The Critic Podcast

A vast global market in stolen and forged art and artefacts has only grown in the context of the pandemic, but technology and international policing may be catching up

Empty shelves need not mean dreary eating

Mary Beard emerges with a portrait of the emperors' afterlives as vivid as the busts themselves

The joy of letting unexpected, accidental music in

Woefully out of touch and with falling congregations, the Church of England faces a crisis of leadership and theology

Welcome back to The Critic Narrated, where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors.  In this episode, Sarah Ditum reveals the joy of letting unexpected, accidental music in as she narrates her column from the December/January issue of The Critic: “Strange Brew”, while David Scullion says the Church of England are woefully out of touch and with falling congregations, now faces a crisis of leadership and theology, as he reads his feature: “Remotely wishing you a Merry Christmas”.  Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about why Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire found themselves fighting together against Russia in the Crimea. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: Battle of Inkerman, 5 November 1854. Wars. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

A narration of Boris Starling's column from the November issue of The Critic.

A narration of David Starkey's column, 'Welcome back to reality, feminists', from the November issue of The Critic.

A narration of the Hot House column from the November issue of The Critic.

In this episode, David Starkey says Feminists like Stock have made a belated rediscovery of biological reality in his column ‘Welcome back to reality, feminists', while Boris Starling outlines the latest rivalry in F1 in ‘Top Guns of the Track' and Claudia Savage-Gore drags woke Will back to therapy.  Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black, whose books on the period include Waterloo and the forthcoming The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars - Strategies for a World War, talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about why and how Europe was engulfed in wars with France between 1792 and 1815. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: Waterloo by Charles Auguste Guillaume Steuben (circa 19th century). Vintage etching circa 19th century. Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

Hello and welcome back to The Critic Narrated, where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors.  In this episode, Lisa Hilton reads her piece ‘How Britiain really eats', where she relays how she enjoys a Thai feast that shows that fiery and exotic has now become mainstream. Henry Hill says a new breed of “muscular unionists” is seeking to reverse the damage done by devolution, as he narrates his feature: ‘Putting muscle behind the Union' and our Secret Author says we need heavyweights to separate good from back, in this month's column: 'Bring back the panjandrums'. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

A narration of the feature, 'Putting Muscle Behind the Union' by Henry Hill from the November issue of The Critic.

A narration of the Eating Out column from the November Issue of The Critic.

A narration of the Secret Author column from the November Issue of The Critic.

As President Macron climbs down on his deadline to punish Britain over fishing licences, David Scullion asks Patrick O'Flynn whether Britain is getting the better of the French, or if the post-Brexit deal has left UK fishermen high and dry.  Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: The Scottish scallop trawler "Cornelis-Gert Jan" leaves the northern French port of Le Havre after being granted permission by French port authorities on November 3, 2021, after being held for days amid a post-Brexit dispute over fishing rights between France and Great Britain. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP) (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images) Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Welcome back to The Critic Narrated, where we bring you a selection of articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors.  In this episode, Robert Hutton reads the secret diary of Boris and Carrie Johnson's dog, Dilyn, as he attends Glasgow COP26, Josephine Bartosch, author and campaigner for women's rights narrates her feature, 'Turning victims into folk devils' and Robert Thicknesse reads his November Opera column, ‘Hot Valks Live!'. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Were warfare and the state's role in military affairs transformed between 1500 and 1800? In this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black, author of A Short History of War explores and debunks some generalisations about war in early modern Europe. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: Battle of Lepanto, October 1571. The fleets of Spain, Venice and the Pope, under the command of Don Juan of Austria, defeated the Turks in the last great sea battle involving galleys. From the National Maritime Museum, London. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

In this episode of The Critic Narrated, Revd. Marcus Walker, Rector of Great St Bart's in the City of London, reads his piece ‘Resurrect Forgiveness', Hannah Betts narrates her column: ‘Time for Coco' and Patrick Galbraith reads his piece from Country Notes, this week entitled ‘Do the Right Thing'. These articles are taken from the October issue of The Critic. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black, whose books include A Short History of War, talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about how the feudal system, differing weaponry and firepower and the size of armies shaped medieval warfare. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: Henry V of England, attacked by the Duke of Alencon, at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Artist James William Edmund Doyle, 1864. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

In this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black, whose books include A Short History of War, talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about how the feudal system, differing weaponry and firepower and the size of armies shaped medieval warfare. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: Henry V of England, attacked by the Duke of Alencon, at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Artist James William Edmund Doyle, 1864. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

Welcome back to The Critic Podcast, and welcome to our new series: The Critic Narrated! Each week, we will be bringing you a selection articles from our print issues, read aloud by their authors for you to listen to on your commute, around the house or alongside reading the written piece. Don't forget you can visit our website to subscribe to the print issue, and to read a plethora of articles on politics, current affairs, society, culture and beyond.  In this episode, architectural historian Matthew Lloyd Roberts reads his article ‘The Critic's New Home', Anna Price, podcast producer here at The Critic, narrates Claudia Savage Gore's October Hot House column, 'Eat, Pray, Hate', and Jonathan Aitken, Christ Church alumnus, former Conservative cabinet member and current Prison Chaplain, reads his feature ‘Low Panic at the High Table'. All articles taken from The Critic's October issue.  Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Siege warfare was the most common form of warfare in medieval Europe. In this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black, author of Forts and Fortifications and Siegecraft, talks about defending and capturing walled cities and castles with The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: The siege of Jerusalem (Photo by: Leemage/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

In this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black, author of A Short History of War, talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about the nature of warfare in Ancient Greece and Rome. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: Statue of Leonidas on the monument celebrating the Battle of Thermopylae which took place during the Greco-Persian War of 480 BC. (Photo by: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan ignited a bitter briefing war between the President and members of the British Cabinet, it seemed that Britain's relationship with the US was on ice. But then, out of the blue, a secret trilateral agreement between the US, UK and Australia was struck, gifting Australia nuclear propulsion technology for use in their submarines, much to the chagrin of France. Are we witnessing the usual ups and downs in the anglosphere relationship or do countries really only act in self interest? In this podcast, David Scullion discusses this, the Afghanistan withdrawal, and the Special relationship with Patrick Porter, Professor of International Security at Birmingham University and Sebastian Milbank, a PhD Candidate in the Cambridge Faculty of Divinity and a journalist based at the Tablet. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this week's Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about the centuries' old military rivalry between China and Japan. Image by Getty. Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

In this episode of The Critic's podcast, publisher Olivia Hartley speaks to Chris Elston — A.K.A Billboard Chris — about the progression of gender ideology in Canada as well as the use of puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria. Chris has travelled the length and breadth of Canada raising awareness of these issues and has amassed an online following of over 35,000. In this podcast, Olivia asks him why he does what he does and what he would say to the activists who question his authority to speak on these polarising topics.

In this week's Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about the centuries' old military rivalry between China and Japan.

Australia's military capacity to check Chinese influence is being boosted by a new Anglo-American submarine contract and the establishment of the AUKUS defence pact. But how have Australia's interests been defended until now in the south-west Pacific and what difference will AUKUS make?   In this week's Black's History Week podcast, Professor Jeremy Black talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about the past and present of Australia's role in the western alliance. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: Royal Australian Navy submarine HMAS Rankin is seen during AUSINDEX 21, a biennial maritime exercise between the Royal Australian Navy and the Indian Navy on September 5, 2021.(Photo by POIS Yuri Ramsey/Australian Defence Force via Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

Is there anything a 21st century military strategist can usefully learn from the tactics of Hannibal or the age of pike, sword and musket? In this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black offers The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, a crash course in the history of war. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: A painting depicting The British Army overpowering the Colonialist position during the Battle of Bunker Hill at the beginning of the Revolutionary War on June 17, 1775 outside Boston, Massachusetts. (Illustration by Ed Vebell/Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

Concluding the Black's History Week series on the deployments of the British armed forces between Waterloo and the fall of Kabul, in this podcast Professor Jeremy Black talks The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about the themes, breaks, and continuities that have shaped the British military over the last two hundred years. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

In this edition of Black's History Week, the author of Military Strategy: A Global History, Professor Jeremy Black, talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about the strategic options for American defence policy in the aftermath of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III holds a press briefing about the US military drawdown in Afghanistan, at the Pentagon in Washington, DC September 1, 2021. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

Continuing the series of Black's History Week podcasts on British military deployments, Professor Jeremy Black talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about the future role of Britain's armed forces and whether the departure from Kabul marks the end of foreign nation-building operations. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: UK military personnel board a A400M aircraft departing from Kabul on August 28, 2021 in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Jonathan Gifford/MoD Crown Copyright via Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

By his own admission, Vivek Ramaswamy is a traitor to his class. A self-made man who founded a successful bio-tech firm in his 20s, Ramaswamy's story has the telltale signs of membership of America's corporate elite. But in his new book, Woke, Inc, he takes aim at fellow business leaders for what he calls “the defining scam of our time”. According to Ramaswamy, big business's enthusiastic embrace of woke identity politics isn't just hypocritical but undemocratic. He argues that it's dividing his country, and undermining the values on which America has thrived in the past. Ramaswamy spoke to Oliver Wiseman, the Critic's US Editor, about why ruthless captains of industry have gone woke, why it matters, and what should be done about it.  Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

A campaign is underway to elect members to the General Synod of the Church of England under a “Save the Parish” banner. The campaign leader Marcus Walker, the Rector of St Bartholomew's, described it as “the last chance to save the system that has defined Christianity in this country for 1000 years”. Campaigners say the Church of England hierarchy already squeezes parish churches and is planning to use vital funds to open new churches in places like cafes and cinemas rather than prioritising the existing parish structure. But critics say the movement fails to recognise the dire reality of church attendance, and are afraid of embracing new radical ideas that could reverse the fortunes of the established church. David Scullion speaks to Alison Milbank, Professor of Theology and Literature at the University of Nottingham, and the founder of the campaign Marcus Walker. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The dramatic events in Afghanistan in recent days mark many things. The end of America's longest war, the end of the post-9/11 era and the return of the Taliban. They also constitute the first and perhaps defining foreign policy crisis for US President Joe Biden. To try to make sense of the US side of the momentous Afghanistan story, the Critic's US Editor, Oliver Wiseman spoke to Jacob Heilbrunn, Editor of The National Interest, a foreign policy journal, and Luke Thompson, a Republican strategist and advisor. They debate what Biden has got right, what he has got wrong, how the American people will react and where US foreign policy goes next. Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

In this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black, author of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency, talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about the performance of British forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: A British Army soldier from the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment secures the helicopter landing strip (HLS) during operation Southern Beast on August 6, 2008 in Maywand District in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. (Photo by Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

With the abrupt end of the Cold War, how successfully did Britain's armed forces adapt to new challenges - from the sands of Kuwait to the disintegration of Yugoslavia - in the 1990s? The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, talks to Professor Jeremy Black, author of War in the Modern World. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: The Gulf War 1990 - 1991, Two British soldiers in NBC [Nuclear Biological and Chemical] equipment, pose with their SA80 rifles during a training exercise in Saudi Arabia before the start of operations in Kuwait, circa 1991. (Photo by Roger Ryan/ Crown Copyright. Imperial War Museums via Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

Continuing the Black's History Week podcasts on British military strategy and deployments, in this episode, Professor Jeremy Black talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about the role Britain's nuclear deterrent and conventional forces played in facing the Warsaw Pact from Brezhnev to Gorbachev.

Continuing the series on British military deployments over the last two hundred years, in this episode of Black's History Week Professor Jeremy Black talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about how the British Task Force liberated the Falkland Islands from Argentinian occupation in 1982.

Continuing Black History Week's series on the British armed forces, in this podcast, Professor Jeremy Black, author of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency, talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about the British army's thirty year deployment in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: Troops of the 3rd Battalion, Light Infantry of the British Army in Belfast, circa 1968. (Photo by Michael Brennan/Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

In this episode, The Critic's publisher, Olivia Hartley, speaks to Dr Jon Pike, co-convener of the newly established Open University Gender Critical Research Network and a philosopher of sport and ethics, about setting up the UK's new network for gender-critical academics and the inclusion of transwomen in women's sport. Jon tells Olivia that, far from being a gender-critical activist group, the network "isn't a political campaign; it's a research network with a focus on sexed bodies".

Continuing our series on Britain's armed forces over the last two hundred years, Professor Jeremy Black, author of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency: a global history, talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about how Britain's armed forces handled nationalist protests and uprisings from the Mediterranean and Middle East to Africa and Southeast Asia during the 1950s and 60s. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: A group of Egyptians crowd around a British tank during the Suez Crisis of 1956. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

Continuing the series on Britain's armed forces, in this edition of Black's History Week, Professor Jeremy Black, author of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency, talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about how British defence priorities adapted from the end of the Second World War to the first years of the Cold War. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: Departure Of British Roops For Singapore In London Waterloo Station On January 17Th 1952 (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images). Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

In this episode of The Critic Podcast, Jo Bartosch is joined by Helen Joyce, the Britain editor of The Economist, to talk about her new book: Trans. Bartosch and Joyce discuss the ideology of the Trans movement, the influences behind this new book and how the direction the Trans movement is taking is damaging to young homosexuals. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this third Black's History Week podcast on the role of the British armed forces in the Second World War, Professor Jeremy Black talks to The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, about the British contribution to the Allied victory. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

In this Critic podcast, the writer Alexander Larman tells The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, why he thinks studying English literature at university is becoming such a deadening experience. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Music: “Modern Jazz Samba” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Image: A general view of the Duke Humphrey's Library at the Bodleian Libraries (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images).

Continuing our series on the performance of the British armed forces in the Second World War, Professor Jeremy Black discusses with The Critic's deputy editor, Graham Stewart, morale, naval firepower, the RAF's bombing offensive and the campaigns in Greece, Italy and Normandy. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode. -- Image: 14th February 1940: A crew member of HMS Exeter, which bore the brunt of a battle with the German battleship 'Admiral Graf Spee' in the South Atlantic, giving the thumb's up on the ship's arrival in Plymouth, England. (Photo by Harrison /Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) Music: Radetzky March by Human Symphony Orchestra (premiumbeat.com)

In this podcast, The Critic's publisher, Olivia Hartley, talks to journalist and feminist campaigner Julie Bindel about her July feature, "When is a rape not a rape?", which covers LGBT charity Stonewall and its campaign to change the UK's sex-by-deception clause. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode.

Introducing The Critic's new column, "This Sporting Life", Graham Stewart talks to the sports writer and Critic columnist, Boris Starling, about the enduring appeal of a British Lions tour — and the players who regard it to be more memorable than winning the Rugby World Cup. Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify and iTunes to ensure you never you never miss an episode.