Best Michael Steadman Podcasts (2025)

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Ian Thomson, Patrick Kidd, Mike Cormack, Ursula Buchan and Richard Bratby 35:54

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3d ago35:54

35:54

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Ian Thomson on what the destruction of the Hotel Oloffson means for Haiti (00:54); Patrick Kidd analyses Donald Trump and the art of golf diplomacy (06:43); Mike Cormack reviews Irvine Welsh’s Men In Love (16:49); Ursula Buchan provides her notes on the Palm House at Kew (20:38); and, Richard Bratby argues that Jo…

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Review Show: Burlesque the Musical 42:20

2h ago42:20

42:20

Tom is joined by poet and writer Nii Ayikwei Parkes and dance critic Lyndsey Winship to review the latest big screen to stage musical adaptation Burlesque the Musical, Matthias Glasner's German-language family drama Dying, and Disney Plus series Washington Black based on the hit book by Esi Edugyan. Plus, as the UK government announces an overhaul …

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Prison-themed stage productions, Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne and the composer Bruckner's fascination with death masks 42:23

4d ago42:23

42:23

A new stage production that's been inspired by the writer's own experience as an inmate. Academy Award winning playwright and director Terry George served a sentence in Long Kesh jail near Lisburn in the 1970s and his time there - when a number of successful and unsuccessful escape attempts were made. These inspire The Tunnel, a play which is being…

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Has Marvel cracked the superhero reboot? 42:36

1d ago42:36

42:36

The Fantastic Four changed comics forever in 1961 by making superheroes more human, but on screen the team has struggled. Now Marvel is rebooting their First Family for the third time with a big budget spectacular starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Author and journalist Hannah Strong and journalist and co-hos…

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Mark Gatiss on Bookish 42:23

1d ago42:23

42:23

Samira talks to Mark Gatiss about his new detective series, Bookish. Playwright Suzie Miller discusses her new courtroom drama Inter Alia, about a Crown Court Judge facing a family crisis. We explore the impact of President Trump's cuts to US public media and consider the legacy of British cinema of the 80s. Presenter: Samira AhmedProducer: Simon R…

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Mark Mason, Mary Wakefield, Matthew Parris and Philip Patrick 25:05

9d ago25:05

25:05

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Mark Mason reminisces about old English bank notes (00:33), Philip Patrick wonders whether AI will replace politicians in Japan (04:04), Matthew Parris wonders why you would ever trust a travel writer (10:34) and Mary Wakefield looks at the weird world of cults (17:42). Become a Spectator subscriber today to acces…

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Review: The Narrow Road to the Deep North TV Series 42:19

10d ago42:19

42:19

Tom Sutcliffe with reviewers Bidisha and Caroline Frost discuss the TV adaptation of Richard Flanagan's Booker Prize-winning novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North, the cringe comedy film Friendship, starring Paul Rudd, and the wedding comedy Till The Stars Come Down, which has transferred from The National to London's West End. Also the latest ad…

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How Scandinavian design has influenced our homes 42:28

11d ago42:28

42:28

As a new exhibition of Ikea textiles opens, we discuss the impact of Scandinavian design concepts on our homes, with curator Anna Sandberg Falk of the Ikea Museum in Sweden and designer Anna Campbell Jones. Bestselling author John Niven talks about his latest novel The Fathers, an exploration of contemporary fatherhood and masculinity which is set …

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Football and Art - united in a new work created by former footballer Edgar Davids and artist Paul Pfeiffer 42:20

12d ago42:20

42:20

Former footballer Edgar Davids and artist Paul Pfeiffer on creating a new work for the Manchester International Festival. As four new twenty minute operas are premiered at the Buxton International Festival, Helen Goodman, artistic manager at the festival, and Hannah Ellis Ryan, artistic director of theatre company, HER Productions, discuss how shor…

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Gruelling film productions - stories from the sets of Apocalypse now and Fitzcarraldo 42:23

13d ago42:23

42:23

We mark Bastille Day with a dive into President Macron’s cultural policy for France. And we revisit the dark heart of filmmaking with two people who were there during the making of Apocalypse Now and Fitzcarraldo. Documentaries made about both films have been re-released - Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmakers Apocalypse, about Apocalypse Now is in cine…

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Sophia Falkner, Roger Lewis, Olivia Potts, Aidan Hartley and Toby Young 26:38

17d ago26:38

26:38

This week: Sophia Falkner profiles some of the eccentric personalities we stand to lose when Keir Starmer purges the hereditary peers; Roger Lewis’s piece on the slow delight of an OAP coach tour is read by the actor Robert Bathurst; Olivia Potts reviews two books in the magazine that use food as a prism through which to discuss Ukrainian heritage …

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Review Show: Wet Leg's new album and Johnny Depp's artist biopic Modigliani 42:52

17d ago42:52

42:52

Nancy Durrant and Boyd Hilton join Tom Sutcliffe to discuss Moisturizer, the second album from the female English indie rock duo Wet Leg. Their self-titled debut reached number one on the UK charts. They also assess Modigliani – Three Days on the Wing of Madness, directed by Hollywood star Johnny Depp. The film is Depp's first since 1997 and it cov…

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Kat Sadler, creator of BAFTA-winning sitcom Such Brave Girls 42:41

18d ago42:41

42:41

Bestselling novelist Kate Mosse - much of whose historical fiction is set in medieval France - reacts to the news that the Bayeux Tapestry is to go on display at the British Museum in London next year. Comedian and actor Kat Sadler on her BAFTA-winning sitcom Such Brave Girls, which is set in a dysfunctional single parent family. Sitar virtuoso Nis…

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Superman is back on the big screen 42:59

19d ago42:59

42:59

Superman is back on the big screen for the first time in nearly a decade, we speak with director James Gunn.We preview a season of films at the BFI, starring pioneering black film star Dorothy Dandridge. Best known for Carmen Jones, (her performance made her the first African American to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar) she died aged just 42 …

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Oasis comeback tour reviewed 42:25

20d ago42:25

42:25

Author Raynor Winn is accused of fabricating parts of her memoir The Salt Path, which she denies. We ask Alexandra Pringle, former Editor in Chief at Bloomsbury, how publishers respond when a book's authenticity is called into question. Oasis are performing together for the first time in 16 years, kicking off in Cardiff at the weekend. Music journa…

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Review: RSC's The Constant Wife 42:31

21d ago42:31

42:31

Tom is joined by reviewers Kate Maltby and Stephanie Merritt to discuss Laura Wade's adaptation for the RSC of Somerset Maugham's comedy The Constant Wife. Also Wendy Erskine's Belfast -set novel; The Benefactors. A polyphonic telling of a teenage girl's assault and its aftermath. And Rebecca Lenkiewicz's directorial debut Hot Milk. Based on Debora…

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John Connolly, Gavin Mortimer, Dorian Lynskey, Steve Morris and Lloyd Evans 26:03

24d ago26:03

26:03

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: John Connolly argues that Labour should look to Andy Burnham for inspiration (1:51); Gavin Mortimer asks if Britain is ready for France’s most controversial novel – Jean Raspail’s The Camp of the Saints (4:55); Dorian Lynskey looks at the race to build the first nuclear weapons, as he reviews Frank Close’s Destroy…

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Reaction to the Sean 'Diddy' Combs court case verdicts, and Back to the Future at 40 42:39

26d ago42:39

42:39

As the jury in the trial of music mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs delivers its verdicts, author and cultural critic Mikki Kendall discusses how Americans will react. On the eve of the 40th anniversary of its release, The Independent's chief film critic Clarisse Loughrey and Dan O'Brien of the University of Essex discuss Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale's infl…

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Tim Key on his sleeper hit The Ballad of Wallis Island 42:34

26d ago42:34

42:34

Comedian and poet Tim Key on writing and starring in The Ballad of Wallis Island which has become one of the surprise film hits of the year. Novelists Saima Mir and Marcia Hutchinson on setting their stories in Bradford. Playwright Ntombizodwa Nyoni on reimagining the 5th Pan African Congress which took place in Manchester in 1945 for her new play,…

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Jurassic World Rebirth director Gareth Edwards 42:26

28d ago42:26

42:26

British director Gareth Edwards talks to Samira Ahmed about how his love of the films of Steven Spielberg inspired his new film Jurassic Park Rebirth, the latest chapter in the blockbuster dinosaur film franchise. He also talks about the making of his film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is gaining even more acclaim after the huge success of th…

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Peter Frankopan, Tim Shipman, Francis Pike, Hermione Eyre and George Young 42:08

1M ago42:08

42:08

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Peter Frankopan argues that Israel’s attack on Iran has been planned for years (2:00); just how bad are things for Kemi Badenoch, asks Tim Shipman (13:34); Francis Pike says there are plenty of reasons to believe in ghosts (21:49); Hermione Eyre, wife of Alex Burghart MP, reviews Sarah Vine’s book How Not To Be a …

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Review Programme: Van Gogh and Anselm Kiefer 42:25

1M ago42:25

42:25

Charlotte Mullins and Katja Hoyer are with Tom Sutcliffe to review The Royal Academy of Arts' Kiefer/Van Gogh exhibition, Nell Stevens novel The Original, and German language film From Hilde, with Love. And Sarfraz Manzoor is on to discuss a new Bruce Springsteen compilation – Tracks II: The Lost Albums Presenter: Tom SutcliffeProducer: Claire Bart…

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UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy 42:28

1M ago42:28

42:28

UK Culture Secretary LIsa Nandy talks us through the Government's new Creative Industries Sector Plan which aims to unlock growth and opportunity in culture, media and sport. Last week 27-year-old Scottish author Margaret McDonald become the youngest ever winner of the Carnegie medal for children's writing, for her debut novel Glasgow Boys, a book …

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Billy Porter on activism and artists 42:18

1M ago42:18

42:18

Billy Porter, famous for his Broadway roles in such shows as Kinky Boots and Grease, and onscreen in Pose and Cinderella is making his directorial debut in theatre with This Bitter Earth. Jesse is an introspective Black playwright and when Neil, Jesse’s boyfriend, who is a white Black Lives Matter activist, accuses him of political apathy, their pa…

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Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer on F1 starring Brad Pitt 42:25

1M ago42:25

42:25

Samira talks to legendary Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer, whose latest film F1 stars Brad Pitt as a racing car driver. Alistair McGowan and Dr Caroline Potter celebrate the extraordinary music and life of the French composer Erik Satie, whose centenary is marked on Radio 3 on Saturday. Alistair's play about Satie, called Three Pieces in the S…

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Owen Matthews, Bijan Omrani, Andrew Hankinson, Laurie Penny & Andrew Watts 28:31

1M ago28:31

28:31

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Owen Matthews says that Venice’s residents never stop complaining (1:11); Bijan Omrani reads his church notebook (7:33); Andrew Hankinson reviews Tiffany Jenkins’s Strangers and Intimates: The Rise and Fall of Private Life (13:54); as 28 Years Later is released, Laurie Penny explains the politics behind Alex Garla…

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Review Show: Pixar's new film Elio 42:06

1M ago42:06

42:06

Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi talk to tom Sutcliffe about directing Pixar's latest film Elio, about a lonely boy who wants to make contact with aliens. The film is then reviewed by film producer and critic Jason Solomons and art critic and writer Hettie Judah. Tom and guests also discuss a major retrospective of the work of painter Jenny Saville…

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Mercury Prize-shortlisted pianist Fergus McCreadie plays live, plus poet and Edinburgh Makar Michael Pedersen on his new novel 42:54

1M ago42:54

42:54

On the opening night of the Glasgow Jazz Festival, Mercury Prize-shortlisted pianist Fergus McCreadie performs from his forthcoming album The Shieling live in the Front Row studio. Writer and Edinburgh Makar Michael Pedersen talks about his debut novel Muckle Flugga – a story of love and family set on a remote Scottish island – and reads from the p…

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The producers of RuPaul's Drag Race, plus pianist Alfred Brendel remembered 43:09

1M ago43:09

43:09

RuPaul's Drag Race producers Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato join Nick Ahad to talk about their career making making television and movies, ahead of being guests of honour at this year's Sheffield DocFest. Radio 3 presenter Tom Service discusses the life and legacy of Alfred Brendel who was a celebrated author, poet and pianist. Caroline Norbury, t…

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Danny Boyle and Alex Garland on 28 Years Later 42:24

1M ago42:24

42:24

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland tell Tom Sutcliffe about their new film, 28 Years Later; a whole new take on the story which stars Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. It's the follow up to their post-apocalyptic fast-paced, gory zombie movies 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. The Rage virus escaped a medical research laboratory and - …

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Sean Thomas, John Power, Susie Mesure, Olivia Potts and Rory Sutherland 22:12

2M ago22:12

22:12

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Sean Thomas reflects on the era of lads mags (1:07); John Power reveals those unfairly gaming the social housing system (6:15); Susie Moss reviews Ripeness by Sarah Moss (11:31); Olivia Potts explains the importance of sausage rolls (14:21); and, Rory Sutherland speaks in defence of the Trump playbook (18:09). Pro…

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Review Show: Pulp's new album More 42:31

2M ago42:31

42:31

Professor John Mullan and writer Lucy O’Brien join Tom to review More, Pulp's first album in nearly 24 years. They also discuss exhibitions by the 20th century British artists Edward Burra and Ithell Colquhoun which are running in parallel at Tate Britain. Plus they give their verdict on Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, inspired by actual experiences o…

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Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys remembered. 42:17

2M ago42:17

42:17

Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys remembered Turner Prize winning artist Rachel Whiteread talks about her retrospective exhibition at the brand new Goodwood Art Foundation in Sussex. We celebrate the centenary of the National Library of Scotland and hear about its plans to send important items from its collection to museums around the country - from N…

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Was 1975 the best year for music? 42:31

2M ago42:31

42:31

Sarah Moss, the celebrated author of Ghost Wall, discusses her new novel Ripeness, which oscillates between tension-filled contemporary Ireland and a heady summer in 1960s Italy. Dylan Jones discusses his new book 1975: The Year The World Forgot and debates whether this was the best year for music with chief music critic of the Daily Telegraph, Nei…

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Twin Peaks creator plus Ian Rankin on Frederick Forsyth 42:24

2M ago42:24

42:24

Ian Rankin pays tribute to the best-selling thriller author Frederick Forsyth, whose death was announced today. Samira talks to Twin Peaks' co-creator Mark Frost and podcaster Mike Munser about the show's enduring legacy 35 years on, as Twin Peaks is re-released and celebrated at the BFI Film on Film Festival. Playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti talks …

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Max Jeffery, Tanya Gold, Madeline Grant, Matthew Parris and Calvin Po 28:49

2M ago28:49

28:49

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Max Jeffery tracks down the Cambridge bike bandit (1:10); Tanya Gold says that selling bathwater is an easy way to exploit a sad male fetish (5:38); Madeline Grant examines the decline of period dramas (10:16); a visit to Lyon has Matthew Parris pondering what history doesn’t tell us (15:49); and, Calvin Po visits…

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Review show: Paris Lees drama What It Feels Like for a Girl 42:28

2M ago42:28

42:28

Tom and guests review What it Feels Like for Girl, the BBC's coming-of-age drama based on the memoir of Paris Lees; Taylor Jenkins Reid's new novel, Atmosphere, set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program and new film, Lollipop, about a young woman released from prison battling to regain custody of her children, written and directed…

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Daisy Goodwin on her play about the late Queen and her dresser 42:30

2M ago42:30

42:30

Daisy Goodwin discusses her debut play, By Royal Appointment, which stars Anne Reid as Queen Elizabeth and Caroline Quentin as her dresser, and which opens this week at Theatre Royal, Bath. The life and legacy of Irish novelist playwright and poet Edna O'Brien is discussed by writer Jan Carson and the director of the documentary Blue Road: The Edna…

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Nick Mohammed on comedy and improvisation 42:20

2M ago42:20

42:20

Comedian Nick Mohammed on his stand-up show Mr Swallow, and Deep Cover, his action thriller about a group of comedy improvisers. Kate Wasserberg, Artistic Director of Theatr Clywd on the theatre's £50 million redevelopment, and opening the new auditorium with a production of the musical Tick Tick... Boom! Ulrich Birkmaier, senior conservator of pai…

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Fiddler on the Roof returns to the stage 42:17

2M ago42:17

42:17

Samira discusses the Olivier award-winning production of Fiddler on the Roof with its star Adam Dannheisser and director Jordan Fein. Sarah Dunant talks about the women in the Renaissance who became art patrons, as she publishes her novel The Marchesa, about Isabella d'Este of Mantua. Screenwriter Frederic Raphael, whose films include Far From the …

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Arabella Byrne, Sean Thomas, Mathew Lyons, Bryan Appleyard & Chas Newkey-Burden 28:07

2M ago28:07

28:07

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Arabella Byrne on the social minefield of private swimming pools (1:13); Sean Thomas says that not knowing where you are is one of the joys of travel (5:34); reviewing Helen Carr’s Sceptred Isle: A New History of the 14th Century, Mathew Lyons looks at the reality of a vivid century (11:34); reviewing Tim Gregory’…

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Imelda Staunton in Mrs Warren's Profession 42:25

2M ago42:25

42:25

Samira Ahmed and writers Dreda Mitchell and Mark Ravenhill review Imelda Staunton and her daughter, Bessie Carter, in Mrs Warren's Profession. They consider, too, theatre director Marianne Elliott's first foray into film, The Salt Path, based on a Raynor Winn's bestselling memoir of how she and her husband, after they have lost their house and farm…

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Paul Hartnoll of Orbital on the band's Brown album, and a new biography of Muriel Spark. 42:13

2M ago42:13

42:13

Paul Hartnoll of electronic music duo Orbital talks about the reissue of the band's Brown album which was originally released in 1993, with the addition of 23 extra tracks of rarities and previously unreleased material and about the intersection between dance music and politics. Frances Wilson, who has previously published acclaimed biographies of …

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Alison Steadman live from Hay Festival 42:24

2M ago42:24

42:24

Live from the Hay Festival, Alison Steadman talks to Samira about her career, from Abigail's Party to Gavin and Stacey. Laura Bates and Gwyneth Lewis discuss Arthurian Legends and The Mabinogion. Hisham Matar champions the Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz. And transatlantic husband and wife country duo Outpost Drive perform on stage. Presente…

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Will Butler formerly of Arcade Fire on his play set in a recording studio 42:23

2M ago42:23

42:23

Stereophonic is a play about the creative process, power dynamics and fraught personal relationships of a 1970s rock band. It won a Tony and many other awards on Broadway. Now Stereophonic has come to the West End. Playwright David Adjmi and Will Butler, sometime of Arcade Fire, who has written the music, discuss their own artistic process as they …

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James Heale, Angus Colwell, Alice Loxton, Lloyd Evans, Richard Bratby, Christopher Howse and Catriona Olding 37:41

2M ago37:41

37:41

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: James Heale analyses the splits in Labour over direction and policy (1:27); Angus Colwell asks if the ‘lanyard class’ are the new enemy (6:21); Alice Loxton explains why bize-sized histories have big appeal (9:58); Lloyd Evans reports on how Butlin’s is cashing in on nostalgia (15:00); Richard Bratby on Retrospect…

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Mission Impossible & Benicio Del Toro 42:35

2M ago42:35

42:35

Benicio Del Toro talks about playing a business tycoon in Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme. This aesthetically stylised film, by the director who also made The Royal Tenenbaums and The Grand Budapest Hotel, is reviewed by Tom and critics Larushka Ivan-Zadeh and Rachel Cooke. They also give their verdict on Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckon…

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Shirley Manson of Garbage 42:18

2M ago42:18

42:18

Frontwoman of Garbage, Shirley Manson talks about the band's latest album Let All That We Imagine Be The Light, which is inspired by contemporary events including the killing of George Floyd in Los Angeles, but which presents an optimistic perspective on a dystopian world. We hear from the winner of the International Booker Prize, which was announc…

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Low Life: The Spectator columns of Jeremy Clarke 28:14

2M ago28:14

28:14

To mark the second anniversary of the death of Jeremy Clarke – one of the Spectator’s most loved writers – we’ve compiled some of his Low Life columns, as read by Jeremy in 2016, for this special episode of Spectator Out Loud. Included in this compilation are: New Man (00:42); Virgin (5:16); Debauchery Competition (9:32); Buddhism (14:12); The Beac…

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Musician Rhiannon Giddens on returning to her North Carolina roots after working with Beyoncé 42:26

2M ago42:26

42:26

Musician Rhiannon Giddens on returning to her North Carolina roots after working with Beyoncé. As a huge retrospective of the work of the artist Helen Chadwick opens at The Hepworth Wakefield, art critic Louisa Buck and the exhibition's curator, Laura Smith, discuss why Chadwick should be viewed as the godmother for a golden generation of British c…