Weimar Britain, the war on science & are you a competitive reader?

<p><strong>First: a warning from history</strong></p><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><p>Politics moving increasingly from the corridors of power into the streets, economic insecurity exacerbating tensions and the centre of politics failing to hold; these are just some of the echoes from Weimar Germany that the Spectator’s editor Michael Gove sees when looking at present-day Britain. But, he says, ‘there are grounds for hope’ – what are they? Michael joined the podcast to discuss.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p><p><strong>Next: why did science succumb to the ‘culture wars’?</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Biologist and peer Matt Ridley bemoans the ‘cultification of science’, arguing that ‘left-wing ideological nonsense’ ended up permeating through all scientific disciplines. Thinking ‘neutral facts’ were safe, Matt admits he – and colleagues – may have been naïve as one by one different battlefields emerged. Matt joined the podcast to discuss. Has science thrown off the shackles of the ‘culture wars’?</p><br><p><strong>And finally: how many books have you read?</strong></p><br><p>Emily Hill delves into the world of competitive reading this week – the rise of people publicising the books they’ve read, particularly through social media. Emily calls this ‘conspicuous’ and notes it appears to be a trend amongst mainly <em>female </em>influencers.<strong> </strong>But is this solely performative or – in a world of diminishing attention spans – could the trend be promoting the act of reading? Emily joined the podcast alongside BookTok blogger Lucas Oakeley.</p><br><p><strong>Plus: Mark Mason provides his notes on guided walks. Mark will also be hosting a guided walk for the Spectator, for tickets go to </strong><a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/events" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>www.spectator.co.uk/events</strong></a></p><br><p>Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.</p><br><p>Produced by Patrick Gibbons.</p><p>Become a <em>Spectator </em>subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/follow-your-podcasts/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">spectator.co.uk/adfree</a> to find out more.</p><br><p>For more <em>Spectator</em> podcasts, go to <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/podcasts/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">spectator.co.uk/podcasts</a>. </p><br><p>Contact us: [email protected]</p> <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>