{"podcast":{"title":"Best of the Spectator","slug":"best-of-the-spectator-45373","podcast_index_feed_id":45373,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/68358fb5e1abc4be6b0308eb","website_url":"https://audioboom.com/channels/4905579-best-of-the-spectator","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/68358fb5e1abc4be6b0308eb/show-cover.jpg","author":"The Spectator","episode_count":2646,"summary":"Home to the Spectator's best podcasts on everything from politics to religion, literature to food and drink, and more. A new podcast every day from writers worth listening to. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-08T18:22:22.936028+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373"},"episode":{"title":"The Book Club: Alexander the Great's accidental empire","slug":"the-book-club-alexander-the-great-s-accidental-empire","published_at":"2026-05-20T23:01:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373/the-book-club-alexander-the-great-s-accidental-empire","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373","url":"https://shows.acast.com/best-of-the-spectator/episodes/the-book-club-alexander-the-greats-accidental-empire","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68358fb5e1abc4be6b0308eb/e/6a0ddac3d7997e788cf76773/media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=8dGhG-V5__KasLsFwuByhBIlclNJyCUOhcOpo-FX34w","summary":"My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is Edmund Richardson, author of a new biography of Alexander the Great called Alexander: God, King, Man. Edmund tells me why there is still a fresh story to tell about this most storied of historical figures, why his empire collapsed as soon as it came into being yet nevertheless changed history – and how Alexander conquered the world by mistake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"My guest on this week’s Book Club podcast is Edmund Richardson, author of a new biography of Alexander the Great called Alexander: God, King, Man. Edmund…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3149,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/best-of-the-spectator-45373/episodes/the-book-club-alexander-the-great-s-accidental-empire/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373/the-book-club-alexander-the-great-s-accidental-empire.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}