The Edition: new world disorder
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 19 October 2023
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In The Spectator's cover piece Jonathan Spyer writes that as America's role in international security diminishes history is moving Iran’s way, with political Islam now commanding much of the Middle East. He is joined by Ravi Agrawal, editor in chief of Foreign Policy and host of the FP Live podcast, to discuss whether America is still the world's policeman.
Also this week:
In the magazine this week, The Spectator’s literary editor Sam Leith speaks to Jacques Testard, publisher at Fitzcarraldo Editions, the indie publishing house which has just won its fourth nobel prize in under ten years. They have kindly allowed us to hear a section of their conversation in which they discuss the joy of translations, how a literary publishing house should exist as a work of art in and of itself and why winning prizes isn’t everything.
And finally:
In his arts lead, journalist Dan Hitchens reviews Georgian Illuminations, an exhibition at Sir John Soane's Museum on the golden age of public spectacle. He joins the podcast alongside Louise Stewart, co-curator of the exhibition, to uncover how the Georgian's invented nightlife.
Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Spectator magazine combines incisive political analysis with books and arts reviews of unrivaled authority. |
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| 0:17.4 | Go to spectator.com.uk forward slash voucher. |
| 0:30.1 | Hello and welcome to the edition podcast from The Spectator, where each week we look at three pieces from the magazine with the writers behind |
| 0:38.1 | them. I'm Laura Prendergast, the Spectator's Executive Editor. |
| 0:42.0 | And I'm William Moore, the Spectator's Features Editor. |
| 0:44.9 | On this week's episode, we'll be discussing whether America still acts as the world's |
| 0:49.2 | policeman. We'll be looking at how a tiny publishing house keeps winning Nobel Prizes for literature, |
| 0:55.1 | and we'll be discovering how the Georgians invented nightlife. |
| 0:59.7 | First up, in his cover piece for the magazine this week, |
| 1:03.2 | Jonathan Spire writes that, as America's role in international security diminishes, |
| 1:08.5 | history is moving in Iran's direction. He joins us now, along with |
| 1:13.2 | Ravi Agrival, editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy Magazine, and host of the FP Live podcast. |
| 1:20.5 | Jonathan, you write in your excellent cover piece this week that there are many beneficiaries |
| 1:26.7 | from the splitting of American |
| 1:28.5 | attention, as you put it, Russia being an example. But you write that Iran is a country that has |
| 1:34.1 | seen history move its way. So why is it that Iran, as you see it, has the most to gain from |
| 1:43.7 | the current conflict. |
| 1:45.8 | Let me first of all explain what I mean by what the phrase means by Iran seeing history move its way. |
| 1:52.7 | This, in my view, is not only to do with the emergence of peer challenge to the United States, |
| 1:59.9 | which of course is the Islamic Republic of Iran's greatest |
| 2:02.3 | enemy, but also it's to do with developments in the region, Middle East region, I mean over the last |
... |
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