Fighting the holiday podcast drought, we bring you another taster of a Podmasters show you might have missed – our US politics weekly American Friction . And this time it’s their review of 2024. No Jarv on this edition, but Chris and Nikki unpack the key moments and lessons from a year when Trump’s election as President may well have changed American democracy forever. Get the sharpest take on American politics every Friday when you follow American Friction on your favourite app . Written and pr...
Dec 30, 2024•51 min•Season 1Ep. 1461
Continuing our intra-festive selection of Podmasters shows you might have missed… have you tried Paper Cuts , the podcast that reads the papers so you don’t have to? Cos you really should. As a taster, join Miranda Sawyer plus host of Queerphoria Jack Guinness and comedy writer and actual Grinch Jason Hazeley for Part One of the Paper Cuts Review of 2024. Remember when everyone had a meltdown over Princess Kate? Jack reminisces about the whole saga that engulfed the nation. Miranda tries to reca...
Dec 29, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 1460
Climbing the walls in the holiday podcast drought? We’re tiding you over with some episodes you might have missed from the giant Podmasters universe. Today, a fascinating edition of our science and psychology podcast, Why? with Emma Kennedy . On this episode… The allure of evil. Lots of us are obsessed with true crime documentaries and podcasts and can’t get enough gruesome details of horrific murder, torture and kidnapping. It’s all pretty horrible – so why are we drawn to it? Does ‘evil’ reall...
Dec 28, 2024•35 min•Season 1Ep. 1459
Desperate for a fresh pod over the holidays? We’re tiding you over the Christmas-New Year gap with some shows you might have missed from the wider Podmasters universe. Today, enjoy this edition of our geopolitics weekly This Is Not A Drill . On this edition… Corruption, bribery and cronyism aren’t just criminal matters. International alliances of corrupt states and their enablers are undermining democracies and international law, creating a world without rules where everything and anyone can be ...
Dec 27, 2024•41 min•Season 1Ep. 1458
Completing our countdown of the events of 2024 that we can barely believe happened. From Rishi Sunak dooming his own election campaign by launching it in a downpour to Robert F Kennedy Jr’s shenanigans with a dead bear (blame the brainworms) to America deciding that its new folk hero is an actual murderer, we examine the moments that made 2024 incomprehensible. Miranda Sawyer and Jonn Elledge of Paper Cuts join Andrew Harrison to complete an ignominious countdown. (Part One available now) • Supp...
Dec 23, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 1457
It’s that time of year when we look back over the last twelve months and ask… did that really happen? From Oasis giving the nation a brutal lesson in demand economics to the near-assassination of Donald Trump to the baffling rise of “Huak Tuah Girl”, 2024 has been a year of signs, wonders and bewilderment. In the first of a two-part Bunker special Miranda Sawyer and Jonn Elledge of Paper Cuts join Andrew Harrison to choose the first ten of the twenty most bizarre moments of the year – and work o...
Dec 20, 2024•34 min•Season 1Ep. 1456
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale . The perfect gift to ask for! From enormous Tudor banquets to Fortnum & Mason’s luxury hampers, Christmas food has always been about showing off. But how did we leap from turducken and spiced pies to our roast potatoes and a turkey that barely fits in the oven? Join Alex von Tunzelmann and Thomas Ntinas , host of The Delicious Legacy podcast, as they unravel how centuries of festive indulgence, and a brief detour t...
Dec 19, 2024•15 min•Season 1Ep. 1455
• Our Cyber Monday sale is just about still on! Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker. Yes, Die Hard IS a Christmas movie… but what about its politics? Is the Bruce Willis blockbuster a howl of anger from Reagan’s rustbelt, an attack on ’80s yuppie finance bros, an America First broadside against Japanese corporate raiders, or a diatribe against capitalism that Bernie Sanders would be proud of? And who’s the real villain? Conservative economist John Phelan joins wet liberal centrist ...
Dec 18, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 1454
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale. The perfect gift to ask for! Last week, a high-profile murder in broad daylight shocked the world, but it’s the reaction that has everyone talking. Why is the victim, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, met with scorn while the accused, Luigi Mangione, is hailed as a cult hero across the internet? Join Alex von Tunzelmann and Jessica Glenza , health reporter for The Guardian US , as they delve into the complexities o...
Dec 17, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 1453
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale . The perfect gift to ask for! The Chinese spy scandal lifts the lid on Prince Andrew’s murky world. What do the Chinese think the Prince can give him? Has the affair sealed Andrew’s fate as a Royal? And will we find out the identity of the mysterious “H6”? Plus: Why is Starmer cosying up to Italy’s far-right leader Giorgia Meloni? The US healthcare debate grows bitterer still after the arrest of Luigi Mangione. And are...
Dec 16, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 1452
• Our Black Friday sale is still on! Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker . Beige against the machine – Mocked by left and right in the 2010s, Centrist Dad had the last laugh. Now he bestrides our politics like gilet-clad colossus – he’s even Prime Minister. But what makes him tick? How is he adjusting to power? What is Centrist Mum like? Authors of The Centrist Dad Handbook , friend of the pod Jason Hazeley and pal Nico Tatarowicz, talk to Andrew Harrison a bout the man at the cent...
Dec 13, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 1451
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale. The perfect gift to ask for! It’s been a busy time in the USA – so you’d be forgiven for having missed the latest UFO hearings. To help you catch up, Jacob Jarvis spoke to Tom Phillips, co-author of Conspiracy: A History of B*llocks Theories, and How Not to Fall For Them, to discuss what was said and if any of it actually hinted at Alien life… www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis. Audio prod...
Dec 12, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 1450
• A special crossover with The Bunker’s geopolitics partner podcast This Is Not A Drill . Assad’s stunning fall ends a tyrannical 53-year rule in Syria, leaving monstrous crimes against human rights exposed, rocking both Iran and Russia on their heels, and handing the country’s future back to its people. Where next for Syria? Will the rebel fighters coalesce into a working government and avoid the factionalism which would jeopardise the Syrian people’s hopes? And what does it mean for an interna...
Dec 11, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 1449
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale. The perfect gift to ask for! French politics is in turmoil at the moment with President Macron facing pressure over who he names as the nation’s next Prime Minister. Can the different factions in France be brought together? And can Macron fend off his enemies – or might someone else be better suited? Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief of The Economist , joins Ros Taylor to discuss the chaos and what might come of it. We...
Dec 10, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 1448
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale. The perfect gift to ask for! The fall of the Assad regime in Syria is dominating headlines – what does it mean for the future of the country and the region more broadly? Ros Taylor discusses with Jacob Jarvis. Plus, they discuss domestic news including the fallout of Starmer’s reset and a war on NIMBYs. And – France, what’s going on and can Macron weather the political storm? We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.co...
Dec 09, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 1447
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale. The perfect gift to ask for! If you’re under 45 the only way you’ll buy a home is with help from the Bank of Mum and Dad. What is the increasing power of family wealth doing to Britain? Far from intergenerational inequality, is inTRAgenerational inequality creating a Britain of haves and never-will-haves? Are we entering a Jane Austen world where money marries money? And is it all the Boomers’ fault? Eliza Filby , auth...
Dec 06, 2024•40 min•Season 1Ep. 1446
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale. The perfect gift to ask for! How much impact would Musk giving $100 million to Farage and Reform UK have on British politics? And how would such a move be legal – and could it be blocked in any way? Ros Taylor is joined by Peter Geoghegan , author of the Democracy for Sale substack, to discuss how this sort of funding is regulated – and how analogue rules struggle to keep up in a digital world. • “It’s both the money a...
Dec 05, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 1445
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale . The perfect gift to ask for! Kamala Harris faced an uphill battle in her bid for the White House ending in a shock defeat which has left her party reeling. But, she’s suggested she wants to stay in the fight, and early polling hints that she could muster support to run in 2028. Would that be wise for her or the Democratic Party? Today on The Bunker , Jacob Jarvis is joined by David Smith , Washington DC bureau chief f...
Dec 04, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 1444
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale . The perfect gift to ask for! From inheritance tax to winter fuel to the early mini-scandal over ministerial freebies, it seems Labour just can’t take control of the news agenda. Is it down to a lack of killer journalistic instinct, Starmer’s own personality, or something deeper? Patrick Diamond was policy and strategy adviser to New Labour, and he’s now Professor of Public Policy at Queen Mary University London. He te...
Dec 03, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 1443
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale . The perfect gift to ask for! Keir Starmer definitely isn’t doing a relaunch or a reset no matter what the papers say. But, he is doing something that looks a bit like one, so Gavin Esler and Jacob Jarvis unpack what the Labour leader is up to. And, Trump’s making everyone go see him at Mar a Lago, what can we make of his initial interactions on the world stage? Plus, the latest from Russia and conflict in the Middle E...
Dec 02, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 1442
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale. The perfect gift to ask for! Britain's high streets are shadows of their former selves. Over the last decade, 40,000 shops have closed. But in the past high streets were more than places to shop – they were the heart of communities, hubs for activism, and even spots for a bit of drama to unfold. Today on The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann sits down with Annie Gray , author of The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Make...
Nov 29, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 1441
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale . The perfect gift to ask for! Back by popular demand: The Bunker panel edition where we talk about multiple topics with regulars and guests. This time: The Telegraph thinks Jeremy Clarkson could lead a new populist party. Stranger things have happened… haven’t they? The intense debate on assisted dying reaches its climax. And the big future news stories we should watch out for. ITV News’s UK Editor Paul Brand and Paper...
Nov 28, 2024•43 min•Season 1Ep. 1440
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale . The perfect gift to ask for! Young men turned out in huge numbers for Trump, thanks in part to his ability to tap into the “manosphere”. So what is this online phenomenon? And how has it shaped political views the world over? And what will it mean going forward? Zing Tsjeng speaks to the authors of Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate's Manosphere , Jamie Tahsin and Matt Shea to discuss that and more. We are spo...
Nov 27, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 1439
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale . The perfect gift to ask for! It’s known for leather trenchcoats, shades and cool fight sequences in “bullet time”. But The Matrix ’s concept of “taking the Red Pill” – rejecting consensus reality and all who believe in it – has spread to become a malignant force in politics, providing a rationale for conspiracy theorists, misogynists, antisemites and fascists. How did a sci-fi blockbuster do so much damage? Derek Robe...
Nov 26, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 1438
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale . The perfect gift to ask for! MPs will debate assisted dying ahead of a significant vote on the matter this week – who is arguing for and against? What questions are there over the bill? Ros Taylor is joined by Hannah Fearn to discuss the split in the Cabinet over this legislation and more broadly. Plus, the latest from an apparent benefits “crackdown”, news from COP29 and more to look out for in the coming days. We ar...
Nov 25, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 1437
• Get 20% off annual Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale . The perfect gift to ask for! Donald Trump has secured a “trifecta” as he heads to the White House, while the House and Senate are due to be controlled by Republicans. So, can the checks and balances of the US system work at all? Can he circumvent everything – or will anyone push back? Dr. Casey Burgat, director of the Legislative Affairs program at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management...
Nov 23, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 1436
Donald Trump seems like a hardline ally of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli right. But could his unpredictable nature and need to make big news end the nightmare in Gaza on terms that don’t suit Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition? The Economist’s Israel correspondent Anshel Pfeffer talks to Andrew Harrison about the true nature of the war, its wider effects, and the ending that Trump might impose upon the region. • This edition recorded before the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israel...
Nov 22, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 1435
• Get 20% off a year’s Patreon support for The Bunker in our Black Friday sale . The perfect gift to ask for! Elon Musk is the new head of DOGE – the Department of Government Efficiency – alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, because two people doing one job is very efficient. But despite its fancy name, which bolsters its status immensely, is this idea actually anything new? And will this pitch to run the US government like a business work this time out? Zing Tsjeng speaks to Andrew Rudalevige , professor...
Nov 21, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 1434
• Get 20% off a year’s Patreon support for The Bunker. The perfect gift to ask for! Carbon capture is a highly controversial technology – but that hasn’t stopped governments ploughing huge sums of money into it. How does it work – and how effective is it? Does it do little more than let major polluters carry on as normal, by saying this will offset their emissions? And, even if it isn’t a cure, can we hit Net Zero targets without it? Ros Taylor is joined by Steve Smith, executive director of Oxf...
Nov 20, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 1433
Keir Starmer has vowed to make London the AI capital of the world. But is that truly possible? Silicon Valley continues to dominate the rapidly growing industry and with Trump promising to repeal Biden's AI regulations, the UK could struggle to keep up. In today’s episode of The Bunker , Dr. Kate Devlin speaks with Sana Khareghani , former Chair of the UK’s Office for AI, to explore whether London will rise as the next global AI hub – or if it is destined to fall behind in the race. • We are spo...
Nov 19, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 1432
