Lukas Degutis

Lukas Degutis is The Spectator's editorial manager.

Lukas Degutis, Ysenda Maxtone Graham, Richard Bratby and Toby Young

27 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Lukas Degutis reports from Riga, exploring Latvia’s policy of expelling Russian speakers (01:16); Ysenda Maxtone Graham explains why she believes applause has no place at a funeral (10:03); paying homage to Christopher Gunning, Richard Bratby argues that composers of ads, film soundtracks and TV theme tunes should be taken more

Plan Bibi: stalemate suits Netanyahu

48 min listen

Welcome to a slightly new format for the Edition podcast! Each week we will be talking about the magazine – as per usual – but trying to give a little more insight into the process behind putting The Spectator to bed each week. On the podcast this week: plan Bibi In the early hours of Friday morning,

Why Latvia is expelling its Russian speakers

Riga, Latvia At the age of 74, Inessa Novikova, who is ethnically Russian, was told she had to learn Latvian or she’d be deported. ‘I felt physically ill when the policy was announced,’ she tells me when we meet in an office close to Riga’s city centre. ‘I’ve lived here peacefully for 20 years.’ There

I found peace at the gun range

I like ice hockey, 7-Eleven Big Gulps and the choice of six lanes on the Interstate. I like almost everything about America except the guns, which is why I decided to challenge my prejudices at a pistol range in Fresno, California. Walking in, I was welcomed by ‘Don’t tread on me!’ stickers and signs in

Lithuania’s support for Ukraine remains undimmed

Vilnius, Lithuania This week, the world’s eyes were on the Lithuanian capital Vilnius as it welcomed global leaders for Nato’s 74th summit. The event was a logistical challenge not helped by the fact that Vilnius is only 30km away from the border with Belarus, which is now home to Russian nuclear weapons. Commercial flights were

The genius of Lana

Over the past few years, Lana Del Rey has been engulfed in acclaim: Variety’s Artist Of The Decade, the first recipient of Billboard’s Visionary Award and Rolling Stone UK’s endorsement as ‘the greatest American songwriter of the 21st century’. Bruce Springsteen has named her ‘one of the best’ and Courtney Love called her a ‘true musical genius’. And now, with her

American ambivalence towards Ukraine only emboldens Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky’s address to Congress on Wednesday seems to have upset some in the Republican party. Four representatives refused to clap after his speech, and two of them – Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert – were seen seated throughout, captivated by their mobile phones instead. Boebert, the representative for Colorado’s third district, later published her

In defence of the One Love armband

Wales’ football manager Rob Page was clear about why his team’s captain Gareth Bale would wear the ‘One Love’ armband at the Qatar World Cup: it was about demonstrating support of LGBT rights in a country where there are none. Whatever the pushback from Fifa, Page insisted last month that the armband would be worn:

How the coffee subscription ruined Pret

I have a deep-seated hatred of the hospitality QR code. It ripped through the industry as part of questionable social-distancing initiatives during the pandemic, taking the place of menus and human interaction – and has stubbornly refused to disappear, making my heart sink when I find one sellotaped to the table of a bar or

How The Spectator covered the deaths of previous British monarchs

To commemorate the 70-year and-214-day-long reign of Queen Elizabeth II, this week’s issue of The Spectator is the first ever to feature a front-and-back design. Illustrated by Morten Morland, its design is inspired by Victorian-style mourning cards and includes a mixture of details from the royal coat of arms, as well as a few personal

Neckerchiefs are a sartorial risk worth taking

Neckerchiefs are an oddity. Once the cowboys’ sweat-wiping tool, they are now a key accessory in the glamour – or camp and borderline tack – of a flight attendant’s uniform. My approach to them tends to sit somewhere in the middle. Neckerchiefs are useful, stylish, rebellious, but comforting – a rare choice for men’s fashionwear. A

How Italy’s most famous coastline stays crowd-free

A five-minute taxi journey costs €50, a single drink can set you back more than €20 – and if you want to avoid shelling out €60 for a plate of pasta, you might struggle to find a supermarket. But the Costa Smeralda offers one luxury that’s hard to put a price on at the peak

Why you should swap Mykonos for Milos

Choosing an island in the Cyclades is a familiar summer conundrum for those who love Greece. The array of choice is so dizzying that many opt for the safety of well-known options: Santorini and Mykonos. But if you’re seeking something off the beaten track, why not venture away from the tourist centrals? With a population