{"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/1784644240973-f772404a-63ed-4eb8-95e0-a70bfba0b3ab.jpeg","author":"The Spectator","episode_count":2753,"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":"2026-09-21T02:21:32.640045+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373"},"episode":{"title":"The Edition: how the blob broke teaching | with Francis Foster","slug":"the-edition-how-the-blob-broke-teaching-with-francis-foster","published_at":"2026-08-27T23:01:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373/the-edition-how-the-blob-broke-teaching-with-francis-foster","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373","url":"https://shows.acast.com/best-of-the-spectator/episodes/the-edition-how-the-blob-broke-teaching-with-francis-foster","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68358fb5e1abc4be6b0308eb/e/6a905e6a3385dc8139ddfe53/media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=BR-yR6MP6aJln26BWDtWWkFYmsFIqvzMmO2JOgZsEsM","summary":"Lara Prendergast is joined by The Spectator’s economics editor Michael Simmons, author and critic Philip Hensher, and comedian and co-host if the Triggernometry podcast Frances Foster. This week: are good teachers under siege? The panel discuss Michael Gove’s cover story on the education establishment, from collapsing classroom discipline to the ‘pathetically low ambition’ of those training Britain’s teachers.  Also: have accusations of bullying become a weapon against demanding ministers? Michael Simmons comes to the defence of his former teacher, Scotland’s Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth, while Philip asks whether the real problem is that civil servants are simply too difficult to sack. Plus: Harry and Meghan are back in Britain. Has the public’s fascination with the Sussexes ever really gone away – and do they deserve a chance at redemption? Produced by Henry Lloyd, Patrick Gibbons and Oscar Edmondson.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"Lara Prendergast is joined by The Spectator’s economics editor Michael Simmons, author and critic Philip Hensher, and comedian and co-host if the Triggern…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2462,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/best-of-the-spectator-45373/episodes/the-edition-how-the-blob-broke-teaching-with-francis-foster/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-edition-how-the-blob-broke-teaching-with-francis-foster.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}