The Edition

William Moore is joined by The Spectator’s associate editor Toby Young, commissioning editor Lara Brown and newsletter editor and restaurant critic Angus Colwell.
This week: What has gone wrong with British universities? Lara unpacks the wider academic crisis in the wake of the Jason Arday scandal, from ‘surviving the apocalypse’ courses at Warwick to maths departments promising to ‘decolonise’ the subject. Has the sector lost its nerve?
Also: Balding. Toby explains why he’s trying to talk his three sons out of hair transplants, while Angus and Lara weigh in on whether men vastly overestimate the importance of their hair on the dating market.
Plus: is Indian the best cuisine? Angus argues it’s surprisingly hard to find a truly great curry in London, while the the panel ask whethe Indian food is unfairly low-status because it’s too cheap.
Produced by Henry Lloyd and Oscar Edmondson.
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For this week’s Edition, Lara Prendergast is joined by The Spectator’s editor Michael Gove, deputy editor Freddy Gray, and associate editor Toby Young.

This week the episode and magazine is dedicated to our beloved Rod Liddle, who died aged 66. The Spectator journalists reflect on some of their favourite memories of Rod, what his legacy will be and how is writing, wit and intelligence will be irreplaceable.
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For this week’s Edition, Lara Prendergast is joined by The Spectator’s columnist Rory Sutherland, political editor Tim Shipman and drinks editor Jonathan Ray.

This week: What has been the damage of Labour’s punitive war on private education? Rory questions whether the sector had helped itself in the years prior, but did the policy itself ever represent more than ‘class warfare?’ Tim explores the vigour to which the (now former) Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson embraced that label, whilst Jonathan reflects on ‘canny approaches’ to game the system.

Also: Election? What election? The panel discuss rumours that the PM may call an early general election in the wake of the ‘Burnham bounce’ in the polls giving Labour a narrow lead over Reform. If not, how does he escape the straitjacket of the 2024 manifesto? Rory further explains how government has been transformed from a ‘policeman to a traffic warden,’ and gives Burnham his top tips for an easy re-election.

Plus: The death doulas movement. To what extent does this growing trend – of which figures such as Caroline Lucas, Davina McCall and Nicole Kidman are now subscribers – represent a broader point of death positivity, or in the end, is it all just ‘mumbo jumbo?’
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This week: has Andy Burnham really brought change to Downing Street – or merely repackaged Labour’s old guard? Has Ed Miliband been sidelined by being sent to the Foreign Office, a ‘non-job’ in which he can do little harm? The panel also asks whether Burnham is prepared to make the difficult decisions required of a prime minister – and why the Conservatives have been so reluctant to demand a general election.
Also: is America’s socialist left taking over the Democratic party? Candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America are gaining ground, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may be underestimated as a future presidential nominee and parts of the radical left are beginning to embrace gun ownership. Could Bernie Sanders have beaten Donald Trump in 2016 – had the Democrats not chosen ‘the only person who could conceivably lose’ to him?
Plus: who really blew up the Nord Stream pipeline? The accepted account holds that a small band of Ukrainians carried out one of the most sophisticated acts of sabotage in recent history. But does the evidence look less like a professional intelligence operation than ‘somebody establishing an alibi’?
Produced by Patrick Gibbons, Oscar Edmondson and Gareth Roy.
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For this week’s Edition, William Moore is joined by The Spectator’s political editor, Tim Shipman, commissioning editor and writer at large Tali Fraser, and the historian Antony Beevor.
This week: what will Andy Burnham actually do in Downing Street? Tim reveals what to expect from the incoming prime minister’s first ten days, from a blitz of policies and a ‘Number 10 North’ to higher borrowing and wealth taxes.
Also: has Britain expanded the definition of disability too far? The panel discusses Michael Simmons’s argument that compassion should not mean turning every difficulty into a disorder – and asks how the government can encourage resilience and work while protecting those who genuinely need support.
Plus: Tali investigates the Welsh government’s plan to make Wales ‘anti-racist’ by 2030. From hate-crime training for landlords to decolonising museums – and even Welsh cakes – has the Welsh government gone mad?
Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.
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