Kemi Badenoch has won the Tory leadership election. She beat Robert Jenrick in a tight race, winning 53,806 votes against his 41,318. What will a Badenoch opposition look like? What are her strengths? Her weaknesses? Cindy Yu speaks to Michael Gove and Katy Balls.

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Christopher Caldwell asks what a Trump victory could mean for Ukraine (1:07); Gus Carter argues that leaving the ECHR won’t fix Britain’s immigration system (8:29); Ruaridh Nicoll reads his letter from Havana (18:04); Tanya Gold provides her notes on toffee apples (23:51); and a selection of our books of the year from Jonathan Sumption, Hadley Freeman, Mark Mason, Christopher Howse, Sam Leith and Frances Wilson (27:08).    Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

As we get closer to the US election, Kate Andrews, The Spectator's economics editor, joins Freddy Gray to host Americano. On this episode, she speaks to Megan McArdle, columnist at the Washington Post. They discuss why Donald Trump and Kamala Harris aren't campaigning in swing states, and why it's so difficult to predict the election result.

This week: Team Trump – who’s in, and who’s out? To understand Trumpworld you need to appreciate it’s a family affair, writes Freddy Gray in the magazine this week. For instance, it was 18-year-old Barron Trump who persuaded his father to do a series of long ‘bro-casts’ with online male influencers such as Joe Rogan. In 2016, Donald’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was the reigning prince; this year, he has been largely out of the picture. Which family figures are helping Trump run things this time around, and which groups hold the most influence? Freddy joins the podcast alongside economics editor Kate Andrews. What are the most important personnel decisions facing Trump if he wins next week? (0:58). Next: do astrologers predict elections better than pollsters? When pollster Nate Silver declared that dissecting an individual poll is like ‘doing astrology’, it led Andrew Watts to ponder what sorts of predictions astrologers make about elections. Could there be some merit in consulting them? And are astrologists better predictors than pollsters? Andrew joined the podcast to discuss further alongside The Oxford Astrologer’s Christina Rodenbeck, host of podcast Astrology Talk. What do the planets tell us about next week’s US election? (13:18). And finally: by whose values should we judge the past? Joan Smith’s new book Unfortunately, she was a nymphomaniac: a new history of Rome’s imperial women is reviewed in the Books section of the magazine this week. An eye-catching title which is ‘as thought provoking as it is provocative’ Daisy Dunn writes. Many popular historians are singled out for criticism for how they analyse women from ancient Rome, including Professor Dame Mary Beard. Is there merit in judging history by today’s standards? Well Mary Beard joined us to provide her thoughts (26:32). Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast. Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.

My guest in this week’s Book Club podcast is John Suchet whose new book In Search of Beethoven: A Personal Journey describes his lifelong passion for the composer. He tells me how the ‘Eroica’ was his soundtrack to the Lebanese Civil War, about the mysteries of Beethoven’s love-life and deafness, why he had reluctantly to accept that Beethoven was ‘ugly and half-mad’; and how even in the course of writing the book, new scholarship upended his assumptions about events in the composer’s life (from his meeting with Mozart to the circumstances of his death).

The Spectator Economic Innovator of the Year Awards, in partnership with Rathbones, celebrate the passion and creativity of British entrepreneurs. From hundreds of entries we have narrowed down to some 50 finalists across the United Kingdom. In this episode, the judges discuss the innovators within our consumer goods and services category, from suppliers of wonky fruits to producers of supplements for pets. The judges in this episode are Merryn Somerset Webb, senior columnist at Bloomberg and the founder of MoneyWeek; entrepreneur and investor Gordon Black, whose company Peter Black Holdings was a major supplier of the UK's leading retailers; Michelle White, Head of Private Office for Rathbones; and Martin Vander Weyer, The Spectator's business editor. The awards and this podcast series are sponsored by Rathbones, a leading provider of individual wealth management.

** This episode of Chinese Whispers with Cindy Yu was recorded in front of a live audience as a part of the Battle of Ideas Festival 2024. ** Is China in decline? I was born in China in the 90s, and growing up it felt like the future was always going to be brighter. My parents were wealthier, more educated, better travelled than their parents, and it seemed assured that my generation would only have even better life chances. But in the 2020s, China’s economic growth has slowed down. Some of the once-bright spots in its economy, like real estate, are in slow motion meltdown. In the last couple of years foreign direct investment into the country has been falling at a record pace. The youth unemployment rate from this summer shows that just under a fifth of people under 24 are jobless. So how much of this is a considerable decline in the progress that China has made in the last miraculous half century, or is it just perhaps 'western bias' that’s blinding us to what is still a very positive picture? On this live podcast, I discuss this question with a lively and experienced panel of China-watchers: Tom Miller, a senior analyst at Gavekal Research and author of two books on China; Isabel Hilton, a veteran international reporter and founder of the website China Dialogue; and Austin Williams, an architect by training who is also the author of numerous books on China, and teaches at the Xi'An Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

The Spectator Economic Innovator of the Year Awards, in partnership with Rathbones, celebrate the passion and creativity of British entrepreneurs. From hundreds of entries we have narrowed down to some 50 finalists across the United Kingdom. In this episode, the judges introduce those start-ups rethinking and finessing the battle against climate change, from vertical farming to carbon capture technology; as well as those working for a greater social purpose, such as getting more women into tech. The judges in this episode are Eva-Maria Dimitriadis, CEO of the Conduit Connect, which backs exceptional founders whose businesses generate positive change; Clive Bawden, director of Governance360 and a previous winner of the Innovator Awards; Michelle White, Head of Private Office for Rathbones; and Martin Vander Weyer, The Spectator's business editor. The awards and this podcast series are sponsored by Rathbones, a leading provider of individual wealth management.

In this week’s Spectator, William Finlater reveals that some of the Church of Scotland’s most precious architectural heritage is being flogged off quickly, cheaply and discreetly. Most western denominations are being forced to close churches, but the fire sale of hundreds of Scottish churches is unprecedented in British history. In this episode of Holy Smoke, Damian talks to William about the Kirk’s apparently panicky reaction to losing half its members since 2000, and asks new Spectator editor Michael Gove – once a Church of Scotland Sunday School teacher – why his former denomination is staring into the abyss. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons. 

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Philip Womack wonders why students can't tackle university reading lists (1:12); Ian Thomson contemplates how much Albania has changed since Enver Hoxta’s dictatorship (6:12); Silkie Carlo reveals the worrying rise of supermarket surveillance (13:33); Francis Young provides his notes on Hallowe’en fairies (20:21); and Rory Sutherland worries that Britain may soon face a different type of migrant crisis (24:08).    Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.