The Spectator Podcast

This week: the carve-up of Ukraine’s natural resourcesFrom the success of Keir Starmer’s visit to Washington to the squabbling we saw in the Oval Office and the breakdown of security guarantees for Ukraine – we have seen the good, the bad and the ugly of geopolitics in the last week, say Niall Ferguson and Nicholas Kulish in this week’s cover piece. They argue that what Donald Trump is really concerned with when it comes to Ukraine is rare earth minerals – which Ukraine has in abundance under its soil. The conventional wisdom is that the US is desperately short of these crucial minerals and, as Niall and Nicholas point out, the dealmaking president is driven by a nagging sense of inferiority in comparison to rare earth minerals powerhouse China. Niall and Nicholas joined the podcast to talk further. (02:19)Next: why are women having caesareans being offered sterilisation?During a routine antenatal appointment, Flora Watkins was blindsided by the opening gambit from her obstetrician: ‘Why don’t we tie your tub