On Thursday the 15th of May, the Spectator is hosting a live book club event. Sam Leith will be joined by

former Telegraph editor-in-chief and military historian Max Hastings. It will be an opportunity to talk

about Max's new book, Sword, D-Day, trial by battle, as well as mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day.

The full details are as follows. 730 on Thursday

15th of May at the Shaw Theatre in Houston, London, and tickets start from £27.50, although I

believe there are ticket options that include a signed copy of the book. For those tickets,

go to www.spector.com.com.com.com.org. Fourslafe. We look forward to seeing you there.

Hello and welcome to Spectator Out Loud. Each week, we choose some of our favorite articles

from the magazine and ask their writers to read them aloud.

I'm Patrick Gibbons and on this week's podcast, Alenka Hamilton ponder's weather

Poland's revival is a mirage.

Melanie McDonough asks who killed the Postal Service.

Hannah Moore argues that family cars aren't built for families anymore.

James Dellingpole reviews Karem from Apple TV and Chef's Table from Netflix.

And finally, William Atkinson provides his notes on Thomas the Tank Engine.

Up first, Alenka Hamilton.

In 1988, when I was six months old, my British father and Polish mother took me to meet my family in Krakow.

My parents brought an extra suitcase filled with disposable nappies because such luxuries weren't sold on the other side of the iron curtain.

At the time, there was only one shop in Krakow that sold foreign goods, but my father was pleased to discover that

a gallon of whiskey could be bought for only eight American dollars.

He was a member of the House of Lords, and I'm told we were trailed for our entire stay.

Everywhere we went, a large Polsky Fiat-125, driven by a suited man, followed us.

...