The Book Club: Marlon James

This week: Lawfare Our cover piece examines how Keir Starmer’s legal experience will influence his politics. Ross Clark argues that Starmer will govern through the courts, and continue what he describes as the slow movement of power away from elected politicians. As poll after poll predicts an unprecedented Labour majority, what recourse would there be to stop him? Ross joined the podcast to discuss alongside solicitor and commentator Joshua Rozenberg (02:15). Next: we’ve become accustomed to the police wearing cameras, but what’s behind the rise in bodycams in other industries? In her article this week, Panda La Terriere highlights the surprising businesses that have begun using them, but what are the implications for daily life and how concerned should we be? Panda joined us to discuss with Silkie Carlo, director of civil liberties NGO Big Brother Watch (19:39). And finally: why do we love to be baffled? Mark Mason argues it is more to do with the thrill of deception than a desire to problem-solve. Mark joined us to try and demystify the world of magic with Gustav Kuhn, associate professor of psychology at the University of Plymouth and author of Experiencing the impossible: the science of magic (28:32). Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons. Join The Spectator for a special Live edition of Coffee House Shots on Thursday 11th July at 7pm in Westminster. Fraser Nelson, Katy Balls and Kate Andrews will be making sense of the election results, a new government, and discussing what comes next. Tickets are £35, or £25 for subscribers. Book online at spectator.co.uk/shotslive

My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is Mark Bostridge. In his new book In Pursuit of Love: The Search for Victor Hugo’s Daughter, Mark describes his quest to uncover the traces of Adele Hugo and the doomed love affair which cost her her sanity. He tells me how Adele’s story chimed in poignant ways with his own life and what it taught him about the unstable emotional contract between biographer and subject.

Hadley Freeman is a journalist and author. She writes for The Sunday Times, having previously written for The Guardian. Her books include House of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family and Good Girls: A Story and Study of Anorexia. Her new book, Blindness: October 7 and the Left, is out now.  On the podcast, she tells Lara about her difficult relationship with food growing up. They also discuss her sentimentality for crepe restaurants, and taco truck culture.

Freddy Gray speaks to Jeremy Carl, Senior Fellow at the Claremont Institute. They discuss his book, The Unprotected Class: how anti-white racism is tearing America apart. They also cover affirmative action, and where America goes from here.  Watch this episode on Spectator TV. 

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Natasha Feroze reports on the return of ex-Labour MP Keith Vaz (1:10); Robert Ades presents the case against sociology A-level (7:39); Lucasta Miller reviews Katherine Bucknell’s book, Christopher Isherwood Inside Out (15:24); Sam McPhail provides his notes on the lager Madri (23:16); Toby Young explains why he will be voting Reform (26:23); and, Catriona Olding reflects on love and friendship (31:17).   Presented by Patrick Gibbons.  

The most recent 'mother of the house', Harriet Harman has been an MP for 42 years. She has served in a number of cabinet positions, under six Labour leaders, both during government and opposition. She was also deputy leader of the Labour Party for eight years. In some ways, her story is emblematic of how women's roles in society have changed: challenging familial stereotypes, dealing with sexual harassment, and as a trailblazing politician. On this episode, Katy Balls talks to Harriet about the influence of her family, why she got into politics, and why Labour hasn't had a female leader yet. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

This week: Macron’s game. Our cover piece looks at the big news following the European elections at the weekend, President Macron’s decision to call early parliamentary elections in France. Madness or genius, either way the decision comes with huge risk. And can he still outplay Le Pen, asks writer Jonathan Miller. Jonathan joins the podcast to analyse Macron’s decision alongside Professor Alberto Alemanno, who explains how the decision is realigning French politics, and argues it must be seen in its wider European context. (01:58) Then: Will and Gus take us through some of their favourite pieces from the magazine, including Catriona Olding’s Life column and Sam McPhail’s notes on Madri.  Also on the podcast: who decides how we see the past? Niger Biggar writes in the magazine this week about organisations which are being given a veto over the representation of Britain's history. Nigel takes issue with those from formerly marginalised communities having the final word on our shared history and joins the podcast to explain why there should be more scrutiny on such groups. (18:14) And finally: do historians talk down to children? In her column for the magazine this week Mary Wakefield writes about her experience trying to find engaging and challenging history books for her 8-year-old. She says that most children’s history books have dumbed down, in comparison to the classic ladybird books of the 60s. She joined the podcast to discuss with the author of the Adventures in Time children’s book series and host of the Rest is History podcast, Dominic Sandbrook. (31:16) Hosted by William Moore and Gus Carter.  Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.  The Spectator will be hosting a special Live edition of Coffee House Shots in the aftermath of the election. Taking place on Thursday the 11th July - a week after the election - at 7pm here in Westminster, you can join Fraser Nelson, Katy Balls and Kate Andrews as they try to dissect the election results, a new government, and what comes next.  Tickets are £35, or £25 for subscribers. If you’re interested, you can book online at spectator.co.uk/shotslive   

My guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is Marlon James, who ten years ago published his Booker Prize winning novel A Brief History of Seven Killings. He tells me how that remarkable book came about, how he feared it would be 'my Satanic Verses', what genre means to him, the importance of myth, and what he learned from the X-Men.

In less than a month’s time, Britain may well have a new prime minister – and a different ruling party. Under 14 years of the Conservative party, the UK’s approach to China has swung from the sycophancy of the golden era to fear and loathing under Liz Truss, stabilising in the last couple of years to a compete but engage approach, all while public opinion on China has hardened following the Hong Kong protests and the pandemic. What will a new government bring? Will the managerialism of Keir Starmer change UK-China relations much from the managerialism of Rishi Sunak? This is not a hypothetical question as Labour looks set to win the election and the question, now, is how big the Conservative losses will be. Cindy Yu is joined by Sam Hogg, a political analyst who has covered China as seen by Westminster for years, under the newsletter he founded, Beijing to Britain. He last came on the podcast to discuss Liz Truss’s views on China – a lot has changed then. Produced by Cindy Yu and Joe Bedell-Brill.

Freddy Gray is joined by Alex Castellanos, Republican Party strategist who has served as media consultant to seven U.S. Presidential campaigns. They discuss Donald Trump's presidential campaign, his search for a vice president, and if there's any way Joe Biden can tarnish his image.