The Bunker
Your daily need to know on news and politics. Every weekday 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: Gavin Esler • Ros Taylor.• Hannah Fearn • Andrew Harrison • Jacob Jarvis • Emma Kennedy • Rafael Behr • Seth Thévoz.
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The Bunker is a Podmasters production.
1376
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
1377
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
1378
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
1379
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
1380
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
1381
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
1382
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
1383
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
1384
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
1385
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
1386
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
1387
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
1388
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
1389
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
1390
“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
1391
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
1392
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
1393
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
1394
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
1395
“The most serious science policy failure in a g...
Britain’s COVID response is now officially the worst in Europe – yet somehow Boris Johnson is getting away it. How? Plus: The NHS triumphant. Health policy expert Roy Lilley on how the service must change after the Corona ordeal. And what have we learn...
48 min
1396
HARD REBOOT: Turning the economy off and on again?
After an economic shock that’s unique in human history, how can we rebuild Britain’s businesses and public finances? How are we going to pay off a national debt unseen outside of wartime? Ian Mulheirn, Chief Economist of Renewing the Centre at the Tony...
21 min
1397
Law versus Justice: Is POLAND’s democracy self-...
Donald Tusk is telling Poles to boycott their presidential elections out of “basic human decency”. Is Poland’s ruling Law And Justice using COVID to intensify its anti-liberal direction? How are ordinary Poles coping with Corona? And could Law And Just...
24 min
1398
DAILY: Standing Zoom Only with comedian ATHENA ...
Zoom fatigue, virtual pubs, the Baby Johnson… Standup comic and comedy writer ATHENA KUGBLENU purges all her lockdown neuroses while Ian Dunt hides behind the microphone. Is Captain Tom being politicised? Why do we have to see everything throu...
31 min
1399
Daily: The COVID mental health challenge
The lockdown is impacting everyone differently but it’s hitting people with pre-existing mental health issues especially hard. Demand for help with depression and anxiety are up by 30% worldwide, and the impending once-in-a-century recession is likely ...
19 min
1400
The Laissez-Failure Edition
As Boris Johnson returns to work, will we see a chastened lockdown hawk or will he revert to his laissez-faire instincts? With trust in journalists plummeting, who decided that it’s the media’s job to ask “helpful questions” of government? Plus Conserv...
47 min