My guest in this week's Book Club podcast is the food historian Pen Vogler, author of the new Stuffed: A History of Good Food and Hard Times in Britain. Pen tells me how crises have affected British food culture from the age of enclosures onwards, how rows over free school meals are nothing new, and why the Christmas pudding tells the story of Empire.

The Book Club: Pen Vogler

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On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Peter Parker takes us through the history of guardsmen and homosexuality (1:12); Prof. Wayne Hunt explains what the Conservatives could learn from the 1993 Canadian election (9:10); Nicholas Lezard reflects on the diaries of Franz Kafka, on the eve of his centenary (16:06); Mark Mason provides his notes on Horse Guards (22:52); and, Nicholas Farrell ponders his wife’s potential suitors, once he’s died (26:01).

 

 Presented and produced by Patrick Gibbons.  

Spectator Out Loud: Peter Parker, Wayne Hunt, Nicholas Lezard, Mark Mason and Nicholas Farrell

Donald Trump has been found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. The Spectator columnist Lionel Shriver joins Freddy Gray to respond to the news. Was it a fair trial? What could it mean for the 2024 presidential election? And what are the wider implications for American democracy?



Produced by Megan McElroy, Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

Americano: Trump found guilty but will it matter?

Claudia Mendoza is one of the most high profile spokespeople for the Jewish community in Britain. She has studied the Middle East, and worked at various think tanks with a focus on Iran and the transitioning Arab states. But she now serves as CEO of the Jewish Leadership Council. 



On the podcast she tells Katy whether Keir's Labour really is a changed party and about the rise in anti-semitism in the UK since the October 7th attacks. 

Women With Balls: Claudia Mendoza

Professor John Mearsheimer joins Freddy Gray to talk about the powder keg situation in Eastern Europe, why Putin is possibly the least hawkish of possible Russian leaders and why Israel has lost escalation dominance.



This was originally broadcast on SpectatorTV. 

Americano: John Mearsheimer on Ukraine, Gaza & escalation dominance

On this week's Edition: Wannabes - are any of them ready? Our cover piece takes a look at the state of the parties a week into the UK general election campaign. The election announcement took everyone by surprise, including Tory MPs, so what’s been the fallout since? To provide the latest analysis, The Spectator’s political editor Katy Balls joins the podcast (2:00). 



Then: Angus Colwell reports on how the election is playing out on social media, and the increasing role of the political ‘spinfluencer’. These accounts have millions of likes, but how influential could they be during the election? Alongside Angus, Harry Boeken, aka @thechampagne_socialist on TikTok, joins us to share their thoughts on who is winning the social media war (15:08). 



And finally: are we in the midst of a new space race? Author of Space 2069, the Future of Space Exploration, Dr David Whitehouse writes in the magazine this week about China’s latest lunar mission. What are the geopolitical implications, and should the global west be paying more attention? David joins us to discuss, alongside journalist and author of The Future of Geography, Tim Marshall (25:12).  



Hosted by Lara Prendergast and Gus Carter. 



Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

The Book Club: Pen Vogler

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