Does Pete Hegseth know what he's doing?
Americano
The Spectator
4 • 714 Ratings
🗓️ 9 October 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Pete Hegseth has declared war on 'fat generals' and DEI in the US army - but why have standards slipped? Chris Caldwell joins Freddy Gray to discuss why the current administration feels so passionately about forcing a 'major cultural shift' in the military, plus the legacies of Bill Clinton's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy and Joe Biden's acceptance of transgender troops. They also talk about the differences between America's 'Marshal spirit' and British 'obsession' with World War Two, and why one country is more deferential to their veterans than the other.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I'm Isabel Hardman, and on the 16th of October at the Emanuel Centre in Westminster, |
| 0:05.3 | I'll be interviewing Charles Moore as part of the Spectator's speaker series. |
| 0:09.5 | Charles's new authorised biography of Margaret Thatcher marks the 100-year anniversary of her birth, |
| 0:15.3 | and he has been given incredible access to her private papers to construct a definitive portrait of Thatcher. |
| 0:22.2 | We will be discussing her enduring legacy and draw parallels between her premiership and today's |
| 0:27.6 | fractured conservatism. That's at 7pm on the 16th of October at the Emanuel Center in Westminster. |
| 0:34.2 | And for tickets, go to spectator.com.uk forward slash more. See you there. |
| 0:43.3 | Before we get started, I want to tell you about a very exciting event that it's coming up. It's another |
| 0:49.4 | Americano live. We've done two so far, and they've both been great successes. It's with the great Anne Coulter, |
| 0:56.5 | and it will be on Monday the 3rd of November at the Emanuel Centre in central London. |
| 1:04.7 | To book your ticket or tickets, please click on the link on the description below or if like me you're very old fashioned |
| 1:11.9 | you can type spectator.co.com.uk forward slash Americano events and you'll see the page there. |
| 1:24.4 | Hello and welcome back to the Americano show, a series of discussions in which we talk about |
| 1:29.8 | American politics, power and prejudices. Each week, we will do at least two possibly more |
| 1:37.6 | episodes speaking to an American or an American expert about what is going on in America. |
| 1:46.6 | We will cover the Trump presidency, of course, |
| 1:50.8 | but we will also be doing quite a lot of non-Trump-related podcasts, |
| 1:52.6 | because if you're anything like me, |
| 1:55.9 | the story of Donald Trump can get a bit overwhelming. |
| 1:59.1 | Please keep listening and enjoy. |
| 2:03.8 | I'm delighted to be joined by the great Christopher Caldwell, |
| 2:07.5 | who is a columnist for the Spectators World Edition and a contributing editor for the Claremont Review of Books. |
... |
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