On November 7th, the finalists for the 2024 Innovator of the Year Awards joined The Spectator and Rathbones at a gala evening in central London. There, they found out the regional and category winners for this year's awards. In this episode, our business editor Martin Vander Weyer, one of the founders of the awards, announces the winners for listeners who've followed our previous episodes in this year's series.

If you missed any of the discussion, you can catch up at the links below:
AI, gene therapy and challenges of the NHS – Britain’s health Innovators of the Year
Carbon capture, vertical farming and coding for girls – Britain’s environmental and social purpose Innovators of the Year
Wonky fruits, supplements for pets and smart walking sticks – Britain’s consumer Innovators of the Year
AI studios, ethical advertising and software for defence – Britain’s business services Innovator of the Year
Bespoke batteries, recyclable electronics and drone ports – Britain’s manufacturing and engineering Innovators of the Year

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On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Kate Andrews examines the appointment of Scott Bessent as US Treasury Secretary (1:20); Mark Galeotti highlights Putin’s shadow campaign across Europe (7:10); Adrian Pascu-Tulbure reports on the surprising rise of Romania’s Calin Georgescu (15:45); Michael Hann reviews Irish bands Kneecap and Fontaines D.C. (22:54); and Olivia Potts provides her notes on London’s Smithfield Market, following the news it may close (27:28). 
 
Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

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Freddy Gray is joined by Tara Palmeri, senior political correspondent for Puck. They discuss how the presidential transition is going. Is the breakneck speed with which he appointed his cabinet even more chaotic than last time? Is the process rife with backstabbing? And are your really ever 'in' or 'out' when it comes to Trump?

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This week: SAS SOS

The enemy that most concerns Britain’s elite military unit isn’t the IRA, the Taliban or Isis, but a phalanx of lawyers armed with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), writes Paul Wood in The Spectator. Many SAS soldiers now believe that if they kill a terrorist during an operation, they’ll spend decades being hounded through the courts. Paul speaks to former SAS soldiers who say that stories of men being ‘dragged back to be screamed at in interview rooms’ are ‘flying around the canteens now’. Soldiers feel like ‘the good guys have become the bad guys – and the bad guys are now the good guys’. This is hurting morale and may eventually hit recruitment. Paul joins the podcast to discuss further, alongside Colonel Richard Williams, a former SAS commanding officer in Iraq and Afghanistan. (01:36)

Then: how much more punishment can Ukrainian city Odesa take?

The Black Sea port of Odesa occupies a unique role in Ukrainian – and Soviet – history. Added significance has been thrust on it by the Russian invasion: both symbolically, as well as practically, given how central it is to grain exports. But while war weariness sets in for Ukrainians – and their allies – the battle for Odesa is ever more crucial; further deadly aerial attacks took place only days ago. In the magazine this week, journalist Peter Pomerantsev reviews a new book looking at the port city by Julian Evans. Undefeatable: Odesa in Love and War is part-history book, part-memoir exploring many of the human stories that make up the city. How has the conflict changed the people of Odesa? And for Ukrainians who grew up consuming Russian-speaking media and culture, did the war challenge their identity? Peter joins the podcast alongside the author of the Spectator’s Ukraine newsletter, Svitlana Morenets. (18:24)

And finally: do we secretly love a good film flop?

‘I’ve fallen out of love with cinemas,’ declares long-standing (or should that be long-suffering?) film critic Chris Tookey in the magazine this week. He argues the experience isn’t as good, and Hollywood is partly to blame. Perhaps films are getting worse? Some people love a good film flop though – the big-budget blockbuster disasters. Fellow film critic Tim Robey is one such person, and he explores his love of Hollywood flops in his new book Box Office Poison, out now. But how has the experience of cinema changed? And what’s the worst film they’ve ever seen? Tim and Chris join the podcast. (32:58)

Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

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Former prime minister Boris Johnson joins The Spectator’s political editor Katy Balls to divulge the contents of his new book, Unleashed. He reflects on his premiership as PM during the pandemic, describing the time as a ‘nightmare’ for him. He also details how he managed to suppress the force of Nigel Farage, and gives advice to Keir Starmer on how to build a relationship with Donald Trump.

Watch the full interview on The Spectator's YouTube channel. 

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MPs are set to vote on the legalisation of assisted dying this week, the first such vote in almost a decade. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was tabled by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater and follows a campaign by broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen and others. 

The biggest change since the last vote in 2015 is the make-up of parliament, with many more Labour MPs, as well as newer MPs whose stances are unknown. Consequently, it is far from certain that the bill – which would mark one of the biggest changes to social legislation for a generation – will pass. What are the arguments for and against? And how could the religious beliefs of MPs inform their votes?

Damian Thompson is joined by Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, director of the Maidenhead Synagogue and a supporter of legalisation, and Martin Vickers MP, a Conservative MP and opponent of assisted dying, to understand the dynamics of the debate. But first, Isabel Hardman joins the programme to talk through the parliamentary arithmetic – is Parliament any more or less religious than in 2015?

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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My guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is the novelist Nick Harkaway, whose new book Karla's Choice sees him pick up the mantle of his late father, John le Carré, in writing a new novel set in the world of George Smiley. He tells me why, having spent a career trying to put clear blue water between his own work and that of his father, he’s now steering in the opposite direction; about growing up with Smiley; about his relationship with the man so many outsiders have seen as secretive and opaque; about seeking advice from Stephen King’s son, Joe Hill; and why moving from his own style to that of his dad is just a ‘turn on the dial’.

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John Bolton has served under both Republican administrations of the 21st century: first as US Ambassador to the United Nations under George W. Bush, and then under Donald Trump where he was – surprisingly – his longest serving National Security Advisor.

In this episode of Americano, Freddy Gray discusses the incoming second Trump administration with Amb. Bolton. From Tulsi Gabbard to Elon Musk, what does he make of Trump’s appointments? How could US foreign policy change? And what are the implications for Ukraine? 

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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The Darien Gap is a 60 mile stretch of jungle that hundreds of thousands of migrants from all over South America trek through in order to reach the US-Mexico border. From there, they enter America in search of better lives.

These are usually migrants from Venezuela, or Colombia or Panama. But in recent years, a new group of people have appeared at the border, having paid people smugglers and hacked through the jungle. They often bring young children, clutch on to smartphones with which they check their routes, and watch social media videos that set out, step by step, the journey they are embarking on.

These are the Chinese, which in the last two years have been the fastest growing group of migrants being encountered at America’s southern border – over 37,000 last year, up from under 4,000 the year before. This year, there have already been over 21,000.

What brings them, and how unusual is this method of emigration when it comes to people from China?

On this podcast are Professor Meredith Oyen, an expert on US-China migration, and Amy Hawkins, senior China correspondent at the Guardian, who has come across a similar phenomenon on Europe’s borders.

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Claire Ainsley is a stalwart of left-wing politics. Formerly an executive director at social change organisation the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, she is currently leading a project on the renewal of the centre-left at the Progressive Policy Institute. Her first book, The New Working Class: How to Win Hearts, Minds and Votes, brought her to the attention of the Labour leadership. Not long after Keir Starmer’s successful leadership bid, she was invited to join him as Executive Director of Policy, a position she held for over two years.

On the podcast, Claire talks to Katy Balls about her journey on the left, from a Labour-supporting family to radical university politics and then to a more moderate position. They discuss the changing dynamics of the left and how to define ‘working class’, how her book came about because of the Clacton by-election, and her reflections on British politics following the election.

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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