Women With Balls

Michael Gove and Madeline Grant launch ‘Quite right!’, the new podcast from The Spectator that promises sanity and common sense in a world that too often lacks both.Listeners can enjoy an exclusive taste of their debut episode in which they take stock of a political summer dominated by Nigel Farage, a Labour government already facing mutiny, and the curious spectacle of Tory MPs moonlighting as gonzo reporters. From J.D. Vance’s Cotswold sojourn and Tom Skinner’s bish bash bosh patriotism, to Sydney Sweeney’s jeans advert causing a culture war, Michael and Madeleine discuss what really drives our politics: policies, or memes and vibes?To hear the full episode, search Quite right! wherever you get your podcasts, or find the full episode – in vision – on our YouTube channel SpectatorTV.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kirsty Wark has worked for the BBC for almost 50 years and is one of the UK’s most recognisable broadcasters. In 1976 she joined BBC Radio Scotland as a graduate researcher. Having produced and presented several shows across radio including The World At One and PM, she switched to television, and went on to present shows such as Breakfast Timeand The Late Show. However, she is best known for presenting BBC Newsnight for over 30 years, which saw her interview key political and cultural leaders. Having stood down after the 2024 election, she now presents Front Row, The Reunion, and documentaries like Icons of Style. On the podcast, Kirsty tells Katy about her father fighting in the D-Day landings, changing attitudes over time towards women at the BBC and her views on British & Scottish identities. They also unpack BBC impartiality, how it should be a ‘trusted friend’ to the public and why she left Newsnight. As one of the best-known political interviewers in the UK, Kirsty also explains how she gamed interviews, and the memorable ones from Michael Portillo to Jeffrey Archer to the one that made her name – Margaret Thatcher.Produced by Patrick Gibbons.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deborah Mattinson joined the House of Lords as a Labour peer in February. Her involvement in politics began when she worked alongside Peter Mandelson and Philip Gould to create Labour’s Shadow Communications Agency for Neil Kinnock. In 1992 she co-founded Opinion Leader Research, and she went on to advise Tony Blair ahead of the 1997 election and later became Gordon Brown’s chief pollster. In 2021 she was appointed Director of Strategy for Keir Starmer, a position she held until stepping down following last year’s landslide victory.On the podcast, Deborah tells Katy Balls about growing up as a Labour supporter with a father active in local Tory politics, the work hard/play hard culture of advertising in the 1980s and how to decipher what voters really think during focus groups. They also talk about the differences between the 1987, ‘92, and ‘97 campaigns, the ‘Hero voters’ that were key to Labour’s electoral success in 2024 and how Labour can best tackle the threat from Reform today. With experience working with Labour spanning four decades, they touch on the Labour giants she worked with, including Alf (now Lord) Dubs, Peter (now Ambassador – also Lord) Mandelson and, more recently, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer.Produced by Patrick Gibbons.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lindsey Hilsum is the International Editor for Channel 4 News, where she has worked for over 25 years. Having started her career as an aid worker in Latin America, she transitioned to journalism, and she has now reported from six continents for over three decades. She has covered many major conflicts including Kosovo, Iraq, Syria, Ukraine and across the Middle East during the Arab Spring. Her third book I Brought the War with Me: Stories and Poems from the Front Line is out now.On the podcast Lindsey tells Katy Balls about starting out her career in Guatemala and in Kenya, what it was like being the only English-speaking journalist in Rwanda when the genocide broke out in 1994, and why she is drawn to studying human behaviour in extreme situations. She also talks about her surprising link to flat screen TV technology, how journalism has changed from cutting up clippings from a typewriter to modern open-source intelligence techniques and the place she would most like to travel to – the past. Having always carried a book of poetry with her on her travels, she also reads a favourite included in her new book: The Child at the Window by Siegfried Sassoon. Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Katie Lam was elected as a new Conservative MP, for Weald of Kent, at the 2024 election. While studying at Cambridge she was president of the Cambridge Union and chairman of the Conservative Association, and she was later a special advisor – first under Boris Johnson in the business unit at Number 10, and then later working on counterterrorism with Suella Braverman. In between university and politics, she worked at Goldman Sachs and at AI-specialists Faculty, and she is also an accomplished lyricist and scriptwriter having co-written five musicals. She was appointed a Tory assistant whip last year when Kemi Badenoch took over as leader. On the podcast, Katie talks to Katy Balls about attending Tory party conference with her dad, what Katy calls the ‘chief prefect vibes’ of her CV and whether investment banking or politics is more cutthroat. Having started at Number 10 in 2019, she also talks about the highs and lows at the end of the Brexit negotiations and why the pandemic will probably be the hardest moment of her professional career – plus a mention of that incident with Dilyn the dog. Having a great-great grandfather who was a socialist politician and fierce critic of the Nazis, and who had to flee persecution, she also opens up about her family’s influence on her politics and her values. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts. Contact us: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.