Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator

The rise and rise of hate hoaxing

Last week, some racist graffiti was found at Parkway North and Parkway Central schools in the Midwest American state of Missouri. Somebody had scrawled ‘HOPE ALL BLACK PEOPLE DIE’ and the n-word across the bathrooms. A protest erupted. Students ‘boycotted’ classes to show their disgust. But then the sense of outrage suddenly fell flat after

Joe Biden’s presidency is unravelling

Joe Biden’s presidency appears to be unravelling at remarkable speed. Back in January, in the days after his inauguration, Biden enjoyed considerable public support. His job-approval score was 58 per cent, with only 35 per cent disapproving. That could be put down to a widespread sense of relief that the sturm and drang of the

Is Joe Biden OK?

10 min listen

President Biden has spent the week meeting with foreign leaders including Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Now, the number of people starting to speculate about the state Joe Biden’s health is growing. Freddy Gray sits down with Amber Athey, the Washington Editor for The Spectator to discuss where the cracks are beginning to show and what

No, Biden didn’t just snub Brexit Britain

For European Union enthusiasts, the ‘trade deal with America’ has joined ‘£350 million pledge on a bus’ as one of the great Brexit lies. A certain amount of gloating has therefore greeted the news that Joe Biden last night ‘downplayed’ the possibility of a US-U.K. Free Trade Agreement. It’s a ‘snub’, Brexiteer hopes are dashed,

Boris is a mini-Biden

It’s been said far too many times that Boris Johnson and Donald Trump have a lot in common. Trump himself called the Prime Minister ‘Britain Trump’ – to Donald’s mind, the greatest compliment any man could give. Others use the Trump-Boris analogy to pour scorn. French newspapers have called him ‘mini-Trump’. Or ‘Trump with a

What will inflation mean for Biden and America?

17 min listen

Freddy Gray sits down with The Spectator‘s economics editor Kate Andrews to discuss the American economy. During the pandemic, inflation grew rapidly – but the latest reports show that it is on its way down again. Is this just a dip before another spike? And is the Met Gala the right venue for championing the

Freddy Gray

How free can a free speech platform be?

19 min listen

Conservatives often feel in the minority on social media. New social media platforms are beginning to emerge, however, that say they can better protect free speech online. Freddy Gray speaks to Jason Miller, CEO of the new social media platform Gettr, about what needs to be done differently, whether it’s possible to get a diversity

Emma Raducanu’s victory is being spoiled by the usual suspects

How do you take the pleasure out of something so marvellous and joyful as Emma Raducanu’s US open victory last night? Easy — turn on Twitter, which spoils everything including sport. Raducanu’s victory is truly a great triumph; the most breathtaking sporting feat by a female British athlete in our lifetimes. Emma is 18 and

Has the Biden presidency already failed?

11 min listen

Joe Biden’s approval rating has dropped to 39 per cent, as he suffers from the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, an ongoing crisis at the border with Mexico, and rising Covid cases. Is it a short term dip, could Biden’s pandemic response wipe out the Democrats in the midterms, and will the 78-year-old still be president

What will the new Texan abortion law mean for the pro-life movement?

18 min listen

With Texas’s controversial new ‘heartbeat’ law seemingly left unchallenged by the Supreme Court the abortion debate is hotting up in the States yet again. Will this success lead the pro-life movement to attempt to get similar laws on the books in other states? Freddy Gray talks to Mairead Elordi, an investigative journalist for the Daily

What will Biden’s lab leak report show?

24 min listen

Freddy Gray speaks to the investigative journalist Katherine Eban, author of Bottle of Lies: the Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom, about the classified report into the possibility that Covid-19 escaped from a Chinese laboratory. An edited version of the report is expected to be released publicly next week.

America abandoned this fight before the Afghans did

39 min listen

On this week’s podcast: In the latest issue of The Spectator, we cover the Afghanistan issue extensively, looking at everything from why the West was doomed from the start, to how events in Afghanistan have transformed central Asian politics. On the podcast, journalist Paul Wood and our own deputy editor Freddy Gray, both of whom

Freddy Gray

The Afghan withdrawal may not hurt Joe Biden

When was the only time America’s left-liberal media gave President Trump any real credit? The answer is 7 April 2017, after he threw a few fairly pointless missiles at Assad’s forces in Syria. ‘I think Donald Trump became the President of the United States last night,’ gushed Fareed Zakaria of CNN. The New York Times

Who is to blame for America’s failure in Afghanistan?

25 min listen

With Kabul now taken back by the Taliban and the Americans in full retreat after two decades of war, what will the USA learn from this catastrophe, if anything? Freddy Gray talks to author of After the Apocalypse: America’s Role in a World Transformed, Andrew Bacevich about the goals not met, allies abandoned and lives

The cost of net zero

35 min listen

In this week’s podcast: First up, to deny the man-made climate crisis we now find ourselves in would be an act of wilful delusion. But what is the right way for the UK to try and minimise this looming disaster? In our cover story this week Ross Clark looks at the financial viability of the

Why did Andrew Cuomo resign?

24 min listen

Andrew Cuomo has resigned as governor of New York after an inquiry found he sexually assaulted multiple women. Why was the Governor so loved by Democrats, should he really have resigned over the state’s care homes scandal, and might we soon see him as a CNN contributor? Freddy Gray speaks to Spectator World contributor Grace

Will Michael Wolff ever have to write a fourth Trump book?

30 min listen

Freddy’s guest on this week’s episode is the famed journalist Michael Wolff, author of three books on Donald Trump – the bestseller Fire and Fury, its very popular follow up Siege and the latest, Landslide. The final in the trilogy tells the story of the last days of the Trump presidency, including the 2020 election

Who is Ron Klain and is he running America?

21 min listen

President Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, is set to have a large bash for his 60th with a whopping guest list of the rich and powerful, a list he has been compiling since the Clinton administration. But who is the real Ron? A man helping an elderly president or king of the Washington Swamp? Freddy

Is the War on Terror finally over?

13 min listen

American troops have all but left Afghanistan, months ahead of their 11 September deadline. The country looks ready to fall into a full-scale civil war, with the Taleban overrunning government forces and seeing off local pockets of resistance. Will Biden keep America out, and will he walk away from Iraq too? Freddy Gray speaks to