Swearing

Thursday

William Moore

Putin’s trap, the decline of shame & holiday rental hell

50 min listen

First: Putin has set a trap for Europe and Ukraine ‘Though you wouldn’t know from the smiles in the White House this week… a trap has been set by Vladimir Putin to split the United States from its European allies,’ warns Owen Matthews. The Russian President wants to make a deal with Donald Trump, but he ‘wants to make it on his own terms’. ‘Putin would like nothing more than for Europe to encourage Ukraine to fight on… and lose even more of their land’. But, as Owen writes, those who count themselves among the country’s friends must ask ‘whether it’s time to choose an unjust peace over a just but never-ending war’. Have European leaders walked into Putin’s trap? Owen joins the podcast alongside Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times.

Toby Young

Save our swearing!

Last week I took a day trip to Margate. Not to enjoy a swim in the sea, but in the hope of having a debate with a member of Thanet district council about its proposed ban on swearing. A few days before, when the ban was being discussed, a Labour councillor had challenged me to come to Margate, where he promised to give me a piece of his mind. ‘If you’d like to come down here and meet me I’d be more than happy to tell you exactly what I think of you and there might be the odd expletive in it,’ he said. Not sure that’s the best way to defend a swearing ban, Councillor. I posted a video on the Free Speech Union’s social media channels saying I’d be on Margate beach at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday and looked forward to meeting him. Needless to say, he didn’t turn up.

Saturday

Michael Gove

Michael Gove, Max Jeffery, Christopher Howse, Robert Jackman and Mark Mason

31 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: new Editor Michael Gove discusses his plans for The Spectator (1:08); Max Jeffery heads to Crawley to meet some of the Chagossians based there (5:44); Christopher Howse reads his ode to lamp lighting (12:35); Robert Jackman declares the Las Vegas Sphere to be the future of live arts (19:10); and Mark Mason provides his notes on the joy of swearing (26:50).  Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Sunday

Alexandra Williams

Why does the ‘c’-word upset Americans so much?

From our US edition

Recently I dined with an old American friend at my home in Sydney. He brought up the sacking of the Fox News host Tucker Carlson, reportedly for, among other things, using a terrible curse word, which my friend referred to coyly as "C U Next Tuesday." I was baffled for a minute.  “Do you mean ‘c—’?” I asked. “Oh, don’t say that!” “C—, c—, c—!” I cried. He cringed as if being assaulted physically.  Fresh from the news about Carlson, the New York Post reported that ESPN fired journalist Marly Rivera for using the word against a female colleague trying to muscle in on her interview with Yankee player Aaron Judge.  Why does it upset Americans so much?

‘c’-word

Thursday

Maggie Fergusson

Poor parenting is at the root of our failing schools

When it comes to education, I’m in two minds, maybe three. I was sent to private schools, including, for my ‘Oxbridge’ term, Eton, where the teaching was life-changing. But when it came to my children, no amount of cheeseparing was going to make private fees possible. From the age of three to 18, they went to our local state schools. They flourished academically, made lots of friends and enjoyed two advantages I never had: they walked to school, and mixed comfortably with children from every background. Why pay fees? I wondered. State schools were best. Alison Colwell makes me think again. In 2014, she was appointed head teacher at Ebbsfleet Academy in Kent, then one of the most challenging schools in the country.

Sunday

Rob Crilly

Swearing in politics is as American as apple-f***ing-pie

From our US edition

The freshman class of Democrats arriving to be sworn in on Capitol Hill had always threatened to shake things up from the very start, overturning precedent and doing things their own way. But none managed to make good on their promise quite as quickly as Rashida Tlaib, the newly elected US Representative for Michigan’s 13th Congressional district. She managed to alienate her party leadership at the same time as angering her opponents, ignoring any Democratic talking points about staying away from the ‘I’ word in the sort of language that once came with ‘parental guidance’ stickers. ‘We’re gonna go in there and we’re gonna impeach the motherfucker!

rashida tlaib swearing