From our UK edition
19 min listen
In the new edition of Spectator World, author and anthropologist Max Horder argues the US is experiencing a change in its psyche, and left-wing violence is being normalised. He joins Freddy Gray on the Americano podcast to discuss the various examples attached to this, and what the dereliction of democratic disagreement means for us all.
It’s all war all the time inside Steve Bannon’s War Room in Capitol Hill. "We're in the Third World War," he tells me. "And it's a battlefield that's everywhere, including in downtown Los Angeles." The weekend’s riots in LA, he insists, are part of an orchestrated push by nefarious forces in America to stoke civil unrest in America. The Democrats, he says, "allowed in 10 to 13 million illegal alien invaders into this country. They all must go home. All. Not some. All must go home. They must be deported. They must go home or we don't have a country, OK?" We’re in for another of summer of riots, says Bannon. "They just kicked it off," he says.
From our UK edition
23 min listen
Billionaire Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump have had a very public falling out. Musk, whose time running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) came to an end last month, publicly criticised Trump’s spending bill (the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’). The row then erupted onto social media with Trump expressing his disappointment with Musk, Musk accusing Trump of ‘ingratitude’ – and even making insinuations about Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Tesla’s stock has taken a hit, Trump and Musk are yet to speak and there could be implications for the government contracts that Musk’s companies have, but the full consequences are yet to be understood. What do this tell us about Trump 2.0, and American politics more generally?
Spectacular. Stunning. Game-changing. These are just three of the adjectives news reporters have used to describe Ukraine’s attack deep within Russia last weekend. There’s no doubt that the “Spiderweb” operation was technologically ingenious, well-concealed and brilliantly executed. Ukraine claimed its 117 drones destroyed or damaged some 41 strategic Russian bombers and caused $7 billion worth of damage to the Russian armed forces. But can an attack really be game-changing if the game doesn’t change? US officials have suggested the strikes hit only 20 Russian aircraft and, while Spiderweb must have shocked Russia’s leadership, the Kremlin is still more than willing and able to continue bombing Ukraine with relative impunity.
From our UK edition
36 min listen
From the decline of meritocracy to the rise of anti-Western ideology, author Heather Mac Donald joins Freddy Gray to discuss race, merit, and victim hierarchy. Why is the West so desperate to self-cancel? And is now a moment of reckoning considering we're five years on from the BLM protests?
From our UK edition
Elon Musk understands astrophysics, yet he seems unable to grasp the strange laws of gravity which govern Washington politics. Last night, the world’s richest man confirmed what everybody in Washington already knew: his time as a ‘special employee’ in the White House is over and he’s leaving his formal role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). ‘I would like to thank @realDonaldTrump for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending,’ he said. ‘The DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government.’ Musk’s public resignation may have been a necessary response to one of his many ongoing legal challenges. This week, a district judge in Washington, D.C.
From our UK edition
27 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to writer and author Karen Hao, whose new book Empire of AI looks at a new, ominous age of empire with OpenAI. On the podcast they discuss the impacts of artificial intelligence on society and democracy and how Open AI founder Sam Altman has become a controversial figure.
From our UK edition
33 min listen
Donald Trump exposed South Africa’s leader Cyril Ramaphosa in the White House yesterday over what he refered to as white racism against the farmers in South Africa. Freddy Gray speaks to Errol Musk — father of Elon Musk — from Cape Town about Trump’s confrontation. Errol shares personal experiences of being attacked on a farm, defends Trump’s intervention, and reflects on the country's decline under ANC rule. The conversation also touches on Elon Musk’s influence, family history, and a surprising political reversal within the Musk household.
Diplomatic heads are still spinning following Donald Trump’s extraordinary Oval Office press conference with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday. The media has taken to using the word “ambush” to describe the way Trump sprung his evidence on Ramaphosa to make the point that white South Africans are being violently persecuted. The scene turned into gemors, as they say in Afrikaans, or chaos, and reminded many observers of the wild meeting between Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky in the same room back in February. Ramaphosa had wanted to perform the usual niceties, flanked by a delegation including three white South African golfers, Elon Musk, some of his officials, his minister for agriculture John Henry Steenhuisen and the luxury goods billionaire Johann Rupert.
From our UK edition
The suspect, identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, was seen pacing around Washington DC’s Jewish Museum in the minutes before last night’s attack. According to Pamela Smith, DC’s chief of police, he then shouted ‘Free Palestine’ before shooting and killing two Israeli embassy staffers – a couple, named as Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who reportedly were soon to be engaged. He then walked into the museum, where he was briefly mistaken for an innocent bystander before being apprehended by the police. The murdered couple had been attending an event inside the building, described online as a ‘Young Diplomats Reception’ for Jewish professionals between the ages of 22 and 45.
From our UK edition
30 min listen
Polish émigré Zbigniew Brzezinski – known as ‘Zbig’ – rose to prominence in America during the Cold War as a key intellectual architect of US foreign policy. He was National Security Advisor to President Carter and was a trusted advisor to many US presidents from John F Kennedy onwards. Yet, despite helping to shape American foreign policy during critical moments, he is not as well-known or celebrated as his lifelong rival Henry Kissinger. The Financial Times’ chief US columnist Edward Luce joins Freddy Gray on this episode of Americano to talk about his new book Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America's Cold War Prophet.
From the election in November to the presidential inauguration in January, media commentators took turns to pronounce the Trump “Resistance” dead. I know I did. The line was too tempting. As Trump stormed back into the White House, his power looked irresistible. His enemies seemed so broken and defeated. We all spoke too soon. “NeverTrumpism” is a reaction to Trumpism, as natural as magnetic repulsion and the urge to defy and destroy his presidency hasn’t vanished. In fact, look closely and you can see a “Resistance 2.0” gathering momentum in response to the second Trump administration.
From our UK edition
29 min listen
President Trump is an America Firster, but he has an undeniable affinity for the Arab world. He would have made a good sheik: he doesn’t drink, he loves developing flashy properties to show off his power and wealth, and he’s brutally realistic about the role of oil (and other commodities) in world politics. On his tour of the Middle East, he signed an enormous arms deal with Saudi Arabia and announced all US sanctions on Syria would be lifted. Historian and former diplomat Charlie Gammell joins Freddy Gray to discuss what Trump really wants in the Middle East.
From our UK edition
23 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to Chris Whipple, whose latest book Lesson Learned from Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History gives an insiders' analysis having spoken to the people closest to both campaigns.
From our UK edition
It feels a bit facile and tasteless to say that the first American Pope, Leo XIV, has been elected to counter the influence of Trumpism. Popes often change in the role and, since Catholicism is a religion and not an electoral party, the servants of the servants of God tend to defy political caricature. Consider the limited evidence, however. Following an unusual social media spat between, of all people, the podcaster Rory Stewart and Vice President J.D. Vance about the Christian obligation to love (ordo amoris), in relation to the subject of immigration, the then Cardinal Robert Prevost posted an article entitled ‘J.D. Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others’.
From our UK edition
26 min listen
Trump has announced a beautiful new deal with the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and President shared a phone call to congratulate one another. It is the first trade deal agreed after Mr Trump began his second presidential term in January, and after he imposed strict tariffs on countries around the world in April. Freddy Gray speaks to Sarah Eliot and Kate Andrews about the negotiations and whether it is a coup for Trump or Starmer.
From our UK edition
It’s musical deals in world politics at the moment. Last week, Donald Trump and his senior officials intimated that a big new trade accord with India was imminent. Yet on Tuesday, Keir Starmer announced that he had reached a major agreement with Delhi. Then, late last night, the New York Times reported that Trump will today announce a beautiful new deal with the United Kingdom. The British embassy in Washington has yet to comment. But earlier, Donald Trump had written on social media: The President loves announcing deals more than anything: the symbolism is what counts ‘Big News Conference tomorrow morning at 10:00 A.M., The Oval Office, concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY. THE FIRST OF MANY!!!
From our UK edition
25 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to Spectator World's Editor-at-Large Ben Domenech about this month's issue, the Reviving of the American Mind, and Ben's interview with Christopher Rufo.
From our UK edition
49 min listen
Victor Davis Hanson joins Spectator TV to talk about the first 101 days of Donald Trump’s second presidency, describing it as a bold counterrevolution against decades of cultural, political, and economic drift. He discusses Trump’s sweeping agenda—from closing the border and challenging DEI initiatives to confronting foreign policy orthodoxy and trade imbalances—framing it as a populist backlash against elite institutions and progressive ideologies.
How was your Liberation Month? It’s been almost 30 days since Donald Trump stood in the Rose Garden of the White House and announced a shocking set of massive tariffs on the world. The event caused huge convulsions in the economic universe: trillions were wiped off the stock market and, under huge pressure, Trump did agree to a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs. After that he exempted electrical goods, though his standard 10 percent remains, and the heads of most financial analysts are still spinning trying to figure out what it all means. Yet for all the angst and the apoplexy, yesterday the S&P 500 index closed just 1 percent down from where it was at the beginning of the month.