Best of the Spectator

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This week: the row over political Islam and a bigger question beneath it. After Nick Timothy’s comments on public prayer in Trafalgar Square caused a political firestorm, Michael and Madeline ask whether Britain can still have an honest debate about faith, free speech and the public square. Where is the line between coexistence and an assertion of dominance – and are politicians too afraid to confront it?
Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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When Ayatollah Khamenei was assassinated early in the Iran conflict, and during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, it was celebrated by the Trump administration – who saw this as a large step towards regime change in Iran. Yet, for Khamenei's supporters, his death secured him a place amongst other celebrated Iranian martyrs. Shia Islam has a long tradition of martyrdom, something under-appreciated in the global West, and which goes some way to explaining why the current regime has survived in the face of external threats. Yet, as Dr Eric Lob explains, there is still nuance between the faith of the theocratic regime and those adherents of Shia Islam in the country who are less political.

Eric Lob, associate professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Florida International University joins Damian Thompson to discuss.

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

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On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Ruaridh Nicoll reads his letter from Havana; Angus Colwell takes us through an A-Z of London horrors; Mary Wakefield points out the glaring flaw in Keir Starmer’s ‘cohesion plan; Philip Hensher reviews an increasingly reflective Alan Bennett; and finally, Nicholas Farrell reflects on Jeffrey Epstein, Silvio Berlusconi – and nudists in Italy.

Produced and presented by Patrick Gibbons.

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Freddy Gray speaks to James D. Boys, author of the new book US grand strategy and the madman theory. He is also a senior research fellow at UCL. They discuss the origins of the madman theory – which applies insights from psychology to understand how your enemies think. James covers it from from Nixon to Trump and its intellectual home in Boston. They also explore how the madman theory is being applied in the Middle East conflict and how regularly the theory can be misapplied.

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In this special edition of Coffee House Shots, our political editor Tim Shipman is joined by historian, biographer and foreign policy adviser to four different prime ministers, John Bew. In his 7,000-word essay published in the New Statesman last week, John sets out the historical context which has contributed to the malaise and decline of the British state – and hypothesises that we are currently living in the ‘fourth great disruption’ to the political and economic order. He takes Tim through the previous three disruptions and the lessons that government needs to learn from them in order to stop the rot. Does the secret to forging a new place in the world order lie in fixing the machinery of government? Which figures from the past should we take inspiration from?

Produced by Megan McElroy.

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