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.
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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
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‘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
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‘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
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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
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On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Tim Shipman says that the real war for the right is yet to come; Ian Williams examines the farce over the collapses China espionage case; Theo Hobson argues that the Church of England is muddled over sex and marriage; Lara Prendergast reads her letter from America; and, Lisa Haseldine
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The Spectator’s cover story this week looks at ‘the fear’ gripping Jewish people amidst rising antisemitism. Reflecting on last week’s attack in Manchester, Douglas Murray says that ‘no-one in the Jewish community was surprised’ – a damning inditement on Britain today. How do we tackle religious intolerance? And is there room for nuance in the
It is party time in New York as we toast the launch of The Spectator’s swish new office on Fifth Avenue. The building, an art deco number originally designed by George F. Pelham, thrusts skywards, just a few blocks from the Empire State Building – and we’re right at the top. The Spectator State of
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First: who has the Home Secretary got in her sights? Political editor Tim Shipman profiles Shabana Mahmood in the Spectator’s cover article this week. Given Keir Starmer’s dismal approval ratings, politicos are consumed by gossip about who could be his heir-apparent – even more so, following Angela Rayner’s defenestration a few weeks ago. Mahmood may
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Writer Andrew Turvil is the former editor of the Good Food Guide, the AA Restaurant Guide and the Which? Pub Guide. His new book Blood, Sweat and Asparagus Spears: The Story of the 1990s Restaurant Revolution is out now. On the podcast, Andrew tells Olivia Potts and Lara Prendergast about how his journey began through
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First: a warning from history Politics moving increasingly from the corridors of power into the streets, economic insecurity exacerbating tensions and the centre of politics failing to hold; these are just some of the echoes from Weimar Germany that the Spectator’s editor Michael Gove sees when looking at present-day Britain. But, he says, ‘there are
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Donald Trump touches down in Britain next week for his state visit and political editor Tim Shipman has the inside scoop on how No. 10 is preparing. Keir Starmer’s aides are braced for turbulence; ‘the one thing about Trump which is entirely predictable is his unpredictability,’ one ventures. Government figures fear he may go off
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First: a look ahead to President Trump’s state visit next week Transatlantic tensions are growing as the row over Peter Mandelson’s role provides an ominous overture to Donald Trump’s state visit next week. Political editor Tim Shipman has the inside scoop on how No. 10 is preparing. Keir Starmer’s aides are braced for turbulence. ‘The
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In a bumper episode, the legend that is Raymond Blanc joins Olivia Potts and Lara Prendergast. The self-taught chef heads up the double Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, has trained chefs from Heston Blumenthal to Marco Pierre White, and received an honorary OBE in 2008. His new book Simply Raymond Kitchen Garden is out
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First: Reform is naff – and that’s why people like it Gareth Roberts warns this week that ‘the Overton window is shifting’ but in a very unexpected way. Nigel Farage is ahead in the polls – not only because his party is ‘bracingly right-wing’, but ‘because Reform is camp’. Farage offers what Britain wants: ‘a
As I trudge up to Marlborough’s observatory, near the top of the playing fields, I’m transported back to my time as a pupil here. I studied astronomy for GCSE, which meant spending many evenings at the observatory, gazing at the night sky. The Blackett Observatory, which houses a superb Cooke 10in refractor telescope, celebrates its
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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
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Ben Lippett is a chef and food influencer whose recipes and cooking tips are hugely popular online. His new book How I Cook: A Chef’s Guide To Really Good Home Cooking is out on the 2nd September. On the podcast, Ben tells Lara and Olivia about how he went about writing his debut cookbook, what makes
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First: Putin has set a trap for Europe and Ukraine ‘Though you wouldn’t know from the smiles in the White House this week… a trap has been set by Vladimir Putin to split the United States from its European allies,’ warns Owen Matthews. The Russian President wants to make a deal with Donald Trump, but
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Brett Graham is the man behind the Michelin-starred The Ledbury in Notting Hill, which is celebrating 20 years this year. He’s also the director of The Harwood Arms in Fulham, London’s only pub with a Michelin star. On the podcast, Brett tells hosts Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts about why being in the kitchen is
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Does – or did – Nigel Farage have a woman problem? ‘Around me there’s always been a perception of a laddish culture,’ he tells political editor Tim Shipman, for the cover piece of the Spectator this week. In last year’s election, 58 per cent of Reform voters were men. But, Shipman argues, ‘that has begun
