Lara Prendergast is executive editor of The Spectator. She hosts two Spectator podcasts, The Edition and Table Talk, and edits The Spectator’s food and drink coverage.
From our UK edition
An election looms and political parties are already talking ‘voter demographics’. Every few years, the wonks of Westminster pick a social stereotype and decide it represents a crucial group of swing voters. We’ve had Mondeo Man, Waitrose Woman and Pebbledash Person. Who will it be in 2024? It could be Deano, a snooty term used
From our UK edition
35 min listen
Niki Segnit is the author of the hit cooking books The Flavour Thesaurus and Lateral Cooking. Her new book The Flavour Thesaurus more flavours: Plant-led pairings, recipes and ideas for cooks, is out this Thursday 11th May. On the podcast she speaks to Lara and Liv about weird and wonderful flavour combinations, her childhood fascination with Oxo cubes and
From our UK edition
38 min listen
This week: In his cover piece for the magazine, Daily Mail writer, author of Queen of Our Times and co-presenter of the Tea at the Palace podcast, Robert Hardman looks ahead to the reign of King Charles III. He joins the podcast alongside historian David Starkey, who is interviewed in the arts pages of The Spectator by Lynn Barber (01:10) Also this
From our UK edition
37 min listen
On this week’s episode: In her cover piece for The Spectator, journalist Louise Perry questions whether it is moral to separate a newborn child from their surrogate. She is joined by Sarah Jones, head of SurrogacyUK and five time surrogate mother, to debate the ethics of surrogacy (01:07). Also this week: In the books section of
From our UK edition
40 min listen
On the podcast this week: In his cover piece for The Spectator, Adrian Wooldridge argues that meritocracy is under attack. He says that the traditional societal pyramid – with the upper class at the top and the lower class at the base – has been inverted by a new culture which prizes virtue over meritocracy. He
From our UK edition
I was tired when I went to see Milk at the Wellcome Collection, having been up for much of the night feeding my baby. In European and Christian imagery, one sign said, ‘a lactating woman often represents fertility, charity and abundance’, but I was not feeling full of the milk of human kindness. Nor was
From our UK edition
33 min listen
Jonathan Ray is The Spectator’s drinks editor and formerly wine critic for the Telegraph. He has also written several books on the subject of wine and how to buy it. On the podcast Lara, Liv and Johnny share a glass of wine and discuss his earliest memories of food, his go-to hangover cure and his desert island meal.
From our UK edition
The Easter lily, or Lilium longiflorum, grows from a bulb buried underground to bear white, trumpeting flowers which face outwards and smell divine. One doesn’t need to be an expert in semiotics to see why it came to be associated with the resurrection. In Christian tradition, lilies were said to have grown in the garden
From our UK edition
36 min listen
On the podcast: In his cover piece for the magazine, journalist Jonathan Miller argues that President Macron is pitting himself against the people by refusing to back down from his plans to raise the age of retirement. He is joined by regular Coffee House contributor Gavin Mortimer, to ask whether this could be Macron’s last
From our UK edition
23 min listen
Fadi Kattan is a Palestinian chef and hotelier who has recently brought a menu inspired by all the different regions of his home country to his new restaurant Akub, in Notting Hill. On the podcast he talks about inheriting his love of food from his grandmothers, what it was like opening a restaurant on the occupied
From our UK edition
33 min listen
This week: In her cover piece for The Spectator, Harriet Sergeant asks what’s happened pupil absence which has increased since the pandemic. She is joined by The Spectator’s data editor Michael Simmons to account for the staggering number of children who were failed by the government’s Covid response (01:08). Also this week: Owen Matthews, The Spectator’s Russia correspondent, looks at
From our UK edition
40 min listen
On the podcast: The Spectator’s economics editor Kate Andrews looks back on a week of economic turbulence and asks whether we should be worried, for her cover piece in the magazine. She is joined by the economist – and former ‘Trussketeer’ – Julian Jessop, to discuss whether we are entering a new era of economic uncertainty
From our UK edition
25 min listen
Eleanor is a features writer and columnist for the Daily Telegraph where she writes the the regular food column The Art of Friday Night Dinner. Her new book – of the same name – is released on the 30th March and includes recipes for every kind of Friday night. On the podcast she reminisces about her mother’s
From our UK edition
29 min listen
In the cover piece of this week’s magazine, deputy editor Freddy Gray writes about the fight for the American right: it’s Don (Trump) vs Ron (DeSantis). Who will win? On the podcast, Freddy is joined by Amber Athey, Washington editor of The Spectator‘s world edition. (00:37) Political editor Katy Balls writes in this week’s magazine that
From our UK edition
30 min listen
Tom Athron is the CEO of luxury brand Fortnum and Mason, a position which he undertook during the pandemic having held senior roles at John Lewis and Waitrose. On the podcast he talks about his earliest memories of food, the produce he grows in his vegetable patch and what makes Fortnums so special.
From our UK edition
30 min listen
Alexander Downer is an Australian former politician and diplomat, whose roles have included Leader of the Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. On the podcast he discusses his earliest memories growing up on a farm in Southern Australia, the role of food and wine in successful diplomacy, and
From our UK edition
39 min listen
This week: the haunting of Rishi Sunak. In her cover piece for The Spectator Katy Balls says that Rishi Sunak cannot escape the ghosts of prime ministers past. She is joined by former Chief Secretary to the Treasury and New Statesman contributor David Gauke to discuss pesky former PMs (01:05). Also this week: In the magazine Julius
From our UK edition
The final trimester of pregnancy is a strange time. You’ll be told to rest, as if you can somehow bank sleep. The reality is likely to be a dash to buy everything you need, as well as don’t need (a hi-tech ‘nappy bag’ for instance). Once the baby arrives, even trying to get out of
From our UK edition
20 min listen
Harriet Hastings is the founder of hand-iced biscuit delivery company Biscuiteers which delivers over 2 million biscuits worldwide every year. On the podcast she speaks to Lara and Liv about growing up as a fussy eater, the trials and tribulations of starting her own business, and her desert island meal. Photo credit: Mark Harrison
From our UK edition
28 min listen
Luke Farrell is a restauranteur and founder of two of London’s fieriest new openings, Plaza Khao Gaeng and Speedboat Bar. He has spent the last few years dividing his time between Thailand and his nursery in Dorset, where he grows a ‘living library’ of south-east Asian herbs and spices. On the podcast they discuss memories of Chinese cuisine,
