Best of the Spectator

By The Spectator

Home to the Spectator's best podcasts on everything from politics to religion, literature to food and drink, and more. A new podcast every day from writers worth listening to.

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The podcast currently has 2,832 episodes available.

Best of Best of the Spectator

The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

Number 1: Reality Check: the ADHD debate we’re not allowed to have
The backlash to Channel 4’s The Great ADHD Myth has reignited a fierce debate over how we diagnose ADHD – and whether that debate itself is becoming impossible to have. Michael Simmons looks at the extraordinary rise in diagnoses, the gap between recorded cases and underlying prevalence, and asks whether we are increasingly medicalising normal variations in behaviour. Is Britain finally recognising a vast amount of unmet need – or has diagnosis begun to serve a social as well as a medical function? This episode is brought to you by Artemis Fund Managers, for more information on our fund range please click here https://www.artemisfunds.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 26, 202615min
Number 2: Americano: Just how bad are polls for the Republicans?
Freddy Gray is joined by James Johnson, co-founder of JL Partners, on why the midterms are looking increasingly grim for the Republicans. Trump's approval is trending down, the war is dragging on it, and James expects differential turnout to hand the Democrats the House, possibly with more than 230 seats. Freddy and James discuss why a Senate map that should have been safe for Republicans is now a toss-up, which six states will decide it, why prediction markets are not the answer, and why Michigan and its DSA-aligned candidate may be the one seat that saves Trump's majority. Learn how to earn yield on gold, paid in gold, at Monetary-Metals.com/Americano Produced by Henry Lloyd Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 25, 202629min
Number 3: The Book Club: Simon Sebag Montefiore – The Cauldron
My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is Simon Sebag Montefiore, the author of a number of fantastic books, including The Cauldron, which released this week. Simon and I talk about the making of the modern middle east, and how we forget some of the most fundamental groups who shaped this part of the world into the region that we know of today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 25, 202640min
Number 4: Coffee House Shots: why I quit government | Al Carns
Former veterans minister Al Carns joins James Heale to discuss the government’s handling of Northern Ireland legacy cases – and why the issue helped drive him to resign. Writing in The Spectator this week, Al attacks the ‘two-track approach’ to legacy cases, which he says could cost taxpayers billions, and warns against allowing the history of the Troubles to be ‘rewritten through the courts’. He argues that Labour failed to listen properly to veterans before changing the law and sets out what more should be done to protect those who served in Northern Ireland. What was it like fighting the issue from inside government? Did Keir Starmer understand the strength of feeling – and will Andy Burnham take a different approach? Produced by Oscar Edmondson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 28, 202615min
Number 5: Holy Smoke: why Quentin Letts fears for the parish church
Is the Church of England slowly abolishing the parish priest? A new model of ‘oversight ministry’ promises team-based leadership and a greater role for lay volunteers – but critics fear it will leave priests increasingly invisible in the communities they serve. Meanwhile, those volunteers face an expanding regime of training, safeguarding requirements and diocesan bureaucracy. This week on Holy Smoke, Damian Thompson is joined by Daily Mail sketchwriter Quentin Letts, who has written a provocative piece for The Spectator on what he calls the rise of ‘plastic parsons’. They discuss the Church’s shortage of priests, whether safeguarding has become a vehicle for bureaucratic overreach, the money spent on central initiatives rather than struggling parishes – and whether the sight of a vicar in a dog collar could soon become as unusual as an old-fashioned policeman on the beat. Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
August 23, 202617min