Best HM Prison Podcasts (2025)

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Why are so many prisoners accidentally released? With H.M. Chief Inspector of Prisons 15:11

Play Pause

6d 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
Coffee House Shots: H.M. Chief Inspector of Prisons on accidental prison release 15:11

6d 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…

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The Edition: Labour's toxic budget, Zelensky in trouble & Hitler's genitalia 38:51

3h ago38:51

38:51

It’s time to scrap the budget, argues political editor Tim Shipman this week. An annual fiscal event only allows the Chancellor to tinker round the edges, faced with a backdrop of global uncertainty. Endless potential tax rises have been trailed, from taxes on mansions, pensions, savings, gambling, and business partnerships, and nothing appears des…

1
Is Labour turning blue? 11:52

14h ago11:52

11:52

While we wait for the findings of the Covid Inquiry into the decision-making during the pandemic, Shabana Mahmood has given a statement in the Commons outlining further details of Labour’s migration crackdown. The headline is that those who arrived during the so-called ‘Boriswave’ will have to wait up to 20 years before achieving settled status. Fi…

1
Book Club: Ben Myers on Kinski 36:11

35m ago36:11

36:11

Ben Myers joins Sam Leith to discuss his book Jesus Christ Kinski, which he describes as a ‘novel about a film about a performance about Jesus’. Klaus Kinski was one of Germany’s biggest actors of the 20th Century – but he was also one of the most controversial, and Ben questions if he was one of the worst people to have ever lived. In this novel, …

1
PMQs: Labour's 'dog whistle politics' 10:30

1d ago10:30

10:30

Neither Kemi Badenoch nor Keir Starmer performed very well at Prime Minister’s Questions: both fluffed their lines early on. Badenoch managed to suggest the Budget had already happened, while Starmer got lost during an attack on Tory economic policy. But while Badenoch was back to the kind of poor delivery that had previously upset so many of her C…

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Quite right!: Labour’s migration crackdown & why the Rwanda plan was ‘ahead of its time’ 17:56

2d ago17:56

17:56

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 Commons showdown over asylum – and a cold shower for Net Zero orthodoxy. After Shabana Mahmood’s debuts Labour’…

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Mahmood's right turn, as migration figures revised – again 18:21

3d ago18:21

18:21

Economics editor Michael Simmons and Yvette Cooper's former adviser Danny Shaw join Patrick Gibbons to react to the Home Secretary's plans for asylum reform. Shabana Mahmood's direct communication style in the Commons yesterday has been praised by government loyalists and right-wingers alike, but her plans have been criticised by figures on the lef…

1
Reality Check: Rory Sutherland: Britain isn’t working – here’s how to fix it 30:00

3d ago30:00

30:00

Advertising legend and Spectator columnist Rory Sutherland joins Michael Simmons to explain why he thinks Britain’s economic problem isn’t income, tax rates or even inequality — it’s property, rent extraction, and a national belief that housing is the safest and smartest place to store wealth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa…

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Shabana Mahmood vs the asylum system 14:44

1d ago14:44

14:44

This afternoon, the Home Secretary will set out in the House of Commons her proposed reforms to the asylum system. The headline changes proposed by Shabana Mahmood have been well briefed in the weekend press: refugees will have temporary status and be required to reapply to remain in Britain every two-and-a-half years; those arriving would have to …

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Quite right!: Who could replace Keir Starmer? – Q&A 32:21

4d ago32:21

32:21

To submit your urgent questions to Michael and Maddie, go to: spectator.co.uk/quiteright This week on Quite right! Q&A: Could Britain see a snap election before 2029? Michael and Maddie unpack the constitutional mechanics – and explain why, despite the chaos, an early vote remains unlikely. They also turn to Labour’s troubles: growing pressure on K…

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Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 16/11/2025 12:01

4d ago12:01

12:01

Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows. Labour are set to announce a raft of new measures to fix an asylum system the home secretary says is 'broken'. But do they go far enough? Produced by Joe Bedell-Brill. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to …

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

5d 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…

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What is going on in the Treasury!? 14:48

7d ago14:48

14:48

With less than a fortnight to go until the Budget, it seems Rachel Reeves has performed an almighty U-turn. At the beginning of the week, the established consensus in Westminster was that the base rate of income tax would rise, breaking Labour’s flagship manifesto pledge. The Chancellor had already rolled the pitch, holding a press conference at wh…

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

7d 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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Politics or economics – which is Labour worst at? 10:35

8d ago10:35

10:35

It’s been another bruising week for the British economy. New GDP figures reveal that growth has almost flatlined, inching up by just 0.1 per cent between July and August – a sign, many fear, that the UK is drifting into deeper malaise. With the budget less than a fortnight away, can the Chancellor square the circle of sluggish growth, tax pressures…

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

6d 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…

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Wes for PM? 19:01

9d ago19:01

19:01

Conspiracy or cock-up? Westminster is abuzz after what appears to be a plan to decapitate Wes Streeting has spectacularly backfired. A flurry of late-night briefings designed to shore up Keir Starmer’s position turned personal against the Health Secretary, suggesting he was plotting a coup in advance of the Budget and in anticipation of – what many…

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

9d 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…

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

10d 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 …

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Labour's vibes are all wrong 13:58

10d ago13:58

13:58

With two weeks until her Budget, Rachel Reeves has received more bad news: unemployment is now at its highest level since the pandemic. With the Chancellor hinting at income tax rises, could this be dangerous for Labour as it increasingly becomes the party of higher earners? Polling suggests the public would lay the blame for tax hikes with Reeves,…

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What now for the BBC? 12:23

11d ago12:23

12:23

It seems that the BBC is once again setting the news agenda – via tales of its own incompetence. The Corporation has spent days battling accusations that it aired a doctored clip of a speech by President Trump in a Panorama documentary back in January 2021. The White House Press Secretary has called the Beeb ‘100 per cent fake news’ while Kemi Bade…

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

11d 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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Isabel Hardman's Sunday Roundup - 09/11/2025 15:49

11d ago15:49

15:49

Isabel Hardman presents highlights from Sunday morning's political shows. On Remembrance Sunday, Chief of the Defence Staff Sir Richard Knighton says the UK must be prepared against ‘hybrid warfare’, and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy contends with allegations of BBC bias, Labour cronyism, and mistakenly released prisoners. Produced by Joe Bedell-Bri…

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

12d 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…

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

13d 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…

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What Trump II can teach Britain 18:10

13d 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
Pain is inevitable for Rachel Reeves 12:55

14d ago12:55

12:55

A year ago, the Chancellor called her £38 billion tax rise a ‘one-and-done’ move. Now she looks set to rinse and repeat, with reports that a 2p increase in income tax is on the table. According to The Times, she has informed the Office for Budget Responsibility that a rise in personal taxation is one of the ‘major measures’ she will announce. This …

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

14d 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…

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Why energy is the new political battleground 11:58

15d ago11:58

11:58

With three weeks until the Budget, the main political parties have been setting out their economic thinking. Each faces the same bind: anaemic growth, fiscal constraints and uncomfortable exposure to the bond markets. The upshot is that there is less ‘clear blue water’ on the economy between Labour, the Conservatives and Reform. This has left a spa…

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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 most bizarre PMQs ever 14:51

16d ago14:51

14:51

In a crowded field, today’s could have been the most bizarre PMQs ever. From David Lammy pronouncing ‘I am the Justice Secretary’ as if it were an affirmation to be chanted in the bathroom mirror, to the wild hair on display on both benches, it surely takes the mantle of parliament at its most ridiculous – and that’s not to mention the story that a…

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

16d 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…

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Reeves prepares the public for tax hikes 10:58

17d ago10:58

10:58

It is three weeks until the Budget – and Rachel Reeves wants to get her narrative out there. The Chancellor held an early morning press conference today to, in her words, ‘set out the circumstances and the principles’ guiding her thinking on 26 November. Her speech followed a familiar pattern. First, there was the evisceration of the ‘austerity’, ‘…

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Spectator Out Loud: 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…

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Farage: trust me with the economy 15:58

18d ago15:58

15:58

With Reform leading in the polls, Nigel Farage is determined to ensure that nothing can impede its growth. This morning he sought to bolster his credibility on an area that the Tories think could be his Achilles heel: the economy. Reform’s £90 billion programme of tax cuts promised at the last election has been constantly used as a stick with which…

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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…

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Introducing... Reality Check 13:56

19d ago13:56

13:56

Introducing The Spectator's newest podcast, Reality Check with economics editor Michael Simmons. Like what you hear? Search 'Reality Check' wherever you are listening to this podcast and be sure to hit 'follow' to never miss an episode. Are the rich fleeing Britain? That's what the numbers suggest, but some activist groups have hit back that the da…

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

19d 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

20d 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
The inside story of Kemi's first year 20:41

20d 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
Andrew (Mountbatten Windsor) saves the Chancellor 15:53

21d ago15:53

15:53

Happy All Hallows’ Eve, everyone – and there is something spooky going on with Rachel Reeves and a property in Dulwich. Yesterday she was leading the news after admitting to renting out her family home following the move into No. 11 without getting the required licence from Southwark Council. There are a number of mitigating circumstances – not lea…

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

21d 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…

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What happened at the Parliamentarian of the Year Awards? 17:00

22d ago17:00

17:00

There are a few sore heads at 22 Old Queen Street this morning because it was The Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year Awards last night. From Lucy Powell’s jibe at Morgan McSweeney (and Tim Shipman, for that matter) to Robert Jenrick’s jokes falling flat, it was an eventful evening of good-natured hazing, naval-gazing and – of course – recognis…

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Book Club: Comet in Moominland turns 80 37:45

20d 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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Who will 'take back control' of the economy? 14:07

23d ago14:07

14:07

Kemi Badenoch continues to look more confident at PMQs – although there are always going to be some easy goals when you lead on the economy. Today she pressed the Prime Minister on Labour’s manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance – which he dodged – as well as repeating her offer to work with Labour towards a cross-party…

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

23d 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
Migration, the customs union & a £40bn black hole? 13:56

24d ago13:56

13:56

There are reports that the OBR will downgrade Britain’s productivity growth forecasts, increasing the size of the black hole facing the Chancellor at the end of the month. This continues the spate of bad news for the Chancellor on the economy – but can we trust the figures? James Heale and Michael Simmons join Patrick Gibbons to talk about what thi…

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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…

1
Is the Home Office fit for purpose? 14:16

25d ago14:16

14:16

With the news that the Home Office has spent billions of taxpayers' money on asylum hotels – and following the accidental release of the Epping sex offender – Tim Shipman and James Heale discuss this most shambolic of government departments. Is it fit for purpose? Can Shabana Mahmood fix the cursed department? And, if not, who will voters turn to i…