Best David Boles Podcasts (2025)

1
Every Word Could Kill You 9:49

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3h ago9:49

9:49

Right now, as you listen to this, your larynx is trying to kill you. This isn't metaphorical. Your voice box sits dangerously low in your throat, creating an intersection where food and air must cross paths every time you swallow. No other mammal has this problem. Horses can drink and breathe simultaneously. Newborn humans can nurse and breathe at …

1
Americano: Alan Dershowitz on Epstein & the client list 19:14

6h ago19:14

19:14

Lawyer Alan Dershowitz joins Freddy Gray to react to the 20,000 newly released Epstein emails — and why he believes far more remains hidden. He discusses Trump’s appearance in the documents, the contradictions in Virginia Giuffre’s testimony, the FBI’s real “client list”, and why judges are still sealing major depositions. Hosted on Acast. See acas…

1
John Power, Madeline Grant, Ysenda Maxtone-Graham, Calvin Po & Gus Carter 33:08

1d ago33:08

33:08

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: John Power examines the rise in drug abuse and homelessness on British streets; Madeline Grant explains the allure of Hollywood radical Sydney Sweeney; Ysenda Maxtone Graham laments the rise of the on-the-day party flake; Calvin Po warns of a war on Britain’s historic architecture; and Gus Carter reads his Notes o…

1
Coffee House Shots: H.M. Chief Inspector of Prisons on accidental prison release 15:11

1d ago15:11

15:11

Britain’s prisons are a legislative problem that has beset successive governments. New revelations show 91 accidental early releases in just six months, the latest in a growing pattern of administrative chaos across the criminal justice system. Between drones delivering drugs, crumbling Victorian buildings, exhausted staff and an ever more convolut…

1
The Edition: BBC in crisis, the Wes Streeting plot & why 'flakes' are the worst 36:38

2d ago36:38

36:38

Can the BBC be fixed? After revelations of bias from a leaked dossier, subsequent resignations and threats of legal action from the US President, the future of the corporation is the subject of this week’s cover piece. Host William Moore is joined by The Spectator’s commissioning editor, Lara Brown, arts editor, Igor Toronyi-Lalic, and regular cont…

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The Book Club: Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia 33:54

39m ago33:54

33:54

Sam Leith’s guest this week is Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia and author of The Seven Rules of Trust. They discuss why trust is such an important value for public debate, and how it can address polarisation in society. Jimmy addresses the challenge Elon Musk has posed to Wikipedia after the entrepreneur branded the site as ‘woke’, despite th…

1
Quite right!: BBC bias & Bridget ‘Philistine’s’ war on education 22:28

4d ago22:28

22:28

Listeners on the Best of Spectator playlist can enjoy a section of the latest episode of Quite right! but for the full thing please seek out the Quite right! channel. Just search ‘Quite right!’ wherever you are listening now. This week: a crisis at the BBC – and a crisis of standards in our schools. Following the shock resignations of Tim Davie and…

1
Reality Check: Britain's stats have become dangerously unreliable 12:08

5d ago12:08

12:08

Britain is facing a quiet crisis — its data is breaking down, and the government’s numbers are increasingly unreliable. In this episode of Reality Check, economics editor Michael Simmons asks what happens when the state can’t count properly. How can the Bank of England set interest rates or the Treasury balance the books when the data they rely on …

1
Quite right!: Boris, Cameron or May? – Q&A 35:32

6d ago35:32

35:32

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiteright This week on the first ever Quite right! Q&A: What’s your most left-wing belief? Michael & Maddie confess their guilty liberal secrets on the Elgin Marbles, prison reform and private equity – or ‘the unacceptable face of capitalism’. Also this week: who would y…

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Holy Smoke: have the culture wars gone spiritual? 22:22

7d ago22:22

22:22

Why are Silicon Valley billionaires obsessing over Heaven & Hell, and what does it tell us about American society today? Spectator World's Arts Editor Luke Lyman joins Damian Thompson on this episode of Holy Smoke to talk about how a fascination with the Book of Revelation, the Antichrist and a techno-utopia – or techno-apocalypse – has gripped the…

1
Coffee House Shots: what Trump II can teach Britain 18:10

8d ago18:10

18:10

What lessons does America have for our politics? While progressives look to Zohran Mamdani for inspiration on how to get elected successfully, the really important question is how to govern effectively. And here it is the Trump administration which is setting the standard, writes Tim Shipman in this week’s cover story. On day one, Donald Trump step…

1
James Heale, Margaret Mitchell, Damien Thompson, Rebecca Reid & Julie Bindel 26:19

8d ago26:19

26:19

On this week's Spectator Out Loud: James Heale considers the climate conundrum at the heart of British politics; Rebecca Reid explains why she's given up polyamory; Damien Thompson recounts the classical music education from his school days; Margaret Mitchell asks what's happened to Britain's apples; and Julie Bindel marvels at the history of pizza…

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The Edition: Trump’s gilded age, the ‘hell’ of polyamory & is Polanski Britain’s Mamdani? 31:50

9d ago31:50

31:50

A year on from his presidential election victory, what lessons can Britain learn from Trump II? Tim Shipman writes this week’s cover piece from Washington D.C., considering where Keir Starmer can ‘go big’ like President Trump. Both leaders face crunch elections next year, but who has momentum behind them? There is also the question of who will repl…

1
Book Club: Graham Robb 39:43

4d ago39:43

39:43

Sam Leith's guest this week is Graham Robb. In his new book The Discovery of Britain: An Accidental History, Graham takes us on a time-travelling bicycle tour of the island's history. They discuss how Graham weaves together personal memories with geography and history, his 'major cartographic scoop' which unlocks Iron Age Britain and contemporary d…

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The Liquid Language Only Humans Speak 14:39

20h ago14:39

14:39

Here's something that should stop you cold: humans are the only animals on Earth that cry emotional tears. Not tears to clean the eyes, not tears from irritation, but tears from joy, from grief, from being overwhelmed by beauty. Elephants mourn their dead without weeping. Dolphins recognize themselves in mirrors without crying at their own reflecti…

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Quite right!: Rachel Reeves’s Budget ‘bollocks’ & Britain’s everyday crime crisis 22:30

12d ago22:30

22:30

Listeners on the Best of Spectator playlist can enjoy a section of the latest episode of Quite right! but for the full thing please seek out the Quite right! channel. Just search ‘Quite right!’ wherever you are listening now. This week on Quite right!: Rachel Reeves goes on the offensive – and the defensive. After her surprise Downing Street addres…

1
Spectator Out Loud: Luke Coppen, Mary Wakefield, Daniel McCarthy, Michael Simmons & Hugh Thomson 34:16

12d ago34:16

34:16

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Luke Coppen looks at a new musical subgenre of Roman Catholic black metal; Mary Wakefield celebrates cartoonist Michael Heath as he turns 90 – meaning he has drawn for the Spectator for 75 years; looking to Venezuela, Daniel McCarthy warns Trump about the perils of regime change; Michael Simmons bemoans how Britai…

1
Americano: James Orr on J.D. Vance 1:14:44

3d ago1:14:44

1:14:44

Freddy Gray sits down with academic James Orr at the Battle of Ideas in London for a live Americano podcast to discuss Vice President J.D. Vance. Having been described as 'Vance's British sherper', James responds to how likely it is that J.D. Vance will be President one day, which weaknesses could hold him back and how Vance's unique closeness to T…

1
Reality Check: the rich are leaving Britain – and making you poorer 13:56

15d ago13:56

13:56

Are the rich fleeing Britain? That's what the numbers suggest, but some activist groups have hit back that the data is dodgy. For the second episode of Reality Check The Spectator's economics editor Michael Simmons explains why the data shows that the wealthy are leaving Britain, and why this matters for everyone else. Hosted on Acast. See acast.co…

1
Coffee House Shots: the inside story of Kemi's first year 20:41

16d ago20:41

20:41

‘On the day of the local elections, when the Tories suffered a historic setback, Kemi Badenoch went to the gym and got her hair done,’ Tim Shipman reveals in the magazine this week. Aides insist that Badenoch has since ‘upped her game’. Her PMQs performances are improving and the CCHQ machine seems to have whirred into gear, making sure that Labour…

1
Luke Coppen, Mary Wakefield, Daniel McCarthy, Michael Simmons & Hugh Thomson 34:16

17d ago34:16

34:16

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Luke Coppen looks at a new musical subgenre of Roman Catholic black metal; Mary Wakefield celebrates cartoonist Michael Heath as he turns 90 – meaning he has drawn for the Spectator for 75 years; looking to Venezuela, Daniel McCarthy warns Trump about the perils of regime change; Michael Simmons bemoans how Britai…

1
The Edition: embracing the occult, going underground & lost languages 35:29

17d ago35:29

35:29

Big Tech is under the spell of the occult, according to Damian Thompson. Artificial intelligence is now so incredible that even educated westerners are falling back on the occult, and Silicon Valley billionaires are becoming obsessed with heaven and hell. An embrace of the occult is not just happening in California but across the world – with ‘Witc…

1
Book Club: Comet in Moominland turns 80 37:45

7d ago37:45

37:45

Nat Jansz joins Sam Leith to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Moomin novels. The first of these, Comet in Moominland, was revised by author Tove Jansson a decade after the original publication date. To celebrate the anniversary Sort of Books, co-run by Jansz, is publishing this revised edition for the first time in English. Jansz discusses why…

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Quite right!: 'I was reported for bullying!' – inside the Home Office dysfunction 26:06

19d ago26:06

26:06

Listeners on the Best of Spectator playlist can enjoy a section of the latest episode of Quite right! but for the full thing please seek out the Quite right! channel. Just search ‘Quite right!’ wherever you are listening now. This week on Quite right!: the great Home Office meltdown. After a week of fiascos – from the accidental release of a convic…

1
That Thing That Eats Your Name: A Story for Halloween 11:00

9d ago11:00

11:00

The first sign something was wrong in the neighborhood came when Patricia Reeves knocked on her own door and asked her husband if Patricia Reeves lived there. She stood on the porch in her gardening clothes, dirt still under her fingernails from planting the tulips we'd all watched her plant an hour before. Her husband assumed it was a stroke. The …

1
Speaker series: Piers Morgan – Woke is Dead 49:21

9d ago49:21

49:21

Piers Morgan sits down with Andrew Doyle in Glasgow to discuss Piers’s provocative new book, Woke Is Dead, and share their unfiltered views on the state of the world today. Rather than celebrating the death of woke, Piers’s book advocates for the return of common sense and a less divided, more sensible society. Piers Morgan: Woke Is Dead with Andre…

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Spectator Out Loud: Max Jeffery, Sam Leith, Michael Henderson, Madeline Grant & Julie Bindel 35:54

20d ago35:54

35:54

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Max Jeffery examines Britain’s new hard left alliance; Sam Leith wonders what Prince Andrew is playing; Michael Henderson reads his letter from Berlin; Madeline Grant analyses the demise of the American ‘wasp’ – or White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant; and, Julie Bindel ponders the disturbing allure of sex robots. Produc…

1
Max Jeffery, Sam Leith, Michael Henderson, Madeline Grant & Julie Bindel 35:54

20d ago35:54

35:54

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Max Jeffery examines Britain’s new hard left alliance; Sam Leith wonders what Prince Andrew is playing; Michael Henderson reads his letter from Berlin; Madeline Grant analyses the demise of the American ‘wasp’ – or White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant; and, Julie Bindel ponders the disturbing allure of sex robots. Produc…

1
Holy Smoke: how did faith shape Thatcher? 38:06

11d ago38:06

38:06

How did faith shape Margaret Thatcher’s politics? To mark the centenary month of Margaret Thatcher’s birth, Damian Thompson introduces a conversation between the Spectator’s Natasha Feroze, Thatcher’s biographer Lord Moore and Bishop Chartres who delivered the eulogy at her funeral. They discuss her relationship with faith, how both her family back…

1
Americano: will peace in Ukraine elude Trump? 28:09

23d ago28:09

28:09

With a Gaza ceasefire deal, President Trump's attention has turned to ending the war in Ukraine. A meeting with Putin was suggested, before coming to nothing. Owen Matthews joins Freddy Gray to talk about the fundamental differences between Trump and Putin, the limits on Ukraine's President Zelensky when it comes to negotiation and why the global w…

1
The Edition: left-wing Ultras, Reform intellectuals & capitalist sex robots 29:19

24d ago29:19

29:19

‘The Ultras’ are the subject of The Spectator’s cover story this week – this is the new Islamo-socialist alliance that has appeared on the left of British politics. Several independent MPs, elected amidst outrage over the war in Gaza, have gone on to back the new party created by former Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana. The grouping has g…

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NEW Reality Check: Britain is taxing itself to death – Arthur Laffer 44:33

24d ago44:33

44:33

Reality Check, The Spectator’s new data-driven show hosted by economics editor Michael Simmons, kicks off with a big name: Arthur Laffer. The man who taught Reagan to cut taxes tells Michael why Britain’s economy is 'disappearing', why the Bank of England shouldn’t exist, and why he still believes low taxes – and a little optimism – can send Britai…

1
Book Club: Peter James 39:32

14d ago39:32

39:32

Sam Leith's guest on this week's Book Club podcast is the crime writer Peter James. Peter has contributed the introduction to a new edition of the classic thriller The Eagle Has Landed, which is 50 years old this month. He tells Sam what it was that made Jack Higgins's novel so groundbreaking, about what it takes to make you root for the bad guys, …

1
Boodle Boy: A Brief History of Time 13:25

20d ago13:25

13:25

When we invoke the Boodle Boy, we're also invoking a kind of professional shamanism. The shaman moves between worlds, bringing back knowledge from spaces others can't access. The Boodle Boy moves between disciplines, between technologies, between ways of knowing. He speaks theater to programmers and code to dramatists. He finds the musical structur…

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Quite right!: ‘If he won’t jump, he needs to be shoved’ – should Prince Andrew be exiled? 20:09

26d ago20:09

20:09

Listeners on the Best of Spectator playlist can enjoy a section of the latest episode of Quite right! but for the full thing please seek out the Quite right! channel. Just search ‘Quite right!’ wherever you are listening now. This week on Quite right!: the slow-motion disgrace of Prince Andrew. As Virginia Giuffre’s new book reignites the Epstein s…

1
Best of Notes on... 28:58

21d ago28:58

28:58

The Best of Notes on... gathers the funniest, sharpest and most wonderfully random pieces from The Spectator’s beloved miscellany column. For more than a decade, these short, sharp essays have uncovered the intrigue in the everyday and the delight in digression. To purchase the book, go to spectator.co.uk/shop On this special episode of Spectator O…

1
Spectator Out Loud: Best of Notes on... 28:58

23d ago28:58

28:58

The Best of Notes on... gathers the funniest, sharpest and most wonderfully random pieces from The Spectator’s beloved miscellany column. For more than a decade, these short, sharp essays have uncovered the intrigue in the everyday and the delight in digression. To purchase the book, go to spectator.co.uk/shop On this special episode of Spectator O…

1
Americano: is Trump on a roll? 37:15

28d ago37:15

37:15

Was this Donald Trump's most phenomenal week yet? Freddy Gray and Kate Andrews discuss the President's success in orchestrating a Gaza peace plan, his 'Mean Girls style' of dealing with world leaders, and how to interpret his comments about not being 'heaven bound'. They also talk about how Trump might bailout Argentina - but only if Javier Milei w…

1
Table Talk: Gyles Brandreth 35:12

18d ago35:12

35:12

Broadcaster, writer, actor – and former MP – Gyles Brandreth joins Lara Prendergast on this episode of Table Talk to discuss his memories of food, from hating dates and loving 'bread sandwiches' to his signature dish of fish fingers and his love of eating baked beans cold from a can. Gyles also tells Lara about getting permission to eat swan, his e…

1
Coffee House Shots: Thatcher & Reagan's special relationship 40:15

30d ago40:15

40:15

To mark the centenary of Thatcher’s birth, Michael Gove is joined by Charles Moore, her biographer, and Peggy Noonan, speechwriter to Ronald Reagan, to reflect on the chemistry that bound the two conservative leaders. Both outsiders turned reformers, they shared not only ideology but temperament – ‘They were partners in crime,’ says Peggy. Yet it w…

1
Nick Boles, James Ball, Andrew Rosenheim, Arabella Byrne & Rory Sutherland 27:03

1M ago27:03

27:03

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Nick Boles says that Ukraine must stand as a fortress of European freedom; James Ball reviews If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against Superintelligent AI, by Eliezer Yudowsky and Nate Sores; Andrew Rosenheim examines the treasure trove of John Le Carre’s papers at the Bodleian; Arabella Byrne provides…

1
Spectator Out Loud: Nick Boles, James Ball, Andrew Rosenheim, Arabella Byrne & Rory Sutherland 27:03

1M ago27:03

27:03

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Nick Boles says that Ukraine must stand as a fortress of European freedom; James Ball reviews If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against Superintelligent AI, by Eliezer Yudowsky and Nate Sores; Andrew Rosenheim examines the treasure trove of John Le Carre’s papers at the Bodleian; Arabella Byrne provides…

1
The Edition: Chinese spies, Vance’s rise & is French parenting supreme? 30:00

1M ago30:00

30:00

‘Here be dragons’ declares the Spectator’s cover story this week, as it looks at the continuing fallout over the collapse of the trial of two political aides accused of spying for China in Westminster. Tim Shipman reveals that – under the last Conservative government – a data hub was sold to the Chinese that included highly classified information; …

1
The Last Human Memory 20:00

1M ago20:00

20:00

Here's a thought experiment I want you to try. Tonight, pick one moment from your day. Just one. Don't photograph it. Don't write it down. Don't tell anyone about it. Just hold it in your mind. Try to recall it tomorrow, next week, next month. Watch how it changes. Notice how it connects to other memories, how it grows or fades, how it becomes less…

1
Special Borg-Warner Trophy Edition with 109th Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou, sculptor William Behrends, BorgWarner President and CEO Josef Fadool, BorgWarner’s Michelle Collins and FOX Sports feature ... 1:44:08

1M ago1:44:08

1:44:08

PIT PASS INDY – SEASON 5, EPISODE 68 – Special Borg-Warner Trophy Edition with 109th Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou, sculptor William Behrends, BorgWarner President and CEO Josef Fadool, BorgWarner’s Michelle Collins and FOX Sports feature producer Katie Weigel October 14, 2025 Show host Bruce Martin made a trip to the North Carolina Mountains …