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PODCAST

The Edition

Lara Prendergast and William Moore host weekly conversations with Spectator writers and friends of the magazine. Over a glass of wine, they dissect the biggest stories across news, politics and culture – and how they are covered in that week’s edition ofThe Spectator. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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All Episodes

43:22

AI will bring down Keir Starmer – if Peter Mandelson...

The Edition ·

2026/02/06

Is Britain ready for Artificial Intelligence? Well, bluntly, 'no'; that's the verdict if you read several pieces in this week's Spectator – from Tim Shipman, Ross Clark and Palantir UK boss Louis Mosley – focused on how Britain is uniquely ill-placed to take advantage of the next industrial revolution. Tim Shipman's cover piece focuses on how the Labour government is approaching AI – there are some positives but, overall, Britain's creaky bureaucracy is blocking progress.To discuss this week's

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42:31

Britain’s guilty men, Labour’s reset & do people care...

The Edition ·

2026/01/30

Who really runs Britain: the government, foreign courts or international lawyers? This question is at the heart of Michael Gove’s cover piece for the Spectator this week, analysing the role of those at the centre of Labour’s foreign policy. Attorney general Lord Hermer, national security adviser Jonathan Powell and internationally renowned barrister Philippe Sands may seek to uphold international law but is this approach outdated as we enter an era of hard power? For Gove, they are the three ‘guilty

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45:03

Trump's Arctic madness, political treachery & banning...

The Edition ·

2026/01/23

Another week, another foreign policy crisis – this time over Greenland. America's European allies watched as Trump increased the tension over the Arctic territory, only to announce he 'won't use force' in a set-piece speech in Davos. For the Spectator's cover this week, Paul Wood examines the strategic role of the Arctic, both against Russia and China and from nuclear energy to the space race. With a deal supposedly done between Denmark and the US, is there method in Trump's madness?For this week’s

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42:59

Iran’s useful idiots, Gordon Brown’s second term &...

The Edition ·

2026/01/16

As the world watches events in Iran, and wonders whether the US will intervene, the Spectator’s cover this week examines 'British complicity in Tehran’s terror’.When thinking about what could happen next in the crisis, there is a false dichotomy presented between regime survival and revolution; the reality is more complicated, though there is no doubt that this is the biggest threat to the theocratic regime in decades.For this week’sEdition, host Lara Prendergast is joined by political editor Tim

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41:08

Stormy seas, Trump’s revolution & Gen Z’s sex recession

The Edition ·

2026/01/09

Can Farage plot a route to Number 10, asks Tim Shipman in our cover article this week. He might be flanked by heavyweights – such as his head of policy Zia Yusuf and Conservative Party defector Danny Kruger MP – but he will need a lot more people to pull off his biggest upset for British politics yet. Where will they come from? And what’s the balance he needs to strike between being radical enough to win power but also without alienating significant chunks of the electorate?Plus, as former UK

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33:55

The 'boring twenties', population decline & happy new...

The Edition ·

2026/01/02

A far cry from the ‘roaringtwenties' of the early 20th Century, the 2020s can be characterised as the ‘boring twenties’, argue Gus Carter and Rupert Hawksley in our new year edition of theSpectator. Record numbers of young people are out of work but even those with jobs face such a dire cost-of-living situation that they have no money left overto spend on fun. Traditional cultural outings – like going to the theatre – are increasingly confined to older, richer generations. This is long-standing

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30:13

From Porn Britannia to Political Chaos: The...

The Edition ·

2025/12/27

The Spectator’s senior editorial team – Michael Gove, Freddy Gray, Lara Prendergast and William Moore – sit down to reflect on 2025. From Trump’s inauguration to the calamitous year for Labour, a new Pope and a new Archbishop of Canterbury, and the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine, the year has not been short of things to write about.The team take us through their favourite political and cultural topics highlighted in the magazine this year, from the Assisted Dying debate, the ongoing feud over Your

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40:22

From The Queen to Bonnie Blue: The Spectator’s...

The Edition ·

2025/12/12

TheSpectator’s bumper Christmas issue is a feast for all, with offerings from Nigel Farage, Matthew McConaughey and Andrew Strauss to Dominic Sandbrook, David Deutsch and Bonnie Blue – and even from Her Majesty The Queen.To take us through the ChristmasEdition, host Lara Prendergast is joined by deputy political editor James Heale, associate editor Damian Thompson and writer of theSpectator’s new morning newsletter,Morning Press, Angus Colwell.They discuss: the state of British politics as we leave

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22:26

Benefits Britain, mental health & what’s the greatest...

The Edition ·

2025/12/05

‘Labour is now the party of welfare, not work’argues Michael Simmons in theSpectator’s cover article this week. The question ‘why should I bother with work?’ is becoming harder to answer, following last week’s Budget which could come to define this Labour government. A smaller and smaller cohort of people are being asked to shoulder the burden – what do our Spectator contributors think of this?For this week’sEdition, host Lara Prendergast is joined by opinion editor Rupert Hawksley, arts editor Igor

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35:37

Defending marriage, broken Budgets & the 'original...

The Edition ·

2025/11/28

'Marriage is the real rebellion’argues Madeline Grant in theSpectator’s cover article this week. The Office for National Statistics predicts that by 2050 only 30 per cent of adults will be married. This amounts to a ‘relationship recession’ where singleness is ‘more in vogue now than it has been since the dissolution of the monastries’. With a rising division between the sexes, and many resorting to alternative relationships like polyamory, how can we defend marriage?For this week’sEdition, host

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35:03

Labour's toxic budget, Zelensky in trouble & Hitler's...

The Edition ·

2025/11/21

It’s time to scrap the budget, argues political editor Tim Shipman this week. An annual fiscal event only allows the Chancellor to tinker round the edges, faced with a backdrop of global uncertainty. Endless potential tax rises have been trailed, from taxes on mansions, pensions, savings, gambling, and business partnerships, and nothing appears designed to fix Britain’s structural problems. Does our economics editor Michael Simmons agree?Host Lara Prendergast is joined by co-host – and the

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36:38

BBC in crisis, the Wes Streeting plot & why 'flakes'...

The Edition ·

2025/11/13

Can the BBC be fixed? After revelations of bias from a leaked dossier, subsequent resignations and threats of legal action from the US President, the future of the corporation is the subject of this week’s cover piece.Host William Moore is joined by The Spectator’s commissioning editor, Lara Brown, arts editor, Igor Toronyi-Lalic, and regular contributor, Melanie McDonagh.They also discuss the drama of this week’s Westminster coup plot, and Melanie’s new book about why Catholicism attracted unlikely

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31:50

Trump’s gilded age, the ‘hell’ of polyamory & is...

The Edition ·

2025/11/06

A year on from his presidential election victory, what lessons can Britain learn from Trump II? Tim Shipman writes this week’s cover piece from Washington D.C., considering where Keir Starmer can ‘go big’ like President Trump. Both leaders face crunch elections next year, but who has momentum behind them? There is also the question of who will replace Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States. Can Starmer find a candidate who can get the Americans on side?Host Lara Prendergast is joined by

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35:29

Embracing the occult, going underground & lost languages

The Edition ·

2025/10/30

Big Tech is under the spell of the occult, according to Damian Thompson. Artificial intelligence is now so incredible that even educated westerners are falling back on the occult, and Silicon Valley billionaires are becoming obsessed with heaven and hell. An embrace of the occult is not just happening in California but across the world – with ‘WitchTok’, a new trend of middle-class women embracing witchcraft. Is this spooky or just sad? And to what extent are they just following in the tradition of

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29:19

Left-wing Ultras, Reform intellectuals & capitalist...

The Edition ·

2025/10/23

‘The Ultras’ are the subject of The Spectator’s cover story this week – this is the new Islamo-socialist alliance that has appeared on the left of British politics. Several independent MPs, elected amidst outrage over the war in Gaza, have gone on to back the new party created by former Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana. The grouping has got off to a rocky start but – as Angus Colwell and Max Jeffery write – there are expectations that they could pick up dozens of seats across the country

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30:27

Chinese spies, Vance’s rise & is French parenting...

The Edition ·

2025/10/16

‘Here be dragons’ declares the Spectator’s cover story this week, as it looks at the continuing fallout over the collapse of the trial of two political aides accused of spying for China in Westminster. Tim Shipman reveals that – under the last Conservative government – a data hub was sold to the Chinese that included highly classified information; one source describes this to him as a ‘stratospheric clusterfuck’. Why do successive governments seem to struggle with UK-China relations? And, with many

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25:17

Jewish fear, 'the elimination of motherhood' &...

The Edition ·

2025/10/09

The Spectator’s cover story this week looks at ‘the fear’ gripping Jewish people amidst rising antisemitism. Reflecting on last week’s attack in Manchester, Douglas Murray says that ‘no-one in the Jewish community was surprised’ – a damning inditement on Britain today. How do we tackle religious intolerance? And is there room for nuance in the debate about Israel and Palestine?Host Lara Prendergast is joined by the Spectator’s US editor Freddy Gray, associate editor – and host of our religious

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37:31

Kemi's fightback, the cult of Thatcher & debunking...

The Edition ·

2025/10/02

The Spectator’s cover story this week is an interview with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch ahead of the Tory party conference. Reflecting on the criticism she received for being seen as slow on policy announcements, she says that the position the Conservatives were in was ‘more perilous than people realise’ and compares herself to the CEO of an ailing firm. Can Kemi turn it around for the Tories?Host William Moore is joined by the Spectator’s political editor Tim Shipman – who interviewed Kemi –

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36:40

Labour’s Terminator, Silicon Valley’s ‘Antichrist’...

The Edition ·

2025/09/25

First: who has the Home Secretary got in her sights?Political editor Tim Shipman profiles Shabana Mahmood in the Spectator’s cover article this week. Given Keir Starmer’s dismal approval ratings, politicos are consumed by gossip about who could be his heir-apparent – even more so, following Angela Rayner’s defenestration a few weeks ago. Mahmood may not be the most high-profile of the Starmer movement, but she is now talked about alongside Wes Streeting and Andy Burnham as a potential successor to

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35:42

Weimar Britain, the war on science & are you a...

The Edition ·

2025/09/18

First: a warning from historyPolitics moving increasingly from the corridors of power into the streets, economic insecurity exacerbating tensions and the centre of politics failing to hold; these are just some of the echoes from Weimar Germany that the Spectator’s editor Michael Gove sees when looking at present-day Britain. But, he says, ‘there are grounds for hope’ – what are they? Michael joined the podcast to discuss.Next: why did science succumb to the ‘culture wars’?Biologist and peer Matt

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