40 min listen
Freddy is joined by evolutionary biologist and host of The DarkHorse Podcast Bret Weinstein. They discuss the Darien Gap, an area of Panama which has become a focal point for America's migrant crisis. Bret has spent some time investigating the area, what's going on?
The Trump 2024 campaign’s fundraising email operations went into overdrive last weekend. ‘Dems threaten to seize Trump Tower,’ screamed one call to donate on Saturday. ‘Maniacs want to seize Trump Tower,’ read another. ‘If they seize Trump Tower…’ said a third. ‘Keep your filthy hands off Trump Tower,’ added yet another. The tone flitted from alarm to defiance. By Sunday, the message was: ‘Trump Tower will never be captured’ and ‘You’ll never get Trump Tower.’ And on Monday, after Trump was ordered to pay a mere $175 million (£138 million) bond in his civil fraud suit instead of the initial half billion, the campaign turned triumphant. ‘Trump Tower remains mine’ read an email from ‘Donald Trump – Emergency’.
37 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to editor-at-large of the Wall Street Journal Gerry Baker about why the media's wrong reporting of Trump's 'bloodshed' comments have played to his advantage; why America has lost trust in its institutions; and whether voters think the economy was better off under Trump.
28 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to political science researcher Richard Hanania about his (relative) optimism regarding the future of America, and how Sydney Sweeney might have 'ended wokeness'.
30 min listen
In her Mais lecture in the City of London this week, Rachel Reeves set out her plan for Britain’s economy: securonomics. What does securonomics mean? Can it deliver wealth? Will it work in a high-immigration economy? Freddy Gray speaks to Kate Andrews and the author and journalist Paul Mason.
29 min listen
Freddy speaks to Rob Henderson, author of Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class, in which he coins the term 'luxury beliefs'. These are certain beliefs held by a section of the elite which confirm and elevate the status of those who hold them. As a consequence, they can cause harm to those lower down the social strata. Is Donald Trump the antidote to America’s ‘luxury beliefs’ complex?
Freddy Gray talks to political science lecturer Damon Linker about the latest developments in the Biden and Trump campaigns. Why did Biden’s fiery State of the Union Address provide him no uptick in the polls? In what ways does Trump fatigue affect each candidate’s chances? And does Trump’s greater popularity with non-white low propensity voters skew the polls in his favour?
20 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to Matt McDonald, Spectator World's managing editor about the campaign to ban TikTok; who from the Republican party supports the bill and what influence the Israel lobby has.
27 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to author Robert Bryce whose recent docuseries Power Politics & The Grid explores the growing vulnerabilities of America's electric grid. On the podcast they talk about Trump vs Biden energy policy; why Europe needs America's energy and what environmentalism could look like in 2024.
42 min listen
Freddy Gray is joined by John Rick MacArthur, president and publisher of Harper's Magazine to discuss Robert F. Kennedy junior and his candidacy in the presidential election.
47 min listen
On the podcast: what would Trump’s second term look like? Vengeance is a lifelong theme of Donald Trump’s, writes Freddy Gray in this week’s cover story – and this year’s presidential election could provide his most delectable payback of all. Meanwhile, Kate Andrews writes that Nikki Haley’s campaign is over – and with it went the hopes of the Never Trump movement. Where did it all go wrong? They both join the podcast to discuss what to expect from Trump’s second coming. (03:11) Then: Will and Gus take us through some of their favourite pieces from the magazine, including Michael Hann’s Pop review and Cosmo Landesman’s City Life column. (16:38) Next: Flora Watkins writes in The Spectator about on private schools.
In his under-recognised 2007 book Think Big and Kick Ass: In Business and Life, Donald Trump dedicated a chapter to ‘Revenge’. He wrote: ‘My motto is: always get even. When somebody screws you, screw them back in spades.’ Vengeance is a lifelong theme in the Donald J. Trump story, narrated as it is by Donald J. Trump. In 1992, he told the interviewer Charlie Rose: ‘I love getting even with people.’ He’s fond of quoting Alfred Hitchcock: ‘Revenge is sweet and not fattening.’ In January this year, after his primary victory in New Hampshire, he reiterated: ‘I don’t get too angry – I get even.’ Trump knows that the presidential election of 2024 could be the most delectable payback of all.
For this Super Tuesday discussion, Sarah Elliot – head of the Special Relationship Unit at the Legatum Institute joins Freddy Gray to chat about the predicted Trump-Biden victory; what Nikki Haley will do next and who could be Donald Trump's vice president.
25 min listen
Freddy talks to political technologist Eric Wilson about the role technology and media will play in the 2024 US election. They cover the differences in strategy between the Democrats and the Republicans, why television is still the best medium for reaching voters, and the role of social media influencers. Produced by Natasha Feroze.
Commentators find it tedious to keep pointing out that Donald Trump has won yet another primary by yet another huge margin. He just defeated Nikki Haley by more than 40 points in Michigan, for instance, and many journalists seem to be focusing on his struggle to win over key ‘voter blocs’. She will inevitably cave to reality after Super Tuesday next week A lot of this talk is pure wind. Yes, Haley performed well in suburbs around Detroit and Michigan among voter groups that Trump will have to do better with in order to win in a general election against Joe Biden. But Michigan, like South Carolina and New Hampshire, is an open primary, in which all registered voters can vote for the Republican candidate, and a higher level of Trump resistance is therefore inevitable.
28 min listen
In this special episode of Americano, The Spectator's editor Fraser Nelson explores Trump's candidacy with political commentator Deroy Murdock, and The Spectator's economics editor Kate Andrews. They debate the influence of his rhetoric on American politics. How important is language? Will his achievements as President be enough to secure his re-election? Does personality Trump policy?
31 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to James Kanagasooriam who is the chief research officer at Focal Data about the state of the polls. They discuss why vaccines have become a polarising topic for this election; why bookmakers might be underestimating Joe Biden and the importance of the cost of living.
'I'm a woman of my word,’ said Nikki Haley after another humiliating defeat last night. ‘I'm not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.’ But what, really, is the point? South Carolina is Haley’s home state and she lost by more than 20 percentage points. She lost New Hampshire by 11 points, she came third in Iowa, and, much to Trump’s delight, she lost to ‘none of these candidates’ in Nevada. Without Trump, Republican voters distrust and detest their party. They haven’t for some time The Republican nomination snoozefest – it’s not a race – will now move to Super Tuesday, on 4 March, and Haley will almost certainly lose in all 15 states she’s contesting there.
Will Nikki Haley defy expectations and only lose by 20 points today? That seems to be closest thing to a point of contention as South Carolina heads to the polls for today’s dodo of a Republican primary. The polls have shown Trump’s enormous lead shrinking in recent days from well over 30 points to around 25. Some well-informed reporters think that Trump’s lead has diminished because of his rude outburst about Haley’s spouse. ‘Where’s her husband?’ Trump mused in February, in his off-the-top-of-his-head way. ‘Oh, he’s away. What happened to her husband? What happened to her husband? Where is he? He’s gone.' Making jokes about people’s marriages is one thing; insulting a serving member of the military is another.
20 min listen
Freddy speaks to journalist and author of The Age of Entitlement: America Since the Sixties, Chris Caldwell, about the human rights movement. Can America’s influence be considered imperial? Is how we think of human rights outdated? And, what does the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2011 intervention in Libya tell us about the state of human rights today?
