The creation of Artificial General Intelligence could be the greatest gamble mankind has ever undertaken. And one of its unlikely prime movers is a working class north Londoner and chess prodigy, the son of immigrant parents, who founded the groundbreaking company DeepMind to create machine superintelligence – a goal which if achieved could transform or destroy our world. Unlike the Altmans and the Musks, Demis Hassabis has the decency to fear what he is creating. The story of this 21st Century ...
Apr 02, 2026•33 min•Season 1Ep. 1782
The Golden Apple… From the boxy, upstart Apple II computer to the world-changing iPod and iPhone and beyond, Apple Inc. has shaped both the digital world and our own reality since it was founded on 1 April, 1976. Steve Jobs and creators like Jony Ive brought sleek consumer design to the masses, saved the music business, and created the app industry – but Apple has also grown into a corporate behemoth which kowtows to Trump. On Apple’s 50th birthday, tech journalist Craig Grannell talks to Alex v...
Apr 01, 2026•33 min•Season 1Ep. 1781
Artificial Intelligence is being touted as civilisational game-changer – and a miracle cure for Britain’s ailing economy. So far it’s all promise and no real achievement. But investors are still piling vast sums of money into a very few companies. Could that concentrated investment lay the world open to another financial crisis? Joshua Roberts , Capital Markets Correspondent for The Economist, talks to Seth Thévoz about the “apocalyptic bubble-bursting scenario.” “We have never seen companies th...
Mar 31, 2026•31 min•Season 1Ep. 1780
Setting up the big stories of the next seven days… As Trump runs out of options will he take the biggest step of all: a ground invasion of at least part of Iran? And can he do it while convincing that it’s not really “boots on the ground”? Plus: The financial consequences of the Iran War land in the UK right at the start of the local, Scottish and Welsh election campaigns. Apple Computer’s 50th birthday. The decision on Trump’s nightmare ballroom. And could YOU be the next Tottenham Hotspur mana...
Mar 30, 2026•31 min•Season 1Ep. 1779
The government is placing new limits on crypto and overseas donations — but is this about national security or is Starmer just worried about Farage’s fundraising power? Plus: Boris Johnson dubs himself the “Napoleon of Notting Hill”, and Trump’s 15-point peace plan falls flat. Jacob Jarvis is joined by Seth Thévoz to round up the biggest stories from the past week. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by: Jacob Jarvis with Seth Thévoz. Producer: Liam Tait and Kathleen Johnston. Produ...
Mar 27, 2026•39 min•Season 1Ep. 1778
Every day we’re swamped with weird takes on everything from the Iran war to the malevolence of pigeons. Now Paper Cuts survivors Miranda Sawyer and Jonn Elledge join Jacob Jarvis to discuss the weirdest (and occasionally best) columns of the month… so you don’t have to. This time: Terrible Iran takes, energy bill nightmares and a loving look at Adrian Chiles’ latest offerings. • Spotted a column we should talk about next time? Send it to info@bunkercast.co.uk www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written a...
Mar 26, 2026•40 min•Season 1Ep. 1777
George Orwell’s vision of a world of constant surveillance, where authoritarians rule by destroying the very concept of objective truth, is coming true in ways the author never predicted – and many ways he did. A new documentary film, Orwell: 2+2=5 by the acclaimed Haitian director Raoul Peck, connects the dots between 1984 , Animal Farm , Big Data and mass manipulation in the digital age. Our own Orwell correspondent Dorian Lynskey – author of The Ministry of Truth : A Biography of George Orwel...
Mar 25, 2026•29 min•Season 1Ep. 1776
Canada slapped down Trump’s bizarre fantasy of taking over the country when it elected Mark Carney as PM, and Canadians are still boycotting travel to the USA. But MAGA has not given up on its ambition of annexing the North. And they’re targeting the province of Alberta, known as “The Texas of the North” – a place that’s innately right-wing, suspicious of government, resentful of the rest of the country, and full of oil. Canadian journalist John Last talks to Ros Taylor from Ottawa about the sub...
Mar 24, 2026•30 min•Season 1Ep. 1775
Setting out the stories of the next seven days… Trump’s directionless assault on Iran reaches a decisive moment. Does the President declare arbitrary victory or press on? And with its regime renewed, its grip on the world economy tightening, and the US now abandoning oil sanctions, is Iran actually winning? Plus: the new BBC Director General, a possible antisemitic hate crime in Golders Green, and everybody get ready for the annual “they’re banning Easter” squabblefest. Gavin Esler and Andrew Ha...
Mar 23, 2026•29 min•Season 1Ep. 1774
Angela Rayner sparked speculation this week after warning Labour is “running out of time”. Is this the first sign of a leadership bid, or media overexcitement? Plus: a meningitis outbreak in Kent raises fresh public health concerns, and as the conflict in Iran enters its fourth week, is Donald Trump losing control of the narrative? Jacob Jarvis is joined by Alex von Tunzelmann to unpack a packed week. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by: Jacob Jarvis with Alex von Tunzelmann. Pro...
Mar 20, 2026•36 min•Season 1Ep. 1773
With war in Ukraine, the US almost our enemy, Brexit Britain now semi-detached and Putin waiting in the wings, the continent that rebuilt itself from the ruins of two world wars now finds its founding settlement under unprecedented pressure. Does Europe need to go back to find its future? Historian Roderick Beaton , author of Europe: A New History , joins Alex von Tunzelmann to trace how Europe was forged, how it has weathered cycles of integration and disintegration, and what its future might l...
Mar 19, 2026•31 min•Season 1Ep. 1772
Elon Musk wants much more than just a radicalised far-right population, a hotline to political power and a civil war in Britain. As Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff , authors of Muskism: A Guide For The Perplexed explain, he’s building no less than a dark new way for society to function. Under ‘Muskism’, technology envelopes every aspect of life, states and corporations are indistinguishable, and humans who disagree are just bugs in the code. But will Muskism survive its creator? Andrew Harrison ...
Mar 18, 2026•39 min•Season 1Ep. 1771
With Trump’s war to (he claims) end Iran’s nuclear programme pushing the world to the brink, the question of who has the Bomb and why feels more urgent than ever. But the untold story of how nuclear weaponry proliferated and shaped our world is even stranger than most of us know. Historian David Holloway , author of Nuclear Weapons: An International History , explores how the Bomb reshaped global politics with Dorian Lynskey . From the US-Soviet arms race to the rise of “Mutual Assured Destructi...
Mar 17, 2026•33 min•Season 1Ep. 1770
Setting up the stories of the next seven days… As Iran blockades the Straits of Hormuz and 20% of the world’s oil supply, can Trump cajole/bully other nations into clearing up the mess he caused? Including Britain? Plus: Ed Davey goes full Oppenheimer and calls for Britain to build its own nukes. Rachel Reeves tries to kickstart the economy (again). And the last word on the bitter “Should we replace Winston Churchill with an otter?” controversy that has torn the country apart. Ros Taylor and And...
Mar 16, 2026•33 min•Season 1Ep. 1769
Lord Mandelson is back in the spotlight after newly released documents revealed Keir Starmer was warned about his links to Jeffrey Epstein before appointing him ambassador. Plus: we unpack Donald Trump’s U-turn on Iran, Zoë Grünewald explains why Kemi Badenoch is her loser of the week, and finally Jacob Jarvis asks what removal of hereditary peers in the House of Lords will change about UK politics. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by: Jacob Jarvis with Zoë Grünewald. Producer: L...
Mar 13, 2026•30 min•Season 1Ep. 1768
As artificial intelligence systems become more powerful, what crimes should we prepare for it to commit? Can the law keep up with code? And when A.I. is misused, who’s actually responsible? Today on The Bunker, Kate Devlin is joined by Dr Federica Fedorczyk, Research Fellow at University of Oxford and an A.I. ethics specialist, to unpack how artificial intelligence is already challenging the criminal justice system and what happens when the law struggles to keep pace. www.patreon.com/bunkercast ...
Mar 12, 2026•27 min•Season 1Ep. 1767
A shock-and-awe attack on a Middle East country based on a faulty premise. No clear rationale, no exit strategy and a premature declaration of victory. Thousands of deaths with no clear end in sight. By attacking Iran, is Trump just re-running America’s disastrous 2003 invasion of Iraq? Or is this time even more poorly-planned and even worse? Dr Renad Mansour of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme talks to Andrew Harrison about the similarities between America’s great military...
Mar 11, 2026•34 min•Season 1Ep. 1766
Read any paper to the right of The Guardian and you’ll see furious condemnation of “tax raids” on “grieving families”, and a Labour plot to destroy the Middle Class and farmers via the “hated” inheritance tax “trap”. Yet IHT makes up only 0.7% of Government revenue and fewer than 5% of people leave enough to be subject to it. Why is Britain neurotic about a tax that so few pay? And with huge inheritances and the Bank of Mum and Dad creating a two-tier society of those with family wealth and thos...
Mar 10, 2026•32 min•Season 1Ep. 1765
Trump’s war in Iran continues and Britain’s right wing gang are desperate for Starmer to get more involved despite the obvious reasons not to. Why are they cheerleading what could be another disastrous and drawn out conflict in the Middle East? Rafael Behr joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss what’s going on and how the UK may or may not get further involved. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILL...
Mar 09, 2026•34 min•Season 1Ep. 1764
Rounding up the stories of the last seven days… Trump shatters international law, triggers a conflagration across the Middle East and insults Keir Starmer into the bargain. Also: Shabana Mahmood doubles down on immigration harshness after the Gorton & Denton disaster. The Fall of the House of Brewdog. And who’s been visiting Salford Lads’ Club? Jonn Elledge revisits the week just gone with Andrew Harrison. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production ...
Mar 06, 2026•33 min•Season 1Ep. 1763
Elon Musk is betting big on artificial intelligence. But is this a visionary leap forward, or a high-stakes gamble? His latest move is to merge SpaceX with his A.I. lab xAI, consolidating his companies’ finances and laying the groundwork for something even more ambitious: satellite data centres designed to push A.I. development into space. Zoë Grünewald is joined by The Economist ’s US technology editor Henry Tricks to unpack Musk’s moves, what it means for the world’s richest man, and whether t...
Mar 05, 2026•27 min•Season 1Ep. 1762
Last week Zia Yusuf, floated a headline-grabbing idea: a British version of America’s deeply unpopular ICE. Today on The Bunker , Zoë Grünewald speaks to Sunder Katwala , director of British Future and author of How to be a Patriot , to unpack what a “British ICE” would actually mean in practice and how the politics of deportation are fast becoming a race to the bottom. • Buy Sunder’s book How to Be a Patriot: Why Love of Country Can End Our Very British Culture War through our affiliate booksho...
Mar 04, 2026•30 min•Season 1Ep. 1761
Is Trump using America’s 250th anniversary to rebrand the USA in his own gaudy, aggressive, white nationalist image? There’ll be a “Patriot Games” high school athletics tournament, quickly dubbed America’s Hunger Games. Commemorative quarter coins have been scrubbed of any “woke” content. There’ll be mixed martial arts on the White House lawn. And Trump’s organisers of the celebrations are charging for access to the President. What would George Washington think? South Carolina political commenta...
Mar 03, 2026•35 min•Season 1Ep. 1760
Trump’s attacks on Iran have thrown the Middle East into chaos and left the world on the brink of what feels like an existential crisis. What is he doing and why now? And how will this situation develop and worsen in the coming days? Rafael Behr joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss this and the latest British politics updates in Start Your Week. Back us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, ...
Mar 02, 2026•34 min•Season 1Ep. 1759
Donald Trump delivered a record-length State of the Union address this week, in a marathon rant that has become the new normal. Plus, we explore the looming special educational needs reforms in the UK and check in on Kim Jong Un. And also, the weird story of an army of robot vacuum cleaners… Jacob Jarvis is joined by The Guardian’s Rafael Behr to comb over another wild week. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Rafael Behr. Producer: Liam Tait and Kathleen Johnst...
Feb 26, 2026•29 min•Season 1Ep. 1758
We read the columns and the pundits so you don’t have to… On this month’s round-up of the weirdest, worst and occasionally best opinion columns: Brutal takes on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from Camilla Long (Sunday Times) and Sophie Money-Coutts (Telegraph) while Brendan O’Neill (who else?). Plus: The Telegraph defends child labour, the Mail rages against fare-dodgers, and why the I’s Kate Lister is the best sex columnist on the planet. Paper Cuts alumni Jonn Elledge and Miranda Sawyer join Andre...
Feb 26, 2026•37 min•Season 1Ep. 1757
Barack Obama set the internet alight when he declared on a podcast that aliens are “real”. However, the former US president later insisted that, while in office, he saw no evidence of this and that he was just answering a speed round question. Once the preserve of late-night radio and fringe forums, UFOs are now discussed in Congress, scrutinised by the Pentagon and casually referenced by presidential hopefuls. Alex von Tunzelmann separates fact from fantasy with Andy McGrillen , author of Atlas...
Feb 25, 2026•30 min•Season 1Ep. 1756
The sudden ousting of two of China’s top military leaders has sparked intense speculation about what it says about Xi Jinping’s grip on power. From Mao to today, the Chinese Communist Party has repeatedly removed senior figures accused of corruption, incompetence, or simply becoming inconvenient. What’s going on this time? Today on The Bunker, Gavin Esler is joined by Daria Impiombato , Senior Analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies , joins us to unpack it all. www.patreon.com/bunker...
Feb 24, 2026•21 min•Season 1Ep. 1755
Trump is causing chaos again with a tariff tantrum while Starmer’s Labour faces a major test at the upcoming Gorton and Denton byelection. Gavin Esler joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss the news to look out for in the week ahead. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Gavin Esler. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices...
Feb 23, 2026•25 min•Season 1Ep. 1754
The week’s major stories in one place… In a shock development connected to the Epstein Files, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. As King Charles distances himself from his disgraced brother, what impact will this have on the future of the royal family? Plus more of the biggest stories of the week, including Reform’s “shadow cabinet”, the latest bizarre viral video to come out of RFK Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again initiative, and a hotel scam tha...
Feb 19, 2026•35 min•Season 1Ep. 1753
