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Best of the Spectator

The Edition: Industry tragedy, Trump vs the Pope & the depressing reality of sex parties

Best of the Spectator

The Spectator

News Commentary, News, Daily News, Society & Culture

4.4785 Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week: the death of British industry

In the cover piece for the magazine, Matthew Lynn argues that Britain is in danger of entering a ‘zero-industrial society’. The country that gave the world the Industrial Revolution has presided over a steep decline in British manufacturing. He argues there are serious consequences: foreign ownership, poorer societies, a lack of innovation, and even national security concerns. Why has this happened? Who is to blame? And could Labour turn it around? Matthew joined the podcast, alongside the head of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Paul Nowak. (1:05)

Next: the Pope takes on President Trump

The Pope has nominated Cardinal Robert McElroy to be the new Archbishop of Washington. Damian Thompson writes that on the face of it, this might sound like a routine appointment, but the reality is that this is retaliation against the Trump administration. for the nomination of an arch-MAGA loyalist, and uncompromising Catholic, as the new ambassador to the Holy See. Subsequently, the Vatican has appointed an outspoken liberal. What does this tell us about the power of both the Papacy and the President? And how much sway does the Catholic hierarchy really have in Trump’s America? Damian joined us to reveal more, alongside our deputy editor Freddy Gray, who has been in D.C. for Trump’s inauguration. (19:02)

And finally: what are sex parties really like?

Far from being a sexy affair, sex parties are depressing, with most attendees leaving unfulfilled and rather disappointed, writes James Innes-Smith. He says that he spent more time in the kitchen at a recent party than in the bedroom. So, what makes them appealing in the first place? Are people looking for connection in all the wrong places? James joined the podcast alongside Sophia Money-Coutts, who has written about the subject for Tatler magazine. (30:35)

Hosted by Lara Prendergast and William Moore.

Produced by Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.

Transcript

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0:00.0

The Spectator magazine is home to wonderful writing, insightful analysis, and unrivaled books and arts reviews.

0:06.1

Subscribe today for just £12 and receive a 12-week subscription in print and online.

0:11.2

Alongside that, you get a 20-pound John Lewis or Waitrose Voucher.

0:14.7

Go to spectator.co.uk forward slash voucher.

0:31.2

Hello and welcome to the edition podcast from The Spectator, where each week we shed a little light on the thought process behind putting the world's oldest weekly magazine to bed.

0:36.5

I'm William Moore, the Spectator's Features Editor.

0:39.1

And I'm Lara Prendergars, the Spectator's Executive Editor.

0:43.1

In this week's edition, how British manufacturing is being killed off,

0:48.1

why the Vatican is engaged in a tit-for-tat spat with the Trump administration,

0:53.4

and the depressing reality of sex parties.

1:04.6

First, in our cover this week, Matthew Lynn explores the death of British manufacturing.

1:10.5

He writes that the country that birthed

1:12.1

the Industrial Revolution has not just moved into a post-industrial society, but it runs

1:16.8

the risk of becoming a zero industrial society. Well, Matthew joined us to discuss his argument

1:23.1

alongside Paul Noak, the general secretary of the TUC. I started by asking Matthew just how bad

1:29.6

the situation is and who's to blame? Yeah, I mean, you know, big question. I mean, I think in the

1:35.0

piece I did this week, I was just trying to pull together various things. You know, you's kind of like,

1:39.3

you see all these individual stories coming out, like we see, you know, some of the car factories

1:43.9

closing. We see like the car factories closing.

1:44.7

We see like Ineos closing its ethanol plant up in Scotland in Grangemouth with

1:50.2

Cytrind Raptith, you know, saying, talking about a catastrophe for British manufacturing.

1:55.2

We see people like Airbus and JCP, who are some of the best companies in the UK, you know,

...

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