My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is the Children’s Laureate, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, whose new book, A British Childhood: How Our Children Live Now, describes what he discovered from the travels he undertook during his work with BookTrust and the Laureateship.

He tells me what he learned about what really happens when a parent reads to a child, why the crisis in childhood reading is down to much more than the rise of screens – and how Heidi can save your life.

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Enoch Powell is one of the most polarising figures in modern British politics. His infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech – in which he warned that immigration would spark ethnic conflict – continues to shape some of today’s most important debates on race, identity and immigration.

Michael Gove and assistant editor Madeline Grant sit down with Simon Heffer, author of Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell, to explore Powell’s legacy. They examine how he became a model for populist rhetoric and discuss why understanding Enoch Powell is central to understanding the right today.

This podcast was originally recorded as a live event. To find out more about future Spectator events go to: spectator.com/events

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Keir Starmer has announced his plans to ban social media for under 16s in Britain. The ban is due to come in early next year and include all main social media apps. Age-recognition and digital ID checks will be used to keep children away from social media. But when it comes to child safety, will it make a difference? And what are the unintended consequences of a ban? Michael Simmons challenges The Spectator's John Power.

This episode is brought to you by Artemis Fund Managers, for more information on our fund range please click here https://www.artemisfunds.com/ .

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On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Tim Shipman interviews Kemi Badenoch – including excerpts from the interview; Justin Marozzi argues that Trump’s strategy has only strengthened the Iranian regime; Christopher Howse pays tribute to ‘London’s rudest landlord'; and finally, Lara Prendergasts says that ‘matrescence’ is one big con.

Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

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For this week’s Edition, William Moore is joined by the Spectator's commissioning editor Lara Brown, the columnist for the Wall Street Journal’s Free Expression newsletter Louise Perry and the Telegraph journalist and presenter of Ukraine: The Latest Francis Dearnley.

This week: Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has now gone on longer than the first world war and it shares much of the horrors of that war, from attrition warfare to substantial losses on both sides. So, with over half a million Russians estimated to be killed, could Putin and Zelensky be brought to an exhausted peace? ’No’ is the pessimistic answer from Francis Dearnley this week, who explains that while it might appear to be stuck in a stalemate, casualties are still rising rapidly and Ukraine is currently in the strongest position it has been in for almost 18 months. This is in part due to advances in drone technology, of which Ukraine is now the world’s leading ’superpower’. Drone technology has evolved so rapidly that Francis predicts ‘we are only a few months away from our first political assassination by drone’. What could bring the war to an end? And does British support for Ukraine remain strong?

Also: one week out from the Makerfield by-election, what do we know of Andy Burnham’s Cambridge days? Lara Brown reveals the ‘reassuringly bland’ antics of the Northern lad – who could become Britain’s first Prime Minister with an English Literature degree. Does it matter? And more importantly – will he win?

Plus, they discuss: whether ‘two-tiering’ or positive discrimination can ever be a good thing; if the new motherhood trend of ‘matrescence’ is a con; and, as the World Cup kicks off – is it coming home?

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.