LIVE: Reasons to be optimistic | with Michael Gove, Tim Stanley, Steve Baker & David Goodhart
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 26 January 2026
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Post-holiday depression, failed New Year’s resolutions and battered bank balances: January’s Blue Monday has long been branded as the most miserable day of the year. Headlines warn of ongoing war, political turmoil and economic gloom – but could they be mistaken?
Join The Spectator and special guests as they defy the doomsters to deliver an optimist’s guide to 2026. Almost three-quarters of people worldwide believe that this year will be better than the last. Are they right?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Subscribe to The Spectator and get 12 weeks of Britain's most incisive politics coverage, |
| 0:04.8 | unrivaled books and arts reviews, and so much more, all for just £12. |
| 0:09.7 | Not only that, but we'll also send you a £20 Amazon gift card absolutely free. |
| 0:14.9 | As a subscriber, you'll also be able to listen to all our other podcasts, ad-free. |
| 0:20.6 | Go to www.w.com.com.com.com |
| 0:24.8 | U.K. forward slash voucher to claim this offer now. Terms apply. |
| 0:35.6 | Hello and good evening and welcome to this spectator event on what is legendarily the most depressing day of the year. |
| 0:44.7 | Now, why this should be known as Blue Monday when NATO is cracking apart or establishing what is a riven by defections. |
| 0:51.3 | England has crashed to its worst defeat against Australia in cricket ever, and Arsenal |
| 0:56.1 | are top of the Premier League. |
| 0:57.7 | Why this should be a cause for melancholy is beyond us at the spectator, because here at the |
| 1:02.4 | spectator, we are in the business of civilised optimism. |
| 1:08.9 | And we have three civilised and optimistic speakers this evening to seek to |
| 1:15.4 | persuade you of the virtues and the resilience of this country, broken or not. And we have Steve Baker, |
| 1:23.7 | Steve, who has been member of Parliament for Wickham, is now the founder of fighting for a free |
| 1:30.3 | future, which is a wonderful podcast, substack, and ideas foundry. So those of you who are |
| 1:39.7 | interested in an economics which is based in personal dignity and freedom and a politics that is about the |
| 1:45.5 | enlargement of the scope of individual endeavour, then sign up for fighting for a free future |
| 1:52.0 | and engage with the work that Steve is now taking on beyond the parliamentary and ministerial career |
| 1:58.2 | that he had. And then immediately, on my right, we have Tim Stanley. |
| 2:01.5 | Tim is a columnist with the Daily Telegraph, |
| 2:05.1 | and Tim is also that rare thing. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Spectator, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Spectator and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.