Oh God, What Now?

Keir Starmer’s statement on immigration may well have repelled many Labour voters towards the Lib Dems and the Greens. How wrong has the Prime Minister got this strategy to defeat Reform? And are his party’s plans even workable? Plus, the UK has signed trade deals with the US and India – what’s in them, how important are they, and are we getting too close to Trump? Trade expert Dmitry Grozoubinski spoke to Andrew Harrison for The Bunker and we’ve included a brief excerpt in this section. • Want more? Find the full Bunker episode with Dmitry here. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Ros Taylor with Seth Thévoz, Rachel Cunliffe and Ahir Shah. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio. Production by Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Labour panic and freak out over Runcorn and the Locals, is Starmer drawing the wrong conclusions from the votes? Is “Reform are right, don’t vote for them” the best they can do? Or should they pick more fights with the Right? Plus, what if this newfangled populism isn’t so new after all? We talk to Quinn Slobodian, author of Hayek’s Bastards: The Neoliberal Roots of the Populist Right, about why the shape-shifting Right are so hard to lay a glove on. And in the Extra Bit: Does VE Day hit differently now Europe is full of fascists, enthusiastically supported by the US President? ESCAPE ROUTES • Ros recommends Les Années (The Years) by Annie Earnaux. • Matt recommends With Nails by Richard E. Grant. • Dorian recommends Thunderbolts, in cinemas now. • Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Matt Green. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nigel Farage is going to be Prime Minister! Reform are going to eat the Tory Party alive! A plague of bats will devour Kate Middleton! As the locals and Runcorn/Helsby fallout settles we look at Starmer’s panic over Reform, ask whether Badenoch can survive, and stare into the dark heart of Farage Derangement Syndrome. Plus: Was the 2015 General Election – ten years ago this week if you’re planning a party! – the true moment when Britain went inexorably down the pan? ESCAPE ROUTES • Seth says rent the VRBO property with Orson Welles’ ashes in the well. • Hannah recommends Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors and Birding by Rose Ruane • Zöe recommends Perambulations guides and Stath Lets Flats. • Andrew recommends Doctor Who: Lucky Day. • Come to The Angry Brigade – Anarchy In N16 at the Hackney History Festival on Sunday 11 May. • Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Hannah Fearn, Zöe Grünewald and Seth Thévoz. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re on a highway to Helsby… As Reform take Runcorn, rack up council seats and take Staffordshire and Lincolnshire county councils, Rafael Behr joins Andrew Harrison to explain what it all means. Is it really Farage’s night? Who’s more damaged, Badenoch or Starmer? Is this definitive proof that Labour can’t beat the enemy by becoming the enemy? And… Andrea Jenkyns. Sheeeeesh. • Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second presidential term have been overwhelming. He’s signed a record 142 executive orders and cultivated historic unpopularity. What have we learned so far and CAN IT GET ANY WORSE? Host of the Home Front podcast Reed Galen joins us from across the pond. Plus, the media has spent so much time deliberating young men’s hard turn to the right of politics, but what about the women turning left and to the Greens? And in the Extra Bit for subscribers: the Lib Dems want to ban loud music on trains. A good idea or one that will fall on deaf ears? • Don’t miss our new podcast Crime Scene with Bernard Hogan-Howe and Alison Phillips – the truth behind true crime, every Thursday. • We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Ros Taylor with Matt Green and Marie Le Conte. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Try a bite-sized sample of our brand new podcast Crime Scene. Every week ex-Met Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe and former Mirror editor Alison Phillips lift the lid on how criminal investigations really work. In our debut episode: The horrific shooting of an innocent nine-year-old girl in Dalston in 2024 laid bare bitter rivalries between London’s armed gangs. Are police they fighting a losing battle against guns in the Capital? Want to know more? Hear the full episode here and subscribe for new episodes every Thursday. Presented by Bernard Hogan-Howe and Alison Phillips. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Music by Simon Williams. Produced by Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis and Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Executive Producer: Martin Bojtos. Thanks to Helen Purvis at Knight Ayton Management. CRIME SCENE is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The local elections AND the Runcorn and Helsby by-election stampede towards zero hour. Will Labour do as badly, and Reform as well, as predicted? And what will it all mean? Plus, we’re joined by the hosts of our new companion podcast CRIME SCENE. Ex-Met Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe and former editor of the Mirror Alison Phillips tell us how they’ll bring the truth about true crime from the guns of London to the Southport Riots… and delve into the complex truth about the knife crime epidemic. • Listen to CRIME SCENE NOW on your favourite apps. • We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Produced by Chris Jones. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all know the Conservatives got just about everything they could wrong when they were in government. But can we pinpoint where it all started to go wrong? And has the party learned its lessons? Tim Bale is a professor of politics at Queen Mary University London and his newly updated book: The Conservatives After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation is best placed to answer those questions. Plus, is pronatalism having a moment under Donald Trump 2.0? And in the Extra Bit for subscribers, following the death of Pope Francis, how much does religion play a part in politics? We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow Buy the updated version of Prof. Tim Bale’s Book – The Conservatives After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation, HERE. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Rachel Cunliffe and Hannah Fearn. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio Production by: Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Nice liberal democracy you got there, shame if something wuz to happen to it…” Trump behaves like a mob boss, complete with extortion and protection scams against universities, businesses and governments. But is he a real Godfather or just cosplaying as one? John Dickie, Professor of Italian Studies at UCL and expert on the Mafia, joins us to dismantle La MAGA Nostra. Plus – the IMF think we should work well into our seventies. Do we need longer working lives, or better ones? • Don’t miss our live Zoom on Thur 1 May – free to Patreon backers. Escape Routes • Seth’s London Clubland: A Companion for the Curious • Ros’s choice – A Life by Simone Veil. • John’s choices – The Red Brigades: The Terrorists who Brought Italy to its Knees by John Foot and Judgment At Tokyo by Gary J Bass. • Andrew’s choice – the Battle-Action mini-series. • Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. Written and presented by Andrew Harrison, Ros Taylor and Seth Thévoz. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Crossover edition with hit pod The Two Matts. What the hell is ‘Hard Labour’? Is it Blue Labour in disguise, Old Labour on steroids, or Starmerism’s inevitable final form? The New European’s Matt Kelly and Matt D’Ancona join Zöe Grünewald and Dorian Lynskey to look at Labour’s identity crisis. Plus: Fortress Europe vs Trump 2.0, The Beatles vs Andrew Tate in the battle for young men’s minds in the Extra Bit… and we invent “base-punching”. • Dorian’s Introduction to Father John Misty playlist. • Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Zöe Grünewald with special guests Matt Kelly and Matt D’Ancona. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump 2.0 is a different animal compared to his first term. His administration has already made massive cuts to the federal government and conducted a war on woke – all with terrifying ferocity. Is Trump ruling America by fear? Special guest and host of the Fast Politics podcast, Molly Jong-Fast, joins the panel. Plus, is there a future in British Steel? As Labour nationalises a key strategic industry we wonder just how worried we should be about China. We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Andrew Harrison with Seth Thévoz and Ros Taylor. Producer: Chris Jones Audio. Production by: Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has made a name for himself performing crazy stunts to win the hearts of voters. But maybe, just maybe, it’s working? Could the Lib Dems become the second biggest political party in the UK and what kind of people are they attracting to their cause? Enjoy Part Two of this week’s specially-split epic-length edition… We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Hannah Fearn, Matt Green, and Marie Le Conte. Producer: Chris Jones Audio. Production by: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump’s tariff masterplan is working! Well that’s just utter bulls**t, isn’t it? Trump’s decision to reverse global tariffs for 90 days caught everyone by surprise, even us! Dorian, Hannah, Matt and Marie recorded the whole pod before the announcement, but don’t fear, Andrew Harrison and The Guardian’s Rafael Behr were on-hand to add some reaction to the tariff u-turn. And don’t miss the panel on Trump’s obsession with big MAN jobs. • Tariff craziness meant we got a longer-than-usual edition so we’ve split it in two, Dune-style, and brought it to you early. Be here on Friday morning for Part Two in which we ask… Is it time to start taking the Lib Dems seriously? • We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Hannah Fearn, Matt Green, Marie Le Conte, Rafael Behr, and Andrew Harrison. Producer: Chris Jones Audio. Production by: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump’s tariffs are tanking stock markets and bankrupting penguins. How is Britain coping with Trump’s assault on free trade… and is there anything we can do to protect ourselves from protectionism? Plus, the most crucial voters are aged between 35 and 59 – and they’re also the most economically worried. Professor Jane Green is the Director of the Nuffield Politics Research Centre and co-author of a new report detailing why this group of people is so politically important. She joins the podcast to uncover what she found. We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Andrew Harrison with Zoë Grünewald, and Rachel Cunliffe. Producer: Chris Jones Audio. Production by Tom Taylor. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump is upending the world once again. We go on a whistlestop tour of tariffs, woke and the far-right in our latest show. First up, trade policy expert Dmitry Grozoubinski joins Andrew Harrison to explain why chaos is inevitable, following the new tariffs. Then into the main bulk of the episode, dinner time’s over for the tofu-eating wokerati… apparently. Some say the dawn of the post-woke world is upon us, but is it really? And what does that even mean? Also, what’s the state of hate in the UK? Luckily, Hope Not Hate has compiled a 140-page report detailing precisely that – and their Director of Research, Joe Mulhall, joins us in the studio to get into what’s in it. And in the Extra Bit for subscribers, after more than two centuries WH Smith leaves the high street. Is anyone surprised? But is the high street really dying or is it just changing? Listen to Andrew and Dmitry’s full conversation: https://linktr.ee/bunker_pod Read The State of Hate 2025 report: https://hopenothate.org.uk/state-of-hate-2025/ We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor, and Jonn Elledge. Producer: Chris Jones Audio production by: Tom Taylor and Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rachel Reeves’s spring not-a-budget has gone down like a cup of cold sick and many Labour supporters are asking what they’re backing the party for. Is Labour on the verge of losing popular confidence – and could it win it back? Plus, as Trump gets weirder and weirder we look at two movies that explain the trashy allure of American fascism: Paul Verhoeven’s hyperviolent sci-fi satires Robocop and Starship Troopers. Would you like to know more…? • Listen to The Bunker: Northern uproar – How Canada is standing up to Trump. • Tickets are on sale now for Matt’s Legitimate Concerns tour. • Andrew interviews John Higgs, author of Exterminate! Regenerate! – The Story of Doctor Who at the Rock’n’Roll Book Club, Walthamstow on Tue 22 April. Escape Routes: • Hannah’s choice Crib Notes on Substack. • Matt’s choice Paradise on Disney+. • Raf chooses The Remix with Chris Hawkins. • Andrew’s choice The Residence on Netflix. • Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Rafael Behr, Hannah Fearn and Matt Green. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rachel Reeves’ Spring not-a-budget Statement is out and it’s hard to take. What’s in it, what’s not, and are we all going to be rich now (hard no)? Plus, the return of Donald Trump has been hard to ignore – but should we wean ourselves off American politics, in favour of sorting out our own problems closer to home? And in the Extra Bit for Patreon backers: Everyone on the panel speaks a second language. How important are they and is Duolingo the right way to go? We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Ros Taylor, with Marie Le Conte, Ahir Shah and Seth Thévoz. Producer: Chris Jones Audio. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kemi Badenoch was supposed to reboot and re-energise the Tories. Now she’s tanking in the polls and flailing in the Commons. If she can’t beat Farage, will her leadership make it to the end of the summer? Plus, America’s slide from functioning democracy to autocracy summons up dark memories of when the same thing happened to the Ancient Roman republic. Classics lovers Rachel Cunliffe and Jonn Elledge join Zöe Grünewald and Andrew Harrison to ask whether the Fall of Roman democracy is a warning or a manual. • Read Rachel’s New Statesman piece What Went Wrong of Kemi Badenoch? • Andrew interviews John Higgs, author of Exterminate! Regenerate! – The Story of Doctor Who at the Rock’n’Roll Book Club, Walthamstow on Tue 22 April. Escape Routes: • Zöe’s choice Broken Country. • Andrew’s choice Exterminate! Regenerate! • Jonn’s History of the World in 47 Borders in paperback. • Jonn’s choice I Want To Go Home But I'm Already There. • Jonn’s OTHER choice Ghosts of Iron Mountain. • Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Rachel Cunliffe, Jonn Elledge and Zöe Grünewald. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s been five years since Boris Johnson announced the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown. How much did that strange time in our recent history change the world we live in today? What lessons have we learned? And what hasn’t gone back to how it was before Covid-19 took hold of our lives? Christina Pagel is a professor of operational research at University College London and a member of Independent SAGE and joins the panel for an important two-part discussion. We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Dorian Lynskey, with Marie Le Conte, and Hannah Fearn. Producer: Chris Jones Audio. Production by: Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump’s election win delighted Farage, the Telegraph, GB News and the Tory Right – but since then the President’s behaviour has horrified British voters. Has the British Right bet on the wrong horse? And will it pay a price for backing a man who seems intent in punishing Europe? Plus, if you like TV but haven’t seen Adolescence yet – do. The harrowing knife crime drama starring Stephen Graham takes in the ‘Manosphere’, social media and what that toxic mix can do to our young people. What does it tell us about Britain today? The Economist’s British politics correspondent Matthew Holehouse joins Andrew Harrison, Ros Taylor and Jonn Elledge n the studio. • Buy Jonn Elledge’s A History of the World in 47 Borders through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund us by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Hear Ros Taylor’s More Jam Tomorrow. • Listen to Constellations For The Lonely by Doves. • We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Andrew Harrison with Ros Taylor and Jonn Elledge. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio. Production by Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices