The Spectator Podcast

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.

In this special episode of Coffee House Shots, Fraser Nelson talks to Peter Oborne on why, as a former Brexiteer, Oborne thinks we must think again about Brexit.You can read Peter Oborne's article here.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.

With John Rick MacArthur, president of Harpers magazine.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 to listen to previous episodes.

Victoria Atkins is a former barrister and a Conservative party MP. She is a Minister at the Home Office. She talks about her legal career and her work at the Home Office creating legislation to protect women and vulnerable people. Hosted by Katy Balls.

This week, Brexit disillusionment reaches a new low. Will our political system ever be the same again after all this is done(00:50)? Plus, we ask whether British rape laws have gone too far in the MeToo age (15:10). And last, should friends ask friends for donations (30:45)?   With James Forsyth, Katy Balls, Chris Daw QC, Tim Shipman, James Delingpole, and Cosmo Landesman and Sarah Green.

In this week’s books podcast Sam is talking to Clare Mulley about The Woman Who Saved The Children, her biography of Eglantyne Jebb reissued to coincide with next week’s centenary of Save The Children, the charity that Jebb founded. Eglantyne was a fascinating and deeply unconventional figure — a nice young gel from the Shropshire squirearchy who refused to fit into the social, sexual or professional pigeonholes her background seemed to destine her for. Instead she found herself investigating war crimes in Macedonia, campaigning against the postwar economic blockade of Germany, revolutionising charity fundraising, clashing with the law and pioneering the concepts that would go on to become the Declaration of the Rights of the Child.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.

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

Jeremy Lee is the chief proprietor of the landmark Soho restaurant, Quo Vadis. In this episode, he talks to Lara and Livvy about why he was such a bad waiter, what it is like to cook and eat with Simon Hopkinson and Alistair Little, and his undying love for puddings.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 James Forsyth and Katy Balls.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.

This week, Theresa May has finally agreed to step down. But will it be enough to get her Brexit deal through (00:30)? We also take a look at the government’s plans to restrict consumption of pornography (15:20), and last, who were the Victorian women who travelled the world (28:15)?With James Forsyth, Katy Balls, Nicky Morgan, Julie Bindel, Robert Jackman, Myles Jackman, and Rosemary Brown.Presented by Lara Prendergast.Produced by Cindy Yu and Siva Thangarajah.

In this week’s books podcast Sam is joined by one of the doyennes of crime writing, the brilliant Donna Leon. She talks about her latest Commissario Brunetti novel, Unto Us A Son Is Given, about what Venice gives her as a setting, why she welcomes snobbery towards crime writers, and why she never lets her books be published in Italian.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.

With Katy Balls and James Forsyth.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, please subscribe here to find more episodes that are not released on Spectator Radio.

With Caroline McCarthy, contributor to Spectator USA.Americano is a series of in-depth discussions on American politics with the best pundits stateside. Presented by Freddy Gray, editor of Spectator USA.

Kay Burley is a Sky News founding member, host of The Kay Burley Show, and holds the record for hosting more hours of live television than any other news presenter. Kay tells Katy about how she 'knocked the rough edges' off her accent, her love for Jane Fonda, and why the BBC couldn't afford her these days.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.

It has been yet another crazy week in the Brexit saga, with May and the EU negotiating an extension. And with a possible third meaningful vote in the horizon, what happens now? And who is to blame for the uncertainty - May, or parliament? (00:47)Plus, with the majority of doctors in the NHS now coming from abroad, why are we not training enough doctors in the UK? (16:00)And last, we take a look inside of the world of The Archers’ superfans. (33:00) With Katy Balls, James Forsyth, Sam Gyimah, Saffron Cordery, J. Meirion Thomas and Nicola Headlam. Presented by Lara Prendergast. Produced by Cindy Yu and Siva Thangarajah.

In this week's books podcast, Sam Leith is joined by the Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer Jhumpa Lahiri. Someone whose own fiction has negotiated the cross-cultural territory of her Bengali-American identity, Jhumpa in the last few years has been negotiating a new crossing of cultures after settling in Rome with her family and starting to write fiction and memoir in Italian. She joins the podcast to discuss the Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories, which she edited, and talk about what a new language gives a writer, how the war shaped Italian literature, and why - as a professor of creative writing at Princeton - she refuses to teach creative writing.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.

Journalist and author Rachel Johnson joins Lara and Livvy on this episode to talk about what it was like to share with a student house with Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, then budding student chef, about cooking rice found in a Greek bin for her children, and why 'American food' is an oxymoron.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 James Forsyth and Katy Balls. Presented by Fraser Nelson.