Spectator Out Loud: Peter Frankopan, Tim Shipman, Francis Pike, Hermione Eyre and George Young
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.4 • 785 Ratings
🗓️ 27 June 2025
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Peter Frankopan argues that Israel’s attack on Iran has been planned for years (2:00); just how bad are things for Kemi Badenoch, asks Tim Shipman (13:34); Francis Pike says there are plenty of reasons to believe in ghosts (21:49); Hermione Eyre, wife of Alex Burghart MP, reviews Sarah Vine’s book How Not To Be a Political Wife: A Memoir, which deals with Vine’s marriage to ex-husband Michael Gove (28:46); and, George Young reports on the French sculptors building the new Statue of Liberty (34:45).
Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Young Christians are flocking to traditional Anglican and Catholic services, embracing solemnity and |
| 0:05.6 | mysticism. But why is this happening? And could we be on the verge of an unexpected recovery of the |
| 0:10.8 | sacred? To discuss this further, the spectator would like to invite you to a special evening |
| 0:15.4 | taking place at the glorious and beautifully lit surroundings of St. Bartholomew the Great, the oldest |
| 0:20.3 | parish church in the city of London. Bartholomew the Great, the oldest parish church in the |
| 0:21.4 | city of London. This unique gathering includes speakers such as the editor of the spectator Michael |
| 0:26.7 | Gove, the rector of St. Bards, the Reverend Marcus Walker, the Oxford Regis Professor of Divinity, |
| 0:32.1 | Professor Andrew Davidson, and the host of this podcast, Damien Thompson, joined by the renowned |
| 0:37.1 | choir of St. Bartz. The event is taking place on Tuesday, July Damien Thompson, joined by the renowned choir of St Bartz. |
| 0:38.4 | The event is taking place on Tuesday, July 8th, and for tickets and more information, |
| 0:43.2 | go to spectator.com.uk, forward slash church. |
| 0:58.5 | Hello and welcome to Spectator Out Loud. |
| 1:03.8 | Each week we choose some of our favourite articles from the magazine and ask their writers to read them aloud. |
| 1:14.1 | I'm Patrick Gibbons and on this week's podcast, Peter Frankapan reflects on a week in which the Middle East was remade and argues that Israel's attack on Iran has been planned a few years. |
| 1:19.7 | Tim Shipman ponders on just how bad things are for Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenock. |
| 1:27.9 | After revealing in a spectator editorial conference that he had once employed an exorcist, Francis Pike says there are plenty of reasons to believe in ghosts. |
| 1:34.4 | Hermione Air reviews Sarah Vine's book How Not to Be a Political Wife, a memoir, declaring an interest as she too is married to an MP. Vines book deals with the impact that politics had on her marriage |
| 1:39.2 | to now ex-husband, also now editor of the spectator, Michael Gove. Sarah and Michael will be discussing this further |
| 1:45.2 | in an exclusive Spectator event next week. For more information and tickets, go to spectator.com. |
| 1:50.2 | At UK, forward slash Sarah Vine. And finally, George Young reports on the French sculptors |
| 1:56.2 | building the new Statue of Liberty. Up first, Peter Frankapan. It was clear at the time that what |
| 2:02.4 | happened on the 7th of October 2023 would change the Middle East. What was perhaps less obvious |
... |
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