The Bunker – News without the nonsense

The Met’s outrageous clampdown on the Sarah Everard vigil on Clapham Common has put Priti Patel’s draconian Police, Crime, Sentencing And Courts Bill under a harsh spotlight. Could a bill that effectively outlaws public protest blow up in the Government’s face this week? Ros Taylor explains. “Public protest has become illegal, and we didn’t seem to notice that.” “A protest looks very different when it’s women doing it.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Peter explains better than anyone I know the new world of Putinesque, Trumpian propaganda.” In a weekend bonus, Nick Cohen of The Observer talks to Peter Pomerantsev, author of This Is Not Propaganda : Adventures in the War Against Reality, about how demagogues warp free speech into a weapon against democracy. Why is the modern information battle less of a New Cold War and more a New Thirty Years War? Do we even understand the devil’s bargain that tech giants are offering? We can have perfect lives and perfect homes – as long as we don’t mind giving up our information and our freedoms. “Every aspect of freedom of speech has been used against us, to swamp the world and drown out the truth” “However much we’d like to blame these pathologies on Mark Zuckerberg, we can’t.” “It’s no longer about censorship, it’s about overloading democracies with trolls, bots and conspiracies… it’s about swamping us with information” “When you have an economy based on likes and shares, that’s going to reinforce tribal identities” “Extremism is about demonising the other. What we’re seeing is something eternal” Presented by Nick Cohen. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Few countries exercise such world-wide fascination while being as little understood outside their own borders as Japan. Christopher Harding, author of The Japanese: A History In 20 Lives, talks to Ros Taylor about the key figures who shaped Japan over the centuries, from princesses and samurai to pop culture visionaries. “A British delegate who visited Japan in the 1990s said ‘If this is a recession, then I want one’” “Japan needs more babies, more immigrants, more robots.” “People fall in love with some element of Japan… but we don’t have a joined up sense of Japanese history.” Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Yemen is suffering the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, a conflict that has killed some 100,000 people since 2015 and left 24m in peril. Now it’s dragging countries across the region into its vortex. How did we get here? Exactly how are Saudi Arabia and Iran involved? Will the election of Joe Biden make a difference? Arthur Snell talks to Laura Cretney, a PhD student at Durham University who works with charities in the region, to disentangle a nightmare confrontation between Houthi rebels, the Yemeni government and multiple foreign interests. “For many young men, the best and most lucrative way to provide for their families is to take up arms.” “This isn’t just a proxy conflict between Saudi and Iran. There are a LOT of regional rivalries here.” Presented by Arthur Snell. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. The Bunker is a Podmasters production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amid the chaos of the Capitol Invasion of January 6, keen observers could spot the iconography of Valkism, a weird confected “religion” born out of video game culture that’s now empowering QAnon and far right politics. Former Government advisor and BBC and Reuters correspondent Amil Khan tells Arthur Snell about the crossover of video games, 4Chan, 8Chan and far right politics which produced Valkism and what it means for the fight against extremism. “Some of these people want to create an alternative reality where their political fantasies can play out.” – Amil Khan “If you’re inspired by the idea of a Nazi alternative universe in a video game, you may well be attracted to far right politics.” – Arthur Snell “We like think that we’re stable, rational people and the nutters must be from somewhere else. Well, the US Capitol riots disproved that.” – Amil Khan “We tend to see extremism as a foreign problem... But this is a British problem, because it feeds off our problems at home.” – Amil Khan Presented by Arthur Snell. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker 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 the end of an era! As parents collapse weeping to their knees in a fug of gin, has home schooling changed how we teach kids? Will in-school testing stick? And will the experience shine a light on the God-awfulness of the National Curriculum? PLUS: After that derisory nurses’ pay offer, how long ’til the U-Turn? Porklife as the Government shovels “levelling up” money to Tory constituencies. Farage retires! Again! And why can’t we stop collecting stuff? Ros Taylor, Ahir Shah and Arthur Snell join Alex Andreou for this week’s panel edition. “Perhaps forcing a young woman to dress up and endure whatever hatred the press want to throw at her is inhuman. And perhaps we should stop doing it.” – Ros Taylor “Even the most loving and caring parents are saying OK, please take this away from me, I don’t know what a quadratic is.” – Ahir Shah “It’s fair to say that parents trust the heads rather more than they trust Gavin Williamson.” – Ros Taylor “Like a lot of parents I thought, how hard can teaching be? Turns out it’s QUITE difficult…” – Arthur Snell “What’s a fronted adverbial? Trust me, you’re happier not knowing.” – Ros Taylor “If I have to do a spreadsheet for a pint, I will do a spreadsheet for a pint.” – Ahir Shah Presented by Alex Andreou with Ros Taylor, Ahir Shah and Arthur Snell. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 today’s International Women’s Day stand for when we’re in the middle of a new wave of feminism? What can women expect from government when its fill-in Equalities Minister thinks there ought to be a Minister for Men? Naomi Smith presents a special edition with regulars Nina Schick and Minnie Rahman plus special guest Jude Kelly, former artistic director of the Southbank Centre and founder of the WOW – Women of the World – Foundation. “It always irritates me when a man says ‘I’m interested in feminism because of my daughter’. Well, didn’t you care before?” – Jude Kelly “It’s no good just having someone like Priti Patel in cabinet, unless there’s a matching political will for gender equality.” – Minnie Rahman “Having to persuade and listen for centuries has given women fantastic negotiating skills – and men can really learn from that.” – Jude Kelly Presented by Naomi Smith with Nina Schick and Minnie Rahman. Produced by Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Novelist Sergei Lebedev writes forensically detailed books which uncover how Soviet history still exerts its power on modern Russians. According to the New York Review of Books he’s “the best of Russia’s younger generation of writers.” He talks to Alex Andreou about his latest novel, the COVID-relevant thriller Untraceable; precarious life in the new Russia; and how the Soviet Union might be dead but it’s never truly buried. “I’m witnessing my country returning to its past. And I wouldn’t want to be a person who does nothing about it” Presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why are so many minority patients rejecting the COVID vaccines and what can healthcare do about it? Vaccine hesitancy in minority communities is threatening to turn the pandemic into a specific crisis for marginalised and non-white populations. Ayesha Hazarika talks to Dr Salman Waqar, GP and General Secretary of the British Islamic Medical Association, about a problem with deep roots in the historic marginalisation of BAME people. “When we tell BAME communities that this vaccine will save your life, many of them won’t take what you say at face value” “I’ve seen elderly vaccination patients crying because it was the first time they’d been out since March 2020” “A lot of the NHS’s non-white workforce has struggled to get its voice heard… We’re still not seeing that workforce represented in NHS management” “The biggest killer in COVID is economic deprivation – and minority communities happen to be more poor” Presented by Ayesha Hazarika. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just how global can Britain be if we’re becoming ever-more insular after Brexit? Naomi Smith talks to Peter Westmacott, former ambassador to Turkey, France and the USA, about the hidden prejudices that influence international relations, whether the advent of Biden will turn back the tide of populist nationalism, and his new book They Call It Diplomacy. “A French colleague once asked me point-blank, Why do you English hate us so much? I don’t believe we do – but there is definitely a Little Englander mindset.” “There was an old Iranian joke that if you hold up Khomeini’s beard you’d see MADE IN ENGLAND underneath.” “Leaving the EU was never a legitimate way of dealing with immigration from places outside the EU.” “I remember saying Be very careful when you call a referendum because you might get an answer that’s nothing to do with the question on the ballot papers.” Presented by Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. The Bunker is a Podmasters production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Would you get get a vaccine passport if it meant you could go out to eat, drink and dance? Even if it created a two-tier Britain? Special guest Alan Rusbridger joins us to talk about his new book News And How To Use It, the crisis in journalism and how we fix it. And Frasier is coming back. Is this a good idea? Hardcore fangirl Yasmeen has thoughts. “Journalism is as essential as ambulances or the police…” – Alan Rusbridger “Vaccine passports? This is the Government wasting time thinking of solutions to problems that don’t exist” – Ian Dunt “You don’t want Mark Zuckerberg regulating your speech. But you don’t want Government regulating your speech either.” – Alan Rusbridger Presented by Andrew Harrison with Yasmeen Serhan and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 Wednesday’s Budget see the end of Sunshine Sunak or will the Chancellor put off the reckoning with financial Armageddon again? How will you spend the last week of home schooling? And what about that new Brazilian variant? Arthur Snell sets out the coming week for Andrew Harrison. “Margaret Thatcher is the divinity all the old Tories worship, but this party’s agenda couldn’t be further from hers.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bully, liar, tyrant, fantasist, thief on a monumental scale – just ask the Mirror pensioners – and narcissist of an even greater magnitude, Robert Maxwell was a villain for whom the term “disgraced newspaper tycoon” seems pitifully small. Yet as former Evening Standard and Telegraph journalist John Preston’s new book Fall: The Mystery Of Robert Maxwell shows, the horror of Maxwell’s early life explains (if not excuses) the monster he became. How did Maxwell fool, and then fleece, the publishing world? “If you worked in Fleet Street in the 80s there was no escaping Maxwell…” “You have to seen Maxwell through the prism of what happened to his family in the Holocaust. There was enormous rage and guilt there.” “Robert Maxwell was gripped by a simultaneous desire to sit at the top table, and also to kill everyone else at that top table.” “Maxwell was both ridiculed and feared, often by the same people.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After an initial COVID response that was lauded as an example to the world, Germany has experienced an unexpectedly harsh second wave. What will that mean for the twilight of the Merkel Era? Is Germany’s strange opposition coalition of libertarians, alt.rightists and anti-vaxxers just fringe politics or something more serious? And what comes after Merkel? The Economist’s Berlin bureau chief Tom Nuttall explains all to Justin Quirk. “When the COVID numbers are totted up, Germany will still turn out to be one of the places in Europe where you wanted to be” “When the pandemic hit, support for Merkel’s Christian Democrats shot up.” “The Green Party in Germany really wants power. It craves it. And it’s positioned itself very much as a centrist party.” “The big question is, how big is the Merkel Bonus for the CDU?” Presented by Justin Quirk. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Was the Trump Presidency just a publicity stunt that got out of hand? Film-maker James Fletcher’s new documentary on the 2016 campaign The Accidental President is streaming now on Amazon and Apple TV. He talks to Dorian Lynskey about what fed the Black Swan event of the Trump presidency, how Trump’s freestyle campaign left his Republican rivals with nothing to say, and how it could be that – even after four years of chaos and corruption – Trump increased his popular vote in 2020. “This was an insane conflagration of events” “The Republicans slept-walked into the 2016 election and a complacent Hillary Clinton thought it was in the bag.” “This was a freestyle, open-mic campaign… Any professional campaign advisor would have told Trump to do exactly the opposite of what he did.” “Hillary Clinton just could never convincingly explain why she wanted to be President.” “Democrats just laughed at Trump without understanding what a serious danger he posed.” “Has Trump really changed the system forever? Are we really that shallow and ridiculous?” Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our 250th edition! In the Thatcher governments of the 80s Michael Heseltine was the loudest voice for embattled One Nation Toryism. In later years he’s become a hero to Remainers, eventually paying for his Europhilia with expulsion from the party. Ian Dunt talks to him about the future of Toryism, what it was like to work with Margaret Thatcher, what he makes of Keir Starmer… and whether circumstances will force Boris Johnson back to the One Nation Toryism we thought he’d driven out of the party. “The most sensible thing for Britain is to reapply to join the EU. It won’t happen soon – but it should.” “Yes, Margaret Thatcher would have pandered to popular opinion. She was a politician. But she would never do anything as reckless as leaving the Single Market.” “The words of the Levelling Up agenda are fine. What’s completely missing is the deeds.” Presented by Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker 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 Roadmap to Unlocking is unveiled, are Johnson’s plans over-cautious, reckless, unrealistic or maybe… reasonable? Special guest former Home Secretary David Blunkett joins us to explain what it’s like to make decisions in a crisis, what he thinks of Keir Starmer’s performance so far, and whether he rates Priti Patel. Plus, do we need a deradicalisation programme for angry white males? “If opposition leaders are constantly calling for people to resign and then they don’t, it tends to make them look a bit weak.” – Ayesha Hazarika “If Governments want to show how tough they are, they should choose opponents their own size – and maybe not misguided young women.” – David Blunkett on the Shamima Begum case “One type of extremism breeds another. You can’t counter one extreme group by creating another.” – Ayesha Hazarika “On 9/11 there wasn’t a single person in Cabinet that panicked. I was amazed.” – David Blunkett “Starmer’s got a nightmare job because Labour can’t get a hearing… and because the Government are being forced to enact a social democratic programme.” – David Blunkett Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ayesha Hazarika and Arthur Snell. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 Boris Johnson’s “schools first” plan for unlocking England placate the headbangers of the CRG? What about those desperate for a beer that’s not from a can? Can Keir Starmer out-caution the PM? And what’s going on with Johnson’s latest wheeze, a subterranean roundabout under the Isle of Man? Ros Taylor sets up the week ahead. “This is bad news if you’re a pub landlord – and good news if you’re an off-license flogging cheap tinnies.” “Starmer’s moment is not now. He’ll never prosper in the middle of a successful vaccine rollout.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After decades of feminist thought, why is history still a parade of men and the things they’ve done? The writers, poets and teachers behind the Twitter initiative @OnThisDayShe are putting women back into history, one day at a time – and they’re not leaving out the serial killers. Jo Bell, Tania Hershman and Ailsa Holland of @OnThisDayShe talk to Jude Rogers about why history leaves women out, their new book, why women don’t have to be heroes… and how your best ideas can come on a day out at the local treacle market. “If you can’t see it, you can’t be it.” – Tania Hershman “The way we talk about history is revealing. A man is said to have done something. A women is always ‘reputed’ to have done something.” – Jo Bell “Even if women are recognised in their own time, they’ll often be forgotten by history afterwards.” – Ailsa Holland “Women’s history is always expected to be somehow uplifting. But it’s not history’s job to be inspiring.” – Jo Bell “If I’d know at school about some of the women we’ve featured it would have changed my whole outlook on life.” – Tania Hershman “This isn’t women’s history. It’s everyone’s history, with women put back in.” – Jo Bell Presented by Jude Rogers. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker 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 it mean to be indispensable? From Major through New Labour to the Coalition, the late Civil Service giant Jeremy Heywood was to a key advisor to four Prime Ministers, and Cabinet Secretary to two. Theresa May described him as “the greatest public servant of our age”. His widow Suzanne tells Ros Taylor about her new book What Does Jeremy Think?, what it took for Jeremy Heywood to manage crises from Black Wednesday to Brexit, and how he handled the duty of pushing through policies he himself feared were wrong. “Jeremy had been in training to get the best result out of Brexit for Britain for almost all his professional life…” “It was only while writing the book that I realised how close the UK came to a total banking collapse during the Financial Crisis.” Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker is a Podmasters production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the ownership of Manchester City and Paris St. Germain to motor sport in the Middle East to the Beijing Olympics, questionable regimes are laundering their reputations by association with elite sport. Does “sportswashing” work, and what can fans do about it? Murad Ahmed, Sports Editor of the FT and host of their Business of Football Summit, gives Andrew Harrison the inside track on sport’s dirty secrets. “No fan of a sports team thinks of themselves as a consumer of a global brand. But that’s exactly what marketing directors think.” “The sports market has been completely distorted by ownership by Middle Eastern states.” “The weaponising of fans to go after critics of your country is really worrying.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker is a Podmasters production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Britain’s COVID policy has failed women so badly that organisations from Amnesty to the Fawcett Society have called for the EHRC to intervene. Why can’t our blokey-bloke Cabinet understand that more than half the population is being hit harder by the virus – and getting less help? Plus special guest Caroline Lucas MP explains the radical, cross-party Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill. And as Samira Ahmed (possibly) takes over Mastermind, what are our panel’s specialist subjects and starters for ten? “Three million and more people have had no support since March. That’s unforgivable. And it hits women disproportionately.” – Caroline Lucas “We need a lot more bolshy, aggressive, assertive policies if we’re going to get gender parity around COVID and beyond.” – Miatta Fahnbulleh “To be fair to the Government’s sense of imagination, they have found imaginative ways to spread COVID” – Ahir Shah “When you have a PM who uses terms like ‘girly swot’ and ‘big girl’s blouse’, that’s not someone who’s very interested in gender equality.” – Caroline Lucas Presented by Naomi Smith with Miatta Fahnbulleh and Ahir Shah. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 enforced hotel quarantine kicks in, will closed borders mollify the increasingly restive Covid Recovery Group? And brace yourself for an entirely unnecessary War on Woke as the Government invents the Free Speech Champion – the worst superhero ever. Ian Dunt sets out the coming week for Andrew Harrison. “You’d imagine that closed borders and quarantine would be exactly what the CRG want.” “We won’t see much of Labour on the war on woke. But we haven’t seen much of Labour on anything lately.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When opposition figurehead and recovered Novichok target Alexei Navalny flew back to Russia to lead democracy protests, he took an enormous personal risk, of which instant imprisonment was only a part. Could Navalny’s mix of street demos and slick social media mockery really destabilise Putin’s regime? Luke Harding, author of Shadow State : Murder, Mayhem and Russia's Remaking of the West, explains the background to Navalny’s gamble… and the meaning of the casino, nightclub and “aqua-discotheque” in ‘Putin’s Palace’. “Navalny shone a light on corruption – not just by Putin, but his friends.” “Navalny’s return to Russia was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen.” “Putin is a dictator. It’s a tired old show that Russians are tired of watching.” “Navalny’s popularity is clearly growing. If you can get people to protest in minus fifty, you must be cutting through.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker 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 American writer George Saunders won the 2017 Booker Prize with Lincoln In The Bardo and is an award-winning author of short stories. His new book A Swim In A Pond In The Rain explains how short stories work with the aid of Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Dorian Lynskey is a fan. George Saunders talks to Dorian about his “shovel in the fictive graveyard”, being a working class writer in a middle class world, the value of “looming catastrophe” in life and art… and why reading fiction is the best training for spotting lies in loved ones, colleagues and politicians. “I had the idea that literature was a beautiful gilded mansion and I had to leave all my real shit at the door. And it’s not true.” “Our basic storytelling gland has to do with curiosity” “My job as a writer is to get to a place where the world doesn’t surprise me.” “A story isn’t a monolithic whole that comes from the writer’s moral qualities. It’s a magic trick made out of fragments of language.” “When you’ve got an administration that rejects enlightenment values they’re not susceptible to satire. And I found that with Trump.” Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Even after the horror of the Grenfell Fire, millions of people are still living in homes with cheap, inflammable cladding – and the effort to fix it has stalled. Steve Cole, head of corporate strategy at the housing association Clarion, and Inside Housing’s award-winning editor Peter Apps tell Naomi Smith about a scandal that’s been inexcusably neglected, how austerity paved the way for this tragedy, and how to force the Government to take action before another disaster. “There are up to 4.6m flats affected by dangerous cladding and that’s 11m people. That’s equivalent to the entire population of London.” – Peter Apps “British homes are like US cars. They’re only energy efficient because they run on cheap fuel.” – Steve Cole “Why should the taxpayer pay to fix a problem of the construction industry?” – Peter Apps “Regulation isn’t worth much of it’s not enforced… Austerity took a lot of expertise and enforcement out of local government.” – Steve Cole Presented by Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofrenijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker 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 Keir Starmer re-energise Labour by connecting it to the symbols its old voters admire? And why are progressives so neurotic about patriotism? Plus, with Russia and China distributing Sputnik and Sinovac around the world, are COVID vaccines a surprisingly hard tool of soft power? And why is supposedly ‘Global’ Britain giving up on learning foreign languages? Ahir Shah, Yasmeen Serhan and Arthur Snell join Andrew Harrison for this week’s panel edition. “To a lot of us the Union Jack only means two things: the World Cup, or fear.” – Ahir Shah “Rich countries need to understand that they may have all the vaccines, but it doesn’t mean they’re more immune.” – Yasmeen Serhan “What the outside world doesn’t realise is, Putin’s popularity in the polls is dropping fast.” – Arthur Snell Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker 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 to watch out for in the next seven days: Trumpeachment II and the Republicans’ Faustian bargain with their own fantasists, worsening import-export crisis in Britain’s Brexit-battered ports, Labour exposes the Government’s crony contracts and more. Alex Andreou marks your card for the week ahead. “The in and out valves to this country are jammed.” “Haulage is not a curve, it’s a tipping point. At some point, it will become unprofitable for these businesses to trade in the UK.” “Covid-19 is no longer an emergency, it’s a fact of life.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker is a Podmasters production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are the rules that make powerful people powerful changing? Can they still bank on the old myth of the superhuman CEO or political leader? Business journalist from the Telegraph, Evening Standard and beyond James Ashton has just published The Nine Types Of Leader: How The Leaders Of Tomorrow Can Learn From The Leaders Of Today. He talks to Alex Andreou about how leadership is changing. “The pendulum has swung from alpha dominated populists to diplomats – from Trump to Biden.” “I hate these words like passion and authenticity – but a leader has to be believable.” “There are still plenty of arrogant thin-skinned leaders around, who need to be surrounded by people who just say the right thing” Presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If democracy is so great why does it keep producing such terrible results? Nick Cohen of The Observer talks to Georgetown University political philosopher Jason Brennan, author of Against Democracy, about what it means when sweeping democratic mandates arise from underinformed voters. Do people really vote on the basis of policy or simply to be part of the gang? Should you have to pass a test before you can vote? Would Jason criticise our system in front of a Belorussian protestor? And what can Iron Maiden teach us about what’s wrong with democracy? “A key problem is, the average voter basically knows nothing about politics…” “For most people, the act of voting is a little like kicking your dog because you’ve had a bad day at work.” “The average citizen in a democracy is much more authoritarian than the societies they live in. What’s checking them is the elites.” “Why is it so good to live in liberal democracies? Is it because they’re democracies – or because they’re liberal?” “Voters aren’t stupid. It’s more a question of, Is it even worth my while for me to know this stuff?” Presented by Nick Cohen. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofrenijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Technology will displace 47% of all jobs, said Dr Carl Benedikt Frey in a study he co-wrote called The Future Of Employment – a paper so influential that it’s at the centre of jobs policy for governments across the world. But what will replace those jobs? Will anything replace them? In his new book The Technology Trap Dr Frey describes how the same job destruction and extremes of poverty and great wealth that took place in the Industrial Revolution are happening all over again thanks to artificial intelligence and Big Data. So how will we work in the future? Should we celebrate the end of boring, repetitive jobs? And how can we plan for jobs of tomorrow when we can’t even conceptualise them? “The scale of jobs that are replaceable by technology – but that’s only a part of the question” “Machines perform poorly in creative or social tasks. That’s where most new jobs will be created.” Presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Britain’s vaccination programme is undoubtedly working. Do we have to grit out teeth and admit our political opponents have done at least one thing right? Healthcare commentator Roy Lilley tells us the mood among NHS workers. Plus: small business goes under the political bus, the murky world of doses for data, will we ever travel for fun again – and what the hell is happening in Italy? Ros Taylor and Ayesha Hazarika join Andrew Harrison for the weekly Bunker panel show. “The NHS is on the ragged edge. It’s hanging on by its fingernails” – Roy Lilley “The vaccine rollout will be a powerful argument in favour of paying more tax for the NHS” - Ros Taylor “Labour was always associated with red tape. Now the Conservatives are strangling business with it” - Ayesha Hazarika Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Vaccination steps up, Trump’s legal shenanigans, Paul Dacre to OFCOM, Myanmar, Navalny and the fallout from the EU’s terrible decision on vaccine exports. Yasmeen Serhan of The Atlantic tells Andrew Harrison what to watch out for in the coming week. “Myanmar will reveal whether the US is going to be the country that stands up for democracy again.” “The emerging COVID variants are a warning that we aren’t safe until we’re all safe.” “Trump authorised the Capitol insurrection. There was merch, for God’s sake.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 can the Spanish Flu of 1918 tell us about coping with Coronavirus – and maybe the next pandemic too? Nick Cohen of The Observer talks to Laura Spinney, author of Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu Of 1918 And How It Changed The World, about the lessons from possibly the greatest public health disaster in history. Did populations weakened by the First World War provide a fertile breeding ground for the Spanish Flu? Is democracy really at a disadvantage when dealing with pandemics? Will post-COVID generations have to face up to the inherent viral dangers of eating meat? And the myth of a new Roaring Twenties: will we go from a new Spanish Flu to a new Wall Street Crash without a an intervening Jazz Age? “What matters is the level of trust in a society. If it’s not there when the outbreak happens it’s very hard to create it.” “Populations tend to bounce back rapidly from pandemics for the simple reason that pandemics tend not to destroy your capital cities.” “This is the first digitally-witnessed pandemic. Every detail has been tracked and traced.” “Every strain of flu that has ever circulated began as a pandemic. But the Spanish Flu was at least 25 times as virulent than most strains.” Presented by Nick Cohen. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofrenijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How does a band make widescreen, forward-thinking communal rock music when they’re suddenly locked down miles away from one another? And when your keyboard player has moved to Australia? Paul Smith of Newcastle postpunk adventurers Maxïmo Park tells Dorian Lynskey about finding inspiration in strange places, recording an album on WhatsApp and jerky FaceTime calls, writing about Brexit and Grenfell… and the myth of levelling up the North. “Whatever we might do to try and conceal it, our true nature always comes up through the cracks.” “My faith in Boris Johnson to roll out the vaccine and save the live industry is low – and it wasn’t high to begin with.” “I don’t want to be the North East guy with a chip on his shoulder… but it’s going to take a lot of levelling up to level up Stockton.” “The live music industry is worth a lot to the Chancellor, whether he knows it or not” Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How does it feel to work in the thick of the pandemic and spend time with patients you know will die? Rachel Clarke is a doctor in Oxfordshire who works in palliative care and her new book is Breathtaking: Inside The NHS In A Time Of Pandemic. She talks to Ros Taylor about the incredible personal stress of frontline medicine in the pandemic, the price Britain has paid for Boris Johnson’s “unforgivable” refusal to take the hard decisions, the death threats she’s had for telling the truth about COVID, and why we’re still so determined to look away from Britain’s appalling death toll from Coronavirus. “I feel murderous with rage and blind with fury when I hear the Prime Minister trot out his glib claims of success.” “I never in a million years thought we’d ever let things get as bad as 2020 again. Yet now we’re in worse conditions than that first peak.” “Boris Johnson knows he promised to protect the NHS and he has manifestly failed.” “The cruelest aspect of this pandemic is that all the ways we show our love are the ways that COVID spreads.” ““The unforgivable thing is not learning from your mistakes, and in Britain we’ve had a litany of mistakes” “If our Prime Minister wasn’t being given the science, or worse decided to juggle it for his own political imperatives, then that’s inexcusable” Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 Government’s shoddy EU Deal means the live music business will have to cope with mountains of red tape it thought was in the past. Singer FISH, ex- of prog rock legends Marillion and now a successful solo touring artist, set out the details of this nightmare in a blistering social media post at the weekend. Now he talks to Andrew Harrison about how the strangling complexity of permits and visas will choke off emerging British talent even when COVID lifts, and why the Government isn’t even pretending to help small businesses I one of Britain’s true global industries. Find out more about Fish and buy aptly-titled new album Weltschmertz at fishmusic.scot “This will kill new bands wanting to establish themselves in Europe.” “We could be playing seven cities in ten days before we know someone is infected.” “Most Europeans learned English through rock and pop songs.” “Our albums are three times more expensive now – they cost 31 euros on the continent” “I was supposed to retire in 2022. That’s out the window.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 the UK’s vaccination effort finally an actual British success story… for the NHS, not the Government? Exactly how are the vaccines different and how do they work? Special guest Sathnam Sanghera joins us to talk about his new book Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain, how the British Empire still haunts our present, and the unsurpassable joys of blanking Julia Hartley-Brewer. Plus should we all stop saying woke? Miatta Fahnbulleh and Arthur Snell join Dorian Lynskey for the weekly Bunker panel show. “In the middle of a pandemic, Robert Jenrick takes time to talk about defending statues? That’s Imperial thinking.” – Sathnam Sanghera “There are loads of reasons to be totally disappointed with this government… but we shouldn’t fall into the trap of saying everything they do is a failure.” – Arthur Snell “We’ve never confronted the British Empire simply because it’s so painful. Massacres, wars… and a few railways. It’s not fun.” – Sathnam Sanghera “Churchill said the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre was a crime. Was HE woke?” – Sathnam Sanghera Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 Britain approaches the horrific landmark of 100,000 COVID deaths, will lockdown hawks force the Government to reopen the economy too soon – again? Plus the worsening mess in customs, import and export. Best for Britain launches a campaign to get COVID support to the 3m workers that Sunak forgot. And it’s bad news for hedgehogs as Chris Grayling takes up their case. Naomi Smith sets out the week ahead with Andrew Harrison. “The Covid Recovery Group is no more interested in our recovery from Covid than the European Research Group was in researching Europe.” “The best things in life are free, but for everything else there’s ‘sovereignty’.” “People won’t wake up until they have to pay customs via chip-and-pin at the doorstep.” “Rollback of workers’ rights is a Brexiteers’ wet dream.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 Englishness even mean in a land so splintered by class, geography, language and even post-colonial neuroses that it barely understands itself? And how far back would you draw the North-South divide? To 1066? Or maybe to the Jurassic period? James Hawes, novelist and author of the riotously readable Shortest History Of England, talks to The Observer’s Nick Cohen about England’s murky past and murkier future in a new occasional series of one-to-one conversations. “The Norman Conquests were a long, grinding and demeaning process for the English. It was the slow annihilation of a culture.” “England hasn’t existed as a separate state since 1707… Instead you had a polyglot empire of different nations.” “When English people stand up and say ‘We’ve lost our Empire’, well you never had one in the first place, mate.” “We were able to beat the French because we’d created this extraordinary combination of aristocrats and businessmen that we call ‘gentlemen’.” “Even now, we automatically fall back into Northern gits and Southern bastards. This stuff runs deep.” “It’s been so long since the English have had to look at the problems of being English that I can’t see it ending peacefully.” Presented by Nick Cohen. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofrenijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

America’s new President faces four overlapping crises – the COVID pandemic, the teetering economy, festering racial inequality and looming climate change. Does Joe Biden have the political resources to turn them around? And what about the fifth crisis, the poisoning of American democracy under Trump? The FT’s Associate Editor Edward Luce – Author of The Retreat of Western Liberalism – tells Andrew Harrison about the horrors in Biden’s in-tray. “The left wants heads on pikes – but Biden will resist that.” “Biden is inheriting low hanging fruit with Trump’s poor vaccine policy.” “Expect an information war, as much as anything else.” “Rejoining Paris on day one is very symbolic. But Biden’s environmental policies are more ambitious than that.” Presented by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Few writers’ words and ideas are abused daily on the Internet as much as George Orwell’s – and now most of his work is out of copyright. On the anniversary of Eric Blair’s death, we present a champion Orwell-off. Dorian Lynskey, author of The Ministry Of Truth, talks to DJ Taylor, author of Orwell: The Life, about Blair’s underrated works and over-cited quotes, David Bowie’s 1984: The Musical, and why Orwell would have baulked at the modern misuse of “Orwellian”. “Orwell’s life and legend now fit perfectly the roles we’ve created for them.” – DJ Taylor “Words have been so redefined now that ‘Orwellian’ is routinely used as the opposite of everything that Orwell stood for.” – DJ Taylor “Orwell was an imperfect man of his time, and very good at dramatising his own life.” – DJ Taylor “Orwell hated writing film reviews so much that he paid his friend Inez Holden to go and watch the plays for him.” – DJ Taylor “Anthony Powell used to say ‘How George would have loved to be a poet killed in the war…’.” – DJ Taylor Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 last day of Donald Trump’s warped presidency, his niece Mary Trump – psychologist and author of Too Much And Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man – reflects on the making of a man who impressed his psychopathologies on a nation. How does a person get like this? What is it like when a family member places the entire world in peril? And could a defeated Trump represent an even worse danger to American democracy? “For the first time in his life he can’t spin a loss into a win. And it’s driving him crazy.” “At a very deep level, Donald knows he’s never been truly successful and has no skills.” “When Donald was elected I knew he would do to my country what he and his father had done to my family.” “What shocks me is that there are people on this planet who are weaker than Donald. I didn’t think that was possible” “In the election, if he was going down, he would try to take the rest of us with him. And that’s exactly what he did.” “Failure to live up Fred Trump’s demands got you destroyed. And that’s what happened to my dad.” “If the cameras disappear, Donald ceases to exist.” Presented by Jude Rogers. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 Trump Presidency finally, finally ends, will the Republican Party be forced to choose between American democracy and the madness of the Trump-enraged base? Can Biden convince the world that America’s holiday from reason is over? Plus COVID spikes in Ireland, Singapore uses virus tracking to erode human rights, and Wikipedia is turns 20 [citation needed]. Ayesha Hazarika, Brian Klaas and Ahir Shah join Andrew Harrison for the weekly Bunker panel show. “Trump got more criticism from Meryl Streep than Vladimir Putin.” – Brian Klaas “Trump’s legacy is that we are permanently high on the sugar rush of dramatic news.” – Ayesha Hazarika “Should we call Trump a fascist? If there’s a boot stamping on my face I don’t care about the brand of the boot.” – Ahir Shah “Trump was a useful idiot to Putin, and every despot around the world.” – Ayesha Hazarika Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 America prepares to inaugurate Joe Biden as President, can his predecessor squeeze any more crookedness into his remaining days in power? And will the feared violence in American state capitols materialise? Plus as lockdown reacts its first mandatory review, the Government tries to cut benefits and working people’s rights. Alex Andreou sets up the week ahead. “Trump isn’t unusual. He’s every bully – every Biff from Back to the Future – I’ve ever met.” “This episode of Trump is over. But there are seasons more to come.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a special extra edition we ask, what will our politics be like after COVID (eventually) lifts? Will we find, like in 1945, that suddenly everything has changed? John Curtice, politics professor at Strathclyde University and senior fellow at think tank UK in a Changing Europe, tells Naomi Smith about the new economic consensus that could emerge from the post-Corona wreckage; how Labour should differentiate themselves from the Tories in a radically changed country; and whether education, welfare and the governance of the country itself could be transformed. “Johnson is a meddler, an intervener, he wants to use the power of the state to get things done” “Do not presume that COVID is going to change attitudes” “The arrival of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister marked the end of the neoliberal project in Britain” “There are plenty of centre-right voters in Scotland, they just don’t necessarily vote for the Conservatives” Presented by Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Rarely have people sacrificed so much for so little.” The great uprisings across the Arab world in 2010-12 began in hope and ended in bitter disappointment, with hardline rule strengthened in many Arab countries. On the tenth anniversary of the event that began the Arab Spring, the overthrow of the Tunisian government, we talk to two experts – journalist for the BBC, Vice and LA Times Zahra Hankir and Khaled Diab, author of Islam For The Politically Incorrect – about what this great rebellion really achieved, how the pandemic has shown the weakness of these supposed strong regimes, and where the spirit of the Arab Spring could rise again. “When people say the Arab Spring ‘failed’, it’s just a way to take the thunder out of the idea that people can make change happen.” – Khaled Diab “The Arab Spring is not done, as long as people and activists are still trying to make change happen. That spirit is still alive.” – Zahra Hankir “In the Arab world, it’s not the people who don’t get democracy – it’s the leaders.” – Khaled Diab “They couldn’t kill the idea, so they locked up or silenced everyone who advocated that idea.” – Khaled Diab Find out more about developments in the fight for freedom in the Arab world at: madamasr.com thepublicsource.org aljumhuriya.net newlinesmag.com Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before right wing populists set about ruining the world, it was Latin America’s left wing populists – the likes of Chávez, Ortega and Castro – who rattled the West and threw their own countries into tumult. Why is the strongman’s hold on his country’s politics so unyielding? Will Grant, BBC Latin America correspondent and author of Populista!, joins us from Mexico City to explain how the people’s representatives became authoritarians and despots, what it’s like as a journalist targeted by a real-world army of footsoldiers as well as online trolls, and certain dictators’ early fondness for Blairism… “It was a real baptism of fire living under Chávez. As the media, you were always in his line of fire.” “We saw godlike status being bestowed on some very fallible men” “Some of these men are frighteningly militaristic and conservative… They created the conditions for the likes of Bolsonaro.” “Reagan’s obsession with Ortega was huge… His fixation fuelled a war that killed thousands.” “There’s a real appeal of the caudillo, the strongman who will come in and sort it all out.” “Living and working in these environments, it stretches you as a journalist like nothing else.” Presented by Dorian Lynskey Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the Iranian Revolution to the invasion of Afghanistan, events in 1979 turned the tides on decades of liberalisation across the Middle East. Kim Ghattas, journalist and author of Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East tells Alex Andreou about our misconceptions of the Middle East and her journey as a reporter. Have Iran and Saudi Arabia, and Sunnis and Shias, always been at each others’ throats? Was Bin Laden a “naïve revolutionary”? And what Biden can take from Trump’s policies on Iran… “I couldn’t believe that no-one had written a book that brings the story of the whole region together before – but no-one had” “My parents were more concerned about my safety and gun crime in the US than in Lebanon.” “Not every Iranian woman wore a miniskirt, but before 1979, they had the freedom to choose.” “The book’s for a Western audience – but it’s also for us in the region, to understand what happened to us, where we went wrong. And how we can undo some of it.” “Today, we only talk about religion at the extremes. But Iran’s progressive, liberal, pluralistic core were often devout Muslims.” “Trump’s renewed pressure on Iran has actually been welcomed by many Iranians” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER 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 the Democrats win the race to impeach Donald Trump before he wreaks irreparable damage on American democracy? Will Trump’s expulsion from social media neuter him or drive his base even crazier? And did that rioter REALLY taser himself to death, in the balls? Plus: Britain thinks MUSIC IS GREAT but not great enough to support. How the travel industry will resurrect itself. And why Joe Biden has China over a barrel… really. Alex Andreou, Naomi Smith and Arthur Snell join Andrew Harrison for the weekly Bunker panel show. “Every outrageous act by Trump is cover for the previous one” – Alex Andreou “America needs a domestic deradicalisation programme.” – Alex Andreou “Governments bail out banks, not Banksy” – Naomi Smith “In his own way, Xi Jinping is making China great again.” – Arthur Snell Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices