Oh God, What Now?

Labour wins something shocker! As Kim Leadbeater’s victory in the most rancid by-election of modern times ignites a festival of pundit hindsight, we bring the panel together to assess Labour’s tight squeeze in Batley and Spen. How did she do it? What does it mean for Starmer? Did Galloway’s 8,000 votes constitute some sort of success? Can the Tories really blame their defeat all on Hancock? And was it Naomi Smith’s leafletting wot won it? “Kim Leadbeater ploughed her own furrow and was rewarded for it – and that’s really positive.” – Alex Andreou “Had we not seen the withdrawal of the Green candidate and we would have woken up to a very different result.” – Naomi Smith “The Tories threw everything at this by election and the fact that they didn’t win will hurt.” – Alex Andreou www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Does LOVE RAT MATT’s embarrassing self-own tell us anything we didn’t already know about Boris Johnson’s moral universe? And should we stop chortling given that his replacement Said Javid is promising “irreversible” unlocking? Why is Batley and Spen the ugliest by-election in recent history, and how much of that is George Galloway’s fault? Plus, the fiasco of isolation for hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren. And what’s going wrong at GB News? • “You can’t have ethics and standards as a resigning matter because if you do, Boris Johnson will have to go himself.” – Ian Dunt • “I found myself ogling the Hancock video and thinking, What have I become?” – Ros Taylor • “I don’t mind if Matt Hancock has an affair but I don’t want to pay for it.” – Ian Dunt • “There’s a new politics of resentment to the rest of the UK and the feeling is, you’ll only get investment if you vote for a Tory MP.” – Ros Taylor www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Happy” Referendum-versary! Special guest Ailbhe Rae of the New Statesman joins us to look at the meaning of the Lib Dem victory in Chesham and Amersham – don’t mention the Blue Wall – and explain what the DUP’s current game of Musical Stegosauruses means for Northern Ireland. Plus as Dido Harding offers to head the NHS and rid it of those pesky foreign nurses, we take a look at the Toryverse’s most inveterate failer-upper. And what would we do if WE were forced to take the plum job of Government Brexit Opportunity Unit Director? “The Tories are ripe for a flanking. They’ve left themselves exposed.” – Alex Andreou “Chesham was a Screw You Boris vote and it really does open up a gap between the new Tory North and the old Tory South.” – Ros Taylor “Labour is definitely in crisis right now, don’t get me wrong – but Chesham and Amersham is only a footnote in the crisis.” – Ailbhe Rae www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Dorian Lynsley with Ros Taylor and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As yet another self-justifying Dominic Cummings megablog arrives, will this latest real-life No.10 Spider-Man meme affect actual politics? Barrister Jolyon Maugham joins us to explain “de facto opposition” the Good Law Project’s work on the Government’s breathtaking cronyism and back-handers, and what happens in a country where there’s no cost to lawbreaking. And five years on from the Brexit vote, Tom Peck of The Independent joins us to look at the Referendum winners who lost – and the losers who won. “Is anyone is shocked any more by shocking revelations of Boris Johnson behaving like Boris Johnson?” – Tom Peck “Matt Hancock is Boris Johnson’s human shield. The more the focus on Hancock, the less heat falls on Johnson.” – Naomi Smith “This Conservative Party is like the Sex Pistols. They don’t know what they want but they know how to get it.” – Jolyon Maugham “Biggest loser from Brexit? Dominic Cummings. He’s literally back where he started.” – Tom Peck www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Alex Andreou with Naomi Smith with Tom Peck and Jolyon Maugham. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Will US journalist Tom McTague’s lengthy profile for The Atlantic help us comprehend the dumbfounding appeal of Prime Minister Posh Benny Hill? Plus, what does the G7’s Biden-boosted tax rate for multinationals tell us about legislating against companies that are bigger than countries? And on the eve of the Euros, our not-very-football panel ponder the most political preamble to a sporting tournament ever. • “Johnson is a master of getting away with it. He’s that breed of privileged person who fails upwards.” – Naomi Smith • “Nothing in certain in life except death and taxes – unless you’re Amazon and Facebook.” – Nina Schick • “Don’t vote for something just because it will f**k up another part of the country. Cos it will come back and f**k you.” – Dorian Lynskey • “It seems that you have to be some sort of sadist or masochist to want to be in British public life.” – Nina Schick Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor, Naomi Smith and Nina Schick. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Britain’s hostile border environment starts to entrap visitors from the EU, is the Home Office’s Brexit-infected immigration arm out of control? And why does the Home Office turn reasonable Ministers into monsters? Plus, new Netflix documentary Nail Bomber: Manhunt unravels the story of the neo-Nazi terrorist who bombed Brick Lane, Brixton and the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho in 1999. What it teach us now that far right terror is once again on the rise? • “The Home Office is like a giant game of Jenga, with new legislation balanced on top of already chaotic policy.” – Minnie Rahman • “When you follow this route on immigration, you end up detonating your own trade network to win the freedom you never needed in the first place.” – Ian Dunt • “The awful function of Home Secretaries is to give Prime Ministers a Hard Cop they can define themselves against.” – Ros Taylor • “Border Force are extremely shady with no accountability… They can’t even say how many sites there are.” – Minnie Rahman Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ian Dunt, Ros Taylor and Minnie Rahman. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s our FOURTH BIRTHDAY edition! And what a sumptuous spread Classic Dom has laid on for us. The classic line-up of Dorian, Naomi, Ros, Alex and Ian reassemble in an actual physical studio (!) to discuss Cummings’ committee drive-by on Johnson and his vendetta against multi-sackable Matt Hancock, and why he supported a PM he knew was unfit for the job. Plus a special treat for listeners: yes, we’re talking about the Progressive Alliance! This edition out early as a special bonus for our loyal listeners. • “When Cummings reports that Johnson ‘loves chaos because it shows who’s in charge’, that has the ring of truth.” – Alex Andreou • “Cummings knows he’s the reason Johnson is in No.10… and his ego was big enough to fool him that he could stop Johnson’s worst excesses.” – Ros Taylor • “There are no great points of principle here. Cummings just hates Johnson’s girlfriend and he’s a spiteful, resentful t**t.” – Ian Dunt • “Hancock was working on what he could claim as a success at the next press conference… He was disrupting all the long-term work.” – Alex Andreou • “We don’t have democratic equality in this country… We are the only ones who use antiquated FPTP.” – Naomi Smith Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Naomi Smith, Ian Dunt, Ros Taylor and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So, Brexit five months in – how’s it going? As the Government prepares to pauperise Britain’s farmers with its Australian trade deal, and as Unionists compare the NI Protocol to the Vichy Regime, are the wheels finally off the Brexit bus? Plus the FT’s Chief Political Correspondent Jim Pickard joins us to look at David Cameron’s performance in committee and how the Greensill saga is playing out. And we say goodbye to a beloved friend of the podcast. Audio warning: Jim is recording from inside a cupboard in the House of Commons. Please be kind. “All of these ‘teething problems’ should have been dealt with in the transition period. How long did business get to prepare? Six days.” – Alex Andreou “Why are we bringing a dead cow from the other side of the world? Is Australian beef really that much better?” – Jim Fitzpatrick “This Prime Minister flip flops more than most men change their socks.” – Nina Schick “Cameron promised to clean up lobbying while simultaneously selling himself for dinners on the Conservative website.” – Alex Andreou “For those of us following Cameron’s story closely, there were some hilarious excursions into parallel reality.” – Jim Fitzpatrick Presented by Naomi Smith with Nina Schick and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the Government celebrates its electoral victories with a bout of naked voter suppression and intimidation of protest, we look at Labour’s farcical response and where the party goes from here. Plus we talk to Jonathan Calvert and George Arbuthnot, co-authors of Failures Of State: The Inside Story Of Britain’s Battle With Coronavirus. Exactly what went wrong in the pandemic response and how can a colossal crime of Government negligence happen in plain sight – and go unreported? • “It’s almost as if this government is afraid of the task ahead of it, because it know the vaccine bounce can’t last.” – Ros Taylor • “The Government’s problem is that young people don’t vote Conservative, so they want to stop them voting.” – Ian Dunt • “Those last nine days, when Boris Johnson was implacably against lockdown and the majority of deaths occurred, are squarely on Boris Johnson.” – George Arbuthnot • “Scientists were clear to us that the first wave might have been understandable but the second and third were absolutely unforgivable. Johnson knew what he had to do and didn’t do it.” – Jonathan Calvert www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the eve of what looks like a not-great election day for everyone who isn’t Boris Johnson, the SNP, a Labour metro mayor or Count Binface, are we witnessing the final mopping up of the 2019 General Election? The Independent’s sketchwriter TOM PECK joins us for Election Doomwatch ’21. Plus, the Conservatives pack cultural institutions in an act of Home Counties Orbanism. And why do politicians insist on being photographed with pints? • “If I could tell you why people aren’t angry, believe me I’d have put it in the column.” – TOM PECK. • “The Government seems to be trying, without any sense of irony, to cancel cancel culture.” – NAOMI SMITH • “Saying it’s ‘the same old Tories’ doesn’t work when a load of people have just voted for them for the first time” – TOM PECK • “Come on, what kind of country would lower itself to allowing Brad Pitt to live there?” – IAN DUNT on points-based immigration • “Sleaze is shagging your secretary… What’s going on now is straightforward corruption.” – TOM PECK www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Naomi Smith and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Johnson’s odious comments about “bodies piling up” collide with Carrie Antoinette’s golden wallpaper splurge and the Vengeance of the Cummings, has this barrage of sleaze finally putting the PM on the ropes? Tech expert Alexi Mostrous of Tortoise joins us to explore what Big Tech and Bigger Data have in store for our democracies. Brexit eats another of its children in the shape of Arlene Foster. And what will our film critics make of Matt Hancock’s blockbuster COVID: The Movie? “This is like me going shoplifting, then dropping a tenner in the till a year later and saying it’s OK, I paid for it.” – Alex Andreou “Never mind Chatty Rat, there are clearly multiple rats who don’t want Johnson around any more. Gove and Vine are like Pinky and the Brain.” – Minnie Rahman “Maybe mistresses and illegitimate children cost a lot of money. Who knew?” – Alex Andreou “So Chris Whitty is waving a terrifying graph at Johnson while Carrie Symonds is showing him a Farrow & Ball chart?” – Dorian Lynskey “It’s quite a revelation that in the DUP universe, Arlene Foster is the reasonable one.” – Alex Andreou Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Minnie Rahman and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It turns out that all you need to fix your tax problems is the PM’s mobile number! We look at Britain’s sprawling corruption problem and whether the Government even wants to control it. Plus, after the Super League fiasco, can politicians really tell private companies what to do – even if they’re football teams? And the Allegra Stratton Press Conference Room lasts about as long as, er, the Super League. Our special guest Pippa Crerar, political editor of the Mirror, explains what it all means. “Johnson hates apologising. He sees it as a sign of weakness that his opponents will hold against him forevermore.” – Pippa Crerar “The COVID sceptic pub landlord thing sent me into an all-caps Brian Blessed rage for a moment.” – Alex Andreou “If this Government feels like they can get away with something then they’re going to go ahead with it regardless.” – Pippa Crerar Presented by Ros Taylor with Alex Andreou and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Northern Ireland descends into violence and it seems that Boris Johnson just doesn’t care. We ask Belfast-based political journalist Amanda Ferguson how much of the rioting is down to Brexit, or are the causes deeper? And does the border in the Irish Sea put us on course for worse troubles? Plus: Does public indifference over the death of Prince Philip indicate bad news for the future of the Monarchy? Or did we just know it all already from watching The Crown? And why it’s your duty to get out and shop. “Unionists feel betrayed by Boris Johnson… They see their Britishness being diluted.” – Amanda Ferguson “The Royal Family act as this kind of warped, gilded mirrors of ourselves.” – Ian Dunt “We haven’t seen the end of this. All the grievances that were there before the riots are still there now.” – Amanda Ferguson “The idea that Philip being obnoxious and rude ‘breaks the ice’ is just utterly ridiculous.” – Minnie Rahman “We’re a country that has culture wars over children’s books. An elected head of state would be a culture war minefield.” - Ian Dunt Presented by Naomi Smith with Minnie Rahman and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Vaccine passports: thin end of the authoritarian wedge or a grim necessity that we liberals should grit our teeth and support? Plus, who’s writing the first draft of Brexit history? Guests Jill Ritter and Alan Wager of UK In A Changing Europe tell us about their oral history project the Brexit Witness Archive, where the people who were there tell us where the bodies are buried. And what do Labour’s Starmerphobes actually want? Read the Brexit Witness Archive here: https://ukandeu.ac.uk/brexit-witness-archive/ “People in Northern Ireland are being made to feel like second class citizens. You’re going to get angry young men seeking an outlet for that resentment.” – Naomi Smith “The fact that we’ve got a range of vaccines is an international miracle. We can’t let them get hijacked by nationalist shysters.” – Alex Andreou “The general uselessness of the official Remain campaign is a recurrent theme in what we found…” – Jill Rutter “Maybe whoever followed Corbyn was always going to be Labour’s rebound boyfriend.” – Alex Andreou Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Prime Minister’s affair with a woman who was receiving large amounts public money is confirmed – and nobody is talking about it? We look at the corruption and the democratic toxin behind the Johnson-Arcuri leg-over. Plus, a weirdos’ gallery of old Brexiters is setting up a ‘Museum of Brexit’. How can it possibly be balanced, like they claim? And why the school protests outside Batley Grammar should worry everyone. “The intended audience for the Government’s report? White people.” – Alex Andreou “What’s important about the Arcuri scandal isn’t the sex, it’s the money.” – Ian Dunt “Free speech is sacrosanct. No matter how outrageous someone’s beliefs are, they should have the right to express them.” – Nina Schtick “The assumption that ‘people will be decent’ isn’t enough to protect us any more.” – Alex Andreou “A brown paper envelope stuffed with money? Every gets that. The arrangements around procurement arrangements, that’s a harder sell.” – Ian Dunt Presented by Ros Taylor with Alex Andreou, Nina Schick and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Inside Home Secretary Priti Patel’s insidious new plans for asylum seekers – why moves that claim to reduce the use if people traffickers will actually increase them, and why the cruelty is the point. And special guest the legendary Anglo-Indian musician Nitin Sawhney joins us to talk about making multicultural music in an increasingly insular Britain, his brilliant globe-spanning new album Immigrants (which is very us) and how he got Andy Serkis to sing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ as Theresa May. “On vaccine supplies, we’ve sacrificed ‘just in case’ for ‘just in time’.” – Alex Andreou “What Priti Patel is trying to do is roll back the asylum convention… She’s trying to make it practically impossible to claim asylum in Britain.” – Minnie Rahman “From the optics and politics of it, this is red meat to the worst kind of libertarian hard right voters.” – Naomi Smith Presented by Alex Andreou with Minnie Rahman and Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can anything hold back Priti Patel’s assault on the great British tradition of noisy, disruptive protest? Plus: partisan or penniless: what’s the future of media in the coming age of news-mangling tech giants and GB News? Special guest James Harding – former Director of BBC News, ex-Times editor and now co-founder of Tortoise Media – joins us to examine the future of the news. And on the first anniversary of Lockdown 1, we look back on a moment when real life turned into John Wyndham novel. “The pivot to Asia is basically the ‘pivot to video’ of foreign policy, and will probably be about as successful.” – Ian Dunt “It’s really significant that even Theresa May, given her time at the Home Office, has serious misgivings about this bill.” – James Harding “Spot the Cop might be an intriguing game on nights out…” – Ros Taylor “I’m sure there are protests performed by mimes – but any others that make noise, the police can close down anything they want.” – Ian Dunt Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham joins us to talk about Westminster vs the Regions and whether Labour is opposing Johnson hard enough. What actually happened in that moment when London strong-armed Manchester into Tier 3 with scant compensation? Will the Government’s derisory 1% pay rise for nurses turn into a political albatross on the scale of Black Wednesday or Iraq? And as the levelling up scam begins to unravel with money flooding to Conservative constituencies, how can Canterbury be placed in Level 1 but Salford Level 2? Plus: Will the Meghan Markle Royal racism scandal be reduced to another stupid culture war point instead of a real moment of change? And the panel try to persuade soft southerner Ian that there’s life outside London. “Westminster makes frauds of people. It’s much more fun being a mayor.” – Andy Burnham “We should stop calling this an insulting pay rise for nurses. It’s a pay cut.” – Ian Dunt “Levelling up is the most potent theme since I’ve been in politics. Labour needs to not just criticise it but set out how we’d do it better.” – Andy Burnham “To say pay rises for nurses aren’t affordable just won’t wash any more. You’ve just chosen not to afford it, haven’t you?” – Andy Burnham “Would the Government have done what they did to us to London? The answer has to be, no they wouldn’t.” – Andy Burnham “If Labour’s London-centric it’s setting itself up for a slow death.” – Andy Burnham Presented by Naomi Smith with Minnie Rahman and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So what did Sunak’s Budget actually mean? How did he manage to keep both Brexit and the North out of his wheezes? What sort of Chancellor does he really want to be? And is the secret message of the Budget that we should prepare for an early election? Plus: there’s a Museum of Communist Terror on the way, to reshape our understanding of totalitarianism. So why is it backed almost exclusively by culture warriors who think we shouldn’t re-examine our ideas about history? “The CRG, the ERG and all the other ’RGs are like displacement activity to stop Conservative MPs from feeling unloved.” – Alex Andreou “The UK Government decided not to levy big taxes on imports after Brexit, so what is the point of freeports anyway?” – Ros Taylor “This is an investment bonanza for the cash-rich. The rest of us, not so much.” – Alex Andreou “This was a great pension if you’re a wealthy pensioner.” – Ros Taylor “If you don’t want teachers to be left-wing, pay them big bucks.” – Alex Andreou Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is Boris Johnson’s slow-burn unlocking actually – shock – the right thing to do? Will he be led by data, dates, deaths or whatever the CRG shouts at him? What will fertilise that “crocus of hope”? And will the panel all go turbo on June 21? Plus, what are the elephants in the room that we’ve been neglecting throughout the COVID-Brexit nightmare? Ros Taylor, Ian Dunt and Minnie Rahman join Naomi Smith for this week’s communal gaze into the abyss of politics. “If you hate Zooms as an adult, you can’t begin to understand how awful it is watching kids trying to ‘play’ on Zoom.” – Ros Taylor “The rationale is, it’s fine if we put unimaginable pressure on the NHS as long as we don’t actually overwhelm it. And of course it’s NOT fine.” – Ian Dunt Presented by Naomi Smith with Ros Taylor, Minnie Rahman and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if they gave a War on Woke and nobody came? The Government decides to both defend free speech (if you’re a right winger on campus) and restrict it (if you run a stately home named after a slave owner). So that makes sense. Plus: As there’s no credible recovery programme for education, Gráinne Hallahan of the Times Education Supplement joins us to set one out. Gav, call us yeah? Meanwhile… Ros gets a COVID jab! The Arts get their own special No Deal Brexit! And in the Extra Bit, we watch Adam Curtis’s collage-doc digital jeremiad Can’t Get You Out Of My Head. “Each side of this culture war is proclaiming itself as the true arbiter of history.” – Nina Schick “Voltaire and Rousseau wrestled with free speech. Now the Government has decided it’s time for Gavin Williamson to sort it out.” – Alex Andreou “The Government likes the idea of free speech but doesn’t want on engage in any of the complexities.” – Ros Taylor “History is never static.… Let Britain’s monuments be evaluated in terms of what they mean now.” – Nina Schick “Boris Johnson thinks schools are safe, it’s just the children going into them that make them dangerous…” – Gráinne Hallahan “If the National Theatre can’t tour the EU, then nobody can do it.” – Alex Andreou Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Nina Schick, Alex Andreou and Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Piles of fish, cheese, bees, toys, guitar cases and banking deals are LITERALLY rotting at Britain’s ports. How long can the government keep claiming we’ve only got import/export “teething problems” when it’s full-blown trade/dental collapse? Politicshome’s Brexit and Westminster Correspondent Adam Payne joins us on the dock of the bay. Plus: Have virus truthers finally hit Britain’s bullsh*t ceiling? Flag-angst and Starmerphobia in Labour. And is that COVID burnout you’re feeling or something deeper? Like Frasier Crane, our panel of Ian Dunt, Naomi Smith and Dorian Lynskey are listening. “When we’re being relentlessly tw*tted by events it’s a bit much to expect Starmer to produce the magnificent work of art about how to live.” – Ian Dunt “If these customers in the EU start to look elsewhere for their fish, they probably won’t come back.” – Adam Payne “If Britain wanted to be self-sufficient in food, we’d literally have to polytunnel the entire North East.” – Naomi Smith Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Naomi Smith and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week’s EU:UK vaccine stand-off put Ursula von der Leyen squarely in the spotlight, but what makes the President of the European Commission tick? And is there a sane Conservative Party somewhere in our political future? Matthew d’Ancona – formerly deputy editor of the Sunday Telegraph and the Spectator, now partner-editor of the slow news site Tortoise – joins us to look at what might come after Johnsonism. Plus, Dacre at OFCOM, foreign bees comin’ over ’ere pollinating our plants… and why are we paying EU citizens to leave the UK? Regulars Minnie Rahman of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and commentator Alex Andreou join Dorian Lynskey to ask – yet again – “Oh God, what now?” “The great offices of the state are now in the hands of C-list populists.” – Matthew d’Ancona “Everything from bees to cheese is undergoing a death by a thousand papercuts” – Alex Andreou “It’s as if there was a party game at Number 10 to work out who would be the worst chair of OFCOM, and they came up with Paul Dacre.” – Matthew d’Ancona “It doesn’t feel like the hardline post-Brexit immigration approach is coming from Johnson. It’s pure Priti Patel.” – Minnie Rahman “The vaccine episode proved that as far as the EU are concerned, yes, we are a foreign country.” – Matthew d’Ancona Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Minnie Rahman and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Has Brussels just handed Brexiters the killer argument they so desperately needed? The EU’s bizarre decision to impose and then cancel restrictions on COVID vaccines crossing the border from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland exasperated pro-Europe campaigners and left the Brexit press crowing. Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou look at what this terrible error means. Presented by Andrew Harrison with Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the EU considers restricting exports of the COVID vaccines, are we in the midst of the first authentic post-Brexit row between the EU and the UK – or are Brexiters just using it as a distraction from their own failures? And who’s really to blame for the vaccine shortage? Plus, what has the Year of Living Isolatedly done to Britain’s appetite for alcohol and “miscellaneous stimulation”? What will an independent English parliament look like if (when) it happens? And, in the Extra Bit, what did we think of Russell T Davies’s AIDS drama It’s A Sin? “Boris Johnson did far LESS than he should have. 100,000 deaths should be a resigning matter.” – Naomi Smith “Maybe after five years of Brexit campaigning, British people really DO trust celebrities more than scientists…” – Alex Andreou “If we create vaccine passports we’re just reserving travel for the richest countries.” – Yasmeen Serhan “We’re entering a dangerous phase in the UK:EU relationship where each side is trying to use the other side’s failure of their own success.” – Naomi Smith Presented by Ros Taylor with Naomi Smith, Yasmeen Serhan and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s a little bit later than usual but still early for Patreon backers… Our long international nightmare is over – for now. As Trump exits the White House to fester in Mar-A-Lago, former UK Ambassador to the USA Kim Darroch joins us to look at what the Biden/Harris Era will mean for British trade, British foreign policy, and Boris “Britain Trump” Johnson. Plus: What does that huge exodus of immigrants from the UK mean for the character of our cities and the future of our country? And why do middle-class British people insist on claiming they’re working class? “There was never a moment where you felt that Trump would ever be a normal President…” – Kim Darroch “British Customs policy is like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic after the Titanic has sunk.” – Naomi Smith “There’s no doubt that ending Freedom of Movement was a cynical ploy to get non-EU immigrants to support Brexit.” – Nina Schick “If you ever followed Trump’s career, you knew it was a no-brainer that he would never accept losing an election.” – Kim Darroch “Priti Patel’s home office isn’t iron-fisted, it’s ham-fisted.” – Naomi Smith Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Naomi Smith and Nina Schick. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast recorded before the impeachment vote. As Republicans distance themselves in horror from Donald Trump’s violent sedition, can we finally conclude that yes, he was a fascist all along? Will the GOP or Johnson pay any price for their years of fawning before Agent Orange? Special guest Philip Stephens of the Financial Times joins us to talk about his new book Britain Alone: The Path from Suez to Brexit and the strange psychodrama of Britain’s search for a foreign policy identity. Plus, when is it right to kick extremists – and extremist presidents – off popular social networks like Twitter, MySpace and Club Penguin? “What we have to remember is that Trump is a failed populist and failed autocrat.” – Yasmeen Serhan “It doesn’t matter that Trump is too inarticulate and dimwitted to understand what fascism is. He was unable to deliver it.” – Ian Dunt “Cabinet ministers just don’t know what it’s like to run out of money on a Thursday.” – Philip Stephens “The most vital thing we need in the next few years is for the Right to start policing its own norms.” – Ian Dunt “Blair would tell us pro-European journalists that he was absolutely pro-EU that we were going to join the Euro. And then he’d tell Trevor Kavanagh from The Sun that we’d never, ever give up sterling…” – Philip Stephens Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Yasmeen Serhan and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This podcast recorded before the invasion of the Capitol building in Washington DC. “Happy” New Year! With Britain’s kids getting one whole day of virus-spreading schooling, is a third lockdown any use in the absence of a coherent COVID policy? And how are we coping with yet more home schooling and working from home without even a takeaway pint to assuage the misery? Plus trade expert David Henig joins us to point out the hidden traps in Johnson’s make-do trade deal and explain what the UK needs to do to get EU trade back to a passable standard. “The deal we have does nothing like what’s needed for a modern trading relationship.” – David Henig “On Brexit, Starmer is becoming less distinguishable from Johnson. He needs to remember that most people no longer support the Brexit vote.” – Naomi Smith “Other than spite, I have no idea why we didn’t choose to participate Erasmus.” – David Henig “Keeping schools open was the only thing the Government could cling to as a success. No wonder they clung to it like wreckage.” – Ros Taylor “We’re already getting companies saying, With all these data barriers is it really worth us being based in the UK?” – David Henig “It’s pretty clear that Johnson agrees with the last person he spoke to… and that Dominic Cummings’ influence was perhaps not as malign as we thought.” – Ros Taylor “There’s a Greek saying: If you’ve eaten a whole donkey, don’t forget to eat the tail.” – Alex Andreou Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Alex Ros Taylor, Andreou and Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Intra-Christmas Emergency Edition. Having cancelled Christmas, Johnson then ruined what was left of it by crowing about his Deal. But what’s in it? How should Remainers feel about it? Where did Britain cave? Have British fish been sold down the river? Why is nobody talking about services? And exactly how much of that tasty, tasty control has Brexit Britain really taken back? “The dominant narrative is ‘Don’t scrutinise this deal, it’s all water under the bridge now.’ When does accountability happen?” – Alex Andreou “This is a piss-poor deal even by its own standards… It’s a base camp to us eventually getting closer and closer to Europe.” – Ian Dunt “The Withdrawal Agreement was the first one where the EU got exactly what it wanted… and now the Trade Deal is the second.” – Alex Andreou “There are concrete reasons to think this is the start of us going back, not the end of us leaving.” – Ian Dunt “I hate to say it, but the EU really has taken back control.” – Alex Andreou Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Alex Andreou and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The new mutant strain of COVID has shattered the Government’s Christmas strategy and plunged Britain into isolation and chaos. Is government dithering to blame or are the hard right, libertarian, chlorinated chickens coming home to roost? Are we really looking at 20,000 new hospital admissions and 5,000 deaths a day in the New Year? And how is Britain going to cut a Deal with the EU when Johnson has ensured we’re more cut off from Europe than at any time since 1939? “I would not be surprised if Johnson had been told about the new strain but not listened – and continued with his usually bloody bombast.” – Naomi Smith “Johnson has learned nothing from any of this. Everything will be back to normal by Easter? He just makes the next easy promise.” – Alex Andreou “Would Johnson really have mocked Starmer as a Christmas killer on Wednesday if he knew he’d be cancelling Christmas on Friday?” – Dorian Lynskey “The BBC are normalising catastrophe. Reporter after reporter was repeating the line that this ‘proves’ we’re ready for No Deal…” – Naomi Smith “It’s astonishing that the Conservatives have won the last three elections by saying ‘Don’t vote for THEM, it’ll be CHAOS…’.” – Alex Andreou Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Out early to beat potential Deal obsolescence! All we want for Christmas is… a deal. Any deal. Has an agreement already been concluded and is it just waiting for the window-dressing? We assemble the full panel to explain where Johnson has caved, how Labour might have a get-out-of-jail clause, and why there’s not much wriggle room on fish. Oh, and the Government’s incomprehensible Christmas advice. Plus, we present the Oh God, What Now? Awards for 2020. Who are the winners, losers, disasters and great moments of this wonderful year which we enjoyed so much? And the panel’s closing thoughts this Very Mini Christmas. “We’re hearing that Johnson’s accepting the European Court of Justice as final arbitrator. That would be massive .” – Alex Andreou “Everything we’ve heard about what Rishi Sunak does behind the scenes confirms that he’s deeply, deeply wrong.” – Ian Dunt “Somehow the scientific advice became secondary to what anti-lockdown Tories will put up with. And that’s really dangerous.” – Alex Andreou “In any other cabinet Matt Hancock would be by far the worst member. In this one, somehow he’s pretty much the best.” – Ian Dunt Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor, Ian Dunt, Alex Andreou and Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Back OH GOD, WHAT NOW? and help us make political life more bearable. Get every new episode a whole day early, plus new and classic merchandise when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our companion podcast THE BUNKER is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. For the moment we’re still at remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Boris Johnson joins Ursula von der Leyen for the worst dinner since Mr Creosote in The Meaning Of Life, we’re joined by LBC frontline key worker and friend of the ’cast James O’Brien to discuss Britain on the brink of No Deal and his new book How Not To Be Wrong: The Art of Changing Your Mind. Plus, who decided that this catastrophe was Remainers’ fault all along? “I’m walking the tightrope between complete vindication and avoiding triumphalism…” – James O’Brien “How can Johnson ever say he achieved anything if we leave without a deal?” – Minnie Rahman “Everytime Farage farts, the whole Conservative party holds their nose.” – James O’Brien Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Minnie Rahman and Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Back OH GOD, WHAT NOW? and help us make political life more bearable. Get every new episode a whole day early, plus new and classic merchandise when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our companion podcast THE BUNKER is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. For the moment we’re still at remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does the arrival of a COVID vaccine really mean for No.10’s virus strategy? Who’s the real opposition? Cool, calm and perhaps-too-collected Keir Starmer, or the wild men and women of the CRG – the disaster artists formerly known as the ERG? Plus special guest Giles Whittell of Tortoise Media joins us to explain Britain’s national security future and tell us why we should be optimistic about Russians, if not Russia. Shout out to @DMReporter for an unbeatable episode title. “As soon as we get the vaccine it’s like, Would you like some pernicious lying tribalism to go with your optimism?” – Ian Dunt “Britain badly needs a reality check… so I’d actually like to see a cataclysm on 31 December.” – Giles Whittell “Even a deal as bad as this would be good for Remainers, because it gives us what we need to build back.” – Ian Dunt “Biden aptly described Brexit as the dog that caught the car, and then the car reversed over the dog.” – Giles Whittell Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Back OH GOD, WHAT NOW? and help us make political life more bearable. Get every new episode a whole day early, plus new and classic merchandise when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our companion podcast THE BUNKER is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. For the moment we’re still at remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why are we calling the Government’s COVID backhanders and gilded inner circle a “chumocracy” when it’s just straightforward corruption? Brace yourselves, it’s going to get worse. Plus, former civil servant Alex Andreou gives the inside track on diminutive bully Priti Patel’s brazen escape from the consequences of her actions. As No Deal comes up against the urgent reality of bringing perishable COVID vaccines into the country, could Johnson end up begging for an extension after all? And why David Davis holds ALL the cards in his renegotiation with Vodafone. “Sturgeon and Johnson will rub their hands in glee if Labour back the Brexit deal.” – Naomi Smith “The death rate from COVID is roughly equivalent to the death rate of American troops storming the beaches of Normandy.” – Ben Stewart “We’re expecting a Brexit deal that’s skinnier than a 90s supermodel.” – Naomi Smith “The Government has frittered away its soft power and now thinks it can replace it with hard power, entering cyberspace conflict decades too late.” – Alex Andreou “People are losing their businesses in the name of Daniel Hannan’s imaginary concept of free trade. It’s heartbreaking” – Ben Stewart “The practice of ‘declaring interest’ is absurd, as if taking money over the table is somehow better than taking it under the table.” – Alex Andreou Presented by Ros Taylor with Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and Ben Stewart. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Back OH GOD, WHAT NOW? and help us make political life more bearable. Get every new episode a whole day early, plus new and classic merchandise when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our companion podcast THE BUNKER is now DAILY too. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. For the moment we’re still at remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What’s the real state of play between Keir Starmer and newly independent MP Jeremy Corbyn? Where does Boris Johnson go now that his external brain Dominic Cummings has put up the GONE BLOGGIN’ sign? Pfizer vs Moderna – whose vaccine is so hot right now? Plus a taster of our new, extended edition of Oh God, What Now – exclusive to Patreon backers. “There’s nobody around to fill the Angry Gonad position that Cummings has just vacated” – Naomi Smith “As soon as politics goes back to policies and economics, the Tories’ electoral alliance falls apart.” – Ian Dunt “I can't believe Dishy Rishi wants to bring back Eat Out To Help out when it turned out to be a superspreader event.” – Minnie Rahman “If you banned the world ‘woke’, modern conservatism would fit on the back of an envelope.” – Dorian Lynskey “With the vaccine, right now it’s eight year olds versus eighty year olds.” – Minnie Rahman Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Minnie Rahman, Naomi Smith and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Back OH GOD, WHAT NOW? and help us make political life more bearable. Get every new episode a whole day early, plus new and classic merchandise when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our companion podcast THE BUNKER is now DAILY too. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. For the moment we’re still at remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

IGNOMINY DOMINIC: As the Prime Minister’s attack weasel Dominic Cummings finally “resigns” to spend more time with his WordPress, Ian Dunt reflects on the meaning and manner of his departure. Can Johnson continue without his external brain, is Carrie Symonds really that powerful, and what are we going to do without SuperDry Gollum to kick around? Includes exciting live radio moments! “At least his blogs will stay in a little corner of the internet rather than at the heart of the British Government” “What this has shown us about Boris Johnson, again, is he’s just clothing with no skin in it” “There is never going to be a point where these guys are going to own Brexit, they will always blame someone else” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does the rise of President Joe mean for Britain and our shapeshifting creep of a PM? If Donald Trump can’t win in America’s democracy, would he really destroy it? And why are politicians so bad at Twitter? We’re thrilled to welcome special guest Emily Bazelon from the podcast that inspired us, the Slate Political Gabfest, to dissect the monsters produced by Trump’s electoral death throes. “I just can’t believe that people are prepared to mess around with the most important thing about a country – that democracy continues” – Emily Bazelon “If we’ve got a Republican Party that thinks delegitimising an entire election is worth doing, that’s incredibly dangerous” – Emily Bazelon “What is Dominic Saab scared of? He’s scared of a nutcase with a smartphone” – Alex Andreou ““We lost the election and now we’re going to blame the person who RAN the election?” – Emily Bazelon “It’s always progressives who are urged to reach out, never the other way around” – Alex Andreou Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Nina Schick and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Back OH GOD, WHAT NOW? and help us make political life more bearable. Get every new episode a whole day early, plus new and classic merchandise when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our companion podcast THE BUNKER is now DAILY too. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. For the moment we’re still at remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the despair of Wednesday morning, could Biden actually win the US election? Were the polls really so wrong? And why are the Left so bereft at the prospect of President Diamond Joe? Plus Nigel Farage’s new promotional vehicle, Labour’s ongoing problems with “Long Corbyn”, the BBC’s bizarre social media balancing act, and Lockdown: Part Deux. All in the latest edition of the podcast formerly known as Remainiacs. “Trump’s supporters don’t seem as authoritarian. They see him as a champion of personal freedom.” – Ros Taylor “When you’ve got a two-party system, you’re left with a terrible choice and a bad choice.” – Minnie Rahman “Farage is Britain’s most successful backseat driver” - Dorian Lynskey Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Minnie Rahman. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We sure picked the right day to relaunch the podcast. As Labour suspends Jeremy Corbyn after the damning EHRC report shone a light on the party’s antisemitism issues, IAN DUNT and ALEX ANDREOU join Andrew Harrison to explain what it all means. Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant Producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music: Cornershop. Art direction: Mark Taylor. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The secret is out. Remainiacs has a new name – but the same team and the same commitment to dispelling the misery of politics with humour and sharp analysis. On OH GOD, WHAT NOW? this week: There’s no such thing as a free lunch (if you’re a poor kid). The Taming of the Feral Tory Intake. Why the Far Right is actually on the fade across Europe. And as a new podcast era dawns, our panel look to how the future really, really could be better. “We are now the insurgents. Let’s embrace it” – Alex Andreou “The spirit of Remainiacs isn’t going anywhere” – Naomi Smith “There’s nothing paternalistic about Boris Johnson. And that’s not just because we don’t know how many children he’s got.” – Ros Taylor “COVID has created a paradoxical situation where Liberals are in favour of control and closing borders” – Naomi Smith “The Conservatives keep going back to this muscle memory for what they did in the 1980s.” – Ian Dunt “We now have this weird mix of and anti-masking. Let us breathe only the germs of our own people!” – Naomi Smith Last chance to can get 10% off Ian Dunt’s new book How To Be A Liberal using this link. Just add 'HTBAL10' on checkout. Offer ends Oct 30. Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor, Naomi Smith, Ian Dunt and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. Oh God, What Now? is a Podmasters production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week: Will that punishment beating for King In The North Andy Burnham make ex-Red Wallers think again about their unwise pre-Christmas fling with raffish Londoner Boris Johnson? Brexit and Coronavirus merge into COVEXIT, the uncontrollable MegaZoid of misery. Are Schrödinger’s Brexit Talks dead, alive, or both at the same time? And for the first time ever, a thrilling cliffhanger – no scrolling to the end… “Seeing Andy Burnham now is like running into an ex who’s been working out. Like, YOU’VE changed…” – Dorian Lynskey “This government treats everything as a foam block they can just crash through. But they crash against concrete walls over and over again.” – Alex Andreou “This crisis has been shaping up as a populists’ nightmare.” – Yasmeen Serhan “We’ve been trying to analyse what the Government does through the prism of sanity. But this Government is insane.” – Alex Andreou Listeners can get 10% off Ian Dunt’s new book How To Be A Liberal using this link. Just add 'HTBAL10' on checkout. Offer ends Oct 30. Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Yasmeen Serhan, Ian Dunt and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. Remainiacs is a Podmasters production. We have big news coming. Be the first to find out exactly what, and get every new episode a whole day early when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our new companion podcast THE BUNKER is now DAILY too. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is the Government’s piecemeal lockdown driving as big a wedge between the North and South of England as there is between Westminster and the devolved governments? Plus our special guests, Manchester University politics professors Rob Ford and Maria Sobolewska, join us to talk about their new book Brexitland: Identity, Diversity and the Reshaping of British Politics. Do the roots of Brexit really go back to the 1960s? And where do we go now that we’re all alone in Brexitland, our only home? “Once voters see politics as a big fight of us against them, it’s really hard to get them to think about anything else.” – Rob Ford “In Johnson’s conference speech, the only mention of the North was a jibe at North London.” – Ros Taylor “People may want lockdown, but not necessarily for themselves” – Ros Taylor “If Remain had won, the leavers in the Conservative party wouldn’t have given up as easily as Cameron assumed” – Maria Sobolewska Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer: Jacob Archbold. Audio production by Alex Rees. Remainiacs is a Podmasters production. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our new companion podcast THE BUNKER is now DAILY too. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. Remainiacs isn’t going away just because Brexit is happening. We’ll be here throughout to keep the pro-European movement informed, entertained and fired up. Get every new episode a whole day early when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. You’ll also get our monthly Ask Remainiacs special episode plus smart merchandise, an exclusive weekly column by our panel, and discounts on #RemainiacsLive tickets too. #OwnTheRemoan remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Having lost control of the virus, the economy and now the Conservative Party, can mojo-free COVID casualty Boris Johnson relaunch himself with a war on Lefty Luvvies? Behind the scenes, are we looking at an autumn Sunak vs Gove smackdown? Is the big winner of Donald Trump’s COVID diagnosis really… Donald Trump? And how to fight – and win – a culture war. “History goes in the direction you fight for.” – Ian Dunt “You’re more likely to have a criminal record than attend a party conference so yes, technically they’re all deviants.” – Naomi Smith “From cinemas to music to comedy, you can see a future where the government has turned the country into a cultural wasteland.” – Ian Dunt Listeners can get 10% off Ian Dunt’s new book How To Be A Liberal using this link. Just add 'HTBAL10' on checkout. Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Naomi Smith, Nina Schick and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer: Jacob Archbold. Audio production by Alex Rees. Remainiacs is a Podmasters production. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our new companion podcast THE BUNKER is now DAILY too. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. Remainiacs isn’t going away just because Brexit is happening. We’ll be here throughout to keep the pro-European movement informed, entertained and fired up. Get every new episode a whole day early when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. You’ll also get our monthly Ask Remainiacs special episode plus smart merchandise, an exclusive weekly column by our panel, and discounts on #RemainiacsLive tickets too. #OwnTheRemoan remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the final round of trade talks EU grind into low gear, should we brace ourselves for another heroic climbdown from the Prime Minister? Comedian, podcaster and voice of Trump, Starmer and Johnson on the new Spitting Image MATT FORDE joins us to talk about his new book Politically Homeless and life on the Labour rollercoaster. Plus, could YOU survive… Exile on Priti Island? “The UK will have to make embarrassing concessions, while spinning them as victories” - Alex Andreou “Labour needs to apply the mindset of 1997 to the problems they face now” - Matt Forde Listeners can get 10% off Ian Dunt’s new book How To Be A Liberal using this link. Just add 'HTBAL10' on checkout. Presented by Ros Taylor with Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer: Jacob Archbold. Audio production by Alex Rees. Remainiacs is a Podmasters production. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our companion podcast THE BUNKER is now DAILY too. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. Remainiacs isn’t going away just because Brexit is happening. We’ll be here throughout to keep the pro-European movement informed, entertained and fired up. Get every new episode a whole day early when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. You’ll also get our monthly Ask Remainiacs special episode plus smart merchandise, an exclusive weekly column by our panel, and discounts on #RemainiacsLive tickets too. #OwnTheRemoan remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This edition recorded before Kent was made an independent statelet… As the Internal Market Bill takes a wrecking ball to the Good Friday Agreement, Alliance Party Deputy Leader and North Down MP Stephen Farry explains why this will shift every aspect of politics in Northern Ireland. Plus, Can Britain face going back to square one on COVID for a further six months? Keir Starmer’s new progressive patriotism, the travesty of COVID outsourcing, and untold tales of Stephen’s constituent, foghorn mask denier Van Morrison… Listeners can get 10% off Ian Dunt’s new book How To Be A Liberal using this link. Just add 'HTBAL10' on checkout. “It’s not just that the Internal Market Bill won’t make the EU back down. It actually makes reaching a deal at all even harder.” – Ian Dunt “The Protocol isn’t an imposition from the EU. It’s the natural consequence of the UK’s own decisions.” – Stephen Farry Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer: Jacob Archbold. Audio production by Alex Rees. Remainiacs is a Podmasters production. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our new companion podcast THE BUNKER is now DAILY too. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. Remainiacs isn’t going away just because Brexit is happening. We’ll be here throughout to keep the pro-European movement informed, entertained and fired up. Get every new episode a whole day early when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. You’ll also get our monthly Ask Remainiacs special episode plus smart merchandise, an exclusive weekly column by our panel, and discounts on #RemainiacsLive tickets too. #OwnTheRemoan remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just how precarious is Tory support for the Government’s disavowal of international law via the Internal Market Bill? Up-and-coming young author Ian Dunt joins us to discuss his new book How To Be A Liberal, the airport thriller of reason-based political thought. And are we allowed to throw a party as long as all guests bring guns? Listeners can get 10% off How To Be A Liberal using this link. Just add 'HTBAL10' on checkout. “Liberalism is a kicking, fighting school of thought. It doesn’t tell you what to think, it tells you how to think.” – Ian Dunt “Once you’ve broken this law, you’ve set a precedent. Why would you not do it again?” – Ian Dunt “That exact phrase ‘Will of the People’ is right there in Cromwell’s tyranny and Stalin’s rule. Every time it’s as a challenge to liberalism.” – Ian Dunt Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Naomi Smith, Ian Dunt and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer: Jacob Archbold. Audio production by Alex Rees. Remainiacs is a Podmasters production. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our new companion podcast THE BUNKER is now DAILY too. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. Remainiacs isn’t going away just because Brexit is happening. We’ll be here throughout to keep the pro-European movement informed, entertained and fired up. Get every new episode a whole day early when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. You’ll also get our monthly Ask Remainiacs special episode plus smart merchandise, an exclusive weekly column by our panel, and discounts on #RemainiacsLive tickets too. #OwnTheRemoan remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Johnson scrapes his Oven-Ready Deal into the bin, we ask why would any other country ever trust Britain’s word ever again? We explore the new Internal Market Bill’s staggering contempt for international law. And the authors of Left Out: The Inside Story of Labour Under Corbyn – Gabriel Pogrund and Patrick Maguire – join us to explain what really went on during Jeremy’s Wild Years. “The government is a 24-hour rolling embarrassment and I’m not sure what’s supposed to be distracting from what.” – Dorian Lynskey “You have to wonder why the UK has chosen this hill to die on. Does it want No Deal not just to be thinkable or possible, but inevitable?” – Ros Taylor “The Brexit tribe is fraying round the edges and Cummings is looking for something for them to rally around.” – Alex Andreou “By the end the Labour Party was at war with itself, and everyone was desperate to say why nothing was their fault.” – Gabriel Pogrund Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer: Jacob Archbold. Audio production by Alex Rees. Remainiacs is a Podmasters production. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our new companion podcast THE BUNKER is now DAILY too. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. Remainiacs isn’t going away just because Brexit is happening. We’ll be here throughout to keep the pro-European movement informed, entertained and fired up. Get every new episode a whole day early when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. You’ll also get our monthly Ask Remainiacs special episode plus smart merchandise, an exclusive weekly column by our panel, and discounts on #RemainiacsLive tickets too. #OwnTheRemoan remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As MPs prepare to return to work, what should we look out for in the new parliamentary session? And after a summer of u-turns galore, what policy reversal will the Tories whip out next? Plus, political columnist STEVE RICHARDS joins us to discuss his book ‘The Prime Ministers’ and to give his take on the best and worst leaders from Wilson to Johnson. “When you’ve won a landslide election, that gives you an authority to do what you want” - Steve Richards “In Boris Johnson we are dealing with someone completely different from Prime Ministers of the past” - Steve Richards "Brexit will fascinate historians not just in 40 years’ time, but 200 years’ time." - Steve Richards Presented by Alex Andreou with Ian Dunt and Yasmeen Serhan. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. REMAINIACS is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Recorded before Germany pulled Brexit from next week’s summit AND before “mutant algorithm”. This week, after his feeble response to the Summer of Messes, is governing just too hard for our work-averse Scarlet Pimpernel of a Prime Minister? Minnie Rahman of the JCWI joins us to look at who’s weaponising the Channel refugees issue, and what the Dublin Regulation really means. Plus: the brain-destroying fake ‘Land of Hope And Glory’ row and our Clickbait Government. And Johnson trolls us by toying with loutish escapee from Australian politics and all-round big galah Tony Abbott as our “trade supremo”. “We haven’t heard anything from Johnson on A-Levels or anything that matters – but as soon as there’s a culture war story, up he pops.” – Ian Dunt “The British people are in a constant state of shock and disbelief. They just don’t believe that really bad things can happen to them.” – Minnie Rahman “Ideology is now conflicting with real life and it’s making the cultists look desperate.” – Naomi Smith “Boris Johnson approaches being Prime Minister like one of these YouTube influencers who want to be famous without doing any of the things that actually make you famous.” – Ian Dunt Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Naomi Smith and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer: Jacob Archbold. Audio production by Alex Rees. Remainiacs is a Podmasters production. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our new companion podcast THE BUNKER is now DAILY too. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. Remainiacs isn’t going away just because Brexit is happening. We’ll be here throughout to keep the pro-European movement informed, entertained and fired up. Get every new episode a whole day early when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. You’ll also get our monthly Ask Remainiacs special episode plus smart merchandise, an exclusive weekly column by our panel, and discounts on #RemainiacsLive tickets too. #OwnTheRemoan remainiacs.com Image: Roger Muggleton, Flickr reproduced under Creative Commons. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Belarus fights its way towards true democracy, we speak to a protestor who’s on the ground in Minsk about what’s really happening and what we can do to help. Plus: Can Kamala Harris thread her way past hard right lies, sexism, racism and a left that can’t be satisfied? Plus ‘Leftwaffe’, ‘Starmtroopers’ and our least favourite political neologisms. Special guest Marie Le Conte joins us to discuss these weighty matters – plus the horrific Politics Gossip Drought of 2020. “We’re governed by unexceptional people from exceptional schools.” – Dorian Lynskey “If the word ‘sleaze’ became attached to the Major government, ‘incompetence’ is attaching itself to this government.” – Ben Stewart Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Nina Schick and Ben Stewart. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer: Jacob Archbold. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Remainiacs is a Podmasters production. Get your free download of our theme tune ‘Demon Is A Monster’ by Cornershop. Our new companion podcast THE BUNKER is now DAILY too. Get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Acast and more platforms every day. Oh and RSS too. Remainiacs isn’t going away just because Brexit is happening. We’ll be here throughout to keep the pro-European movement informed, entertained and fired up. Get every new episode a whole day early when you back us on the Patreon crowdfunding platform. You’ll also get our monthly Ask Remainiacs special episode plus smart merchandise, an exclusive weekly column by our panel, and discounts on #RemainiacsLive tickets too. #OwnTheRemoan remainiacs.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices