Best of the Spectator

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Home to the Spectator's best podcasts on everything from politics to religion, literature to food and drink, and more. A new podcast every day from writers worth listening to.** Americano and Chinese Whispers are nominated in the Political Podcast Awards 2025. Vote for it to win the People's Choice category here (https://politicalpodcastawards.co.uk/the-peoples-choice-award/) **

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Recent Reviews
  • RosiePKR
    Re US election
    Utterly pompous misogynistic review by Freddie gray. You have spent too long at mar e lago and you perspective has been skewed…
  • angrylf
    Ghoulishly unintentionally funny
    Some of their episodes will have you laughing out loud at their obtuse, self involved obliviousness as to how the economy and culture etc. actually run - truly a bunch of princes and princesses high up in their ivory towers confounded by the ghastly vulgarity of the masses - and yes, they are in ivory towers and they don’t see the problem with that either! 😆
  • Tjbrowne
    Great podcast
    I love the perspective brought to listeners , consistently interesting
  • MrsElska
    Great podcast - great magazine!
    Always love to hear from Douglas Murray, Andrew Doyle, Julie Bindel. Thank you to Freddie (editor) and all the Spectator staff!
  • Borderd Gothic
    I need views from the other side
    I could not get the feeling out of my mind that Eva Vlaardingerbroek did not sound credible, I could be completely wrong. I really needed the views from the side. Maybe you can do that on another show I would be interested.
  • EgStafford
    Kate Andrew’s naivete
    In The Week in 60 Minutes: Germany held ransom and Biden’s Roe cop out, Ms. Andrew’s admits that she actually believed a vote for Joe Biden in November 2020 would herald in a period of political compromise and consensus building, as President Biden was promising. It is always most welcome when political commentators admit they were taken in by the political farce on which they regularly comment. Apparently she has learned her lesson and now recognizes that both D and R elected officials in America have taken positions on abortion policy in the U.S. only for electoral purposes, enjoying the protection Roe afforded them from having to sincerely discuss, debate, and legislate on the matter. Kudos to Freddy Gray for filling in the gaps in her knowledge of U.S. politics. 4 out of 5 leaves room for improvement.
  • mgjed
    Interesting conversations!
    All of the Spectator’s podcasts have the feeling of an interesting conversation you’d have with an intelligent friend. Oscar Wilde used to say that the only unpardonable sin is to be boring — this podcast never commits that sin.
  • _ashea_
    Lionel Shriver lost me
    Was really enjoying until i came across more and more of lionel shriver then had to call it quits.
  • Tony R in Thailand
    Brits sometimes see things we miss
    Like the analysis devoid of shouting. Intelligent and above the fray.
  • Robert Henry Holtz
    Great stuff!
    Great stuff, very interesting! Out Loud is so good!!!
  • trillionshelper
    Cancel
    You lost me with your show today on Harry and Meghan——-insulting, rude, biased. No attempt to even try to understand what Meghan and Harry are trying to address. And as for “fake news” and “alternate reality” please examine yourselves. “Royals don’t travel on other’s private jets” ??? Really? Tell that to Andrew, Edward and Charles and Camilla. After listening to your episode for first time I understood why Meghan and Harry moved to America and why I don’t blame them.
  • sidneyhart
    Go back to Alexander Chancellor’s Spectator
    I read the Spectator at school and Uni in the ‘70s and ‘80s. I don’t want to read or hear Americans like Lionel Shriver and so many others like her rant. Whatever happened to my beloved weekly, delivered to my pigeonhole, with its lovely irony?
  • AlpineDude2
    Americano August 10, 2020
    I am a big fan of The Spectator’s Podcasts. Today’s session was a dramatic diversion from the usually high standards of both content and analytical thought. I wanted to pick up a subscription to your “not NYTimes” offer but this podcast left me with a sour taste. Your US editor did his absolut best (as always) to bring a variety of thoughts and angles to the table while talking to Jacob. To no avail. Jacob appeared not to be interested in discussing the ever increasing and giant policy gaps between the two camps, nor the blatantly obvious deterioration in Biden’s cognitive capabilities. Nor was there a discussion about how different the two campaigns were covered by the MSM. And not a word about defunding the police movement nor the riots that are blazing in largely democrat run cities. The recent polls were not discusses adequately at all nor the political response to the virus. In summary a terrible podcast that largely left me angry about spending the time. It actually reminded me of NY Times terrible coverage of the last UK election, which left most reader flabbergasted when the actual results came out. I hope for a better next time!
  • Darvgt
    Love Love Love
    My fave of all the great Spectator podcasts. As an expat its a lovely little window back on all that is good and what I most miss about the UK. Livvy and Lara’s voices provide a perfect example to my my teen daughter with whom I listen to the show, that her ghastly American accent is a lot less desirable than a lovely British one.
  • Gnome chopper
    Ballsy
    Great name and episode with Clair Fox. The Spectator has balls too.
  • Be a Triz
    Democratic hack
    I like to listen to both sides of the story, but this lady represents everything that is wrong with the Democrats. They want to be inspired, they want a dear leader. How about some good and reasonable government. Good grief, she makes America look bad!
  • JC852
    Interesting
    The conversations on here are normally well informed and very interesting. As an American, it’s useful to see what the Conservatives are thinking over in the UK and the Spectator does a great job. You can detect a hint of pro-Tory bias here and there, but it doesn’t matter much. My only gripe is how the regular guests are all wet talkers! Lots of slurps and smacks into the microphone. Other than that minor quibble, it’s a wonderful podcast.
  • Mukkuroni
    Awful accents
    I’m a fan of the Speccie and wanted to like their podcasts. But it’s quite shocking to hear the grating pseudo-posh accents of the contributors. I wish they’d listen to ChabuddyG on the BA safety announcements, saying “Chaas” (cheers) in his best James Bond imitation accent, to understand what they sound like.
  • marccs
    Americano, what's up?
    I'm a Spectator print subscriber and a five-star fan of almost all of their content in the UK, but the Americano podcast seems strangely tilted to the left in it's choice of guests. I suppose that's their editorial prerogative, but America really doesn't need another left leaning voice in the media. That part of the market is saturated. I wouldn't even bother listening to it if it didn't have the Spectator name attached to it.
  • BTMule
    Best British Outlet
    Genuine discussion; interesting stories, speakers, and insightful interviews. No virtue-signaling (except for guests from the Guardian) Plus: Easy access to all channels here.
  • Yank Spectator Fan
    Sound levels disturbingly uneven
    I love the podcast content, but the audio post-production is really poor. Each person has a different volume level. If my volume is set high enough to hear the softest voice, the loudest voice distorts my (high quality) speakers. I'd rate it 5/5 if it weren't for this problem.
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