The Edition: Rory Sutherland on private schools, early election & death doulas episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 1, 2026 · 1H 2M

The Edition: Rory Sutherland on private schools, early election & death doulas

from Best of the Spectator

For this week’s Edition, Lara Prendergast is joined by The Spectator’s columnist Rory Sutherland, political editor Tim Shipman and drinks editor Jonathan Ray.This week: What has been the damage of Labour’s punitive war on private education? Rory questions whether the sector had helped itself in the years prior, but did the policy itself ever represent more than ‘class warfare?’ Tim explores the vigour to which the (now former) Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson embraced that label, whilst Jonathan reflects on ‘canny approaches’ to game the system.Also: Election? What election? The panel discuss rumours that the PM may call an early general election in the wake of the ‘Burnham bounce’ in the polls giving Labour a narrow lead over Reform. If not, how does he escape the straitjacket of the 2024 manifesto? Rory further explains how government has been transformed from a ‘policeman to a traffic warden,’ and gives Burnham his top tips for an easy re-election.Plus: The death doulas movement. To what extent does this growing trend – of which figures such as Caroline Lucas, Davina McCall and Nicole Kidman are now subscribers – represent a broader point of death positivity, or in the end, is it all just ‘mumbo jumbo?’Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 1, 2026

Embed this episode

Ready to play

The Edition: Rory Sutherland on private schools, early election & death doulas

0:00 1:02:09

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 1 hour and 2 minutes long.

When was this Best of the Spectator episode published?

This episode was published on August 1, 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!