Best of the Spectator

On this week's Spectator Podcast, we talk about how Nigel Farage's Brexit Party could pose an existential threat to the Tories (00:40). Also on the podcast, a debate special about whether the UK should legalise all drugs (11:45), and finally, what is lesbian-tourism (34:45)? With Katy Balls, James Forsyth, Matthew Goodwin, Chris Daw QC, Peter Hitchens, and Julie Bindel. Presented by Lara Prendergast.  Produced by Siva Thangarajah.

With Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth.  Presented by Katy Balls.

With Dominic Green, Life & Arts Editor, Spectator USA. Presented by Freddy Gray. Americano is a series of in-depth discussions on American politics with the best pundits stateside. Presented by Freddy Gray, editor of Spectator USA. Click [here](https://audioboom.com/dashboard/4905583) to listen to previous episodes.

This week brought a new development in the ongoing scandal over Roger Scruton’s firing from a government commission, after the Spectator obtained the tapes of the interview that got him fired. We talk about what’s on the tapes, and what the affair reveals about the state of public debate (00:37). Plus, we talk about a worrying loophole in our immigration system (17:51), and ask: can men ever be considered feminists? (26:42) With Douglas Murray, Adrian Wooldridge, Geoff Hill, Joanna Bell, Julie Bindel, and Ella Whelan Presented by Lara Prendergast. Produced by Siva Thangarajah and Gabriel Radonich.

In this week’s books podcast Sam is joined by the journalist and (as one half of the crime writer Nicci French) novelist Nicci Gerrard to talk about her new book What Dementia Teaches Us About Love. The loss of her own father to dementia prompted Nicci to look at one of the most painful and pressing social problems of the age: how we care for, or fail to care for, those who have dementia — and the philosophical questions of what it means when the things that make you you start to fall away.  Spectator Books is a series of literary interviews and discussions on the latest releases in the world of publishing, from poetry through to physics. Presented by Sam Leith, The Spectator's Literary Editor. Hear past episodes of Spectator Books [here](https://audioboom.com/dashboard/4905582).

With James Forsyth and Katy Balls Presented by Fraser Nelson Coffee House Shots is a series of podcasts on British politics from the Spectator's political team and special guests. Brought to you daily, visit spectator.co.uk/shots to find more episodes that are not released on Spectator Radio.

In this episode, broadcaster and writer Adrian Chiles joins Lara and Livvy to discuss a childhood of Croatian home cooking, how an incident with a Turkish lamb turned him vegetarian, and why he prefers 'mindful drinking' to 'drinking responsibly'. Table Talk is a series of podcasts where Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts talk to celebrity guests about their life story, through the food and drink that has come to define it.

Lionel Shriver is an American journalist, author and Spectator columnist. Her novel We Need to Talk About Kevin – about a mother and her son who goes on to carry out a high school massacre – won the Orange Prize for fiction in 2005.  Shriver talks to Katy Balls about why she changed her name age 15, the struggles new writers face in the digital age and what role the media plays in the gun violence debate. Women With Balls is a podcast series where Katy Balls speak to women at the top of their respective games. To hear past episodes, visit spectator.co.uk/balls.

After a tragic fire destroyed parts of the Notre Dame on Holy Week, we talk to what the cathedral means to Catholics (00.30). Plus, a special debate on euthanasia (10.25), and a discussion with the Dean of Westminster Abbey about why we need hymns more than ever (20.30) With the Very Reverend John Hall, Damian Thompson, Matthew Walther, Sam Leith, Douglas Murray and Ysenda Maxtone-Graham.  Presented by Lara Prendergast.  Produced by Siva Thangarajah and Gabriel Radonich.

In this week's Books Podcast Sam is joined by Professor Cass Sunstein -- best known here as co-author of the hugely influential 2008 book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness, which spawned a whole transatlantic movement in using behavioural psychology to influence public policy (not least over here in the Cabinet Office's celebrated "Nudge Unit"). Cass's new book is called How Change Happens -- and extends the arguments of his previous books to talk about the mechanisms that determine quite big, and quite abrupt shifts in politics and social attitudes. Sam asks him how his ideas about nudging have changed over the last decade; about the limits and contradictions of "libertarian paternalism"; about the dangers of "group polarisation"; about how much we can or should trust to big tech and the mechanisms of the market; and about how the explosion in digital media has changed the democratic landscape for good. Spectator Books is a series of literary interviews and discussions on the latest releases in the world of publishing, from poetry through to physics. Presented by Sam Leith, The Spectator's Literary Editor. Hear past episodes of Spectator Books [here](https://audioboom.com/dashboard/4905582).

With Zack Christenson, publisher of Spectator USA and former CEO of Crowdskout Americano is a series of in-depth discussions on American politics with the best pundits stateside. Presented by Freddy Gray, editor of Spectator USA. Click [here](https://audioboom.com/dashboard/4905583) to listen to previous episodes.

With Katy Balls and Stephen Bush. Presented by John Connolly. Coffee House Shots is a series of podcasts on British politics from the Spectator's political team and special guests. Brought to you daily, visit spectator.co.uk/shots to find more episodes that are not released on Spectator Radio.

Alissa Timoshkina is a chef, food and film writer, and the founder of the KinoVino supper club. Today she joins Lara and Livvy to discuss Soviet food culture, her journey from film to cookery, and ‘the cabbage myth’. Table Talk is a series of podcasts where Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts talk to celebrity guests about their life story, through the food and drink that has come to define it.

With plummeting approval ratings and street protests stretching into their fifth month, Emmanuelle Macron’s presidency seems to be going from bad to worse. So what happened to France’s golden child of global liberalism (00:30)? Plus, are MPs whining too much (12:45)? And last, is TV binge-watching becoming an epidemic (22:00)? With Jonathan Miller, Sophie Pedder, Melissa Kite, Stewart Jackson, Mark Palmer and Emma Bullimore. Presented by Isabel Hardman. Produced by Cindy Yu and Gabriel Radonich.

Sam's guest for this week’s books podcast is Clare Carlisle, author of a new life of Soren Kierkegaard, Philosopher of the Heart. Kierkegaard has a reputation for being forbidding, pious and difficult to pronounce - but Clare’s here to tell us why the work of this transformational thinker and writer speaks to every age about the difficulties and the vital importance of finding a way of living in the world. Plus, we learn about his very strange love-life, his mental health, and how he got monstered by Copenhagen’s equivalent of Private Eye. There ain’t nothing like a Dane. Spectator Books is a series of literary interviews and discussions on the latest releases in the world of publishing, from poetry through to physics. Presented by Sam Leith, The Spectator's Literary Editor. Hear past episodes of Spectator Books [here](https://audioboom.com/dashboard/4905582).