Best of the Spectator

<div>Taiwan is not Ukraine. But despite the very important differences in their situations, the Russian invasion can still shed much light on Taiwan's future. Even many Taiwanese think so – and have followed the developments closely, with solidarity marches held for Ukraine, protests at the Russian embassy and the Ukrainian flag lighting up Taiwanese buildings.<br><br>On this episode of Chinese Whispers, my guests and I discuss the mainstream take on Ukraine (and also the not so mainstream – such as the view that America can't be relied upon, given it hasn't despatched troops to Ukraine). I'm joined by Brian Hioe, editor of <em>New Bloom</em>, an online magazine covering youth culture and politics in Taiwan, and Professor Kerry Brown from Kings College London, author of <em>The Trouble with Taiwan.</em><br><br>We give a primer on Taiwanese politics – what does the thriving democracy look like? How are elections held, and what are the major political parties? We discuss how China – instead of particular social or economic issues – is the main political topic dividing the left and the right (the 'Greens' and the 'Blues'), and whether, with mainstream Taiwanese opinion becoming ever hawkish on China in the aftermath of the Hong Kong National Security Law, the more pro-China forces in Taiwanese politics, such as the Kuomintang, really have a future in the country (Kerry says: ‘I don’t think the KMT can be written off.')<br><br>In a crowded continent, there are also other power-brokers. We talk about the influence of America, and where Japan – Taiwan's erstwhile coloniser – fits in with all this. There have been calls for Japan to be more heavily armed in order to deter a Chinese invasion. How would the Taiwanese feel about that? Brian tells me:<br><br></div><blockquote>‘Views of Japan differ sharply between the pan-green and the pan-blue camp. For the KMT, they remember a lot of the Sino-Japanese war and the crimes committed by the Japanese from that period. But for the pan-greens, who are sometimes descended from those that were in Taiwan for the Japanese colonial period, [remember] the period as a time of higher living standards and improved education, and in which Taiwan is being brought up as a colony rather than these political killings and mass violence, etc. They have a much more romanticised views of a Japanese colonial period.’</blockquote><div>In the end, economics may supersede politics. If President Tsai Ing-wen can't deliver on the economy given her tough stance on China (which is still Taiwan's biggest trading partner), then domestic politics may be in for another shakeup. As Kerry says: ‘It’s the issue that we all wrestle with. Their biggest economic partner is also their biggest security threat’.<br><br>Additional listening: do tune in to a <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/why-does-china-care-about-taiwan-">previous episode</a> with Professor Rana Mitter, if you need a primer on why exactly Taiwan's history means that it is in this position and how the shared language and culture with the People's Republic of China came about<br><a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/why-does-china-care-about-taiwan-">https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/why-does-china-care-about-taiwan-</a>.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this week’s Book Club podcast Sam is joined by Francis Fukuyama to talk about his new book <em>Liberalism and its Discontents</em>. He tells Sam how a system that has built peace and prosperity since the Enlightenment has come under attack from the neoliberal right and the identitarian left; and how Vladimir Putin may end up being the unwitting founding father of a new Ukraine.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>On this week's episode, we'll hear from Lionel Shriver on if western populations would fight to defend their homeland in the way we have seen the Ukrainians have. (00:53)<br><br>Next, Kate Andrews on the real reasons behind the rise in the cost of living. (09:17)<br><br>And finally, Nicholas Farrell asks if the war in Ukraine will boost populism? (13:50)<br><br>Produced and presented by Sam Holmes<a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher"><br><br>Subscribe</a> to <em>The Spectator </em>today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this week’s episode: Has Putin’s invasion of Ukraine exposed the West’s weakness - or its strength?</div><div><br></div><div>For this week, Sergey Radchenko, a Cold War historian writes about the draconian anti-war measures that Putin has imposed in Russia. He joins the podcast along with Dr Jade Glynn, a specialist in Russian memory and foreign policy at the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies. (01:00)</div><div><br></div><div>Also this week: has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine highlighted the hubris of the West? While Western countries unite in a chorus of criticism against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Rod Liddle writes that the invasion only highlights the impotence of the West. He is joined by James Forsyth, <em>The Spectator’s</em> political editor. (18:20)</div><div><br></div><div>And finally, what’s happened to Durham University? Has its reputation plummeted?</div><div><br></div><div>Nathan Risser writes in <em>The Spectator</em> this week about the decline of Durham University. It was once at the top of the league tables just under Oxford and Cambridge but has this all changed? Nathan who is a writer graduated from Durham in 2017. Joining Nathan is Imogen Usherwood, another writer who recently graduated from Durham University in 2021. (35.40)</div><div><br></div><div>Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore</div><div><br></div><div>Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:<a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher">www.spectator.co.uk/voucher</a></div><div><br></div><div>Listen to Lara's food podcast Table Talk: <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk">https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk</a></div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>This week Winston is joined by Russian-British comedian, podcaster and author Konstantin Kisin. Konstantin gives his insight into the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Russian mindset, the potent myth of fighting Nazis and a little on his forthcoming new book ‘An Immigrant’s Love Letter To The West’.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>My guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is Colm Toibin. Best known as a novelist, Colm’s new book is his first collection of poetry, <em>Vinegar Hill</em>. He tells me about coming late to poetry, the freedoms and austerities it offers, and why writing isn’t fun. Plus: surviving cancer and outstaying his St Patrick’s Day welcome at the White House…</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Freddy talks to Anatoly Karlin, author of the Powerful Takes Substack. Speaking from Moscow, Anatoly discloses the extent of support for anti-war protests in Russia and the role of the US in inciting nationalism in Ukraine.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Mitch Tonks is an award-winning restauranteur and chef. He runs the Rockfish restaurant group in Devon and Dorset, and the Seahorse restaurant in Dartmouth. He has written six cookbooks. On the podcast, he tells Lara and Liv about playing cards after dinner, enjoying his school's 'bright green custard with chocolate pudding', and inventing his own fish curries.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>On this episode of Spectator Out Loud, Douglas Murray starts by explaining why C. S. Lewis was right about war. (00:56) Mary Wakefield is up next, looking at the founding myth that Russia and Ukraine are fighting over. (10:18) Nicola Shulman finishes the podcast, reading her piece about Philip Larkin's big problem. (16:53)</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Suella Braverman is the Conservative MP for Fareham and became the first female elected Attorney General in 2020. Formerly known as one of the Brexit Spartans, she talks on the podcast, about growing up surrounded by politics where she first laid the foundations for a career as a Conservative politician.<br><br>As a young woman, she studied law in Cambridge, the US and in Europe where she could excel as a linguist. Since taking her role as Attorney General, she made history by rewriting the law to become the first female Cabinet Minister to take maternity leave - named Gabriella's Law after her daughter who is now one year old.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this week’s episode: is the UK dragging its feet when it comes to Ukrainian refugees?<br><br>For this week’s cover piece, Kate Andrews and Max Jeffery report from Calais, where they have been talking with Ukrainian refugees hoping to make it to Britain. Kate joins the podcast along with former MEP Patrick O’Flynn to discuss the UK’s handling of the refugee crisis. (00:48)<br><br>Also this week: are commodity traders finding a moral compass?<br><br>In the wake of colossal sanctions on Russia are commodity traders feeling pressured to look more critically at the people they buy from? In this week’s issue, Javier Blas, Bloomberg’s commodities columnist and the co-author of <em>The World for Sale</em>, reveals what’s going on in the world of commodity trading. He joins the podcast along with Martin Vander Weyer who also writes about how effective these sanctions might be. (19:21)<br><br>And, finally: is offal making a macho comeback?<br><br>Gus Carter writes in <em>The Spectator</em> this week about offal. It’s having a comeback, he says, thanks to macho men following internet advice about what to eat. He joins the podcast with Natasha Lawson, <em>T he Spectator</em>’s designer and a keen organ fan, who bought in one of her favourite products for Lara, Gus and William to try. (30:19)<br><br>Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore<br><br>Produced by Sam Holmes<br><br>Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:<a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher">www.spectator.co.uk/voucher<br></a><br></div><div>Listen to Lara's food podcast Table Talk: <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk">https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk</a></div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>The UK has recently lifted almost every Covid restriction and with that, thousands of commuters will return to their offices. Will those memories of delays, cancellations, costly tickets and overcrowding come back to haunt the commuter? Most of the problems are linked to the patchwork of Victorian infrastructure that has struggled to meet the demands of the modern-day passenger. <br><br>With grandstanding projects like Hs2 dominating the headlines, is this the kind of investment that's best spent for the consumer? And with other issues on the rise, such as extreme weather conditions, inflation and flexible working patterns, how will the industry prepare itself? <br><br>Joining Kate Andrews for this Spectator Briefings podcast is writer, broadcaster and specialist in railways, Christian Wolmar, Caroline Donaldson who is the managing director of West Coast Partnership Development. Finally, Wendy Morton, the Rail Minister at the Department for Transport. <br><br>This podcast is kindly sponsored by West Coast Partnership.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>During the pandemic, we spent more time online than ever before and this has seen a boom in online fraud. It's estimated that scam adverts have tricked 1 in 10 people on the biggest online platforms into paying for fake products. In 2020, almost 150,000 fraud cases were recorded with losses reported of up to £500 million.</div><div><br></div><div>For the scammers, they will do anything to convince you to key in your card details and this problem has shown no sign of slowing down. The online safety bill is expected to pass Parliament in March 2022. As things stand, the government hasn't included online fraud as a type of harm when it comes to certain adverts. So could the online safety bill be an effective solution? <br><br>To discuss this, Katy Balls is joined by Nicky Morgan, former Culture Secretary and chair of the Treasury Select Committee. Now a member of the House of Lords, Nicky is chairing a new inquiry into digital fraud. Also on the podcast is Lucy Powell, the Shadow Culture Secretary for Labour and Liz Ziegler who is the retail bank fraud and financial crime director at Lloyds Banking Group. <br><br>This podcast is kindy sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this week's Book Club podcast, Sam talks to the investigative reporter Tom Burgis – just days after the High Court threw out an attempt from a London-based company run by eastern European oligarchs to suppress his book <em>Kleptopia: How Dirty Money Is Conquering the World</em>. Tom tells Sam how massacres in Kazakhstan connect to the City of London, how western legal frameworks struggle to cope with international crime, how international kidnapping can be perfectly legal, why Tony Blair helped launder the reputation of a blood-soaked dictator – and how the conflict in Ukraine is the new front line of an ongoing world war between kleptocracy and democracy. </div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Freddy sits down with Casey Michel, author of the book American Kleptocracy. On the podcast Casey talks about the curious and rather shady financial ties between Ukraine and America. </div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>On this week's episode of Marshall Matters, Winston speaks with Svyatoslav Vakarchuk in Ukraine. Svyatoslav is the lead singer of Ukraine’s biggest band, Okean Elzy. He has also served in the Ukrainian parliament. Speaking to him on the eleventh day of conflict he describes his experience so far, the atmosphere of his invaded country and what he hopes for looking forward.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>This episode of Chinese Whispers is slightly different – instead of taking a look at a theme within China, Cindy and her guest see China through the eyes of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Professor Craig Clunas, chair of art history at Oxford University, has curated a new exhibition at London’s Freud Museum, which displays Freud’s collection of Chinese antiquities. On this episode, Cindy talks to Craig about what these pieces – jades and figurines – meant to Freud, especially in the context of 20th century Europe, where there was appreciation of Chinese art but, as they discuss, not quite the matching level of knowledge. They also chat about the reception of Freud’s theories in China, especially given the country’s turbulent intellectual history since the May Fourth Movement a hundred years ago. Craig sums up the love affair between Freud and China nicely:</div><br><div><em>‘Just like Freud is using his Chinese things to think with, Chinese thinkers are using Freud to think with.’</em></div><br><div>The exhibition itself is small but fascinating, and runs until 26 June.</div><br><div>As mentioned in the episode, here is the link to a previous edition of Chinese Whispers with Rana Mitter, for those who want to hear more about China since the May Fourth Movement: <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/china-s-long-history-of-student-protests">https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcast/china-s-long-history-of-student-protests</a>.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>On this week's episode, we'll hear from Freddy Gray on his time spent on the Poland–Ukraine border. (00:52)<br><br>Next, Lionel Shriver on the return of actual badness. (06:28)<br><br>And finally, Philip Patrick on the strange east Asian practice of hiring a ‘White Monkey’. (15:13)<br><br>Produced and presented by Sam Holmes<a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher"><br><br>Subscribe</a> to <em>The Spectator </em>today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this week’s episode: What’s the mood on the ground in Ukraine and Russia?</div><div><br></div><div>For this week’s cover piece, Owen Matthews asks whether the invasion of Ukraine will mean the end of Putin’s regime. And in this week’s Spectator diary, Freddy Gray reports on pride and paranoia on the streets of Lviv. They join the podcast, to talk about Russia’s future and Ukraine’s present. (00:49)</div><div><br></div><div>Also this week: Is Germany ready to tackle its dependence on Russian gas?</div><div><br></div><div>In response to Russia’s invasion, Germany has abandoned its Nord Stream 2 pipeline, sent lethal weapons to Ukraine and, most strikingly of all, has committed to the Nato target of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence - a €100 billion fund. James Forsyth, who writes about Germany’s new reality in this week’s magazine, joins the podcast along with Stefanie Bolzen, a journalist for Welt. (17:18)</div><div><br></div><div>And finally: Are traditional British brands losing their soul?</div><div><br></div><div>Harry Wallop, in this week’s Spectator, wonders why some of Britain's oldest and most distinctive brands are trashing their reputation. They are selling out, changing the very thing that made them special in order to appeal to foreign millionaires. He joins the podcast along with a popular culture expert. Nick Ede.</div><div>(29:40)</div><div><br></div><div>Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore</div><div><br></div><div>Produced by Sam Holmes</div><div><br></div><div>Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:<a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher">www.spectator.co.uk/voucher</a></div><div><br></div><div>Listen to Lara's food podcast Table Talk: <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk">https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk</a></div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this week’s Book Club podcast, Sam is joined by the historian Christopher de Bellaigue to talk about <em>The Lion House</em>, his scintillating and idiosyncratic new book about the great Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. It’s all here: massacres, sieges, over-mighty viziers, Venetian perfidy, and… true love?</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>On this week’s episode of Marshall Matters, Winston speaks with Russian author, journalist and culture and music historian Artemy Troitsky. Troitsky has had a long history of being anti-establishment. In the 80s he was blacklisted by the Soviet Union. But it wasn’t until Putin's rule that he felt he finally had to leave his motherland. We discuss the current conflict, Putin and the mindset of Russians today.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>On this week's episode, we’ll hear from John Keiger on Emmanuel Macron’s brand of performative diplomacy. (00:53)<br><br>Next, Mary Wakefield on the few pros and many cons of the lady carriage. (10:30)<br><br>And finally, Sean Thomas on how learning to work from home opens the door to working in paradise. (16:17)<br><br>Produced and presented by Sam Holmes<a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher"><br><br>Subscribe</a> to <em>The Spectator </em>today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this week’s episode: What does Putin really want for Russia?</div><div><br></div><div>For this week’s cover story, Niall Ferguson writes about how Putin seems to be trying to recreate the Russia of the Past, while this week's diary by Timothy Garton Ash says the West has misunderstood his intentions, Niall and Timothy join the podcast along with Mary Dejevsky a columnist for the Independent. (00:48)</div><div><br></div><div>Also this week: Should there be women-only spaces on trains?</div><div><br></div><div>Jeremy Corbyn suggested it when he was Labour party leader and now Scotland seems to be flirting with the idea. Mary Wakefield says in this week’s Spectator that although she enjoys the idea of lady carriage, it doesn’t make much sense. She joins the podcast along with women's rights activist Kelly Given, one of Young Women’s Movement Scotland, 30 under 30. (15:15)</div><div><br></div><div>And finally: Should we all get naked?</div><div><br></div><div>Cosmo Landesman believes that once men reach a certain age, they quite enjoy taking their clothes off no matter where. He has written about his theory in this week’s magazine and he joins the podcast along with Andrew Welch from British Naturism. (23:31)</div><div><br></div><div>Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore</div><div><br></div><div>Produced by Sam Holmes</div><div><br></div><div>Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:<a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher">www.spectator.co.uk/voucher</a></div><div><br></div><div>Listen to Lara's food podcast Table Talk: <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk">https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk</a></div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this week's Book Club podcast, we're going back 100 years to 1922 – the year which is usually seen as heralding the birth of literary Modernism. Sam's guests are Richard Davenport-Hines, author of <em>A Night At The Majestic: Proust and the Great Modernist Dinner Party</em>, and the scholar and critic Merve Emre, who has worked extensively on Joyce and Woolf. Sam asked them how much Modernism really did represent a break with the past, and how much it looked like a coherent movement at the time. Along the way we learn what Proust and Joyce found to discuss when they met, why Virginia Woolf was so rude about <em>Ulysses</em>, and what the mainstream story of Modernism left out... </div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>China’s population is ageing. It’s estimated that a quarter of Chinese people will be elderly within three decades. The relaxing of its one child policy – first to two children in 2016 and then to three last year – hasn’t stimulated fertility rate, which is still stagnant at 1.7 births per woman. In November last year, nappy producers supposedly pivoted their marketing towards elderly clients over parents of babies.<br><br></div><div>Demographers and economists warn about the problems that an ageing – and eventually shrinking – population will cause, in China and elsewhere. On this episode, I speak to the demographer Wang Feng, Professor of Sociology at University of California, Irvine, about what awaits China. For Professor Wang, care of the elderly will soon become an issue, with more than 365 million over 65s expected by 2050. The Chinese welfare state is minimal (ironic given its socialist pretensions), something of a ‘postcode lottery’, I put to Professor Wang. He says that ‘China has already missed the time window for establishing an equitable national social security system’ – it has already become too expensive, too fast. <br><br></div><div>We also discuss the one child policy at length – its logic at the time, whether Communist leaders foresaw the problems it would cause for their successors and, fascinatingly, whether there was any opposition within the Chinese Communist Party to the policy (the answer is yes ­– and if you caught my episode on the legacy of Deng Xiaoping, you will not be surprised to learn that the resistance was led by Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang). Professor Wang points out that one of the reasons why the policy took so long to go even as China liberalised relatively in the 1990s and 2000s, under the helm of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao:<br><br></div><blockquote>‘They were people who grew up, like myself, at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Their knowledge of population was all learned from the time when China implemented the one child policy, when there was so much propaganda about how population would be the root of all problems for China. I think that generation of leaders were deeply intoxicated by these teachings’</blockquote><div>In a way, there’s poetic justice for a government who thought that, in Professor Wang’s words, ‘you can just plan [births] and constrain them as you would grow trees or wheat’. Today’s China, regardless of the loosening of the one child policy (to two in 2016; and three last year, which I wrote about at the time), is just not having babies. For the Professor, there’s a fundamental truth: ‘The ageing society is not something that China, or any other country, can reverse’. The crux lies in how to adapt society to be better prepared – fixing the welfare state, the healthcare system, and maturing the financial system so the ageing population can invest for retirement.<br><br></div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>This week on Marshall Matters Winston is joined by British actress Tracy-Ann Oberman, star of Afterlife, Toast of London, Ridley Road and Eastenders, to name but a few. Tracy-Ann discussed the problem of anti-Semitism with relation to Equity - the trade union for actors - as well as in the entertainment industry more broadly and beyond. </div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Freddy Gray talks to Dr Julie Norman, lecturer and co-director of the Centre on US politics at University College London, about the case for the defence of the Biden presidency so far. </div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>On this week's episode, we’ll hear from Katy Balls on Labour’s strategy – would Starmer actually prefer Boris Johnson to stay in place? (00:51)<br><br>Next, Julie Bindel on the rise of lesbian divorce (06:12)<br><br>And finally, Douglas Murray on the hellish new trend of having to bring your ‘whole self’ to work. (14:00)<br><br>Produced and presented by Sam Holmes<a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher"><br><br>Subscribe</a> to <em>The Spectator </em>today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this week’s episode: What is the next act in Putin’s theatre of war?</div><div><br></div><div>For this week’s cover story, James Forsyth writes about Putin’s dangerous dramatics on the Russian-Ukrainian border and where they might lead. James joins the podcast along with Paul Wood, who writes in this week’s magazine that Putin’s bluff may be backfiring. (00:49)</div><div><br></div><div>Also this week: How important is gallows humour?</div><div><br></div><div>The BBC’s new comedy-drama, This Is Going To Hurt, based on the best-selling book of the same title by trainee doctor turned comedian Adam Kay depicts some truly gut-wrenching scenes with a touch of gallows humour. This week in The Spectator, Andrew Watts writes a defence of making dark jokes in serious situations as not only a stress relief exercise, but a genuine necessity for getting through the day. He joins the podcast along with Ed Patrick, a comedian and NHS anaesthetist whose new book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1914240200">Catch Your Breath</a> about working in the NHS during the pandemic is out now. (16:05)</div><div><br></div><div>And finally: why have we stopped whistling?</div><div><br></div><div>Whistling can be seen as a bit annoying at best and rude at worst. But in this week’s Spectator, Steve Morris laments the loss of everyday whistling. He considers it a way of bringing music into one’s life for those who don’t own a piano. He joins the podcast along with whistling world champion <a href="https://davidmorris-whistler.com/contact/">David Morris</a>, who has released six albums of his whistling. (25:50)</div><div><br></div><div>Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore</div><div><br></div><div>Produced by Sam Holmes</div><div><br></div><div>Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:<a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher">www.spectator.co.uk/voucher</a></div><div><br></div><div>Listen to Lara's food podcast Table Talk: <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk">https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk</a></div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Sam's guest in this week's Book Club podcast is the historian Anna Keay. In her new book <em>The Restless Republic: Britain Without A Crown</em> she describes the short but traumatic period between the execution of Charles I and the restoration of the monarchy. She tells Sam about the religious turmoil, the explosion of the newspaper industry, the sympathetic side of Oliver Cromwell... and parallels with our own age of constitutional upheaval and viral propaganda.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Former Tory MP, Rory Stewart, has played many roles through out his life. An academic, a diplomat, and a soldier. Rory is currently a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.<br><br>On the podcast, he talks about eating sandwiches on a homemade raft as a boy in Malaysia, his university days spent talking to girls in Pizza Express and his revelation that he doesn't really like pudding. </div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>This week Winston is joined by American songwriting legend Don McLean. Don discusses his work, the atmosphere of America when he was starting in the 60s compared to now, and how he predicted the state of the world today in his all time classic “American Pie”.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Freddy sits down with Lauren Southern a former YouTube personality and now a documentary filmmaker. Lauren has been described as one of the leaders of the Alt-Right movement. Which is a label Lauren herself thinks doesn't actually mean anything. On the podcast, Lauren and Freddy get into what direction the online right will go next, what feminism looks like in modern conservative circles, and how hypocrites can sometimes be right.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>On this week's episode, we’ll hear from Kate Andrews on the NHS’s waiting list crisis. (00:52)</div><div><br></div><div>Next, Kevin Hurley on the impact of demonising the police force. (07:04)</div><div><br></div><div>And finally, Lawrence Bernstein on the secretive world of speech writing. (12:41)</div><div><br></div><div>Produced and presented by Sam Holmes<br><br>Subscribe to <em>The Spectator </em>today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:</div><div><a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher">www.spectator.co.uk/voucher</a> </div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Carolyn Harris is a Welsh Labour Party politician serving as the Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour since 2018, and has been the Member of Parliament for Swansea East since 2015. On the podcast she talks to Katy about her three successful campaigns, menopause, and the time she accidentally turned on the No.10 Christmas lights. </div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this week’s episode: What’s the mood like in Boris’s bunker?</div><div><br></div><div>For this week’s cover story, James Forsyth writes about the defensive bunker mentality inside No. 10 and the PM’s strategy of keeping MPs sweet to hold back a no confidence vote. James joins the podcast along with Spectator Editor Fraser Nelson to discuss. (00:50)</div><div><br></div><div>Also this week: Have we forgotten how to take a joke?</div><div><br></div><div>Jimmy Carr has caused an online outcry after an off-colour joke from his new show, His Dark Material was clipped and posted without context on social media. Ministers, such as Nadine Dorries and Sajid Javid, have now criticised a comedian for telling a joke. In the Spectator this week both in print and online, two of our writers came to Carr’s defence. The Spectator’s associate editor Douglas Murray joins the podcast, along with Sam Holmes, who is The Spectator’s Podcast Producer by day, and a stand up comedian by night. (11:38)</div><div><br></div><div>And finally: Has Covid permanently changed how people take Communion?<br><br></div><div>During the Covid pandemic, churches had to rethink the way they gave communion to their congregations. But will we ever go back to the old normal? Ysenda Maxtone Graham mourns the loss of the tradition of the communal cup in this week's Spectator. She joins the podcast along with Revd Dr Andrew Atherstone, a Tutor in Church History at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, who has written a study entitled, Drink This, All of You’: Individual Cups at Holy Communion.<em> </em>(21:42)</div><div><br></div><div>Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore</div><div><br></div><div>Produced by Sam Holmes</div><div><br></div><div>Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:<a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher">www.spectator.co.uk/voucher</a></div><div><br></div><div>Listen to Lara's food podcast Table Talk: <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk">https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk</a></div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>This year marks the centenary of the birth of Jack Kerouac. As Penguin publishes a lavish new edition of <em>On The Road </em>to mark the occasion, I'm joined by two Kerouac scholars. Holly George-Warren is working on the definitive biography of Kerouac (her previous work includes Lives of Gene Autry and Janis Joplin), and <a href="https://simonwarner.substack.com/">Simon Warner</a> co-edited <em>Kerouac on Record: A Literary Soundtrack</em> and runs <em>Rock and the Beat Generation</em>. They tell me how <em>On The Road </em>came to be written, how it stands up now, and what made 'the Beats' beat.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In 2008, President George Bush was the star guest at Beijing’s opening ceremony. Fourteen years later, under a cloud of diplomatic boycotts led by the US, the guest of honour spot was filled instead by President Putin. Under a confluence of factors over the last decade, China and Russia are closer now than they have been since the Cold War.</div><br><div>On this episode of Chinese Whispers, Cindy Yu talks to Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, about how this situation came about. If the beginning of the end of the Cold War can be traced back to the Sino-Soviet split – allowing a bipolar world to be split into three when China began rapprochement with Nixon’s America – then what does today’s alliance mean at this moment in geopolitics?</div><br><div>For Alex, there were three reasons why China and Russia have got closer. China’s hunger for oil and gas makes Russia a much-needed new trading partner (and vice versa). The two were able to fudge territorial disputes along the 3000 mile border they share (Alex points out that Russia has only been able to amass troops on the Ukrainian border because their military presence on the Sino-Russian border is the lightest it has been for a century). They share similar political cultures - strongman-ship supported by powerful and corrupt oligarchs and a nationalistic society - and similar national leaders (‘for the first time after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, we have two leaders that are age mates and soul mates’).</div><br><div>‘The secret sauce’ that binds the collaboration together, according to Alex, is the US’s increasing confrontation with both. What we see from Washington today is a reverse Kissinger - where the two authoritarian countries are being pushed closer together by an increasingly hawkish America. Take Nord Stream 2 - any weaning off of the German market from Russian gas will simply make the Chinese market even more important for Moscow. But it’s not clear that the West has many alternatives.</div><br><div>Getting closer to China is not necessarily a good thing for Russia, either. For one, the relationship is unbalanced. In a reversal of Cold War dynamics, the size of China’s high value economy today means that Chinese business matters more to Moscow than Russian to Beijing. ‘Ten, fifteen years down the road,’ Alex says, ‘China will have more leverage’. Could a more powerful China try to bully its weaker ally in commercial and security spheres? Possibly, but the die may already have been cast: ‘unfortunately, the sources of grievances and conflict between Russia and the US run so deep [that] the Russian leadership is so emotionally invested that there is no easy way out.’</div><br><div>On this episode Cindy and Alex also discuss the malleability of national memory (Russian aggression during the 19th century often flies under the radar of Chinese nationalists), in what ways China’s relations with the US are still better than with Russia and exactly how China could react to any transgression on the Ukrainian border. Tune in.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In Episode 2 of Marshall Matters, Winston speaks with David Baddiel on his powerful book 'Jews Don’t Count', the experience of writing the alternative National anthem 'Three Lions' and his recent stand up show 'Trolls - Not The Dolls'.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>On this week's episode, we’ll hear from James Heale on the Zac Goldsmiths’ secret shadow cabinet. (00:49)</div><div><br></div><div>Next, Leah McLaren on Covid in Canada. (07:20)</div><div><br></div><div>And finally, Nicholas Farrell on the march of the Italian Wolves. (13:58)</div><div><br></div><div>Produced and presented by Sam Holmes<br><br>Subscribe to <em>The Spectator </em>today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:</div><div><a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher">www.spectator.co.uk/voucher</a> </div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Freddy Gray talks to Guy Clapperton, the tech journalist and host of the Near-Futurist podcast about the recent collapse in Facebook’s share price, and the social media giant's prospects long-term.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this week’s episode: Is China stuck in a zero-Covid trap?<br><br>For this week’s cover story, Cindy Yu looks at Xi Jinping’s attempt to grapple with Covid. She joins the podcast, along with Ben Cowling, Chair Professor of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong. (01:42)<br><br>Also this week: Whose in The Zac Pack? And what is their influence in No.10?James Heale, <em>The Spectator’s</em> diary editor has written in this week’s magazine about The Zac Pack. A group made up of Carrie Johnson, Lord Goldsmith and some highly influential figures in the Westminster corridors. James is joined by Christian Calgie, a senior reporter at Guido Fawkes to discuss the power this group have in No.10. And their role in Pen Farthing’s animal evacuation out of Afghanistan. (16:40)<br><br>And finally: A glance back 70 years ago, the Queen as a Princess. This weekend marks the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne. Graham Viney, author of The Last Hurrah: South Africa and the Royal Tour of 1947, writes this week's magazine about how she was prepared for that moment. He joins the podcast, along with the royal commentator and biographer, Angela Levin, author of ‘Harry: A biography of a Prince’. (28:41)<br><br>Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William MooreProduced by Natasha Feroze<br><br>Subscribe to The Spectator today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher: <a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher">www.spectator.co.uk/voucher</a><br><br>Listen to Lara's food podcast Table Talk: <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk">https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk</a></div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Sam's guest in this week's Book Club podcast is Philip Oltermann, whose new book <em>The Stasi Poetry Circle: The Creative Writing Class that Tried to Win the Cold War</em>, unearths one of the most unexpected corners of East German history. At the height of the Cold War, members of the GDR's notorious secret police got together regularly to workshop their poems. Was this a surveillance exercise, a training module for propagandists – or something stranger than either? And were their poems any good? Philip tells me about why poetry was such a big deal in the Eastern Bloc, how – had Petrarch but known – the sonnet was the perfect model for dialectical materialism, and where those poets are now...</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Russell Norman is an award-winning restauranteur, writer and broadcaster, and the founder of the Polpo restaurant group. Last year he launched Trattoria Brutto. On the podcast, he tells Lara and Olivia about enjoying Spam fritters, blagging his way onto the Orient Express, and how he changed careers from teaching to cooking.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this inaugural episode of Marshall Matters, Winston interviews Ignat Solzhenitsyn on the pursuit of art, the state of classical music, the lasting influence of his father Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and the thunderous (or gentle) essay ‘Live Not By Lies’...</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>My dear sister Carmel died aged 57 on November 23, after a three-year cancer ordeal during which she displayed the most astonishing courage. I interviewed her twice on this podcast about her faith, her illness and her unquenchable optimism. I knew at the time that one day I'd have to record an episode paying tribute to her after she died, and here it is.</div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>On this week's episode, we’ll hear from Martin Vander Weyer on the crash of crypto. (00:47)</div><div><br></div><div>Next, Laurie Graham on the difficulties of downsizing. (04:20)</div><div><br></div><div>And finally, Michael Mosbacher on the history of the fur industry. (12:20)</div><div><br></div><div>Produced and presented by Sam Holmes<br><br>Subscribe to <em>The Spectator </em>today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:</div><div><a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher">www.spectator.co.uk/voucher</a> </div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>Emma Gormley is managing director of daytime at ITV studios, where she controls flagship shows on the channel such as Good Morning Britain, Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women. On the episode, she talks to Katy about what got her into broadcast journalism, the pressures of looking after some of the most popular shows on TV ('Having those four shows, which are juggernauts and are always in the press scrutiny, have A-lister talent... The role is everything'), and what it was like to work with Piers Morgan ('My ambition isn't to make vanilla television'). </div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>On Spectator TV this week Freddy Gray interviews the Fox News host Tucker Carlson on what role the US should play in the Russia/Ukraine conflict. Here is the full unedited conversation. <br><br><em>'Western European nations — which I think we at this point can trust to have weapons — should defend themselves. I mean, that's the idea of the nation state!' </em>- Tucker Carlson<br><br>Watch the full Spectator TV episode here: <a href="https://youtu.be/YbaLQKhqwFc">https://youtu.be/YbaLQKhqwFc</a> </div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

<div>In this week’s episode: Will Putin invade Ukraine? </div><div><br></div><div>For this week’s cover story, Owen Matthews argues that if Putin is going to invade Ukraine, he will do so later rather than sooner. He joins the podcast, along with Julius Strauss who reports on the mood in Odessa for this week’s magazine. (00:42)</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Also this week: Is Brexit working?</div><div><br></div><div>This week marks the second anniversary of Brexit. But how successful has it been? Joining the podcast to answer that question is Lord Frost who was Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe from January 2020 until his resignation in December last year - and the journalist Ed West, who runs the Substack, Wrong Side of History (13:12)</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>And finally: What is the allure of a classified ad? </div><div><br></div><div>In the age of Google, classified adverts have become something of a rarity. In this week’s magazine, Anthony Whitehead explores the history, influence, and appeal of back-page ads. He joins the podcast along with Lawrence Bernstein who has been running a classified ad in the back pages of The Spectator for years. (26:18)</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore</div><div><br></div><div>Produced by Sam Holmes</div><div><br></div><div>Subscribe to The Spectator<em> </em>today and get a £20 Amazon gift voucher:</div><div><a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/voucher">www.spectator.co.uk/voucher</a> </div><div><br></div><div>Listen to Lara's food podcast Table Talk:</div><div><a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk">https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/table-talk </a></div> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>