The Edition

• Starmer at sea, Iran on the brink & the importance of shame

  Starmer’s war zone: the Prime Minister’s perilous positionThis week, our new political editor Tim Shipman takes the helm and, in his cover piece, examines how Keir Starmer can no longer find political refuge in foreign affairs. After a period of globe-trotting in which the Prime Minister was dubbed ‘never-here Keir’, Starmer’s handling of international matters had largely been seen as a strength. But as tensions escalate in the Iran–Israel conflict, global events are beginning to create serious challenges. They threaten not only to derail the government’s economic plans but also to deepen divisions within the Labour party, particularly between the leadership and much of the parliamentary party. Tim joined the podcast alongside The Spectator US editor Freddy Gray. (02:08)Next: is it a mistake to try and topple Iran’s Supreme Leader?Justin Marozzi asks if we are seeing ‘an ominous mission creep in Israel’s blistering attack on Iran’. Donald Trump has been calling for the ‘UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER’ of Iran, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been directly addressing the Iranian people. The regime may be unpopular, but how realistic is the expectation of regime change? Marozzi joined the podcast alongside Michael Stephens, a Middle East expert at the defence and security thinktank Rusi. (19:07)And finally: should we embrace feeling shame?Stuart Jeffries reviews a new book by the French philosopher Frédéric Gros in the books section of the magazine this week. A Philosophy of Shame: A Revolutionary Emotion argues that shame should be embraced, rather than avoided. So, in an era of ‘cancel culture’ and public shaming – not to mention some of the shamelessness exhibited by social media influencers – can ‘shame’ be a good thing? Stuart joined the podcast to discuss. (34:31)Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

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• Porn Britannia, Xi’s absence & no more lonely hearts?

  OnlyFans is giving the Treasury what it wants – but should we be concerned?‘OnlyFans,’ writes Louise Perry, ‘is the most profitable content subscription service in the world.’ Yet ‘the vast majority of its content creators make very little from it’. So why are around 4 per cent of young British women selling their wares on the site? ‘Imitating Bonnie Blue and Lily Phillips – currently locked in a competition to have sex with the most men in a day – isn’t pleasant.’ OnlyFans gives women ‘the sexual attention and money of hundreds and even thousands of men’. The result is ‘a cascade of depravity’ that Perry wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy.In business terms, however, OnlyFans is a ‘staggering success’, according to economics editor Michael Simmons. ‘Britain’s sex industry brings in far more to the economy than politicians are comfortable admitting’; OnlyFans might just be Britain’s most profitable tech start-up. ‘If we are going to wage a moral war on porn,’ Simmons argues, ‘we should at least be honest about what we’re sacrificing.’ Louise and Michael joined the podcast to discuss further (1:21).Next: could Xi Jinping’s time be up?Historian Francis Pike writes about the unusual absence of China’s President Xi. China-watchers have detected some subtle differences from the norm in Chinese media, from fewer official references to Xi to changes in routine politburo meetings. So, could Xi Jinping be forced to step down? And if so, who is on manoeuvres and why?Francis joined the podcast alongside former diplomat Kerry Brown, professor of China Studies at King’s College London (22:31).And finally: is the era of the lonely hearts ad coming to an end?Tony Whitehead provides his notes on lonely hearts columns this week, writing about how, 330 years after they first appeared in print in Britain, they may soon disappear. Francesca Beauman – who literally wrote the book on the subject, Shapely Ankle Preferr’d – and Mark Mason join the podcast to provide their favourite examples, from the serious to the humorous (35:13).Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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• Nigel wants YOU, secularism vs spirituality & how novel is experimental fiction?

  How Reform plans to win Just a year ago, Nigel Farage ended his self-imposed exile from politics and returned to lead Reform. Since then, Reform have won more MPs than the Green Party, two new mayoralties, a parliamentary by-election, and numerous councils. Now the party leads in every poll and, as our deputy political editor James Heale reveals in our cover article, is already planning for government.The party’s chair, tech entrepreneur Zia Yusuf, describes the movement as a ‘start-up’; and like a start-up, Reform is scaling up at speed. Among the 676 councillors elected last month, a number are considered more than ready to stand as MPs. James also interviewed Reform’s deputy leader, the MP Richard Tice, who said that the Reform movement cannot be thought of within the traditional left-right political spectrum.James joined the podcast to discuss further; you can also hear an extract from his interview with Richard. (1:01) Next: are young people turning to religion? A recent survey by the UK’s Bible Society has found that over the past six years, Church attendance has risen by 50 per cent. There are signs that this is being driven by younger people – why are Gen Z turning to religion? A new book by Lamorna Ash, Don’t Forget We’re Here Forever: A New Generation’s Search For Religion, seeks to answer this question and is reviewed in the magazine this week by Rupert Shortt.To unpack this potential Church revival, Rupert – the author of The Eclipse of Christianity and Why It Matters – joined the podcast, alongside Georgia Clarke, director of youth ministry at St Elizabeth of Portugal Roman Catholic Church in London. (21:25) And finally: is experimental fiction truly novel?Philip Hensher writes in the magazine this week about the modern trend of ‘experimental literature’. For Philip, not only do these novels have incredibly rigid rules, but they are far from ‘experimental’ as he feels many of their components aren’t truly new.To discuss further, Philip – who has been writing his own history of the novel – joined the podcast, alongside Simon Okotie. Simon, author of The Future of the Novel, is also a judge for the Goldsmiths Prize, which awards a novel which ‘breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form’. (33:11)Plus: extracts from Tanya Gold’s article on selling bathwater (17:54) and Madeline Grant’s on the decline of period dramas (19:35).Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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• End of the rainbow, rising illiteracy & swimming pool etiquette

  End of the rainbow: Pride’s fallWhat ‘started half a century ago as an afternoon’s little march for lesbians and gay men’, argues Gareth Roberts, became ‘a jamboree not only of boring homosexuality’ but ‘anything else that its purveyors consider unconventional’. Yet now Reform-led councils are taking down Pride flags, Pride events are being cancelled due to lack of funds, and corporate sponsors are ‘withdrawing their cold tootsies from the rainbow sock’. Has Pride suffered from conflation with ‘genderism’? Gareth joined the podcast to discuss, alongside diversity consultant Simon Fanshawe, one of the six original co-founders of Stonewall. (0:59)Next: people are forgetting how to readPhilip Womack ‘can hear the rumblings of disaster, as if the foundations of western culture, eroded for decades, are teetering into collapse’. The reason? We are forgetting how to read. Today’s children ‘hardly read; their tech-blinded parents don’t care; their teachers don’t have the resources’. American students participating in a study requiring them to parse the first paragraph of Bleak House ‘were unable to elicit a scintilla of sense’ from Charles Dickens’s prose. What or who is to blame? Philip joined the podcast to discuss. (23:29)And finally: the social minefield of swimming pool seasonArabella Byrne writes in the magazine this week that while she has ‘always loved English swimming pools’, the arrival of the summer season always presents her ‘with an annual etiquette conundrum’. If you’re lucky enough to know one of the 200,000 Brits who have a private swimming pool, she asks: how acceptable is it - really - to ask to use a friend’s pool? Arabella joined the podcast, alongside the Spectator’s very own Dear Mary, Mary Killen. (32:46)Hosted by William Moore and Gus Carter.Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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• The real Brexit betrayal, bite-sized history & is being a bridesmaid brutal?

  The real Brexit betrayal: Starmer vs the workers‘This week Starmer fell… into the embrace of Ursula von der Leyen’ writes Michael Gove in our cover article this week. He writes that this week’s agreement with the EU perpetuates the failure to understand Brexit’s opportunities, and that Labour ‘doesn’t, or at least shouldn’t exist to make the lives of the fortunate more favourable’.Michael makes the argument that ‘the real Brexit betrayal’ is Labour’s failure to understand how Brexit can protect British jobs and industries and save our manufacturing sector. Historian of the Labour Party Dr Richard Johnson, a politics lecturer at Queen Mary University writes an accompanying piece arguing that Labour ‘needs to learn to love Brexit’.Richard joined the podcast to discuss further, alongside Conservative peer Dan Hannan. Both Brexiteers, they disagree over the approach the government should take and what tools it should be using. (1:02)Next: the big appeal of bite-sized historyWhy are so many readers turning to short histories? The historian Alice Loxton writes in the magazine this week about the popularity of books with titles like ‘the shortest history of…’, ‘a brief history of…’ or ‘a little history of’. Some may argue these are designed to satisfy generations of distracted readers, but Alice defends them, saying ‘there is something liberating about how noncommittal they are’.Should we embrace the ‘short history’? Alice, author of Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives, joined the podcast to discuss further alongside Professor Simon Heffer – himself the author of A Short History of Power. (24:40)And finally: is being a bridesmaid ‘brutal’?A Northern Irish bride chose to have 95 bridesmaids when she married earlier this month. While it might be understandable to not want to choose between friends, Sophia Money-Coutts writes in the magazine this week that, once chosen, the reality of being a bridesmaid is brutal. Sophia joined the podcast to discuss further, alongside the journalist Francesca Peacock. (36:22)Hosted by William Moore and Gus Carter.Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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