Best of the Spectator

Americano: long-term Trump advisor arrested - is Mueller closing in?

Sarah Baxter is Deputy Editor of the Sunday Times. Katy talks to Sarah about what it was like to be a woman in the lobby before 'Blair's Babes', the best way to tackle sexism (she says, ignore it and go 'full speed ahead'), and whether Jeremy Corbyn is quite the Labour leader she hopes for. Presented by Katy Balls.

Have vegans and vegetarians won the moral argument in the war on meat (1:00)? Plus, are Anglicans hoping to reconcile with Catholics (11:25)? And last, why is Michael Gove crusading against the wood-burning stove (25:40)? With Jenny McCartney, Dominika Piasecka, Peter Hitchens, Damian Thompson, James Delingpole and Fraser Nelson. Presented by Lara Prendergast.

In this week’s books podcast, Sam's guest is Robert Alter - who has just published the fruits of decades of labour in the form of his complete new translation of the Hebrew Bible into English. Acclaimed for his Bible translations by Seamus Heaney, John Updike and Peter Ackroyd, Prof Alter explains how Biblical Hebrew really works, what can and cannot be preserved in translation - and why, as he sees it, nearly every modern translation of the Bible gets it catastrophically wrong.

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Presented by Isabel Hardman.

With Zack Christenson. Presented by Freddy Gray.

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Presented by Cindy Yu.

It’s another crazy week in Westminster, and the question on everyone’s minds – what happens next? We talk to Paul Mason, Henry Newman, and Katy Balls (00:50). Plus, should councils turf out the social housing tenants whose circumstances improve (23:45)? With Paul Mason, Henry Newman, Katy Balls, Mark Piggott, and Luke Doonan. Presented by Isabel Hardman. Produced by Cindy Yu and Alastair Thomas.

In this week's episode, Sam talks to investigative journalist Kajsa Norman about her book 'Sweden's Dark Soul'. In it, she turns her gaze on the oppressive forces at the heart of Sweden’s ‘model democracy’. The story begins with the cover-up of mass sexual assaults at a Stockholm music festival. The reason? The perpetrators were unaccompanied refugee minors. Presented by Sam Leith.

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Presented by Cindy Yu.

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Presented by Isabel Hardman.

With Jacob Heilbrunn, editor of the National Interest. Presented by Freddy Gray.

With James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson. Presented by Lara Prendergast.

Lorries backing up in Kent, a Mars bar shortage, and no more Rome city breaks – these are just some of the things that we have been warned about when it comes to a no deal Brexit. But what will really happen (00:45)? Plus, is China a greater force to be reckoned with than Russia (22:35)? And last, what is it with Brits and obsessing over aristocratic sex scandals (33:15)? With Lord Peter Lilley, Ian Dunt, Kerry Brown, Tom Tugendhat MP, Cosmo Landesman, and Sophia Money-Coutts. Presented by Lara Prendergast.

In this week’s book’s podcast Sam's guest is Jonathan Ames, a writer who has produced everything from memoir (Adventures of a Mildly Perverted Young Writer) to TV writing (Bored To Death), graphic novels (The Alcoholic), pitch-black noir (You Were Never Really Here), Wodehouse homage (Wake Up, Sir!) and now, in The Extra Man, a comic novel riffing on Henry James. We talk about why he calls so many of his characters “Jonathan Ames”, how he goes about his work, and whether — as a man who has become synonymous with “overshare” — he can ever quite retreat into the background. Presented by Sam Leith.