Best of the Spectator19 Sep 2025

The Edition: Weimar Britain, the war on science & are you a competitive reader?

First: a warning from history

Politics moving increasingly from the corridors of power into the streets, economic insecurity exacerbating tensions and the centre of politics failing to hold; these are just some of the echoes from Weimar Germany that the Spectator’s editor Michael Gove sees when looking at present-day Britain. But, he says, ‘there are grounds for hope’ – what are they? Michael joined the podcast to discuss.

Next: why did science succumb to the ‘culture wars’?

Biologist and peer Matt Ridley bemoans the ‘cultification of science’, arguing that ‘left-wing ideological nonsense’ ended up permeating through all scientific disciplines. Thinking ‘neutral facts’ were safe, Matt admits he – and colleagues – may have been naïve as one by one different battlefields emerged. Matt joined the podcast to discuss. Has science thrown off the shackles of the ‘culture wars’?

And finally: how many books have you read?

Emily Hill delves into the world of competitive reading this week – the rise of people publicising the books they’ve read, particularly through social media. Emily calls this ‘conspicuous’ and notes it appears to be a trend amongst mainly female influencers. But is this solely performative or – in a world of diminishing attention spans – could the trend be promoting the act of reading? Emily joined the podcast alongside BookTok blogger Lucas Oakeley.

Plus: Mark Mason provides his notes on guided walks. Mark will also be hosting a guided walk for the Spectator, for tickets go to www.spectator.co.uk/events

Hosted by William Moore and Lara Prendergast.

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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

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