How COVID-19 killed Hollywood
From our US edition
The pandemic has sped up the decline of glitzy award ceremonies
Freddy Gray
Tuesday
Monday
Out now: The Spectator’s May 2021 edition
From our US edition
Featuring Daniel McCarthy, Ian Williams, Lionel Shriver, Matt Purple and many more
Friday
Is Biden really going to squeeze the rich?
17 min listen
The Biden administration has announced that it will hike the highest rate of income tax and almost double capital gains tax to pay for its enormous spending plans. But will they stop there, or are more taxes on the less well off coming down the line? Freddy Gray speaks to Kate Andrews.
Will Joe Biden really squeeze the rich?
From our US edition
‘Rebalancing the American economy’ is not as easy as it sounds
Thursday
Biden’s Rodeo: How were his first 100 days?
30 min listen
Joe Biden is approaching his first 100 days in office. How has he fared, and has he delivered on his promise to bring about a return to normalcy? (1:15) Plus, the proposed European Super League wasn’t super after all. The six English teams invited to join the league pulled out earlier this week, and the
Biden’s rodeo: the President’s first 100 days have been a wild ride
Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States, has never been able to keep his mouth shut. Throughout his absurdly long career in politics, he has always said too much, made stuff up, gone too far. His friends and fans just shrug it off. ‘That’s our Joe.’ The trouble is, Biden is now America’s
Friday
What’s happening in Minneapolis?
26 min listen
Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck, is currently on trial in Minneapolis. What does the evidence say, will the city stay peaceful when the verdict is delivered, do violent viral videos do more harm than good, and should the country’s political leaders call for order? Freddy Gray speaks to Scott
Tuesday
Crime and no punishment in Minneapolis
From our US edition
The Biden era is much like the Trump era — you just hear more cant from the leadership
Thursday
Why should we hate ‘vaxports’?
28 min listen
Vaccine passports seem all but inevitable in the UK and parts of the US. While some are relatively relaxed about the prospects of a de facto bio-security ID card, others are not. Spectator US contributor Bridget Phetasy is one of them, and on this episode tells Freddy Gray why she hates the ‘vaxport’.
Friday
Please Twitter, stop playing ‘Guess the Killer’s Race’
From our US edition
It shows no empathy, scant concern at best for the victims
Thursday
Did Matt Gaetz do nothing wrong?
37 min listen
On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that congressman Matt Gaetz is being investigated over whether he had sex with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel with him. Freddy Gray speaks to Roger Stone, former adviser to Donald Trump and a friend of Gaetz, about the story.
Monday
The alarming rise of Big Dope
18 min listen
Young people are now more likely to consume marijuana than smoke tobacco. Is weed just a benign stimulant, or is Big Dope pushing a drug that could lead to a schizophrenia epidemic? Freddy Gray speaks to Madeleine Kearns, staff writer at National Review and the author of the cover piece in the new US edition
Wednesday
What’s driving the NFT digital art boom?
20 min listen
A piece of digital art by the illustrator Beeple has sold for $69 million. Is it worth the cash, or just a picture on a screen? Freddy Gray talks to Nima Sagharchi, director of Middle Eastern, Islamic and South Asian art at Bonhams auctioneers.
Monday
What’s behind the violence against Asian-Americans?
22 min listen
In the wake of the Atlanta shootings, Freddy Gray talks to Andy Ngo, journalist and author of Unmasked: Inside Antifa’s Radical Plan to Destroy Democracy about Ngo’s experiences of racism as an Asian-American and what’s behind the rise in violence against the group.
Thursday
Is Biden tougher on China than Trump?
31 min listen
With historian Michael Auslin, the Payson J. Treat Distinguished Research Fellow in Contemporary Asia at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.
Tuesday
No, Meghan Markle isn’t going to be president
From our US edition
The more people see her, the less they like
Hot off the press — what’s in the April issue
From our US edition
Our April edition concerns the alarming power of the cannabis industry
Friday
What do Americans really think about the royal family?
19 min listen
Freddy Gray talks to historian Patrick Allitt, the Cahoon Family Professor of American History at Emory University, about how much the Harry and Meghan interview has really cut through to the American public.
Thursday
Battle royal: Harry and Meghan’s brand of revenge
36 min listen
Is it fair to blame Meghan for the Royal Family’s problems? (00:55) Why is China censoring a book of Dante’s poetry? (12:40) Would you go to moon? (24:50) With The Spectator‘s US editor Freddy Gray; The Spectator’s restaurant critic Tanya Gold; author Ian Thomson; Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese Studies at King’s College London; The
Battle royal: Harry and Meghan’s modern brand of revenge
Remember the Heads Together campaign? It was back in 2017. Prince William, his wife Kate and his brother Prince Harry, who’d recently begun dating a conspicuously woke actress called Meghan Markle, launched a charitable endeavour to raise awareness about mental health. The princes gave interviews in which they ‘opened up’ about their struggles. Such public