Elizabeth Day

My first act as prime minister

From our UK edition

If I were prime minister for a day (which is looking like an increasingly realistic prospect for all of us), one of my first acts would be to ban events being held on Monday nights. The first day of the week is always a jarring change of pace from the lazy joys of the weekend. I prefer my Monday evening to be a restful transition point into the rest of the week, like gradually dunking a Digestive into a mug of tea in order to get the right ratio of crunch to sogginess. You don’t want to hurl the whole biscuit in there at once. Alas, the British Book Awards held its ceremony on a Monday and, for the first time ever, decided to nominate me for a prize.

Christmas II: Dominic Sandbrook, Philip Hensher, Steve Morris, Christopher Howse, Michael Hann & Mary Killen

From our UK edition

41 min listen

On this week’s special Christmas edition of Spectator Out Loud – part two: Dominic Sandbrook reflects on whether Lady Emma Hamilton is the 18th century’s answer to Bonnie Blue; Philip Hensher celebrates the joy of a miserable literary Christmas; Steve Morris argues that an angel is for life, not just for Christmas; Christopher Howse ponders the Spectator’s enduring place in fiction; Michael Hann explains what links Jeffrey Dahmer to the Spice Girls; and, the Spectator’s agony aunt Mary Killen – Dear Mary herself – answers Christmas queries from Emily Maitlis, Elizabeth Day, Rory Stewart and an anonymous Chief Whip of Reform UK.  Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

Men are allowed to fail, too

From our UK edition

The weather in Bath has been preposterously good, with the Royal Crescent glowing in a soft, lemony light. I’m here for my How to Fail live podcast tour. I launched the podcast back in 2018, which, by podcasting standards, makes me practically geriatric. At the time, I felt like a failure (divorce, infertility, that kind of thing) and I wanted to know how others coped. So I started asking them. I could never have imagined that How to Fail would, ironically, become the most successful thing I have done. Nor could I have anticipated the growth in podcasting as an industry. An intimate audio medium has turned into a cultural behemoth, spawning books, tours and branded merchandise. Podcasters are now being encouraged to film everything.