The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Wrapping up the stories of the week, Jacob Jarvis is joined by Alex von Tunzelmann to dig into the fallout from Trump’s frenetic first week of 2026. From military intervention in Venezuela to the looming threat to seize control of Greenland, the President kicks off America’s 250th year with a bang. Plus, should Remainers be getting excited about Keir Starmer’s plan to reset the UK’s relationship with the EU? And finally, Alex’s under-the-radar story takes us to Texas, where a proposal to ban the teaching of Plato has become the latest front in the culture war. 

The human cost of Russia’s war on Ukraine is staggering, yet the war continues and Vladimir Putin’s position has barely shifted. Despite mounting attrition and international pressure, Moscow shows no sign of backing down. Today on The Bunker, Chris Jones is joined by Ian Garner, historian and author of Z Generation: Into the heart of Russia's fascist youth, to examine the scale of the losses and ask what “peace” would actually look like now.

• Buy Ian’ book Z Generation: Into the heart of Russia's fascist youth through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping t...

Elon Musk destroyed Twitter, tarnished the reputation of Tesla, and his financial backing of far fight politics has tipped the scales towards authoritarianism across the globe. Now he has his sights set on his next target: higher education. 

This week on The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by Beth Singler, assistant professor in digital religions at the University of Zurich, to examine Musk’s push to use AI as a replacement for traditional universities. What gets lost when education is stripped of human judgement?

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Turning around Labour’s unpopularity would be a tall enough order for the Prime Minister. But the stakes are higher than ever with a far-right government waiting in the wings, Trump and Putin shredding the international rules-based order, and the economy refusing to recover. Can Starmer turn it around in 2026? Steve Richards, political commentator and presenter of the Rock’n’Roll Politics podcast , explains the Prime Minister’s make-or-break year to Andrew Harrison.

• Listen to Rock’n’Roll Politics for more from Steve Richards. 

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Produc...

Well, the year has started with chaos and conflict. With Trump meddling with Venezuela and beyond, how will these events play out? Rafael Behr joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss the weeks and months ahead as 2026 shapes up to be another big year. 

www.patreon.com/bunkercast    

Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Rafael Behr. Audio production: Simon Williams. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.   

ENDS   

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit pod...

It’s the last of our Best of 2025 and the final Bunker of the year! And how better to see off/kick out the year than with the thing that’s blighted the last twelve months, crappy artificial intelligence imagery? The far-right stuffs your feeds with blond white children at play, London as an open sewer patrolled by threatening migrants, and Trump as Superman – but why? Is A.I. slop the official art style of the new authoritarianism?

New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie talks to Andrew Harrison about why the radical right loves shiny, sentimental images; how th...

We’re bringing you some of the best Bunkers of the year to tide you over the holidays. Today: Where’s your flag???!? The Cross of St George sprouted across the lamp-posts and roundabouts of Britain this summer. Fans, boosters and grifters claimed it was simple patriotism. Imagine our surprise when it turned out that many behind “Operation Raise The Colours” had far-right associations – who’d have thought it?? Alex von Tunzelmann sat down with Jonn Elledge to find out what flags really mean today.

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. P...

In case you missed them, over Christmas we’re bringing you some of the best Bunkers of the year. “Organise before they rise,” is Max Brooks’ advice in his zombie survival guide. But are world leaders prepared enough? Jacob Jarvis speaks to Daniel Drezner, author of Theories of International Politics and Zombies and professor of international politics at Tufts University, to find out how the world might react and how governments would interact during such a catastrophe.

Buy Theories of International Politics and Zombies through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small...

In case you missed them, over Christmas we’re bringing you some of the best Bunkers of the year. Today: How mobbed up is the American political establishment? From FDR to Trump, every modern president has had brushes with organised crime. So how have secret pacts, betrayals, and under-the-table deals influenced the commander-in-chief? Eric Dezenhall, author of Wiseguys and the White House, explores the not-so-hidden ties between the leader of the free world and the mob with Seth “The Consigliere” Thévoz.

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

Written and presented by Seth “The Consigliere” Thévoz. Produced by...

In case you missed them, over Christmas we’re bringing you some of the best editions of the year. Our first selection: It’s February and Labour legend and former leader Neil Kinnock joins us for the FIFTEEN HUNDREDTH edition of The Bunker.

On the agenda: the story Labour should be telling… what his battles against Thatcherism can teach Starmer about fighting the rising right wing… the dangers of a radicalised Conservative Party… and how to hit Reform UK where it hurts. With Andrew Harrison and Alex von Tunzelmann.

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

Written and...

The summer of Flagmania? Donald Trump’s “FIFA Peace Prize” AKA the “At Least You Tried” Award? Albania’s AI Cabinet minister? Ed Miliband, Nuclear ASMR star? The events of 2025 have defied comprehension… but which were the strangest? Regulars Gavin Esler, Alex von Tunzelmann and Jason Hazeley reconvene to complete our run-down of the most jaw-dropping events of a year from hell.

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

Written and presented by Gavin Esler with Alex von Tunzelmann and Jason Hazeley. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob J...

From Trump remodelling the White House along the fake gold New Jersey steakhouse aesthetic to the shambolic launch of Your Party (splitting the party before there’s a party to split?) 2025 has set new standards in bafflement. But which are the supreme moments of weirdness? Regulars Gavin Esler, Alex von Tunzelmann and Jason Hazeley set out the most bizarre, unnerving and occasionally enchanting moments from a year we can scarcely believe.

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

Written and presented by Gavin Esler with Alex von Tunzelmann and Jason Hazeley. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Mus...

Wrapping up the stories of the week… Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by Jonn Elledge to examine the global response to the antisemitic Bondi Beach shooting and ask whether it signals a wider rise in the threat of terror attacks. Plus, how will resident doctor strikes affect the NHS as the flu wave intensifies? Jonn tries to work out if the unexpected drop in inflation is good or bad news for Rachel Reeves and crowns his winner and loser of the week.

🎄LAST DAY! Get 20% off a year’s support for The Bunker until midnight on Fri 19 Dec  –...

Not long ago, China’s pandemic response was met with deep scepticism in the West. But fast-forward just a few years, and the picture looks very different. China’s bio-pharma industry is now booming, racing from low-cost manufacturing hub to serious contender in the global battle to create the next blockbuster drugs. China is rolling out vast new pharma facilities capable of producing next-generation medicines at a scale the West is struggling to match.

Today on The Bunker, Gavin Esler speaks to the FT’s China Technology Correspondent, Eleanor Olcott, to find out what this means for global...

For more than a decade, Tommy Robinson has been written off again and again. Yet he keeps re-emerging, reshaped for the moment. From street agitator to convicted criminal to most recently, self-styled Christian crusader. Robinson has followed a familiar far-right playbook: collapse, reinvention, repeat. 

On The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by journalist Daniel Trilling to examine the staying power of Tommy Robinson and the strategy that keeps bringing him back. We look at the warning signs we missed and what Robinson’s latest reinvention reveals about the durability, adaptability and danger of Britain’s far-right ecosy...

From 9/11 and the wars that followed to the expenses scandal, the Financial Crash, austerity, Brexit and a carousel of leadership crises, Westminster has spent the last 25 years governing through upheaval. Since 2000, crisis has shifted from disruption to default setting, with governments reacting rather than governing and institutions stretched well beyond their limits. Prof. Andrew Hindmoor, author of Haywire, talks to Zoë Grünewald about how British politics got stuck in crisis mode and what we can do about it. 

🎄Get 20% off a year’s support for The Bunker until Christmas – whether you’re a new backer, renewing or upgrading...

The stories that will shape the week ahead: How will the atrocity at Bondi Beach reverberate in a world where antisemitic violence is rising? Plus: the shocking murder of Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife. Junior doctors decide whether to strike as Britain hits peak winter flu. Will Phase Two of the Gaza peace talks stay on the rails? And happy 250th birthday to Jane Austin. Alex von Tunzelmann and Andrew Harrison set out the week ahead. 

🎄Get 20% off a year’s support for The Bunker until Christmas – whether you’re a new backer, renewing or upgrading...

Wrapping up the stories of the week… Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by LBC host Natasha Devon to break down Keir Starmer’s latest approach to tackling the migration crisis. Across the pond, we take a look at Trump’s ongoing campaign against the EU and ask”why now”? Plus, Natasha shares her view on the proposed ban on social media for under-18s, we read your comments from the week, and finally we take a look at the stories that have gone under the radar.

🎄Get 20% off a year’s support for The Bunker until Christmas – whether you’re a...

Personality politics isn’t just a modern problem – it started centuries earlier with an aristocrat called Charles James Fox. You can trace the roots of modern political celebrity back to this 18th-century provocateur, whose charm, scandals and theatrics helped redefine what leadership looked like. Fox built a movement around himself rather than his policies, offering an early blueprint for the dangerous style of politics reshaping democracies today. Alex von Tunzelmann speaks with Dr Callum Smith of Aberystwyth University about Fox’s rise and how history helps us understand the dominance of modern figures like Trump and Farage.

Duration: 00:30:47

Nigel Farage continues to react furiously to growing allegations that he engaged in racist and antisemitic bullying when he was a pupil at Dulwich College in the late ’70s and early ’80s. But are his angry response and his attempts at diversion doing the real damage? And can you really judge an adult on what they may have done at school? Long-time Reform-watcher Michael Crick joins us to explore a crisis unlike anything Farage has faced before. His verdict? “Farage is as rattled as a baby’s pram.” 

🎄Get 20% off a year’s support for The Bunker until Christmas...

Far fewer people are getting into relationships than they were in the past, with a major rise in the amount of single people across the world. Why are we seeing this so-called “relationship recession”? And how can it impact us all? Jonathan Rosenthal, international editor at The Economist, wrote about this for a magazine cover story recently and joins Zoë Grünewald to discuss.

• Head to ⁠https://www.nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker⁠ to get a £30 voucher and 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. 

www.patreon.com/bunkercast   

Written and presented by Zoë...

Setting out the stories of the next seven days. An astonishing new US National Security Strategy says Trump plans to support far-right parties across Europe and makes the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory into official US policy. Having ruined America, does the President want to Trumpify the planet? Plus, the colossal scale of COVID waste and fraud, Reform’s record-breaking donor gift, Tommy Robinson’s Christmas carols… and Keir Starmer’s got a Substack. Ros Taylor and Andrew Harrison look the events that will shape the week. 

• Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get a £30 voucher...

Wrapping up the stories of the week… Jacob Jarvis is joined by Rafael Behr to break down the stalled US–Russia peace talks, Putin’s strong-arming, and what Trump’s shaky negotiating team tells us about the state of American power. Back in Westminster, they dig into the fallout from the OBR’s budget leak and what it all means for Labour’s economic credibility. Plus: Trump’s latest embarrassing moment caught on camera, Raf’s heroes and villains, and the story that slipped under the radar this week.

• Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated w...

The Office for Budget Responsibility is supposed to be the calm, quiet body that keeps watch over Britain’s public finances. But after it accidentally released its Budget analysis before Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her statement, its chair Richard Hughes resigned and the watchdog suddenly became the lead story. Today on The Bunker, Seth Thévoz is joined by economist and former Treasury adviser Giles Wilkes to ask: what exactly is the OBR, and why does this low-profile institution hold so much power over the UK economy?

• Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rat...

He’s a nightmare made flesh for progressives and liberals: an anti-woke, hyper-libertarian tech billionaire who bankrolled JD Vance, supports Curtis Yarvin’s anti-democracy “Dark Enlightenment” movement, and seems to base his worldview on the worst parts of Lord Of The Rings. But lately Peter Thiel has been getting even weirder, warning of the rise of an actual Anti-Christ who wants to “end science”. What is going on? Thiel-watcher James Ball of The New World magazine joins Andrew Harrison to explain the odd philosophy of this superpowered misfit. 

• Now hear Thiel’s biographer Max Chafkin interviewed by Andrew on Apple an...

We usually think radicalisation is something that happens to young people. Teenagers doomscrolling in dark bedrooms, or twenty-somethings disappearing into algorithmic rabbit holes. But look around, and the picture feels very different. The loudest voices in the culture wars, the Facebook fire-starters, the men who seem permanently furious in comment sections and group chats. They’re in their 40s, 50s, even older, and they’re getting swept up in a digital storm they were never taught to navigate. Today on The Bunker, Zoë Grünewald is joined by Dr Sara Wilford, Associate Professor at De Montfort University, to explore why pe...

It’s December, so come open this week’s Advent Calendar of misery with Ros Taylor and Gavin Esler. Is the Mail/Telegraph frenzy over Rachel Reeves allegedly misleading the Commons over Britain’s finances just a mountain out of a molehill? How is the Budget fallout settling? Does David Lammy really want to bring trial by jury to an end for all but the most serious cases? Oh, and having failed to stop one war in Ukraine, will Trump manage to start one in Venezuela before Christmas? God bless us, every one!

• Head to nakedw...

Wrapping up the stories of the week… Jacob Jarvis and Seth Thévoz dig into the media’s reaction to Rachel Reeves’s budget and what it really tells us about the state of Labour. We break down the latest twist in the Trump/Russia saga after the collapse of the so-called “peace plan”, and look at The Guardian’s continuing coverage of Nigel Farage’s racism accusations from his school days. Plus, Seth names his winners and losers of the week, we take a closer look at the power players behind AI and online moderation and so much more.

 <...

The US-Russia “peace plan” isn’t happening. Days after the 28-point proposal leaked, it collapsed spectacularly amid accusations that it amounted to a surrender to Putin. Is there anything left in the “amended” version? And who really wrote the proposals? Luke Harding, foreign correspondent for The Guardian and author of Invasion explains why the plan was simply a Russian foreign policy offensive with Trump as its salesman, whether the whole episode has made Zelenskyy stronger, and if peace is will ever get closer.
• Buy Luke’s book Invasion: Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival through our affilia...

Anticipation is building around the imminent release of the “Epstein files.” With Donald Trump finally signing off, the Justice Department is expected to publish long-sealed documents on the disgraced financier, and the public is bracing for answers. But what should we actually expect? Today in The Bunker, Seth Thévoz talks to journalist and author Vicky Ward, who has reported on Epstein for over two decades, to see whether the files finally confirm any of the rumours or just pour more fuel on the conspiracy bonfire.

Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our s...

A pocket-sized device that contains all knowledge in the universe? Which makes your life better, and not a hellscape of political rancour and surveillance capitalism? Come off it! Never happen. But that’s exactly what Douglas Adams imagined as the titular device in The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, the cosmic road novel that changed the minds of a generation.

As a new immersive theatre version of “HHGTTG” opens in London, its creator Arvin Ethan David tells Andrew Harrison why Douglas Adams was the digital Wodehouse who would have held back enshittification… whether Elon Musk is Zaphod Bee...

It’s a big week for Starmer and Reeves as the Budget looms. How’s it going to go down? Plus, talks over a plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, Trump gets a new best friend and Cop30 ends on a disappointing note. Rafael Behr and Jacob Jarvis discuss the news to look out for this week. 

Support us on Patreon for episodes ad free and early: www.patreon.com/bunkercast   

Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social 

Written and presented...

As the Epstein walls close in on Trump, the President pulls a desperate U-turn and says he wants the release of files he tried to suppress. How will they be redacted, and to save whom? Plus Labour’s latest attempts to look tough on migration, the Cloudflare outage, Russia bombs railway lines in Poland and shines lasers at the RAF… and why Trump’s “Quiet, piggy” outburst is hurting him more than his usual slob misogyny would. Jonn Elledge and Andrew Harrison wrap up the stories that mattered this week. 

• Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to...

For years China has been cast as a climate villain, responsible for roughly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. But China’s emissions have begun to level off and the country has quietly become a powerhouse in clean-energy. Today on The Bunker, Gavin Esler is joined by Barbara Finamore, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and author of Will China Save the Planet to find out if China’s clean-energy model is the future everyone else will have to follow — or a path too politically uncomfortable for the rest of the world.

Duration: 00:20:43

Writer-artist Joe Sacco created a new kind of journalism when he combined on-the-ground reportage with painstaking hand-drawn illustration. His award-winning books including Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde brought under-reported stories to new audiences. In his absorbing new book The Once And Future Riot he travels to Uttar Pradesh, India, to explore the causes and consequences of the bitter religious and political violence that consumed the area in the 2010s. He talks to Andrew Harrison about life as a conflict cartoonist, creativity vs A.I., and how “comics journalism” can do things the TV news never can. 

• Buy The Once...

Next year is shaping up to be a year of uncomfortable truths. Rich countries are spending way beyond their means, the A.I. bubble could be about to burst, and global conflicts are drifting further into dangerous territory. But it may also be a turning point for the planet as we confront these challenges head-on.

Today on The Bunker, Seth Thévoz is joined by Tom Standage, deputy editor of The Economist, to take a look at The Economist’s The World Ahead 2026 issue and find out what these trends mean for politics, the global economy and the...

Starmer’s position remains in question after a week of chaos and the announcement of controversial new asylum plans. Can the narrative shift? Rafael Behr joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss this and more as they outline the news to look out for 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 https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.  

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Follow us on Blu...

Welcome back to the Weekly Wrap-Up, where we break down the biggest news, the weirdest stories, and the important bits that slipped under the radar. Today on The Bunker, Jacob Jarvis and Rafael Behr dig into Starmer’s briefing war with Wes Streeting, unpack the latest revelations from the Epstein files, and ask the big question: could the BBC survive a billion dollar lawsuit from Donald Trump?

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/bunke...

What if the incel problem is a symptom of something bigger in our society? We regularly pin misogyny on villains like Andrew Tate, the loud, memorable faces of a much darker problem. But what do we do if the real issue runs deeper than a few influencers? Today on The Bunker, Zoë Grünewald sits down with Katherine Denkinson, author of INCEL The Weaponization of Misogyny, to ask, how do we solve the incel problem?

Buy Katherine’s book Incel: The Weaponization of Misogyny through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcas...

Trump and Xi Jinping’s fractious relationship is one of the most important connections in the world. As each side fights for dominance, who appears to be on top at the moment – and why? And what is shaping how they behave? Seth Thévoz is joined by Elizabeth Economy, author of The World According to China and By All Means Necessary: How China's Resource Quest is Changing the World, a former Senior Advisor for China at the US Department of Commerce and a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

Buy By All Means Neces...

Amid the multi-trillion dollar stampede to build and control A.I., one question is being drowned out: Will artificial intelligence kill the entire human race, and all life on the planet? Nate Soares is president of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute and co-author of a chilling exploration of the race to create artificial super-intelligence, If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies. He tells Andrew Harrison why the concept of an omnicidal super-A.I.is not just an outside possibility from sci-fi but almost a certainty – why the A.I. boosters’ safeguards won’t work – and what we must do if we are to...

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. 

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to ⁠indeed.com/bunker⁠ for £100 sponsored credit.   

• Head to ⁠https://www.naked...

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  

...

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 th...

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...

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...

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 B...

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...

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. Duration: 00:34:19

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...

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.

Read Dara's article How Russ...

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 ...

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.

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.

...

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...

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...

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 Ja...

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 to...

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/t...

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...

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...

Gaza ceasefire talks are scheduled to take place in Sharm al-Sheikh but how long will the peace last? The Chinese spying scandal rumbles on. Can the plucky American military withstand the might of a bunch of Portlanders in inflatable frog costumes? Oh, and are you prepped for the 2025 stock market crash, due Friday-ish? Ros Taylor and Gavin Esler walk you through the events of the week to come. 

• Support us on Patreon for early episodes and more.

• Head to nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39...

Online hatred doesn’t stay online and women often bear the brunt. From harassment campaigns to real-world violence, from Andrew Tate and the “groypers” to terror attacks like the Gretchen Whitmer kidnap attempt, misogyny is behind some of the most dangerous forces in our politics. Cynthia Miller-Idriss, author of Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent Extremism, talks to Emma Kennedy about how toxic masculinity, digital radicalisation, and white supremacist ideas became so entangled and what we can do to combat them.

• Buy Cynthia’s book Man Up: The New Misogyny and the Rise of Violent...

Thought viceroys and colonial administrators were a thing of the past? Tony Blair is being lined up to run the “Board of Peace” for a reconstruction authority for post-conflict Gaza and observers are agog. Historian and Bunker regular Alex von Tunzelmann takes us on a tour of the inglorious history of viceregal rule. Where did the role come from? Was it ever a particularly efficient way to run a country you probably shouldn’t have been in anyway? And what cautionary tales should Blair learn from cases as diverse as the Raj, post-Saddam Iraq and Paddy Ashdown’s control of Bosni...

Vladimir Putin has ordered 135,000 new conscripts into the Russian military this autumn, just months after another 160,000 were called up. Officially, these recruits aren’t supposed to serve in Ukraine but as the war drags into its third year, it’s getting harder for Russia to fill the ranks. Today in The Bunker, Gavin Esler is joined by Natasha Lindstaedt, Professor of Government at the University of Essex, to find out how long can Russia sustain a war that’s quietly draining its people, its economy, and its future?

Head to nakedwines.co.uk...

Donald Trump keeps talking about cracking down on “left wing terror networks” in the US. This appears like a blatant move to crackdown on his enemies – so what is the real state of domestic terrorism and the overall terror threat in America? Jason Blazakis, director of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies’ Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss. 

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.patreo...

It’s Tory conference and Kemi Badenoch is talking about leaving the ECHR and having ICE style crackdowns here in Britain. Will any of this cut through? Plus, we look at other domestic issues and check in on conflicts across the globe with Gavin Esler and Jacob Jarvis. 

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...

From Margaret Atwood to Alan Moore, from 1984 to Andor, science fiction has gamed out totalitarian futures better than most political analysts. But does it have the answers to stopping the rise of fascism? Writer, critic and host of a fascinating online science fiction community Damien Walter discusses the lessons of future oligarchs, space tyrants and cosmic populism with Andrew Harrison. Which sci-fi dictator does Donald Trump most resemble? Are V For Vendetta and Judge Dredd warnings or instruction manuals? And if Andor is Marxist-Leninist, is the Star Wars story of restoring a genetic elite of magic knights actually fascist?  Duration: 00:41:41

In the 2010s Putin’s Russia was quick to realise the potential of disinformation to undermine its enemies in the West. A complex ecosystem including now-banned propaganda TV station RT and troll factories like the Internet Research Agency used social media to sow distrust, spread fake news, distort elections and encourage a cynical culture of politicised snark. But according to Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody, co-author of Russia, Disinformation and the Liberal Order: RT as Populist Pariah, Russia’s information polluters aren’t as effective as we might think. “The broader problem is the sickness of our media environment,” she tells Alex von T...

Keir Starmer says his compulsory digital I.D. card will fight illegal migration and make everyday life simpler. But 2.4 million furious people have signed a petition against it, and everyone from civil liberties campaigners to Nigel Farage, Zarah Sultana and Northern Ireland’s political parties say it’s a threat to privacy and a hacking disaster waiting to happen. Can a digital I.D. system ever be secure? Will it work? Are objections pointless when we voluntarily give our data to tech giants every day? And do we have to call it the “BritCard”? Criminologist Dr Tim Holmes of Bangor U...

Andy Burnham has made it clear he’d be up for replacing Keir Starmer, if people want him to that is. And, well it feels like many people do. So, could it happen? How? When? And would it solve anything? Steve Richards of Rock & Roll Politics joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss. 

Listen to Steve’s podcast here: https://linktr.ee/rocknrollpolitics 

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.  

• Claim the Naked Wines offer here: ⁠⁠nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker⁠⁠

www.patreon.com/bunkercast    

Written and presented...

It’s the Labour Party conference and things aren’t looking great for Starmer. What’s going to keep going wrong and what positives are there to look out for? Plus, the latest from conflicts across the world and a new conspiracy theory low for Trump. Alex von Tunzelmann talks Jacob Jarvis the news to look out for in the week ahead. 

  • Claim the Naked Wines offer here: ⁠⁠nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker⁠⁠

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.  

www.patreon.com/bunkercast    

Written and pr...

Stephen Miller’s fascistic eulogy at the Charlie Kirk memorial rally shocked the world with its apocalyptic imagery. This cold, rage-driven and deliberately vicious right-wing operative is more than Trump’s deputy chief of staff. He’s the driving force behind the Administration’s most extreme moves, from mass disappearances to troops on the street to the clampdown on the wrong sort of free speech. Nikki McCann Ramírez of the American Friction podcast and Rolling Stone joins Andrew Harrison to explore the origins of the man they’re calling “America’s real President” and his nightmare vision for the country’s fut...

If you look at the most recent polling data: Nigel Farage is on the rise, Keir Starmer is stumbling and the Conservatives are fading into irrelevance. Should we be worried? Today on The Bunker, Gavin Esler is joined by Ben Walker, senior data journalist at The New Statesman and founder of Britain Elects, to crunch the numbers and ask what’s next for British politics?

Back us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social 

We a...

Political leaders are rewriting the rules of public debate and the media is in the firing line. This week, Jimmy Kimmel was briefly suspended after making seemingly innocuous remarks following Charlie Kirk’s death, only to be swiftly reinstated. Meanwhile, Donald Trump isn’t just undermining the press: he’s destabilising the very institutions and principles of journalism in the process. Today on The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann speaks to Dr Ayala Panievsky, author of The New Censorship, about how the war on the media became one of the defining battles of our age.

• We are s...

In recent weeks we’ve seen right wing protestors and their figureheads take to the streets – often touting conspiracy theories with no basis in fact.  Increasingly these narratives are tipping into the mainstream, with GB News presenters key culprits in spreading this peculiar and damaging way of thinking. How did we get here? And is there any turning back? Writer and broadcaster Dr Matthew Sweet joins Alison Phillips to discuss.

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.  

https://www.patreon.com/c/bunkercas...

Starmer announced the UK’s recognition of Palestine as a state at the weekend – what will this mean for foreign relations and the ongoing crisis in Gaza? Plus, Labour conference is coming up and Trump is on a vengeance warpath in America. Alex von Tunzelmann and Jacob Jarvis discuss the news to look out for in the week ahead. 

We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://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 Jar...

On 19 September 1975, the nightmare story of a maniac who should never have been running a hotel, his tyrannical wife, their hapless Spanish waiter and a stream of eccentric guests made its debut on BBC2. Fifty years later Fawlty Towers still captures middle Britain at its most hilariously uptight – and Basil Fawlty has never been bettered as an Englishman on the verge of nervous breakdown. Comedy writer Jason Hazeley joins Andrew Harrison to explore the majesty of “Fatty Towels”… ponder whether John Cleese has actually turned into Basil… and ask why the show’s legend lasted so long. Would you like to listen...

AI promised helpful assistants. Instead, some users find “friends,” therapists, even lovers. But when bots reflect our thoughts back at us, paranoia, mania and worse can follow. Today on The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann speaks to Dr. Kate Devlin, Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Society at King's College London and Chair-Director of the Digital Futures Institute, to look at the risks that come when chatbots blur the line between fact and fiction. 

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.  

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

China is challenging decades of US global dominance. With Xi Jinping forging alliances, launching international initiatives, and pushing for superpower status, is Beijing prepared to lead the world? Today on The Bunker, Gavin Esler speaks to Professor Steve Tsang, director of SOAS’s China Institute, on China’s ambitions, America’s unpredictability, and what it means for the future of the global order.

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.  

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Follow us on BlueSky: ht...

Charlie Kirk’s assassination has sent shockwaves through American politics. In this episode, we unpack Kirk’s legacy, his influence on the Republican grassroots, the culture wars he helped inflame and more. Seth Thévoz is joined by Charlotte McDonald-Gibson, author of Far Out:The Lives of Former Extremists and What They Teach Us to find out what Kirk's death means for America.

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.  

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Follow us on BlueSky.

Buy Charlotte’s book Far Out:The Lives of...

Far right agitants caused chaos over the weekend – what do they mean for Britain and can Starmer rise to meet the moment? Plus, Trump is visiting – how will that go down? Gavin Esler and Ros Taylor discuss all this and more as they outline the news to look out for this week.

We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. 

www.patreon.com/bunkercast   

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 mo...

This ancient Chinese military treatise by the mysterious Sun Tzu is one of the most influential books ever written. Internet shock-merchants and tech oligarchs swear by it, Dominic Cummings is a fan and it has inspired military leaders for 2,500 years. Why has ‘The Art Of War’ lasted – and is there more to it than a manual for the manosphere and a crib-sheet for vendors of management studies snake oil?

Jamie Q Roberts is a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of Sydney (and he also runs Wollemi Art Farm in the Australian Bush). He talks t...

This is a special crossover edition with our partner podcast, This is Not a Drill.

NATO jets have scrambled to shoot down Russian drones after what Polish military command has called an ‘unprecedented violation’ of its airspace.  

As Europe reacts to Russian aggression crossing into NATO airspace and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk invokes Article 4 of the NATO treaty, Gavin Esler is joined for the latest from Warsaw by Ian Garner, assistant professor at the Center for Totalitarian Studies at the Pilecki Institute. 

We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed...

Over summer, Saint George’s Cross flags have sprouted across Britain across lampposts, bridges, even painted onto roundabouts. Is this a wave of patriotism or simply a culture-war stunt to mark out who belongs and who doesn’t? Today in The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by Jonn Elledge to find out what flags really mean today.

• 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 <...

Reform UK’s conference was as weird and worrying as you might have expected. If you haven’t seen the “highlights” then we’ll spare you watching. Matthew Holehouse, The Economist’s British politics correspondent, was there and joins Gavin Esler to discuss what went on. 

We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. 

www.patreon.com/bunkercast   

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...

Angela Rayner’s departure has left Labour in turmoil as the party looks to recalibrate. Will Starmer’s changes work? Plus, Reform UK held its conference at the weekend – is there any way of stealing the spotlight back from them? Gavin Esler and Jacob Jarvis discuss all this and more in Start Your Week.

We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. 

www.patreon.com/bunkercast   

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 podcas...

As the fake news pandemic worsens, Twitter/X and Facebook are phasing out their human fact-checkers in favour of crowdsourcing the job – that is, getting the users to do it. And it turns out that the “Community Notes” system Musk loves so much doesn’t work at all as you’d expect. Are fact-checkers fighting a losing battle? Chris Morris, Chief Executive of the independent investigative charity Full Fact, talks to Andrew Harrison about the crisis of truth in news, how A.I. is making it worse, and what happens if we leave it all to the alleged wisdom of crowds. ...

Conspiracy theories used to be confined to fringe internet discussions and the guy you’d avoid in the pub. Now, thanks to figures like Donald Trump, they’ve gone mainstream. But where’s the line between healthy scepticism and believing the Royal Family are lizard people? Today in The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by Daniel Jolley, social psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham, to find out how the UK embraced conspiracy theories and what we can do to sort fact from fiction. 

Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile...

Blond white children playing in slightly-too-colourful fields? London as an open sewer patrolled by threatening migrants? Trump as Superman? Alligators in MAGA hats? The far-right thrives on generative artificial intelligence images and they’re all so naff. Is A.I. slop the official art style of the new authoritarianism? New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie talks to Andrew Harrison about why the radical right loves shiny, sentimental images; how they connect to Hitler’s fascist kitsch; and what it means when reality doesn’t live up to your fantasies. 

• Support us on Patreon for early epis...

It’s been more than 1,280 days since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The death toll is unthinkable, peace talks are stuck and Trump’s latest “summit” in Alaska hasn’t shifted the dial.

Today in The Bunker, Chris Jones is joined by journalist and This Is Not a Drill co-host Oz Katerji to ask: where does the war stand now, and how is Ukraine enduring under the relentless assault from Russia?

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.  

www.patreon.com/bunkercast...

‘Weekend At Donald’s’? After a feverish few days of speculation about the President’s health, we get back to reality. Alex von Tunzelmann guides you through the week ahead, from the beginning of Starmer’s make-or-break autumn with all its thorny taxation issues to the endless flags-and-hotels protests – will they burn out with the summer? Plus the assassination of a Ukrainian politician, earthquake in Afghanistan and Trump’s latest power-grab. 

• Support us on Patreon for early episodes and more.

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker to get your £100 sponsored credit.

• Advertisers! W...

At the core of the most infamous regime in history is a paradox: a leader who somehow exercised total control while being personally lazy and issuing only vague instructions to his ministers. In Hitler’s People: The Faces of the Third Reich the renowned historian Richard J Evans investigates Hitler’s central clique from Göring, Goebbels and Himmler to low-level followers and fellow travellers. He talks to Alex von Tunzelmann about the power dynamic at the centre of Third Reich and what it can tell us about how authoritarians rule today. 

• Buy Hitler’s People through our affilia...

He’s climbing up a lamp-post near you to hang flags. He’s smearing every immigrant in terms that would have got you kicked out of the Tories even five years ago. And he thinks he can lead the Conservatives. What turned Robert Jenrick from a non-threatening Cameroonist Tory into a trouble-stirring Cosplay Farage? Does he really believe in anything? Would he do a deal with Reform? Or would he merge with it? Rob Hutton, parliamentary sketchwriter for The Critic magazine, joins Andrew Harrison to discuss the hidden shallows of the man they still call “Robert Generic”.  

• Support us o...

Inside today’s Russia, conspiracy theories like this aren’t just fringe curiosities, they’re mainstream. From TV talk shows to Putin himself, wild stories about stolen lands, shadowy Western plots, and circling enemies aren’t dismissed; they’re used to fuel Russia’s war in Ukraine and position the country as a morally just state.

Today in The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by Dr Ilya Yablokov, Lecturer in Digital Journalism and Disinformation at the University of Sheffield, to explain how the Russian state uses mass media to normalise conspiracy theories to the public.

• We are s...

The dog days of summer continue to be dominated by flags, boats and hotels. Will the migrant protests and freelance flag-raising burn out or will the Mail’s dream of chaos in Britain come true? Plus as Trump’s Ukraine “solution” stumbles on he floats the idea of more military occupations of American cities; the French government teeters; and the Great Mounjaro Shortage of 2025. Ros Taylor sets out the week ahead with Andrew Harrison.

• Support us on Patreon for early episodes and more.

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker to get your £100 spon...

Some say Donald Trump’s ancestry ties him to Norse kings and even Rurik, founder of Russia’s first dynasty. In recent weeks, Russian state media have pushed the idea that Trump’s “Viking blood” explains his ruthless streak. But would the real Vikings have raised a flagon in his honour, or run him out of the fjord? Today on The Bunker, Chris Jones is joined by medieval historian Dr. Keith Ruiter, who specialises in the Viking age, to find out how the vikings would have dealt with a leader like Trump.

• We are sponsored by...

The modern far right often play the underdogs, shaking fists at mysterious elites said to control our thoughts and culture. But much of their lexicon has already slipped into the mainstream. Phrases born on message boards now appear in newspapers, on TV, even in everyday chat. On today’s Bunker, Dorian Lynskey talks to journalist Matt McManus, assistant professor at Spelman College and host of the Academic Edgelords podcast about the words and the warped worldview that the far right has smuggled into our politics.

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com...

In a special crossover edition from our partner podcast, This is Not a Drill, Oz Katerji is joined by Keir Giles, author and Russia expert at Chatham House, to discuss the fallout from Trump’s meetings with Putin, Zelenskyy and a host of European leaders. After a frantic week of international diplomacy, what is the prospect of an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine? 

We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. 

• Support This is Not a Drill on Patreon to keep This Is Not A Dril...

“Britain’s heading for civil war.” “Immigration’s out of control.” “We’re stuck with two-tier woke policing.” How do you argue back when relatives, friends or colleagues start parroting Reform’s inflammatory half-truths? And when they’re encouraged by a compliant media and radicalised pundits? Campaigning journalist Paul Mason wrote How To Stop Fascism. He tells Andrew Harrison how to tell a persuadable Farage fan from an irredeemable racist, how to debate with them, and why progressives no longer have the luxury of sticking to their factions.  

• Buy How To Stop Fascism through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The B...