The Bunker – News without the nonsense
The Bunker is a daily news podcast that cuts through the noise to explain what's really happening in politics, current affairs, economics, and culture. It features smart explainers, interviews, and under-reported stories, offering a refreshing alternative to typical news coverage. The show is hosted by a rotating team of journalists and commentators including Gavin Esler, Ros Taylor, and Andrew Harrison. It is produced by Podmasters, the same team behind Oh God, What Now?
Episodes
Trump’s emotional support dictator – Weekly Wrap-Up with Rafael Behr
Looking back on the big stories of the past seven days… Donald Trump is once again cosying up to his dictator bestie Kim Jong Un – what’s he got up his sleeve? Plus: Burnham fleshes out plans to tackle homelessness and Zelenskyy’s former defence minister calls for Ukraine election… Rafael Behr and Jacob Jarvis discuss the biggest, strangest and most under-reported stories of the week.&n
How the Middle East was made — with Simon Sebag Montefiore
How did we get the modern Middle East? Who shaped it and does the term even make sense in our current era? Seth Thévoz speaks to Simon Sebag Montefiore author of The Cauldron: the Making of the Modern Middle East about how the region has been changed over time and what key players led us to what we know today. • Buy Simon’s’s book The Cauldron: the Making of the Modern Middle East from
The Age of Surveillance is rewiring our minds
We live in a surveillance world, but what is it doing to us? To give one small example, hackers figured out Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s movements by tracking his bodyguard’s exercise data. From CCTV cameras on high streets to smart doorbells at home, surveillance has become an inescapable part of modern life – something we both demand and fear. How did we get this way? And what have w
The Nerd Reich – How tech billionaires went fascist
Silicon Valley’s overlords have completely lost their minds. Gil Durán, Kamala Harris’ former communications director and now a journalist, says Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and the rest of the tech oligarchs have a severe case of “billonaire psychosis” – where unchecked wealth and influence detach them from reality. Now democracy itself is getting in the way of their own bizarre, apocalyptic visions. A
The Death of Jason Arday – Start Your Week with Ros Taylor
Setting out the stories of the week ahead… The shocking death of Jason Arday reignites questions about the press’s relentless pursuit of the story, Cambridge University and Simon & Schuster’s failure to properly look into the academic’s life story, and the general public’s prurient curiosity. Was it a legitimate story investigation, a persecution or even more complex? Plus: as the heatwave bre
Trump off his trolley, Farage back in trouble – Weekly Wrap-Up with Rafael Behr
Looking back on the big stories of the past week… Will all of Nigel Farage’s problems come back to haunt him now his Clacton distraction is over? Andy Burnham tries to solve the unsolveable problem of early prisoner release. Is Reform’s own prisons “fix” as unhinged as it sounds? And what the hell was going on with Donald Trump’s secret plane switch via catering truck? Plus… Britons are
AI is finally going rogue. Here’s what it means
First an OpenAI artificial intelligence model hacked a tech start-up called Hugging Face. Then one of Anthropic’s creations escaped its testing environment and carried out cyberattacks on its own. Now Facebook owner Meta has reported a similar breach by its own AI. What is going on?! Members of Congress and even AI workers are calling for an urgent slowdown, with Senator Bernie Sanders warnin
Al-Qaeda isn’t dead. It could be more dangerous than ever.
America’s hunt for al-Qaeda defined the 2000s in an epochal War on Terror that consumed $8 trillion. But the story didn’t end when Osama bin Laden and his successor Ayman al-Zawahiri were killed. The reconstituted terrorist organisation branched out into affiliate organisations, especially in Africa, and it now acts more like a criminal cartel. Has al-Qaeda evolved to become more resilient? And wh
Lost in Translation – What happens when a language dies?
How do languages die? Who’s behind the death of languages from Ghana’s Dagbani to regional Italian dialects? And does it matter if they decay? Almost half of our 7,000 languages are expected to go extinct by the next century and “linguicide”, the death of a language, is to blame. It can be intentional, such as the Turkish government’s repression of Kurds or less intentional, due to simple neglect.
Bin it to win it – Start Your Week with Gavin Esler
It’s Farage vs. Binface at this week’s Clacton by-election, what has this campaign taught us? Plus, Burnham is on tour and Trump finds himself in a new conundrum. Gavin Elser joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss the news to look out for this week. • Find out if you’re owed on car finance at refundclub.co.uk/bunker • Refund Club is a trading style of Sandsford Law L
Badenoch’s neo-Nazi fiasco, the Farage-Lowe Love-In… and Welsh Star Wars – Weekly Wrap-Up with Jonn Elledge
Looking back on the big stories of the past week… Kemi Badenoch faces fury after defending a former neo-Nazi’s decision to stand as a Tory councillor. What was she thinking? Burnham amends his early prisoner release plan. Is he really a “soft-touch” on crime? Plus: Farage and Lowe’s enemies-to-lovers character arc deepens, Cambridge professor Jason Arday steps down over plagiarism concerns and a S
Downturn Abbey – Why wealth-obsessed US TV is finally discovering ordinary lives
Sick of watching Shiv Roy or Tanya McQuoid strut around luxury properties? You’re not alone. For years, depictions of extreme wealth have dominated the airwaves with shows like Succession and The White Lotus having a huge cultural impact. But lately watching rich people has started to feel a bit… mundane. Enter Beef, The Bear, DTF St Louis and Margo’s Got Money Troubles and, with it, TV’s sudden i
The wars growing in Europe’s secret battlegrounds
Europe is secretly at war – and it has been for a long time. Across the continent, 34 disputed territories remain with places where the conflicts of empire still linger and rival nations continue to claim the same land. Some of these borderlands have become strategic prizes for leaders like Putin and Erdoğan, revealing how wars can drag on in perpetuity and how states can exist without recognition
The MAGA money tree – How Don Jr. is cashing in on Trump 2.0
Donald Trump is making more money than any sitting US president in history – and his eldest son isn’t about to let Dad have all the fun… Through his investment firm 1789 Capital, Donald Trump Jr is cashing in by backing companies that often stand to benefit from government policy. So how is he turning political access into profit? What does it reveal about the financial ties between the
The devolution will be televised – Start Your Week with Alex von Tunzelmann
Andy Burnham is pushing his new devolution agenda and suggested it could mean we need a written constitution. How might that work? Plus, there’s a new mayor in Manchester, what did the by-election show us? Alex von Tunzelmann talks Jacob Jarvis through the news to look out for in the next few days. • Find out if you’re owed on car finance at refundclub.co.uk/bunk
Burnham bamboozles the right and Trump goes rogue – Weekly Wrap-Up with Rafael Behr
Looking back on the big stories of the past week… The Burnham bounce is driving the right completely bonkers. How long can his momentum last – and can anyone knock the PM off his pedestal? Plus: Donald Trump held talks with Zelensky and Netanyahu after delivering an unhinged eulogy for the late Senator Lindsey Graham. What did we learn from these meetings? Rafael Behr joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss
Russia is doomed
Putin thought his war on Ukraine would restore Russia to greatness in just ten days. Instead, after four and a half years of futile slaughter and almost half a million Russian soldiers killed, the unthinkable seems to be coming true. Could Russia lose in Ukraine? Could Putin go down with it? And could defeat break up the Russian Federation – the “last empire” – itself? Russian native and professor
The bioweapons crisis moment is coming… and it could end the world
A lab accident, a bio-attack, a global pandemic. Is this how it all ends? If you weren’t worried enough about nuclear war, the next doomsday weapon is a sinister invisible threat – and it’s a living thing. After her astonishing book Nuclear War: A Scenario reignited the global conversation about the reality of nuclear weapons, Annie Jacobson’s new book Biological War: A Scenario charts how a fast-
“I spent 16 years in jail. Here’s how Burnham needs to change our prisons”
Steve Gallant knows what’s wrong with Britain's prisons. He spent over 16 years in jail for murder and then – on his very first day release – he helped stop the 2019 London Bridge terror attack, an act of bravery which won him the Queen’s Gallantry Medal and a Royal Prerogative of Mercy. Now a writer, speaker and prison safety consultant, he talks to Zoë Grünewald about Britain’s prison crisi
Europe in flames, Burnham floods the zone – Start Your Week with Ros Taylor
Setting up the stories of the next seven days… France and Spain suffer apocalyptic fires and mass evacuations. Will this be the tipping point for European climate policy? Andy Burnham starts to tackle the big stuff in his second week as PM, starting with an issue that has defeated successive governments: social care. Plus the aftermath of the Berlin Pride terror attack, the Greater Manchester mayo
Did Burnham’s first week go to plan? – Weekly Wrap-Up with Seth Thévoz
Looking back on the big stories of the past seven days… Did Andy Burnham’s first week as PM go as planned? A raging Elon Musk says he’s going to make his own Odyssey with A.I. and it’ll be better than Christopher Nolan’s and he’s not mad, OK?? (Plus bonus Musk interview from The Economist). Donald Trump brings back his election interference claims, this time pointing fingers at China. And an OpenA
How The Odyssey conquered the culture war whiners
“You can’t have a black Helen of Troy!” “You can’t have trans actors as Greek warriors!” Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of The Odyssey answered the far-right hecklers and Elon Musk fanboys with a colossal opening weekend and critical acclaim. But is it truly a masterpiece? Does it capture the essence of Homer’s epic poem or simplify and Hollywoodise it? And what does the movie leave ou
Turning France fascist? – Inside the Le Pen dynasty
Marine Le Pen is expected to make her fourth run at the French presidency sporting a unique accessory: an ankle tag. The scandal-plagued National Rally leader has gained ground with each attempt and the far-right may never have been so close to power. So how did we get here? From the Dreyfus affair and the collapse of the French military in WW2 to the rise of the Le Pen dynasty, Enda O’Doherty – a
The Clacton Job – Inside Farage’s “anti-establishment” con
Nigel Farage launched a “people versus establishment” by-election in Clacton – but which side is he REALLY on? The Reform leader claims to speak for ordinary people but the privately-educated former banker has pocketed over £2 million in outside earnings since becoming an MP, accepted a £5m gift from a crypto mega-donor and has taken more cash from “Posh” George Cottrell – a convicted fraudster. I
Burnham: Harder, better, faster, stronger? — Start Your Week with Gavin Esler
Burnham is finally going to become Prime Minister – but can he really move faster than his predecessor? And will simply communicating better make all that much difference? Gavin Esler joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss this and the other key stories to look out for this week.www.patreon.com/bunkercastWritten and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Gavin Esler. Audio production: SimonWilliams. Managing Edito
England fail heroically, Reform stoke anger, Starmer’s farewell – Weekly Wrap-up with Zoë Grünewald
Looking back on the big stories of the past seven days… An astonishing World Cup rollercoaster ends in crushing disappointment for England against Argentina – but it all seems unimportant next to the repercussions from the horrific killing of Ann Widdecombe. Are Reform’s claims that rival parties and the media are “inciting” violence making a tense situation worse? Plus, Keir Starmer opens his far
The truth about Palantir
It’s been branded “the scariest company on the planet” and it is busy weaving itself into the fabric of Britain’s NHS, defence establishment and beyond. Peter Thiel’s Palantir has a terrible reputation – but do its products even work as billed? As MPs call for Palantir’s £330m NHS contract to be scrapped and fears grow over Big Brother-style data sharing, we talk to Democracy for Sale founder
Who’s really paying your MP?
Nigel Farage is under fire over his £5 million gift from a crypto billionaire – but does British politics have a wider money problem? MPs earn a salary of just shy of £100,000 but for many that's just a sliver of the total pay packet. Side hustles, political gifts and personal donations can add millions more a year. So how does it all work – and where’s the line? Dr. Sam Power of the University of
Star Wars – Why our obsession with star ratings is ruining everything
“Please rate this book.” “What was your experience at Tesco like?” “Did this carrot meet your expectations?”… Star ratings are everywhere and they’re ruining the world. You can’t order a curry, watch a film or buy a kettle without having to check what others said about it – and being pestered to give your review. We’ve turned the entire planet into a customer satisfaction survey, but how did
Widdecombe murder, Burnham to become PM – Start Your Week with Rafael Behr
Setting up the stories of the next seven days… Police say there is no reason to suspect that the murder of Anne Widdecombe was politically motivated, but it’s not stopping Nigel Farage and Reform from trying to weaponise the killing. Plus, what’s on Andy Burnham’s plate as he prepares to move into No.10? The hard right lose their sense of humour over Count Binface. The US and Iran are at it again.
Farage’s farce, Trump's truce and Harry’s hacking loss – Weekly Wrap-up with Alex von Tunzelmann
Nigel Farage’s by-election stunt has blown up in his face – but could he really lose to Count Binface? Donald Trump has gone back to bombing and declared the Iran ceasefire “over”. Will this Groundhog Day ever end? And Prince Harry lost his landmark privacy case against the Daily Mail’s publisher – will more cases follow or is this it? Alex von Tunzelmann joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss the biggest,
Hot Take Time Machine – Britpop Burnham, ‘eat the ponies!’ and kinky cruises with Miranda Sawyer and Jonn Elledge
Columnists need critics too… Hot Take Time Machine is back with Paper Cuts alumni Miranda Sawyer, Jonn Elledge and Jacob Jarvis picking apart the most bizarre takes in the op-edaverse. On this episode: Andy Burnham’s wardrobe causes a stir, Kwasi Kwarteng – yes, the man who nearly exploded the economy – warns against “Red Ed” Miliband becoming chancellor, one Telegraph columnist has a s
Sleaze Nation – How to fight Britain’s corruption pandemic
Is Britain really as free of corruption as we think? This year the UK posted its lowest-ever score in a global corruption index. High-level scandals like Peter Mandelson’s Epstein ties and Peter Murrell embezzling from the SNP – and less conspicuous instances of fraud and backhanders – are eating into our self-image as rule-followers. And the man who might be Prime Minister keeps changin
Dark side of the Genius Factory – How Stanford University creates the global elite
Tech shapes our world, and Stanford University is Silicon Valley’s training ground. But what really goes on in the place that gave us Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Peter Thiel – the richest university in human history? As a student reporter, Stanford undergraduate Theo Baker’s work forced Stanford’s president to resign. Now his new book How To Rule The World exposes the intense and amoral culture of
The Farage Funds Fiasco – Start Your Week with Gavin Esler
Setting up the stories of the next seven days… As England fans shake off their Mexico hangover, another cash scandal hits Farage, who denies “doing any wrongdoing” (?). How will Naughty Nigel handle new revelations about undeclared funding from convicted criminal “Posh George” Cottrell, while still dealing with the headache of his £5m gift from a crypto baron?Plus: NATO’s conference in Ankara; cru
Burnham boxed in on budgets? – Weekly Wrap-up with Alex von Tunzelmann
Setting out the stories that matter from the past seven days… Andy Burnham sets out his store before almost certainly taking the keys to Downing Street. But is Starmer leaving him a poison pill? Plus, more emerges on Farage and Trump’s mammoth paydays. And goodbye human delivery, hello delivery robots, apparently already causing “pavement overload” on Britain's streets. Alex von Tunzelmann joins A
How to Fix the USA – Rewrite the Constitution, rein in the President?
Fables Of The Reconstruction: A Bunker mini-series for the 250th anniversary of the USA… When Trump is gone, should America take a long hard look at its system to prevent authoritarian government from coming back? We talk to experts about the pros and cons of a new Reconstruction. Today: Can you make the pillars of American democracy President-proof without looking again at the Con
How to Fix the USA – Does America need another Year Zero moment?
Fables Of The Reconstruction: A Bunker mini-series for the 250th anniversary of the USA… Trump won’t be around forever. When he goes, does America need a root and branch rethink? We look at the pros and cons of new Reconstruction. Today: Rip it up and start again? The US system was supposed to be a bulletproof arrangement of checks and balances. Trump has shown how easy it can be fo
How to Fix the USA – Escaping the Two Party Trap
Fables Of The Reconstruction: A Bunker mini-series for the 250th anniversary of the USA… After Trump’s reign and his war on the pillars of American democracy are over, will America need a reboot, like after the Civil War? A new Reconstruction? Today: Nothing reduces the America system to gridlock and vindictiveness like the polarised two-party system. And when Trump remade the Repub
The Race to be Burnham’s Best Mate – Start Your Week with Ros Taylor
Setting out the stories of the next seven days… Andy Burnham is PM in waiting and the battle among Labour MPs for his attention is on. What’s going to bubble up from what the Guardian calls a “massive bunfight for influence”? Plus, Shabana Mahmood finds a way to make immigration even more contentious, Trump finds a way to make America’s 250th birthday horribly divisive… and Taylor Swift is getting
It’s Him Up North – Weekly Wrap-Up with Jonn Elledge
Burnham looks set to become PM, so how are his plans shaping up? Jonn Elledge joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss as they pull together the biggest news stories from the last week. • Special offer! Get 20% off any vehicle history check at carVertical.com/TheBunker Back us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social • Advertis
World War Trade – How tariffs became Trump’s weapon of economic destruction
The eye-watering “Liberation Day” trade tariffs that Trump unleashed on the world on April 2, 2025, are about to expire after the US Supreme Court ruled the President had overstepped his powers. But the damage they’ve caused continues to reverberate. For economists, Trump’s tariffs began World War Trade, a dangerous new era of predatory trade and protectionism. How did tariffs become Trump’s weapo
North Korea's fragile future – What comes after Kim Jong Un?
Kim Jong Un has ruled North Korea with an iron fist since taking power in 2011. But if the dictator died tomorrow, what would happen? Would North Koreans finally taste freedom? Who’s in charge of the nuclear codes? And could his 13-year-old daughter Kim Ju Ae really be next in line to rule one of the world’s most dangerous regimes? Journalist, foreign affairs analyst, and author of The Great Succe
The Reality of Rejoin – Ten years after Brexit vote, can we go back?
It’s ten years to the day since Britain voted by an infamously thin margin to leave the EU – and after a decade of acrimony, most voters now recognise Brexit as a colossal mistake. Yet politicians refuse to reopen this radioactive topic. If so many people hate Brexit, why don’t we just reverse it? Could we even reverse it? And is now the right time? Few people understand the reality of Rejoin
The end is Keir — Start Your Week with Alex von Tunzelmann
Keir Starmer is expected to announce his departure from Downing Street, paving the way for Andy Burnham to become PM. But is a coronation the best thing for Labour or the country? Alex von Tunzelmann joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss this and the other key news stories to look out for this week. Back us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/bunkercast &n
Deal or no deal? – Weekly Wrap-Up with Rafael Behr
Donald Trump has finally put pen to paper and signed an agreement to end the war he started. He quickly lashed out at the “bad people” criticising it – but is it even a deal or just a deal to try and get a deal? Plus: Lib Dem leader Ed Davey calls for a Brexit U-turn, Farage wants foreign nationals banned from social housing and archaeologists find a Stonehenge “prototype”. Rafael Behr
The Belfast race riots – The even uglier truth by a journalist who was there
What really triggered the horrific race riots in Northern Ireland earlier this month? Who were the agitators of the “modern-day pogrom” in which balaclava-clad rioters chased people from their homes and torched cars and buildings in overwhelmingly loyalist areas? Belfast-based journalist Amanda Ferguson was on the ground as the violence unfolded. She gives Gavin Esler her eyewitness account of the
Musk will tear us apart? – The national security emergency we need to tackle
What connects violent anti-immigration protests with a defence secretary resigning over a funding row with Number 10? The answer is social cohesion – and Britain isn’t doing enough to protect it. A transnational campaign bringing together MAGA, Russian influence operations and the far right is actively targeting the very bonds that hold us together, says Dr Kate Ferguson, co-founder of Protec
Empire of Spies – An ex-CIA officer exposes Putin’s intelligence state
The West’s naivete towards Putin in the 2000s cost us dearly. Now Russia’s tyrant – a creature of the KGB/FSB who has returned his country to its roots as a repressive intelligence state – is attacking us with unprecedented ferocity and deviousness. Sean Wiswesser, ex-CIA station chief in the former Soviet Union, says the “reckless” activity of FSB and GRU agents has reached new heights. But can t
Labour’s anti-social behaviour – Start Your Week with Ros Taylor
Setting out the stories of the next seven days… Labour announce far more draconian restrictions on social media for teens than anyone expected. Why are they being so hardcore now? And will the measures work? Plus: it’s Makerfield by-election week, at last. What will help Labour more: Restore splitting the far-right vote or an England victory against Croatia in the World Cup? And what does Trump’s
Armed farces – Weekly Wrap-Up with Zoë Grünewald
Violence swept Belfast after a knife attack sparked days of unrest fuelled by right-wing agitators. With reports that many of those involved had travelled to the city from elsewhere, are we seeing the rise of riot tourism? Plus: John Healey resigns in breaking news, a leaked Makerfield poll puts Burnham ahead as the right-wing vote splits, and Swifties wager millions on Taylor’s wedding. Jacob Jar
Will Trump ruin the World Cup?
Or will it arrive pre-ruined by FIFA’s oligarch-coddling sycophant president Gianni Infantino, creator of Trump’s ludicrous “FIFA Peace Prize”? The 2026 World Cup has already been called a “bonanza of sportwashing” by human rights groups. Now visiting fans fear harassment by ICE as well as the eye-watering cost of attending games at all. Politics professor, author of Red Card: The 2026 World Cup,
What if Putin dies?
What happens if Vladimir Putin suddenly dies – or is killed? Has the Russian dictator lined up a successor, or would a new leader rise up? And what sort of chaos would that bring? At 73, Putin is one of the longest-serving leaders in modern Russian history. No one appears likely to challenge him directly right now, but his time will have to run out eventually. Historian, author and major Russia ex
How to stop the next Donald Trump – by a Mueller prosecutor
Can the damage Donald Trump has wrought on America be repaired? And if another Trump emerged, could anyone stop them? Ex-FBI general counsel Andrew Weissmann is a former member of Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s election interference. (Credentials: Trump labelled him “scum” and Stephen Miller called him “deranged” and a “moron”). In his new book Liar’s Kingdom: How To Stop Trump’s Dec
American idiots — Start Your Week with Rafael Behr
American politicians won’t stop wading in on British politics – what do they want and can we stop them? Rafael Behr joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss, plus the latest from Ukraine, the Middle East and the looming World Cup. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Rafael Behr. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. M
Weaponising the Nowak Murder – Weekly Wrap-Up with Seth Thévoz
Summing up the key stories of the past seven days… Reform and the far-right seize on the murder of student Henry Nowak to foment violent protests and provoke a national political row. Has Farage’s opportunism pushed his luck too far? Plus: What was in that a fresh batch of Mandelson files; Putin’s “Russian Davos” goes wrong; notable deaths from the past week; and who should replace Churchill and A
Hot Take Time Machine – Spoilt pigs, hen-dos and ‘alpine divorce’ with Miranda Sawyer and Jonn Elledge
Hot Take Time Machine is back and our crack squad of column critics are sniffing out the weirdest, worst and occasionally the best opinions from the last month. Paper Cuts survivors Miranda Sawyer and Jonn Elledge join Jacob Jarvis to pick apart The Telegraph’s terrible take on youth unemployment, The Mail’s Liz Jones having “one big moan” and one Times writer who is fed up with tasteful hen-dos
The A.I. swindle – Why Sam Altman is lying to you
OpenAI chief Sam Altman once wrote that the most successful people don’t build companies, they “create religions”. Will artificial intelligence really solve humanity’s greatest problems and elevate humans to a heaven-like state like the tech bros claim – or just ruin our civilisation? Best-selling author and investigative journalist Karen Hao gained unprecedented access to OpenAI to unearth the st
Cash Rules Everything – Why do we always vote to keep oligarchs rich?
Democratic rights and freedoms have expanded for a century or more, yet the super-rich have never been richer and wealth has never been shared less fairly. And we keep on voting to prop up systems that make a bad situation worse. Why? Political scientist and author Jeffrey Winters has a theory – that oligarchic power isn’t an unforeseen product of democracies, it’s designed into the system. So how
Texts education — Start Your Week with Alex von Tunzelmann
A huge dump of messages linked to Peter Mandelson are about to drop – what can we expect and who’s the most nervous? Alex von Tunzelmann joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss the news to look out for in the week ahead, from domestic news and Labour fallout to the consequences of conflict across the globe. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Alex von Tunzelmann. Aud
Hot Blair balloon – Weekly Wrap-Up with Rafael Behr
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing for The Bunker. Tony Blair has weighed in on Labour’s direction – but what does he actually want? Plus: Pope Leo warns about the rise of AI, a major review warns Britain risks creating a “lost generation” of young people, and a buffalo that resembles Donald Trump... Jacob Jarvis is joined by Rafael Behr to unpack the b
Iran's regime is fighting for survival – can it hold on?
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.Iran’s hardline regime may have weathered Donald Trump’s onslaught for now – but behind Teheran’s defiance there are deep cracks in its hated, repressive system. They go right back to the genesis and betrayal of the 1979 Revolution, when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini promised freedom, independence and prosperity only to
The Wanna-Bibis — Will Israel’s opposition dethrone Netanyahu?
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.Is time finally running out for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? The Knesset has voted to dissolve itself, the horrors of October 7th still haunt his coalition, and a newly united opposition is closing in. With right-wing Naftali Bennett and centre-left Yair Lapid joining forces and their Together party neck-
Boiling Point – Start Your Week with Ros Taylor
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Last chance to get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing. Setting up the stories for the next seven… sorry, six days. As Britain suffers unprecedented May heatwaves, can Ed Miliband defend Net Zero from the denialists in Reform and the oil-funded PR greenwashers? Plus, Nigel Farage’s excuses for his £5m gift from a crypto baron start to catch up with him. Coul
Will the real Andy Burnham please stand up? – Weekly Wrap-Up with Alex von Tunzelmann
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing for The Bunker. The Makerfield by-election is heating up, with Andy Burnham officially entering the race. But what does he really stand for? As he pitches both locally and nationally, we’re a bit confused. Plus: Donald Trump granted tax immunity, the T-Rex arms race, and Keir Starmer waters down Russian oil sanctions.
The Doomsday People – Why the Right is so obsessed with End Times
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.The Doomsday crowd was once confined to fringe congregations and rural survivalists stockpiling beans and ammunition. Now it’s gone mainstream, with one in three Americans believing the world will end in their lifetimes. So why do so many people think the end is nigh? Did Ruby Ridge start it all? And is the Trump admin
He said, Xi said – What the Trump-China summit really means
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.Donald Trump came, he saw, and left Beijing without much to show for his high-stakes summit with Xi Jinping. Behind the pomp and pageantry, tensions over trade, tech and Taiwan didn’t go away. So did two days of diplomacy actually achieve anything? And can Xi’s vision of “great rejuvenation” coexist with Trump’s “Make
White House down – Why Trump and the “aspiring autocrats” are tearing up their cities
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.Donald Trump is taking a wrecking ball to Washington and rebuilding it in his own image. Is his architectural upheaval pure vanity, or is something more ominous at play? Political philosopher, historian and author Professor Jan-Werner Müller joins Alex von Tunzelmann to discuss why remaking the capital is the signatur
Makerfield or Breakerfield – Start Your Week with Ros Taylor
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing. Setting up the stories of the next seven days… Has Andy Burnham set Labour up for a potential extinction event by forcing a by-election in the not-very-safe seat of Makerfield? By making the about rejoining the EU, has Streeting handed Reform a golden chance to turn the vote into Referendum 2.0? Plus Reeves’ cost of
Wild, wild Wes – Weekly Wrap-up with Rafael Behr
It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.Early release as the news is moving fast… Keir Starmer’s wild week is feeling more and more disastrous. As the PM clings on to power (by the time you hear this, that may have changed), who’s waiting in the wings? Wes Streeting resigned right after we recorded the episode, so who knows what’s next… Plus, Xi Jinping rol
Is PR finally coming? – Why electoral reform could be Labour’s last chance to save Britain
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.Reform could well land a colossal freak victory and total power over the UK at the next General Election. Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral system is struggling to cope with our new five-party system. As voters desert Labour and the Tories in droves, has proportional representation’s moment finally come? Should L
World War III could be brewing. Does history reveal how to stop it?
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.Wars around the globe are drawing eerie comparisons with the late 19th and early 20th Century, when Great Powers clashed in an atmosphere of nationalist populism. Are we – like then – on an inevitable march toward world war, or already deep in a second Cold War? Yale historian and Cold War expert Professor Odd Arne We
Beacon of culture, heart of darkness – What Weimar can tell us about holding back fascism
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing. The German town of Weimar exudes a dark fascination, and not just because Hitler loved to visit it. How did Germany’s cultural capital – home of the Bauhaus, Goethe, Schiller and the doomed inter-war experiment with democracy – also become one of Nazism’s earliest strongholds and the location for the Buchenwald concen
Keir today, gone tomorrow? — Start Your Week with Gavin Esler
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.Keir Starmer’s position looks more precarious than ever after the local elections. How will moves against him pan out? Gavin Esler joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss this and the other news to look out for in the week ahead. www.patreon.com/bunkercast • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with
The grift that keeps on giving – Weekly Wrap-Up with Zoë Grünewald
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.Farage is under fire for pocketing a £5m “personal gift” from a crypto billionaire. What’s his excuse?Plus, the Hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius is finally heading to port, but will the crisis really be over when it docks? And with Trump's “Project Freedom” on ice, what on earth is happening in the Strait of Hormuz? Jaco
Weight-loss drugs are booming. What do we really know about them?
GLP-1s like Wegovy and Ozempic have become a huge deal. But how much do we actually know about what they do? And what pros and cons do we need to balance? Natasha Devon is joined by nutrition coach and fitness expert Michael Ulloa to discuss. • It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.• Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by
The Scottish Elections – Why voters are “pure scunnered”
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.Our double-header on everything you need to know about this week’s devolved elections… In Scotland voters are gearing up for what’s being dubbed the “meh election” and the so-called “scunner factor” is well and truly sinking in. With Reform’s English nationalists eyeing up Holyrood, the SNP faces a fight to keep Scotl
The Welsh Elections – Why defeat could be “the Ghost of Labour’s Future”
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing.A double-header on what you need to know about this week’s national elections: In Wales Labour could face an historic annihilation that will reverberate through the whole country. Should they blame Starmer or their own poor government? Will Plaid Cymru have to choose between the Greens and what’s left of Labour as coa
Labour’s Small Votes Crisis – Start Your Week with Alex von Tunzelmann
• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing. Setting out the stories of the week ahead… As Labour braces itself for a battering in the local, Scottish and Welsh elections, Reform have an idea to liven things up: punishing anyone who votes Green by putting migrant detention centres in their constituency. Plus: What Russia’s scaled-down, tank-and-missile-free ‘Vic
How the Secret Service protects the president – An ex-agent reveals all
They wear suits, sport shades and say almost nothing. The Secret Service deliberately operates in the shadows but a third assassination attempt on Donald Trump has suddenly put them in the spotlight. So what exactly do they do all day? And what does it take to protect the president? Former agent Mike de Gues, who previously guarded Trump, gives Gavin Esler the insider story. • It’s Podmasters’ 10t
