The Bunker – News without the nonsense
News without the nonsense, every weekday morning. In episodes that fit your commute*, The Bunker cuts through the noise to make sense of what’s really going on in news, current affairs, politics, economics and culture. We bring you smart explainers, interviews, fresh perspectives and under-reported stories to as a refreshing alternative to repetitive 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 • Alex von Tunzelmann • Andrew Harrison • Zing Tsjeng • Jacob Jarvis • Emma Kennedy • Rafael Behr • Seth Thévoz.
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(* Even if it’s just from the kitchen to the front room. )
The Bunker is a Podmasters production.
1501
AMERICAN PSYCHO: Trump tries to burn it all down
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 ...
57 min
1502
Start Your Week: CANCELLING THE TRUMP SHOW with...
Can Democrats impeach Trump fast enough to prevent more damage to American democracy – or would that enrage his base further? And what will his ejection from social media mean? Plus, Government failures to plan on COVID and freight exposed, an...
22 min
1503
Daily: Why post-COVID abortion rights must stay
It took a global pandemic to revolutionise Britain’s outdated abortion provision but the changes need to be made permanent. Quality-controlled termination “pills by post” have been made available during the pandemic– but under current law, GPs...
20 min
1504
Emergency: The Siege of Washington DC
In scarcely believable scenes, a mob goaded by Donald Trump invades America’s Capitol building, trashing Congress offices, shooting into the debating chamber and forcing senators and staff to flee. Four people die. What does this unprecedented assault ...
21 min
1505
Daily: Hitler’s long shadow
Why does Hitler still cast a shadow on our politics? How do you re-examine the Nazis’ record without inadvertently fuelling Holocaust denial? Historian Prof. Frank McDonough, author of new book The Hitler Years: Disaster 1940-1945, explains why we stil...
31 min
1506
Daily: What’s in it for me? Why SELF-INTEREST i...
Why has self-interest become such a dirty word (or words) in politics? Why do we always assume the worst motives in our opponents? And if voters keep on disappointing progressives by voting against their supposed economic interests, do we need to revis...
18 min
1507
On Her Majesty’s Sidelined Service Sector – wit...
Britain’s £80bn trade sector was left out of Johnson’s vaunted Brexit deal. Why, and what does that mean? With Lockdown III (or is it IV, V or VI?) about to be launched, has No.10 definitively lost control of the Pandemic? And what should we keep an ey...
52 min
1508
Start Your Year: What’s coming in 2021 with Art...
Joe Biden’s in-tray is packed but will the 46th President’s energies be consumed by repairing the damage of Trumpism instead of his own agenda? What lies in store in flashpoints around the world from Taiwan to Turkey to the Western Sahara? And will the...
20 min
1509
Halfway Between The Sex Shop And The Crematoriu...
From Barnard Castle to bleach injections to ward off COVID, from Matt Hancock trying to cry on TV to “will you just shut up, man?” it’s been a year of ignominy and idiocy – as well as twelve months of pain, failure and tragedy. But what were t...
57 min
1510
2020 Hindsight: The Tories’ year of living dang...
How it started, how it’s going… This was a year that blew up Boris Johnson’s plans for post-Brexit Britain and forced the Conservatives into uncharacteristic economic intervention. What has 2020 done to a newly-purified party of true believers? Former ...
18 min
1511
2020 Hindsight: LABOUR’s Report Card with NICK ...
The Labour Party has just endured its most self-torturing year since, well, last year. Is Keir Starmer beginning to turn the party’s fortunes around? Is the Left’s guerrilla war against the Leadership all noise or is Labour truly in a civil war? Does C...
23 min
1512
2020 Hindsight: Inside BLACK LIVES MATTER with ...
How did it feel to be at the centre of protests for racial justice that shook Britain and the world? Imarn Ayton, an actor and drama teacher from Peckham, found herself on front covers and news bulletins across the world after she was given a megaphone...
26 min
1513
2020 Hindsight: How LOCKDOWN SCEPTICS went to w...
Angry, irrational rejection of key public health measures like lockdowns and masks was one of the ugliest aspects of 2020. How did lockdown deniers give scepticism such a bad name? Did the Brexiters’ war on experts make it harder to fight COVID? And de...
39 min
1514
RORY STEWART on why “Politics is bad for you”
What psychodrama is driving No Deal? Can the Tory Party be rescued from its embrace of nationalist unreason? And what is Boris Johnson like to work for? Former Cabinet Minister and power-walker Rory Stewart joins us Ayesha Hazarika, Arthur Snell and An...
55 min
1515
Start Your Week: Johnson’s Dithering Heights – ...
It’s the final, final week where everything definitely goes down to the wire… again. As Boris Johnson ends Brexit as he began it, choosing between two alternatives he doesn’t really believe in or care about, Ros Taylor sets out the week ahead....
21 min
1516
Daily: Crossing swords with GEOFF NORCOTT, cons...
Never let it be said we don’t mix it up… We lure Geoff Norcott, famously the only* right of centre comedian out there, into The Bunker and attempt a civilised conversation. How does a working class son of a trade unionist end up on the politic...
27 min
1517
Daily: Driving home for COVID? A risky Christmas…
Our 200th edition. Everyone wants to go home and visit their folks for Christmas, right? And the Government is fine with it… right? Christina Pagel of Independent SAGE and UCL’s Clinical Operational Research Unit tells Ian Dunt why packing you...
17 min
1518
Daily: Is there LIFE AFTER POWER? Tales of the ...
One day you’re one of the world’s most powerful people, the next you’re out of work. So what do ex-leaders get up to when they leave office? And are they ever any good at it? BBC Radio producer and author of The Ex-Men: How Our Former Presidents and Pr...
25 min
1519
A Fish Called Blunder – plus guest MAGID MAGID
Fishing, level playing fields… as the scales tip the EU Trade Deal, will an arrogant Boris Johnson choose No Deal for the hell of it? The COVID vaccine is here but do we need to brace ourselves for “vaccine nationalism”? Special guest Magid Ma...
49 min
1520
Start Your Week: One Minute to Midnight with Na...
Audio issues now fixed. “The Deal’s not oven ready – and Johnson isn’t govern ready.” Will the No Deal Doomsday Clock finally tick down to zero before Thursday’s EU summit? Plus, why we need to worry about the mysterious Taxation (Post Transit...
22 min
1521
Daily: How Putin picks his poisons
The Salisbury poisonings were an infamous example of Russian interference in British security. But were they really the first time Novichok was used on British soil? Former US Army chemical warfare specialist and author of Toxic: A History of Nerve Age...
22 min
1522
Daily: Social Media Satire with ROSIE HOLT
With comedy venues closed by COVID, comedians are turning to social media to carry out the essential public service of mocking politicians and politics. One person taking the twittersphere by storm during lockdown is award-winning actor and stand-up Ro...
16 min
1523
Daily: FUTURE IRELANDS – Northern Ireland speci...
Will Brexit really lead to Ireland reunifying and leaving the Union, in a final irony for English nationalism? In a special edition on the future of the island of Ireland we talk to Neale Richmond (Fine Gael TD for Dublin Rathdown), Ulster Uni...
27 min
1524
Daily: Will LYING LEADERS destroy liberalism?
In the age of “reactionary populism”, larger-than-life characters trump competence. Can liberal democracies survive the age of the performative strongman? Political economist and author of This is Not Normal: The Collapse of Liberal Britain William Dav...
25 min
1525
Have Yourselves A Mini Little Christmas
Patreon people get the podcast early… As Boris Johnson unlocks Britain for the tiniest Christmas ever, is he just admitting that the public no longer listens to government? What will hacking back the overseas development budget mean for ‘Globa...
53 min