Book Club: Graham Robb

Sam Leith's guest this week is Graham Robb. In his new book The Discovery of Britain: An Accidental History, Graham takes us on a time-travelling bicycle tour of the island's history. They discuss how Graham weaves together personal memories with geography and history, his 'major cartographic scoop' which unlocks Iron Age Britain and contemporary debates about national identity. Graham also has a discovery of interest for those who hold out hope that King Arthur really existed.Produced by Patrick Gibbons and James Lewis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listeners on the Best of Spectator playlist can enjoy a section of the latest episode of Quite right! but for the full thing please seek out the Quite right! channel. Just search ‘Quite right!’ wherever you are listening now. This week on Quite right!: Rachel Reeves goes on the offensive – and the defensive. After her surprise Downing Street address, Michael and Maddie pick over the many kites that have been flying in advance of the Budget at the end of the month. Was she softening the public up for tax rises, or trying to save her own job? Michael explains why Reeves is wrong to say that Labour’s inheritance is the reason for our current economic misfortune and says that it is ‘absolute bollocks’ that Brexit is to blame.Next, a chilling weekend of violence sparks a bigger question: are we witnessing the rise of nihilistic crime in Britain? From the Huntingdon train stabbings to rampant shoplifting, are we becoming used to the ‘anarcho-tyranny’ that is taking hold – where petty crimes go unpunished and public order breaks down?And finally, from Halloween to Bonfire Night, the culture wars go seasonal. Michael and Maddie debate whether we should loathe ‘pagan’ Halloween and instead turn 5 November into a national holiday.Produced by Oscar Edmondson. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Luke Coppen looks at a new musical subgenre of Roman Catholic black metal; Mary Wakefield celebrates cartoonist Michael Heath as he turns 90 – meaning he has drawn for the Spectator for 75 years; looking to Venezuela, Daniel McCarthy warns Trump about the perils of regime change; Michael Simmons bemoans how Britain is beholden to bad data; and, Hugh Thomson looks at celebrity terrorists as he reviews Jason Burke’s The Revolutionists. Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Freddy Gray sits down with academic James Orr at the Battle of Ideas in London for a live Americano podcast to discuss Vice President J.D. Vance. Having been described as 'Vance's British sherper', James responds to how likely it is that J.D. Vance will be President one day, which weaknesses could hold him back and how Vance's unique closeness to Trump in office has given him vital experience to learn on the job. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are the rich fleeing Britain? That's what the numbers suggest, but some activist groups have hit back that the data is dodgy. For the second episode of Reality Check The Spectator's economics editor Michael Simmons explains why the data shows that the wealthy are leaving Britain, and why this matters for everyone else. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘On the day of the local elections, when the Tories suffered a historic setback, Kemi Badenoch went to the gym and got her hair done,’ Tim Shipman reveals in the magazine this week. Aides insist that Badenoch has since ‘upped her game’. Her PMQs performances are improving and the CCHQ machine seems to have whirred into gear, making sure that Labour’s embarrassments – from Angela Rayner’s flat to the collapsed China scandal – don’t go unpunished. Is she finally turning the ship around after a year in the job? Michael Gove and Tim Shipman discuss. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 the Victorian charlatan?Host Lara Prendergast is joined by the Spectator’s associate editor – and host of the Holy Smoke podcast – Damian Thompson, alongside writers and Spectator regulators Arabella Byrne and Mark Mason.As well as the cover, they discuss: the fascinating world of the London tube network – despite the misery of the northern line; the problems facing Kemi Badenoch, the allure of Reform UK and why Trump seems to recover from every scandal; whether languages should be saved; and they celebrate cartoonist Michael Heath, who is turning 90 – meaning he has drawn for the Spectator for 75 years.Plus: what does Mark think Cliff Richard and Jeffrey Archer have in common with Donald Trump?Produced by Patrick Gibbons.The Spectator is trialling new formats for this podcast, and we would very much welcome feedback via this email address: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nat Jansz joins Sam Leith to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Moomin novels. The first of these, Comet in Moominland, was revised by author Tove Jansson a decade after the original publication date. To celebrate the anniversary Sort of Books, co-run by Jansz, is publishing this revised edition for the first time in English.Jansz discusses why she finds the books so compelling, the influence of the war on author Jansson and why she feels Jansson’s ‘quest for the truth’ was written in a way that was easy for children to understand. For Jansz, the Moomin novels had a mix of light and dark which broke the mould of previous children’s literature which was often prefaced with something traumatic. Plus – are there glimpses of the secret loves of the author hidden within the books?Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listeners on the Best of Spectator playlist can enjoy a section of the latest episode of Quite right! but for the full thing please seek out the Quite right! channel. Just search ‘Quite right!’ wherever you are listening now.This week on Quite right!: the great Home Office meltdown. After a week of fiascos – from the accidental release of a convicted migrant to the collapse of the grooming gangs inquiry – Michael and Maddie ask: is the Home Office now beyond repair? Why is Britain’s most important department also its most dysfunctional? And what does it say about a civil service more obsessed with ‘listening circles’ and ‘wellbeing surveys’ than actually running the country?Then to Westminster, where Jess Phillips faces fury over the grooming gangs inquiry. Are ministers diluting the investigation to avoid awkward truths about race and culture? Michael argues that empathy is no substitute for justice – and that Labour still can’t bring itself to confront the problem honestly.Next, Maddie shares an extraordinary personal story of her mother’s nightmare tenant – thirty dogs, tens of thousands in damages, and zero help from the state – as she and Michael debate whether Britain’s social contract is breaking down, and if new housing laws will only make things worse.Finally, the big news of the week: Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau’s hard-launch romance. But what do Justin Trudeau’s sartorial choices say about the state of politics and pop? And who would be their British equivalent?Produced by Oscar Edmondson.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Piers Morgan sits down with Andrew Doyle in Glasgow to discuss Piers’s provocative new book, Woke Is Dead, and share their unfiltered views on the state of the world today. Rather than celebrating the death of woke, Piers’s book advocates for the return of common sense and a less divided, more sensible society. Piers Morgan: Woke Is Dead with Andrew Doyle will explore why Piers believes woke culture is on its way out, what a return to common sense might look like, and how the cultural tide is shifting across politics, the media and everyday life.This is part of the Spectator's Speaker Series. For more events, go to spectator.co.uk/events and for the full interview with Piers, go to spectator.co.uk/tv Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.