The Bunker
Your daily Need To Know on news and politics. Every morning The Bunker cuts through the noise to make sense of what’s really going on, with smart explainers, interviews, fresh perspectives and under-reported stories to rescue you from everyday Punch and Judy news coverage. It’s the only way to start the day. From the producers of Oh God, What Now?
Our regulars include: Alex Andreou • Gavin Esler • Hannah Fearn • Andrew Harrison • Jacob Jarvis • Marie le Conte • Jude Rogers • Yasmeen Serhan • Ahir Shah • Siân Pattenden • Ros Taylor.
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The Bunker is a Podmasters production.
1226
Daily: ILL MANNERS with comic Sindhu Vee
What’s it like to actually have COVID-19? Stand-up comedian SINDHU VEE tells Ian Dunt about the experience of being laid out by the virus – how to be an “Indian Mum Bad Cop” in trying circumstances – and what she learned along the way.&nbs...
20 min
1227
DEBORAH MEADEN: Escape from Downturn Abbey
Which businesses could dig Britain out of the COVID recession? What will industry need to do to adapt to a new, socially-distanced reality? What are all those people involved in hospitality, services and entertainment going to do for a living?...
29 min
1228
The Fire This Time: Inside America’s week of chaos
The death of George Floyd has triggered an outpouring of protest in the US and a surge of unprecedented violence from police. Could these astonishing events really change the direction of politics and race in America? Journalism teacher and ex-Washingt...
21 min
1229
Matthew Parris: “Boris Johnson is afraid of Par...
We love Parris in the springtime. Times columnist, much-admired old school Tory and now Conservative exile MATTHEW PARRIS talks to Ros Taylor about the extraordinary place the Government has got itself into. What’s left of old-fashioned Toryism? Have w...
19 min
1230
We Shall Fight Ourselves On The Beaches – Speci...
Comedian Mark Watson is this week’s special guest as Britain sacrifices public health for sunbathing and access to flatpack furniture. Are we mentally ready to get back out and be normal? Will FOMO be replaced by FOGO – Fear Of Going Out? What is the m...
49 min
1231
Don’t cry for me Academia, with Glen O’Hara
When term starts in autumn, universities won’t look like what we’re used to. What will “bubble learning” look like? What sort of hole will the pandemic knock in University finances? Will there be a socially-distanced bar and/or Animal Rights Soc disco?...
29 min
1232
The future is unionised says FRANCES O’GRADY of...
There’s a nightmare economic downturn on the cards, but unions were deeply involved in the emergency bailout plans. Is organised Labour about to re-enter policymaking for the first time in over 40 years? What can unions do for women workers in an econo...
36 min
1233
THE MIGHTY THAW? How to wake up a frozen economy
What buttons can government push to wake up a comatose economy, and will they work this time? Will this formerly Conservative government need to go full Keynesian with a bonanza of giveaways to stimulate activity? Or if fear of persistent virus stops u...
33 min
1234
DAILY: Anand Menon and Ian Dunt on the COVID-Cu...
Where does this week of chaos leave the Government’s authority? Will it affect our staggering progress towards the cliff edge of a failed negotiation with the EU? Ian Dunt talks to ANAND MENON of UK In A Changing Europe about the Johnson government’s s...
21 min
1235
Mini-Daily: Troublesome tides for BRITISH FISH
Got a bonus one for you: Britain’s fishing industry has long been an emotional hot button for Brexiters and a seaborne sticking point for our trade negotiators. What exactly is going on in Britain’s coastal waters? And what would a No Deal Brexit mean ...
12 min
1236
Herd Impunity
Dom Under Siege, Day Five: Has the Prime Minister’s incomprehensibly immovable Rasputin done enough to save his skin? And is a 60-mile car trip really the best way to test your eyesight? Plus guest John Appleby of health think tank the Nuffield Trust j...
47 min
1237
PRICE GOUGING – Who’s cashing in on COVID?
Coronavirus has provided a golden opportunity for unscrupulous online and offline retailers to jack up their prices on essential goods. Who are the worst culprits for COVID price gouging? Who are the victims? And what should government be doing to stop...
22 min
1238
Emergency DomCast: Requiem for a MegaMind?
Should he stay or should he go now? Audio of our Emergency Dominic Cummings podcast, recorded on Zoom at 1pm today, Sunday 24 May with Dorian Lynskey, Ros Taylor, Alex Andreou and Andrew Harrison. You can just about get it listened to before the PM’s p...
48 min
1239
CSI: Coronavirus with DAVID ALLEN GREEN and Aye...
The Government’s emergency measures to keep public places empty are proving to be a rat’s nest. Even senior police officers and prosecutors don’t fully understand the law. Prosecutions are falling apart. And civil liberties groups are calling for a rev...
35 min
1240
There’s something RIGHT with human nature, says...
There’s only one problem with the widely-held belief that humans are fundamentally amoral and selfish, says Dutch historian RUTGER BREGMAN: it’s rubbish. His new book Humankind: A Hopeful History argues that the record shows humanity’s superpower is it...
27 min
1241
Pin the Blame on the Donkey Farmer
On this week’s full-length podcast: Keir Starmer, Donkey Farmer. Be a hero, or else: The Government frogmarches teachers to the frontline. Futurist Mark Stevenson joins us for some big ideas on how to change everything when the COVID mess starts to aba...
52 min
1242
Daily: HILARY BENN on the UK’s dash to No Deal
FROST/BARNIER: As Britain’s negotiators issue ultimatums out of thin air and the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier pronounces the talks “very disappointing”, is there anything to save Britain from the catastrophic No Deal we were promised would neve...
30 min
1243
Daily: The last picture show? COVID vs CINEMA
Hollywood bowled over: Coronavirus has thrown the entire movie industry into suspended animation. Are the studios strong enough to withstand this unprecedented shock? Will smaller movies become collateral damage in the shutdown? Will straight-to-stream...
26 min
1244
Daily: FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION with econom...
The Government’s emergency measures have saddled Britain with levels of debt unseen outside wartime – and a possible future of mass unemployment. How can we rebuild the economy for a post-COVID future? What’s the scale of the task? And which industries...
31 min
1245
DAILY: Into the Uncanny Valley with video games...
As we disappear deeper into virtual worlds both for work and relaxation, what are the political dimensions of the technologies we depend on to connect? Videogame scriptwriter Edward Stern, who has worked on Dirty Bomb, Gears Of War and other “shooty ba...
27 min
1246
“We shall fight them in the garden centres”
Are YOU staying alert? If not, WHY not? We look at the Government’s confusing (and possibly self-serving) re-do of its COVID advice. UCL Global Politics professor and presenter of the Power Corrupts podcast Brian Klaas explains why we’re asking the wro...
57 min
1247
DAILY: After the end of the world, with histori...
Coronavirus has changed everything – and maybe inaugurated a strange new era of history that nobody anticipated. What can we learn from past existential crises, from the oil shock to the world financial emergency of 2008? Will 2020 be a turning point l...
33 min
1248
Never mind the Bolsonaro: Could COVID push Braz...
Meanwhile, in Brazil… Extreme populist President Jair Bolsonaro’s dismissive response to the Corona crisis makes even Trump’s look vaguely reasonable. Could the anti-lockdown sentiment he’s fomenting push Brazil into real crisis? And how does ...
30 min
1249
DAILY: Give me liberty AND give me death?
Who’s up for some philosophy? COVID is shaping up as a crucible for the very idea of freedom – and an ultimate test for populism and libertarianism. Ian Dunt talks to TOBY BUCKLE of the Political Philosophy Podcast about what freedom means, who owns it...
25 min
1250
DAILY: Home School Never Ends
How is the Great Home Schooling Experiment going? Is distance learning exposing the holes in Conservative eduction policy – and the gulf between wealthy pupils and state students without laptops and iPads? Do we need to stop treating schools as a natio...
31 min