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.
17 min listen
On this week's episode, Lara Prendergast asks if it's so wrong to talk about whether the Covid vaccine affects periods. (01:05) Cindy Yu says China's 'zero Covid' strategy can't last. (06:50) And finally, Gus Carter spends an hour in a sensory deprivation tank.
39 min listen
On this week’s podcast:In the latest issue of The Spectator, we cover the Afghanistan issue extensively, looking at everything from why the West was doomed from the start, to how events in Afghanistan have transformed central Asian politics. On the podcast, journalist Paul Wood and our own deputy editor Freddy Gray, both of whom feature in this week’s issue, join Lara to talk Biden, Boris and the new 'progressive' Taliban. (00:37)'This is not your father's Taliban' - Paul WoodNext up, thousands of women whose menstrual cycles have been affected by the Covid vaccine have now come forward to make their symptoms known, including our host Lara Prendergast, who writes about her experience in this week's Spectator.
It’s fashionable to talk about periods. Books on the subject, with glossy red and pink covers, are bestsellers. They have sassy titles like Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement and Period:Twelve Voices Tell the Bloody Truth. The Periodical is a podcast for ‘everyone who bleeds, and their friends’. And this being our ultra-capitalist world, you can obviously buy a T-shirt, notebook or phone cover with a period-related slogan slapped across it. ‘Anything you can do, I can do bleeding’ is one mantra. I admit to having not engaged much with this world. My period has always seemed to me a private matter, of no interest to anybody else and only vague interest to myself.
26 min listen
Rory Bremner is one of Britain's leading comedians, impressionists and political satirists. On the episode, he tells Lara and Liv about his first impression (of a school history teacher), doing shows with Ainsley Harriott, getting stuck in a storm in Turkey at the same time as Betty Boothroyd, and helping refugees and asylum seekers through food.
35 min listen
Molly Baz is a cook, recipe developer, video host, cookbook author, and a self proclaimed weenie lover. On this episode, Molly talks to Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts about her food revelation with an Italian house-mother in Florence, her time working for Bon Appetit and about her new cook book COOK THIS BOOK, which revolutionises the medium by adding easy to access how-to videos to watch as you cook.
40 min listen
Is there a humane solution to Britain’s migrant crisis?(00:52) Also on the podcast: Why is the WHO so down on e-cigarettes?(16:23) and finally... after a year and a half inside how angry will strangers make us?(27:01) With Douglas Murray; award winning film maker and producer for the Trojan Women project Charlotte Eagar; Christopher Snowdon; Clive Bates the director of The Counterfactual and previous head of ASH; Damian Thompson; and Stuart Prebble creator of the hit TV show Grumpy Old Men.
34 min listen
How free are we after freedom day?(00:27) Also on the podcast: Why does it take hours to refuel your car in Lebanon?(10:19) and finally… Is British gardening wilting or blooming?(21:21) With The Spectator's economics editor Kate Andrews, Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association, journalists Paul Wood and Tala Ramadan, author James Bartholomew and gardener and writer Ursula Buchan.
43 min listen
Ella Al-Shamahi is a presenter, comedian, and an explorer recognised by National Geographic. On this episode, Ella talks to Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts about her ill fated early days as a domestic house wife, her critiques of the paleo diet and the time she had to try turtle - not a fan.
42 min listen
What are the pros and cons of vaccine passports?(00:33) Also on the podcast: Is it time for restaurant kitchens to ditch their toxic masculinity?(18:00) And finally... Cricket, what does the new tournament, the Hundred mean for the sport?(30:14)With: Fraser Nelson; Melanie Phillips; Olivia Potts; the chef and owner of Darjeeling Express, Asma Khan; Freddie Wilde, an analyst for Cricvis and legendary sports journalist Henry Blofeld.
41 min listen
What level of control does China have at Cambridge University? (00:48) Also on the podcast: Will the Church of England’s new plans for modernisation leave us with an institution we even recognise? (10:26) And finally let's talk about Streaking, indecent exposure or proud British pastime of joy and humour? (27:26)With Ian Williams author of ‘every breath you take, a study of China’s surveillance state’; Harry Goodwin, Editor in Chief of The Cambridge Student; Priest Marcus Walker; Dave Male Director of Evangelism and Discipleship for the CoE; writer and amateur streaker Poppy Royds and professional streaker Mark Roberts.
18 min listen
Jack Whitehall is an actor and comedian, however during the pandemic he has also started a food blog, FoodSlut. On the episode, he talks to Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts about his public love of McDonalds, his secret love of The Ivy and the time he once saw a man attempt to make a grilled cheese with his feet.
29 min listen
This week…Why should the first time buyer be so scared of new builds? (00:36) Plus… will the catholic church come to the defence of the word mother? (09:33) And finally… Why does it take so long to understand Japanese culture, even for the Japanese? (18:50)With John Myers founder of YIMBY, Vickey Spratt housing correspondent of the I newspaper and author of the up coming book Tenants, Spectator Columnist Mary Wakefield, theologian Theo Hobson, former editor of The Tablet and author of Martyrdom: Why Martyrs Still Matter Catherine Pepinster, Professor Philip Patrick and comedian Ollie Horn (@olliehorntweets).Presented by Lara Prendergast.Produced by Cindy Yu, Natasha Feroze and Sam Russell.
25 min listen
Calum Franklin is executive head chef at Holborn Dining Room, and an internationally renowned pie-maker (dubbed 'The Pie King' by Jamie Oliver). On the episode, he talks to Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts about how his menus try to recreate the nostalgia of his simple childhood meals, like fish pie; the centrality of pies to British cuisine; and why his restaurant is inspired by the copper and brass fronts of Parisian antique stores.
39 min listen
Experts are saying we are now officially in a third wave but how concerned should we be? (00:56) Also on the podcast: What will the mood be like when Boris meets Biden (14:33)? And are UFOs no longer a laughing matter?(23:00) With Scientist Simon Clarke, mathematician Philip Thomas, spokesperson for Republicans Overseas UK Sarah Elliot, Spectator World editor Freddy Gray, astrophysicist Tim O'Brian & author Lawrence Osborne Presented by Lara Prendergast. Produced by Cindy Yu, Max Jeffery and Sam Russell.
24 min listen
Craig Brown is an awarding winning critic, satirist and former restaurant reviewer. His most recent book One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time, won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction.On the podcast, he talks to Lara and Olivia about the horrible food at Eton, his utter failure to bake a cake, and proposes that one of the least important things to him when he was reviewing a restaurant was the food.
33 min listen
On this week’s podcast, we start with Charles Moore’s cover story on the failings of the National Trust. Why is the Trust getting involved in culture wars, and can it be fixed? Lara speaks to Charles, a Spectator columnist and former editor of the magazine, and Simon Jenkins, who was chair of the Trust between 2008 and 2014. Simon says that it’s ‘very odd’ for the organisation to become embroiled in controversy over Britain’s colonial past and contested history. ‘The National Trust’s relationship with the British Empire, let alone with slavery, is pretty tenuous. I don’t take this accusation against the Trust terribly seriously. This is just currently what I regard as a sort of cult’, he adds.
33 min listen
Patrick Jephson is a consultant, journalist, broadcaster and New York Times best selling author. From 1988 to 1996, Patrick worked first as Princess Diana's equerry and then as her private secretary. He is also currently a historical consultant on Netfilx's The Crown.On the podcast, he talks to Lara and Olivia about bonding over mealtimes with his fellow seamen when in the Navy, having ambassadorial dinners and English Rail sandwiches with the royals, and being cooked for by Pavarotti's personal pasta chef.
31 min listen
In this week’s podcast, we talk to The Spectator's editor Fraser Nelson and associate editor Douglas Murray about the challenges facing a freshly re-elected SNP. What next for Nicola Sturgeon - full steam ahead for IndyRef2? Or have neither Scotland or Number 10 the bottle for an all-out battle for independence? [01:02] ‘When you look at the practicalities, the case for independence really does fall. Nicola Sturgeon is selling it in the abstract: “Do you feel Scottish”?’ - Fraser Nelson Meanwhile in matters of social etiquette, the new post-pandemic era looms, complete with new modes of social interactions and conversational topics.
25 min listen
Jonathan Drori CBE is a Trustee of the Eden Project and Cambridge Science Centre, an ambassador for WWF, and was for nine years a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In a previous life at the BBC, he was executive producer of more than 50 prime-time science documentaries and popular series, and he is now the author of Around the World in 80 Plants.On the podcast, he talks to Lara and Olivia about the diverse diet he had as a child of Eastern European Jewish refugees, how he got into botany through eating plants and the time he accidentally ordered a raw chicken milkshake.
26 min listen
In this week’s podcast, we talk to the author of our cover story, eminent author, historian and broadcaster Niall Ferguson, who advances the theory that the West and China are in the throes of a new cold war which the Unites States is on course to lose, should the Biden administration continue to following Beijing’s lead on apparently everything from lockdown to digital currencies. Joining the debate is Dr Leslie Vinjamuri, from Chatham House. (01:05) ‘All of the features of Cold War I are here today which is why I have been speaking for a couple of years about Cold War II’ - Niall Ferguson. Next up, Laura Freeman writes in the magazine this week about the fake facades she has been increasingly noticing while out and about in London.
