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.
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is on this week. The gardens are impressive, but my favourite part of the show has always been the enormous tent in the middle of it all, in which flowers from all round the British Isles are displayed. Radiant pots of daffodils sit alongside obscene-looking collections of orchids – and
36 min listen
First, France has been shaken by a series of gruesome terror attack – yet western leaders seem remarkably reluctant to support President Emannuel Macron. (01:04) Lara speaks to The Spectator’s associate editor Douglas Murray and writer Ed Husain. Next, this year’s US election was truly remarkable – but what was it like to report on
23 min listen
Dan Keeling is a wine writer behind the magazine and restaurant Noble Rot. He tells Lara and Livvy about how he discovered his love of wine; working in the music industry; and how to start a restaurant with zero experience. Presented by Lara Prendergast and Olivia Potts.
28 min listen
What are the latest developments in the US presidential election? (01:15) – Lara is joined by the Spectator’s economics correspondent Kate Andrews and the Spectator US’s editor Freddy Gray, who is currently in Pennsylvania. What is it like to care for a disabled child during a time of lockdown? (09:19) – The journalist Sam Carlisle
A frothy new drama called Emily in Paris arrived on Netflix last month. Starring Lily Collins — daughter of Phil — it tells the story of a pretty social media ‘expert’ who moves from Chicago to Paris, where she manages to offend almost everybody she meets, and yet somehow triumphs. It is Eloise in Paris
20 min listen
Olia Hercules is a chef and food writer. On the podcast, she tells Lara and Livvy about growing up in Cyprus; being disappointed by British ingredients; and teaching her son to love Ukrainian cooking.
39 min listen
Why does the government think the second wave will be worse than the first? (00:49) Will a Biden presidency restore America’s fortunes? (18:45) And finally, does Covid mark the end for the silver screen? (30:10) Spectator editor Fraser Nelson talks to Carl Heneghan, professor of evidence-based medicine at the University of Oxford; editor of The
20 min listen
Ian Rankin is a bestselling crime writer, most known for his Inspector Rebus novels. On the podcast, he tells Lara and Livvy about living in a motel during his first year at university; how eating curry for the first time was ‘a revelation’; and the snacks that keep him going while he writes. Tell us
44 min listen
Dolly Alderton is an author, journalist and podcaster who hosts ‘The High Low’ podcast. On the episode, she talks to Lara and Livvy about campaigning for gender equality (and cooked breakfasts) at her boarding school; how taste in food can make or break the attractiveness of a man; and the importance of planning a desert
37 min listen
From Covid to Brexit to even the culture wars, Boris’s performance seems to have been lacklustre. Where is the effervescent leader he was promised to be? (00:45) Sweden’s violent crime is spiking – and are politicians afraid to say why? (16:45) And on the other side of the world, why are the Japanese so much
23 min listen
On this week’s podcast, Freddy Gray explains how Trump could still pull his greatest trick yet (00:45) Emma Byrne considers whether she will be bankrupted by the next housing scandal (12:30) Lara Prendergast argues that wearing floral masks isn’t worth the hassle. (19:11)
Now that we must all wear face masks, it is hardly surprising that they have started to become a fashion accessory. An Israeli jeweller has created a gold and diamond-encrusted mask that is said to be worth $1.5 million. According to the designer, the man who commissioned the extravagant mask — which weighs nearly 100
37 min listen
Annie Gray is a historian, cook and writer who specialises in food from 1600 to present day. On the podcast, she tells Lara and Olivia about a childhood of eating ‘frisbee-like’ omelettes, why male hares are inedible, and how an episode of Antiques Roadshow nearly jeopardised the release of her new book. Annie Gray’s Victory
29 min listen
Skye McAlpine is a Sunday Times columnist and the author of two cookbooks. She joins Lara and Olivia down the line from Venice, where she grew up. On the podcast, she talks about moving to the city as a child, her favourite Venetian meals, and why, despite being a dinner party maestro, she doesn’t believe
45 min listen
Rory Sutherland is the vice-chairman of the renowned advertising firm, Ogilvy, and the Spectator’s ‘Wiki Man’ columnist. On the podcast, he talks to Lara and Olivia about everything and anything from the dreadful British food of the 70s, why he loves chain restaurants, and the best and worst kitchen gadgets. As well as his incredibly
27 min listen
Greta Bellamacina is an actress and poet, who has published numerous collections and made her acting debut in Harry Potter. On the podcast, she talks to Lara and Olivia about what it was like to be on set for Harry Potter, growing up with four siblings, and why her favourite restaurant is an over-priced Chinese
24 min listen
Rhik Samadder is an actor and columnist for the Guardian, where his column Wellness or Hellness? reviews kitchen gadgets and life hacks. On the podcast, he talks to Lara and Olivia about his mother’s adventurous dinner table, his teenage battles with anorexia, and the worst kitchen gadgets he ever reviewed (including a mug which had
46 min listen
John Williams is the ebullient Executive Chef at the Ritz. On the podcast, he talks to Lara and Livvy about breaking into the London fine dining scene as a boy from Tyneside, how the Ritz is as far from rustic as you can get, and his friendship with Margaret Thatcher, when she lived at the
32 min listen
The government is looking at easing the lockdown, but how much remains unknown about the coronavirus (00:40)? In the meantime, Joe Biden is batting off sexual assault allegations (10:15), and we take a look at the upside of lockdown for new parents (21:30). With science writer Matt Ridley, virologist Elisabetta Groppelli, Spectator USA editor Freddy
I laughed when my Spanish midwife mentioned in passing that in Latin American countries they have a custom for new mothers known as la cuarentena — the quarantine. This was back in late February, a few weeks before my daughter Lily was born. I remember thinking it seemed not only ludicrous but archaic for a