
    Jul 15 2024
    Freddy Gray is joined by writer Roger Kimball. With the dust beginning to settle from the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, they look at how this could have happened, and what's gone wrong. They also take a look at how important Donald Trump's Vice President pick will be, and who might be in the running.
    Show more Show less
    21 mins
  • Trump shot – what next?

    Trump shot – what next?
    Jul 14 2024
    Former US President Donald Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt while speaking at a Republican rally in Pennsylvania. Freddy Gray speaks to The Spectator's economics editor Kate Andrews about what we know so far, and where the Presidential campaign goes from here.
    Show more Show less
    21 mins
  • Spectator Out Loud: James Heale, Svitlana Morenets, Philip Hensher, Francis Beckett and Rupert Christiansen

    Spectator Out Loud: James Heale, Svitlana Morenets, Philip Hensher, Francis Beckett and Rupert Christiansen
    Jul 13 2024
    On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: James Heale analyses the state of the Conservative leadership race (1:09); Svitlana Morenets reports from the site of the Kyiv children’s hospital bombed this week (5:56); Philip Hensher examines the ‘Cool Queer Life’ of Thom Gunn (12:13); Francis Beckett reviews ‘The Assault on the State’ arguing in favour of bureaucracy (21:20); and, Rupert Christiansen reveals why he has fallen out of love with Wagner (27:05).

    Presented by Patrick Gibbons.
    Show more Show less
    38 mins
  • Americano: Eric Kaufmann on DEI, the contagion effect and free speech

    Americano: Eric Kaufmann on DEI, the contagion effect and free speech
    Jul 12 2024
    The Spectator’s Freddy Gray sits down with author and professor of politics Eric Kaufmann. They discuss the dangers of DEI, why Eric blames the bleeding heart liberals for the woke contagion and why it is possible much worst than originally thought.

    You can also watch this episode on SpectatorTV.
    Show more Show less
    52 mins
  • The Edition: Keir's reformation

    The Edition: Keir's reformation
    Jul 11 2024
    This week: Keir’s reformation. A week on from Labour’s victory in the UK general election, our cover piece looks ahead to the urgent issues facing Keir Starmer. If he acts fast, he can take advantage of having both a large majority and a unified party. The NHS, prisons, planning… the list goes on. But what challenges could he face and how should he manage his party? The Spectator’s political editor Katy Balls joins the podcast, alongside Lord Falconer, Labour peer and former cabinet minister under Tony Blair (2:53).

    Next: have smartphones revolutionised home working for women? Our very own Lara Prendergast writes in the magazine this week about the eclectic ways women are taking advantage of digital technology to make a living at home. What’s driving this trend? The Spectator columnist and ad guru Rory Sutherland joins the podcast (26:08).

    And finally: why did the Conservatives struggle so much with their digital messaging? The Spectator’s Mary Wakefield writes in the magazine this week about the emails and messages she was inundated with during the election, saying that at times they had ‘serial killer energy’. Political communicator Sean Topham, co-founder of the creative ad agency Topham Guerin, joins the podcast to try and make sense of the Tories campaign. (37:40).

    Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.

    Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.
    Show more Show less
    48 mins
  • The Book Club: Thom Gunn's Cool Queer Life

    The Book Club: Thom Gunn's Cool Queer Life
    Jul 10 2024
    My guest on this week's Book Club podcast is Michael Nott, author of the new biography Thom Gunn: A Cool Queer Life. He tells me about the poet's early trauma, his transatlantic identity, his unconventional family and his compartmentalised life, part teaching and writing, part sex, drugs and rock and roll.
    Show more Show less
    29 mins