The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Keir Starmer has promised change – but what form will it take? And could it mean the return to the concept of the so-called ‘Big State’? Will Labour’s proposed plans for increased public ownership and workers’ rights be the transformation Britain so desperately needs – or could an interventionist approach do more harm than good? To find out, Gavin Esler talks to New Statesman senior politics editor George Eaton. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Summer is coming to a close, kids are returning to school, Parliament is back and there’s no shortage of problems facing Keir Starmer. What will the Commons be focused on? And how quickly can Starmer clean up the Tories’ mess? In Germany, the far-right AfD triumphed in state elections on Sunday. How worried should we be? And in the Middle-East, why are we no closer to seeing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas? The week ahead with Ros Taylor and Gavin Esler. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We used to think that machines would only take over manual work. Now A.I. looks capable of anything. Will work become a luxury for a select few? Are there some jobs that can never be automated? Alex Andreou talks to Allison Pugh – author of The Last Human Job – about tech’s growing power and why our humanity depends on the connections that work fosters. Buy The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With its paranoid fantasies of Donald Trump at war with a secret, Satanic US government, the QAnon conspiracy wrought terrible damage on American politics. But spreading the word of Q exacts damage on believers too. Journalist Jesselyn Cook explored the broken lives and shattered relationships of Q believers for her new book The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family. She tells Andrew Harrison what makes someone fall into the mirror world of QAnon – and whether they can be rescued. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. Buy The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Podmasters Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How did the Conservatives turn 14 years of unprecedented political power into near-extinction at the ballot box? Where did it all go so wrong? How will their era go down in history? And what made Rishi Sunak take his catastrophic electoral gamble in 2024? Steve Richards of the Rock & Roll Politics podcast talks to Ben Riley-Smith, whose new book Blue Murder: The Rise and Fall of the Conservative Government 2010-2024 charts the dramatic rise and fall of the Tories. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Steve Richards. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The UK and Russia have long had a strained relationship – and ties have only been worsened since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Is there any future possibility for a return to a 1990s state of civility between the two nations – or has Putin’s reign marked a permanent end to such a connection? In the third episode of our ‘Foreign Affairs’ mini-series on Britain’s foreign relationships, Rafael Behr speaks to RUSI Senior Associate Fellow Andrew Monaghan to better understand tensions between the UK and Russia. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Rafael Behr. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Keir Starmer is due to snap us back to reality after the Bank Holiday with a stark speech on the decade needed to clean up the Tories’ mess. What’s he going to say – and why now? In US news, Trump has basically dumped JD Vance for RFK Jr. – but will this improve his chances against Harris and Walz? Plus, clashes between Hezbollah and Israel signal an escalation in the Middle East. How concerned should we be? And, looking to Ukraine, how is the Ukrainian incursion on Russia progressing? Jacob Jarvis and Gavin Esler discuss the key stories to watch for the week ahead. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Presented by Podmasters managing editor Jacob Jarvis. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kamala Harris is closer than ever to being the president of the United States. Focus has been on America this week at the DNC, but what would a Harris presidency mean for the rest of the world? What foreign policy issues does she care about -- and how would she handle wars springing up around the globe? To find out, Ros Taylor is joined by Chatham House director Bronwen Maddox in The Bunker. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oil, and the industry around it, has a huge influence on our world. From our social existence and food systems to urban spaces, military power and financial architecture. But how did oil and capitalism become so intertwined? And in what ways does oil control our entire social structure, beyond providing a source of energy or transport fuel? Alex Andreou is joined by University of Exeter professor and author of Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market Adam Hanieh to discuss how our oil-dependency defines our lives. Buy Crude Capitalism: Oil, Corporate Power, and the Making of the World Market through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Russian state media is notoriously corrupt and rife with propaganda. So how are Russian citizens being fed information about the Russia-Ukraine war? Does any truth exist within Russian television – or is it all one big narrative crafted by Putin? To find out, Chris Jones talks to BBC Monitoring journalist Francis Scarr. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Chris Jones. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s nothing like American political conventions here in the UK. When Kamala Harris accepts her party’s nomination at this week’s Democratic National Convention, it’ll be more of a spectacle and a celebration than a mere political moment. Why do these gaudy, over-the-top events matter? And in this strange and tense Presidential Election, following the Trump assassination attempt and Biden’s withdrawal, will the DNC offer up its own set of surprises? Gavin Esler talks to political historian Seth Thévoz about the theatrical coronation known as the DNC. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kamala Harris will accept the Presidential nomination at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago – but will Gaza protests draw more attention than this celebrity- and former-president packed ‘political Glastonbury’? Ukraine’s counter-invasion of Russia presses on – is the end of the war drawing closer? At home, the new government tackles hate: from plans for misogyny to be treated as extremism to the continued sentencing of rioters. Plus, more rail strikes announced, and do we need to be worried about MPox? The week ahead with Andrew Harrison and Hannah Fearn. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Presented by Podmasters Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A trove of Project 2025 videos have been leaked, giving unique insight into what Trump appointees might want to do if he wins the election. In this teaser for American Friction, Jacob Jarvis discusses leaked Project 2025 training videos, with ProPublica reporter Andy Kroll, one of the journalists who obtained and analysed them. Go here for the full episode. Want to know more about the race for the White House? On American Friction, The Bunker’s very own Jacob Jarvis and Chris Jones are joined by Rolling Stone’s Nikki McCann Ramirez, to discuss the latest developments in American politics. Listen here. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. Support us on Patreon. Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This year marks NATO’s 75th anniversary – having survived the Cold War, 9/11 and most recently, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Is NATO’s role is changing, can it hold on to its members – and will it be recognisable in ten years? Will it even exist? Peter Apps, author of Deterring Armageddon: a biography of NATO, joins Ros Taylor in The Bunker to discuss its uncertain future. Buy Deterring Armageddon: a biography of NATO through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Online politics is drowning in memes – repurposed movie stills, videos and viral catchphrases are everywhere. From the UK General Election to the American Presidential race, memes are increasingly central to political campaigns. But can they actually sway votes? Senior Research Fellow at Complutense University Madrid Paolo Gerbaudo joins Jacob Jarvis in The Bunker to discuss the intrinsic political power of memes. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Podmasters Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The second in our ‘Foreign Affairs’ mini-series on Britain’s battered foreign relationships. Today: China is growing in industrial and military power while post-Brexit Britain is increasingly adrift. Will StarmQer have to accommodate to whatever Beijing wants – or can Britain assert itself against the new superpower? Gavin Esler speaks to KCL Professor and former Beijing embassy official Kerry Brown – whose new book looks at China-UK relations all the way back to 1600 – to explain the current climate between the two powers. Buy The Great Reversal: Britain, China and the 400-Year Contest for Power through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Far-right riots and racist violence have traumatised Britain – but how powerful are the extremists? Where are they drawing their power from? And how can ordinary people stop them? Paul Mason is a journalist is the author of How To Stop Fascism. He tells Andrew Harrison what makes modern far-right politics different and dangerous – the compromises we’ll need to defeat it – and why we need “militant democracy” to protect our freedoms. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The fallout from rioting continues to dominate the news – how will the Government handle this? Gavin Esler joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss challenges for Starmer now and into the future. Plus, they discuss clashes with Elon Musk, relations with China, Trump’s most recent grim behaviour and the latest from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. There’s all that and more in your primer for the week ahead. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bun ker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Presented by Jacob Jarvis. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1914, war engulfed Europe in a conflict that killed millions and change the course of the twentieth century. Now, 110 years later, the geopolitical climate feels uncomfortably familiar to the period preceding the First World War. Are we moving ever closer to another global conflict – and might it be avoided by taking lessons from the origins of the Great War? To find out, Luke Turner talks to David Stevenson, professor of international history at the London School of Economics. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. Support us on Patreon. Written and presented by Luke Turner. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For decades class has been a dirty word in British politics. Now Keir Starmer heads the most working class, least privately-educated cabinet in modern history, and is putting class concerns like workers’ rights reform at the centre of its politics. Will Labour’s programme work? How true has the party been to its working class origins? And does it win when it is? Political historian Anthony Broxton of Tides of History takes Andrew Harrison into Labour’s tangled history with the class issue. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Podmasters Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joe Biden won’t have a second term as president after he heeded calls to leave the 2024 race. So as it comes towards an end, how will his time in office be remembered? Leslie Vinjamuri director of the US and the Americas programme at Chatham House, talks to Dorian Lynskey about Biden’s legacy. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor and Simon Williams. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The country is facing its worst wave of far-right violence in the modern age –but is it just mindless thuggery or are deeper forces at work? Can the psychology of rioting help us defeat this wave of violence?Professor of social psychology Clifford Stott unpacks the dynamics of the riots, how they’ve spread, and what they really mean to Andrew Harrison. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. Support us on Patreon. Written and presented by Podmasters Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An occasional series on how Britain is fixing its battered foreign relationships. Today: After the combative Tory years, Keir Starmer is trying to reset the Anglo-French connection. What do we want from France and what does Paris want from us? Britain’s former Ambassador to France Lord Peter Ricketts talks to Ros Taylor about whether Starmer and Macron are natural allies, the damage caused by Brexit, and what France’s “deep unease” with itself means for Britain. • “I would not have relished being Ambassador to France and having my friends ask ‘Poor Britain, what are you doing?’” • “By about 2020-21, things were at rock bottom… When Liz Truss was asked ‘France, friend of foe?’ and she replied that the jury was still out.” We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the worst civil disorder in a decade, will severe instant sentencing deter rioters like it did in 2011? Is the violence evidence of the far right’s weakness, not its strength? And is this really a test of the Starmer Government’s strength? Plus Kamala Harris’s choices of running mate, the chances of an Israel/Hezbollah war, and more Alex Andreou sets out the week ahead with Andrew Harrison. https://www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Assistant producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Britain’s new army chief recently said Britain must be ready for war in three years. Where are the biggest threats coming from, what are our current weaknesses, and how can we best prepare? To find out, Gavin Esler speaks to the Economist’s defence editor Shashank Joshi. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices