Best of the Spectator

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

In this fascinating podcast, Dominic Green talks to author and foreign policy analyst Robert Kaplan. They look back at ‘The Coming Anarchy’ after a quarter of a century, and trace the ambitions and disasters of the last three decades of American empire, from the early Nineties to the War on Terror and the retreat of the Obama and Trump years. If you listen carefully, you can hear the clink of coffee cups on saucer. If you listen even more carefully, you’ll hear a reminder of Kipling’s ‘Recessional’, with its warning that all empires must dissolve: ‘Lest we forget.’ Listen and learn.

As we move into 2019, two big elections could shake up the rest of the year. In May, the European elections could see an unprecedented populist surge. What would that mean for the European Union (00:50)? And back home, a potential general election, and Corbyn’s chances at government have never looked better (11:15). We discuss both of these. And last, is it ever okay to call a woman ‘a girl’ (24:35)? With Fredrik Erixon, Charles Grant, Katy Balls, Conor Pope, Mark Mason and Julie Bindel. Presented by Lara Prendergast. Produced by Cindy Yu and Alastair Thomas.

With Henry Newman, Director of Open Europe, and Katy Balls. Presented by Lara Prendergast.

In this week’s books podcast we’re going to the wars. Sam's guest is Ed Vulliamy, the veteran war correspondent who has written a fascinating memoir called When Words Fail: A Life With Music, War and Peace. In it, Ed talks about how his lifelong love of music — he saw Hendrix at the Isle of Wight — has threaded through his terrifying adventures in conflict zones from Bosnia to Iraq to the Mexican/American border; and of how music really can salve the soul when everything else is broken. He describes his own terrifying experiences with PTSD, snagging the last interview with BB King, and how playing “Kashmir” over and over again while roaring unembedded around a battle-zone led him to a friendship with Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant.

Join Katy Balls as she interviews Dame Helena Morrissey - a financier, a campaigner for more women in the boardrooms, and the mother to nine children. How does she balance kids and a career? Why does she think men and women are fundamentally different? And what is the most effective way to get a raise?

In this week’s books podcast Sam talks to Chris Kraus — author of the semi-autobiographical cult novel I Love Dick and the new essay collection Social Practices — about her strange and interesting life in the New York and LA art worlds, about taking Baudrillard to a “happening” in the desert, about ambition and fame, about how art and literature feed into one another — and about why we English should stop sneering at “theory” and learn to love its strangeness and beauty. Presented by Sam Leith.

Dominic talks to the team of crack art critics from The New Criterion: James Panero, Benjamin Riley and Andrew Shea in this review of the best art exhibitions of the year. In between high brow chats on Michelangelo and Sir Alfred Munnings, the panel brings the energy of the New Criterion Christmas party, raging next door, with them. Is Panero coughing because he has TB, or was it induced by the prospect of the Boston MFA’s Toulouse-Lautrec show? Who was in and who was out in the major museums this year? And is Andy Shea really caught using his cellphone in the middle of a podcast?

Sophia Money-Coutts is former features editor at Tatler magazine, and now columnist for the Sunday Telegraph. Her new book, The Plus One, came out earlier this year. In this episode of Table Talk, Lara and Livvy talk to Sophia about how cheese fondue helped her get through her parents' divorce as a child, how an ex-boyfriend berated her poppadom manners, and the best way to juggle a clutch bag and canapés at writers' parties. Presented by Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts.

So, it’s the end of the year, and we can safely say 2018 hasn’t been any less loopy than its recent predecessors. In this year’s final Spectator Podcast, we’ll be taking a look at some of the major political and cultural events of the year, with a star-studded cast of commentators and experts, and casting a look forward at 2019\. We’ll be talking about Labour – it hasn’t had a great year, but is it closer than ever to government? Plus, what have been the divides splitting Europe, and how has Trump settled in to the second year of his tenure? But before all this, a little bit of Brexit. With James Forsyth, Stephen Bush, Rory Stewart, Katy Balls, Paul Mason, Jess Phillips, Douglas Murray, Anne McElvoy, Freddy Gray, Christopher Meyer, and Kate Andrews. Presented by Lara Prendergast. Produced by Cindy Yu and Alastair Thomas.

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth. Presented by Lara Prendergast.

In this week’s books podcast Sam Leith talks to the great trivia expert Mark Mason about his new The Book of Seconds: The Incredible Stories of the Ones Who Didn’t (Quite) Win. Here’s the Christmas present for all the Tory frontbenchers in your life. Who remembers the Christmas number two in the pop charts? Who got silver at the Olympics? Who was the second man to walk on the moon? Mark — my second choice of guest for this week’s podcast — masterfully pulls together the psychological and social implications of not quite cutting the mustard.

Pete Shelley of Buzzcocks passed away last week at the age of 63\. A long-term fan, Dominic Green talked to Pete in November this year. They talk about experimenting with punk, performing live, and the power of music.  This interview was first released as a podcast on November 27 on Spectator USA's [The Green Room](https://audioboom.com/channels/4968255) podcast.

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

Katy Balls talks to Liz Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, about her shameful Lib Dem past, why she loves cheese, and how The Thick Of It made her life harder.