Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator

Does paracetamol cause Autism?

15 min listen

Freddy Gray speaks to The Spectator’s economics editor Michael Simmons about Trump’s announcement at the Oval Office on Monday night that taking Tylenol, known as paracetamol, ‘is no good’ and that pregnant women should ‘fight like hell’ to only take it in cases of extreme fever. They discuss the data behind the claims, whether the

Charlie Kirk and America’s fifth great awakening

Political Islam is a powerful global force. Wahhabism, the Muslim Brotherhood and Shia theocracy are different yet successful strands of the same impulse to govern according to the will of Allah. Political Christianity, by contrast, has in recent decades, even centuries, taken a back seat when it comes to public affairs. With some exceptions, Christians have

Has Trump been taken over by Big Tech?

54 min listen

Donald Trump has arrived in Britain with promises of billions in tech investment. But is this AI boom real growth — or just another bubble? Oren Cass, chief economist at American Compass and editor of The New Conservatives, joins Freddy Gray to discuss whether the Trump administration has been taken over by big tech. Click

Trump and Starmer dance around their differences

14 min listen

Donald Trump has been in the UK this week on an unprecedented second state visit – an honour that he said last night at a state dinner he ‘hopes’ is reserved only for him, to much amusement in the room. Humility doesn’t come naturally to the President, but he does seem genuinely humbled by the

What’s driving political violence in America?

Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old from south-west Utah, has been detained over the shooting of Kirk, a conservative activist and close ally of Donald Trump. Author and anthropologist Max Horder joins Freddy Gray to discuss the cocktail of online hate and tribal divisions that’s fuelling America’s new era of political violence.

Mandelson’s Epstein problem is not going away

When King Charles hosts Donald Trump for the state banquet at Windsor Castle next week, the dignitaries should know better than to mention Jeffrey Epstein. Inevitably, however, Epstein’s ghost will hang over proceedings, the paedo-Banquo at the feast. In the coming days, the details of Mandelson’s bond with Epstein may end up overshadowing all talk

How worried are Americans about Britain?

20 min listen

In Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, Britain has a double-edged sword: one of the most anglophile U.S. administrations of all time – but a greater awareness of UK domestic politics. From Lucy Connolly to the recent arrest of Graham Linehan at Heathrow airport, there is much chatter in America about free speech in Britain and

Freddy Gray

How scary is China’s military?

Freddy is joined by Harry Kazianis, editor in chief of the National Security Journal, to assess China’s military rise. He argues Beijing aims to dominate the Indo-Pacific with missiles, drones and naval power, posing a growing threat to U.S. influence and Taiwan.

How authoritarian is Trump 2.0?

33 min listen

On this episode, Nick Gillespie, Reason’s editor at large, joins Freddy to discuss whether Trump 2.0 is really as authoritarian as people say. Is he closer to a gangster than a dictator? They also discuss tariffs, the weaponisation of the Justice Department, and the state of free speech in the UK.

Do mass shootings begin online?

32 min listen

Freddy Gray is joined by writer and internet ethnographer Katherine Dee. She’s written about the Minneapolis school shooting and Robin Westman for Spectator World. Two children were killed and 17 others injured by a killer with a bizarre online footprint: a mix of memes, nihilism, politics and gore references. Katharine argues ‘these shooters are radicalised,

Freddy Gray

Was the Minneapolis shooting an anti-Catholic hate crime?

‘Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now,’ said Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, standing near the scene of yesterday’s Catholic school shooting in his city. ‘These kids were literally praying.’ I think he was trying to say, ‘This is no time for empty platitudes’ – or something similar. The words sounded horribly

The coming crash, a failing foster system & ‘DeathTok’

45 min listen

First: an economic reckoning is looming ‘Britain’s numbers… don’t add up’, says economics editor Michael Simmons. We are ‘an ageing population with too few taxpayers’. ‘If the picture looks bad now,’ he warns, ‘the next few years will be disastrous.’ Governments have consistently spent more than they raised; Britain’s debt costs ‘are the worst in

Can the Democrats save themselves?

17 min listen

Freddy Gray speaks to Semafor journalist David Weigel about the Democrat’s summer meeting in Minnesota which was cut short following the tragic shooting at a school today. They discuss what we know about the shooting so far, how the Democrats can reset their stance on law and order, and whether they can unify their stance

Did Putin get the upper hand in Alaska?

Donald Trump hasn’t left his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska with a deal to end the war in Ukraine. He told reporters that ‘great progress’ was made but ‘we didn’t get there’. To discuss who really got the upper hand, Freddy Gray is joined by Spectator associate editor and Russia correspondent Owen Matthews.

How dangerous is Washington, D.C.?

US President Donald Trump claims Washington, D.C. has been “overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals”. There are lots of stories about crime, including one very bizarre incident involving a sandwich. Just how unsafe is D.C.? Freddy Gray is joined by US managing editor Matt McDonald and Isaac Schorr, staff writer at Mediaite, who has

Does MAGA prefer Jenrick?

11 min listen

JD Vance has been in the Cotswolds this week on his Britain fantasy tour. This has been billed as a ‘holiday’ but he did take the time out of his busy schedule to meet with some of Britain’s right-wing politicians. Robert Jenrick, Chris Philp and Nigel Farage were all granted an audience with the vice-president,