Welcome to a slightly new format for the Edition podcast! Each week we will be talking about the magazine – as per usual – but trying to give a little more insight into the process behind putting The Spectator to bed each week.

On the podcast: The Spectator’s assistant foreign editor Max Jeffery writes our cover story this week, asking if Nato is ready to defend itself against a possible Russian invasion. Max joined Nato troops as they carried out drills on the Estonian border. Max joins us on the podcast along with historian Mark Galeotti, author of Putin's Wars. (00:55) 

Then: Lionel Shriver talks to us about the sad case of Jennifer Crumbley, the mum who's just been convicted of manslaughter – for her son carrying out a school shooting. Does this set a dangerous moral precedent? (16:05)

And finally: would you stay in a haunted hotel? The travel writer Sean Thomas speaks to us from one in Cambodia, having written for the magazine about the places with grisly pasts that he has stayed in over the course of his career. We're also joined by Judith Blincow, owner of the Mermaid Inn in Rye, one of the most haunted hotels in the country. (26:10)

Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.

Produced by Cindy Yu.

If there are any areas of the magazine that you are particularly interested in or any questions you have for Will and Lara, please email: [email protected]. We will try and answer as many as we can in next week’s episode. 

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