The Bunker – News without the nonsense

The BBC’s Director General and head of news are forced to resign in a confected row about Donald Trump’s incendiary Jan 6 speech. Overdue accountability for mediocre leaders, or a successful drive-by from lifelong enemies of the BBC – and dangerous interference in British democracy from Trump? Plus, Rachel Reeves’ budget plans crystallise, COP30 shows the dire state of climate action, the junior doctors’ strike… and Somerset Dracula rises from his grave. Ros Taylor sets out the week ahead with Andrew Harrison. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Simon Williams. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NEW: If you like Start Your Week’s look ahead, how about a round-up of the biggest, strangest, most important stories of the week, every Friday? On today’s debut edition: What Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York really means. “Vibe coding”. The heroism of train attack defender Samir Zitouni. Rachel Reeves’ pre-budget nerves. And what the hell has Donald Trump done to the White House this week? • Read Spencer Ackerman’s excoriating obituary of Dick Cheney. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Andrew Harrison and Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John le Carré was still a working secret agent when he wrote The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, the book that shocked the Britain of 1963 with its portrait of espionage not as heroic but as sordid, morally compromised and utterly without glamour. In comparison James Bond’s escapist world of girls and gadgets seemed naive and shallow. As a new stage adaptation of The Spy opens, its playwright David Eldridge talks to Andrew Harrison about adapting le Carré’s deep, dark vision for 2025 – why he expanded the role of George Smiley – and what The Spy has to say about the West’s new Cold War with Putin. • The Spy Who Came In From The Cold runs @sohoplace Theatre in London's West End from 17 Nov-21 Feb, ahead of a major UK tour in 2026. Tickets are available from https://spyonstage.com/ • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Andrew Harrison Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production by Robin Warren. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been a year since Trump’s election victory, how has US politics changed? What’s the trajectory? And is there any hope for the future? Emma Kennedy is joined by Casey Burgat, author of We Hold These "Truths": How to Spot the Myths that are Holding America Back and director of the Legislative Affairs program at the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University, to discuss. Buy We Hold These Truths: How to Spot the Myths That Are Holding America Back through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Written and presented by Emma Kennedy. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editors: Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The MAGA cult’s idol worship is the fuel for Trump’s war on American democracy. As British politics lurches to the right, could something similar ever happen here? Could violent racist nationalism and conspiracy thinking build a know-nothing cult of personality that would threaten our society? Prof Roger Griffin is one of the world’s top experts on the dynamics of fascism and emeritus professor in Modern History at Oxford Brookes University. He explains the crucial differences between American populism and the British far-right… why a movement doesn’t have to be strictly fascist to threaten a liberal democracy… and what ordinary citizens can do to hold back the authoritarian mob. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Robin Warren. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The horrific train stabbing attack at the weekend has shaken the nation. But are the media and politicians talking about it responsibly? Plus, the Andrew scandal rolls on and Trump continues to to commit violent acts across the world at will. Gavin Esler and Jacob Jarvis discuss all this and more. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Gavin Esler. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From troops on the streets to desecrating the White House to literal sh*tposting videos, Trump’s fascistic reign is relentless and exhausting. One day it will end – but how? Will he run out of steam, lose an election the Constitution says he’s not allowed to run in anyway, succumb to age and infirmity, or what? And what lasting damage will America’s worst president leave? We discuss five ways the Trump Nightmare could end with Reed Galen, founder of anti-Trump Republicans The Lincoln Project, President of the pro-democracy campaign JoinTheUnion.us and host of The Home Front Podcast . • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Andrew Harrison Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production by Robin Warren. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 1970s, a new kind of revolutionary emerged: terrorists who used spectacle as a weapon. Plane hijackings, hostage crises and televised terror became the tools of radicals. Figures like Leila Khaled and Carlos the Jackal turned political violence into global theatre. Their stories still captivate filmmakers today, inspiring films like One Battle After Another. Today in The Bunker, Seth Thévoz speaks to Guardian international security correspondent Jason Burke, author of The Revolutionists, which was shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize 2025, about how these figures reshaped global politics, and what their legacy reveals about ideology, glamour and violence. Buy Jason’s book The Revolutionists The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Seth Thévoz. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editors: Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump built his brand on the myth of the self-made billionaire. The man who turned a ‘small loan’ from his father into a global empire. But behind the gold-plated image lies a trail of bankruptcies, bailouts, and creative accounting that kept his empire afloat. Today on The Bunker, Jacob Jarvis is joined by Russ Buettner, journalist and author of Lucky Loser, to take a magnifying glass to Trump’s finances and ask how a serially failing businessman convinced millions he was the ultimate winner? Buy Russ’s book Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editors: Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was a disaster. But three years on, Moscow is learning fast. Behind the frontlines, the Kremlin is reshaping its military, its industry, and its people for a long war – and for others in the future. Today on The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by Dara Massicot, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to find out what lessons has Russia learned from its early failures? And how the West could face a more dangerous, more adaptable enemy next time. NOT FOR PATREON: • Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editors: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Migration madness intensifies as the fugitive sex offender is recaptured, and Labour fights fire over the ruinous cost of asylum hotels – which was created by the previous Conservative government. Will Starmer carry the can for the Tories’ complacency? Plus, Trump tours Asia. What could possibly go wrong? Oh and there’s a US war on Venezuela and a good old fashioned stock market crash a-comin’. Ros Taylor talks Andrew Harrison through the week ahead. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production by Simon Williams Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Donald Trump questions elections or attacks the press, it can feel like America’s democracy is facing something new. But from John Adams jailing journalists, to Nixon’s enemies list, presidents have tested those limits before and citizens fought back. Today in The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by political theorist Corey Brettschneider, who joins us to explore how past crises reveal the real source of democratic strength: the people themselves. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is the A.I. bubble about to burst? This week, the Bank of America reported more than half of global fund managers now think A.I. stocks are overinflated. So what happens if the hype finally bursts? Today on The Bunker, Seth Thévoz is joined by Ryan Cummings, chief of staff at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policymaking, to ask whether the future of A.I. could trigger the next big economic crash. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more. Written and presented by Seth Thévoz. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are tech bros about to disrupt death? From gene-hacked organisms to uploading consciousness to the cloud, Silicon Valley is obsessed with the idea of chasing immortality. Today on The Bunker, Zing Tsjeng sits down with Aleks Krotoski, author of The Immortalists: The Death of Death and the Race for Eternal Life, to unravel the strange, ego driven world of techno-immortality. Buy Aleks’ book The Immortalists The Death of Death and the Race for Eternal Life through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Zing Tsjeng. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

America’s Christian right has reshaped politics in the United States; from overturning Roe v. Wade to fuelling culture-war battles over gender and sexuality. Now their influence is arriving in the UK, courtesy of Nigel Farage’s ties to the evangelical group Alliance Defending Freedom and the growing presence of ‘judeo christian values’ in the messaging of Reform and the far right. Today on The Bunker, Zoë Grünewald sits down with New York Times investigative journalist Jane Bradley to find out what could happen if this evangelical vision of “family values” takes hold here too. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Zoë Grünewald. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editors: Tom Taylor. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Americans make it clear how much they don’t want a monarchy with No Kings protests, Brits might be feeling the same as the Andrew scandal rumbles on. Alex von Tunzelmann joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss the latest news from across the world and how it might play out this week. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Alex von Tunzelmann. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This summer, Britain’s streets have boiled with right-wing anger. From flag debates to ‘patriotic’ rallies, the far right is trying to turn frustration into a movement. But it’s not the first time the far right has tried to muscle its way into British politics. Today on The Bunker, Gavin Esler is joined by Dr. Aaron Edwards, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Leicester, to explore how Britain’s far right past is shaping its turbulent present, and why this time things could end very differently. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Russia once claimed to lead the world in women’s equality. But today, it’s a nation where traditional gender roles and conservative values define public life. What happened to that revolutionary promise and what does it say about how power really works in modern Russia? Today on The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by Julia Ioffe, author of Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy, about what the lives of Russian women can tell us about the country’s past and its future under Putin. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Buy Julia’s book Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editors: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following the Labour conference, Shabana Mahmood has emerged as one of the party’s breakout stars. Some even think the Home Secretary’s confident performance has put her in the conversation as a potential future leader. Today in The Bunker, Zoë Grünewald is joined by Rajeev Syal, home affairs editor at The Guardian, to unpack Mahmood’s rapid rise and what her ascent tells us about the future of Starmer’s government. • Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Zoë Grünewald. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

China is stepping up to fill the space America is leaving behind. As Washington turns inward and Donald Trump rails against “globalist institutions” like the UN, Beijing is moving fast to shape a new world order: one built around its own power and priorities. Xi Jinping is rallying allies like Putin and Modi to his side. It’s a far cry from the optimism of the 1990s, but as a global power vacuum emerges, China looks ready to step up to the plate. Today on The Bunker, Gavin Esler is joined by Jeffrey Prescott, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN agencies in Rome and visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, to find out what a century of Chinese influence could look like across the globe. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices