The Edition: ‘It’s a cesspool!’ — What’s going wrong in Britain’s universities? episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 13, 2026 · 52 MIN

The Edition: ‘It’s a cesspool!’ — What’s going wrong in Britain’s universities?

from Best of the Spectator

William Moore is joined by The Spectator’s associate editor Toby Young, commissioning editor Lara Brown and newsletter editor and restaurant critic Angus Colwell.This week: What has gone wrong with British universities? Lara unpacks the wider academic crisis in the wake of the Jason Arday scandal, from ‘surviving the apocalypse’ courses at Warwick to maths departments promising to ‘decolonise’ the subject. Has the sector lost its nerve?Also: Balding. Toby explains why he’s trying to talk his three sons out of hair transplants, while Angus and Lara weigh in on whether men vastly overestimate the importance of their hair on the dating market.Plus: is Indian the best cuisine? Angus argues it’s surprisingly hard to find a truly great curry in London, while the the panel ask whethe Indian food is unfairly low-status because it’s too cheap.Produced by Henry Lloyd and Oscar Edmondson.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 13, 2026

Embed this episode

Ready to play

The Edition: ‘It’s a cesspool!’ — What’s going wrong in Britain’s universities?

0:00 52:10

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Best of the Spectator?

This episode is 52 minutes long.

When was this Best of the Spectator episode published?

This episode was published on August 13, 2026.

Can I download this Best of the Spectator episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!