Statue of Liberty

Friday

Peter Frankopan

Peter Frankopan, Tim Shipman, Francis Pike, Hermione Eyre and George Young

From our UK edition

42 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Peter Frankopan argues that Israel’s attack on Iran has been planned for years (2:00); just how bad are things for Kemi Badenoch, asks Tim Shipman (13:34); Francis Pike says there are plenty of reasons to believe in ghosts (21:49); Hermione Eyre, wife of Alex Burghart MP, reviews Sarah Vine’s book How Not To Be a Political Wife: A Memoir, which deals with Vine’s marriage to ex-husband Michael Gove (28:46); and, George Young reports on the French sculptors building the new Statue of Liberty (34:45). Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Thursday

George Young

The French sculptors building the new Statue of Liberty

From our UK edition

At a miserable-looking rally for the centre-left Place Publique in mid-March, its co-president, MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, made international headlines calling for the Trump administration to return the Statue of Liberty, gifted by the French in 1886 to commemorate the Declaration of Independence: ‘It was our gift to you. But apparently you despise her. So she will be happy here with us.’ The predictably sensationalist headlines dissipated in a flurry of Republican outrage against ‘the low-level French politician’ as quickly as they had arrived. But Glucksmann’s demand – sincere or not – caught the attention of a group of sculptors who, in their words, have ‘taken up the dream of civilisation’ to produce monumental civic sculpture.

Monday

Cockburn

French politician calls for return of Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty was given as a gift by France, the United States’s oldest ally, to celebrate our centennial anniversary as an independent state. Now, as the US moves toward its quarter-millennial anniversary, Member of the European Parliament Raphaël Glucksmann is asking for it back. Glucksmann said to supporters he would tell Americans that, “We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home.”  The statue was originally called La liberté éclairant le monde (Liberty Enlightening the World).

statue of liberty

Thursday

Cockburn

Biden bids an ominous farewell to a falling America

President Joe Biden delivered his farewell address last night in the Oval Office. While he started with strong patriotic themes, he ended by warning the country of some “things that give me great concern.” Biden declared that America is an oligarchy now. Cockburn thought it was turning into a dictatorship? He can’t keep track. Overall, though, he thought Biden’s speech presented an idealistic view of America. It featured inspiring snatches, with stories about the Statue of Liberty and references to the words of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, saying America is “a nation holding the torch of the most powerful idea ever in the history of the world. That all of us are created equal.

biden farewell

Monday

David Cohen

It’s all relative with the Statue of Liberty

She stands in the smoky morning air, her copper lamp held elegantly aloft across the waters from Manhattan. Oh, say can you see America’s most instantly recognizable monument — and, perhaps more to the immediate point, for how much longer?The Statue of Liberty has been in front of the world now for nearly 134 years, the rousingly famous sonnet engraved on the bronze plaque on her pedestal for almost the same length of time. Long may both continue. We have in recent weeks lost God knows how many statues, and I really wouldn’t want to see this one go the way of the recently toppled.

statue of liberty new york