The Bunker – News without the nonsense

As Britain surges forward into the 1950s, the Prime Minister goes on holiday – again. Will fuel costs, supply chains, staff shortages and reskilling just, you know, sort themselves out? Or do we need to reacquaint ourselves with stagflation? Plus, can the fallout from the sentencing of Sarah Everard’s murderer and the increasing focus on misogyny in society really become a moment of change? Special guest Emma Kennedy joins us to gaze into this week’s political abyss.  “We’re culling perfectly good pigs and importing pork from the EU? This is making Britain self-sufficient?” – Emma Kennedy “We’ve been expecting disaster for so long that if it doesn’t arrive, the government can fall back on, Hey, the doomsters were wrong again…” – Justin Quirk “If there was a shortage of baguettes in Paris, the French would burn the place to the ground. The British, sadly, are not like that.” – Emma Kennedy “The notion of rebalancing the economy by market shock is quite insane.” – Alex Andreou  “Violence against women will never change until we make it as utterly unacceptable as drink-driving… Men have got to step up.” – Emma Kennedy https://www.patreon.com/bunkercastPresented by Alex Andreou with Ayesha Hazarika and Justin Quirk. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic . Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker is a Podmasters Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Unelected Brexit panjandrum David Frost gets ready to blow up the Northern Ireland deal that he and Johnson sold to the public. Is Poland really shaping up to leave the EU? The first ‘Covid: Lessons Learned’ report looms into view. Plus bizarre elections in the Czech Republic, Facebook in the dock and an old-fashioned nuclear spy scandal. Arthur Snell starts your week.  “Frost and Johnson’s strategy has been to pretend it’s someone else’s deal and that it needs to be renegotiated."  “From a very dark tactical perspective, the return of the threat of violence in Ireland would be to Johnson and Frost’s advantage.”  “Facebook has run out of road, it doesn’t really have any political friends anymore.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

DANGER, SPOILERS! James Bond finally returns to cinemas in a world where questions about sexism, racism and Britishness have seldom been more pointed. Is there a place for a suave, womanising emissary of British power in the modern world? Is it time to reassess the role of Bond in British culture? Regulars and Bond fiends Ros Taylor and Arthur Snell talk to Ian Kinane, editor of the International Journal of James Bond Studies and a senior lecturer in English literature, about their first Bonds and where 007 should go next. Do not listen unless you’ve seen the film. “Bond offers a parallel universe in which Britain always wins.” - Arthur Snell “Bond probably has many fatherless children all over the world.” - Ian Kinane “James Bond is so far from the boring reality of intelligence work, like people staring at databases.” - Arthur Snell  “Shirley Bassey is seen as singing an anthem of Britain's glory days of Empire.” - Ian Kinane “Bond seems to embody what is properly British, but more often he’s played by actors who aren't British themselves.” - Ian Kinane Presented by Ros Taylor and Arthur Snell. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Remember you can hear the music from every Culture Bunker in full on our rolling playlist. Joining us for this week’s tour de pop culture are guests J. Willgoose, leader of avant pop band Public Service Broadcasting, and author Jenny Colgan. On the agenda: Could you play the Squid Game? We look at the Netflix breakout hit. Does new documentary The Beatles And India turn the tablas on our ideas of Western pop? And new music from Mancunian electro explorers W.H. Lung. Produced and presented by Andrew Harrison and Alex Andreou. Assistant producer Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. Theme music: ‘Bunker Theme (Juntos Mix)’ by Kenny Dickinson. The Culture Bunker is a Podmasters production. Rolling playlist: https://bit.ly/CultBunk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Antisemitism remains one of the Labour Party’s most painful problems. It’s an issue with deep roots, dragged up by Corbyn, and left to Starmer to deal with. Trade unionist Daniel Randall, author of Confronting Antisemitism on the Left, and sociologist Keith Kahn-Harris, join Dorian Lynskey to discuss what distinguishes left from right wing anti-Jewish racism, and what can be done about it. “The 2007 financial crisis brought antisemitism on the left to the fore.” - Daniel Randall “Gaslighting and denial is just as harmful as antisemitism itself.” - Keith Kahn-Harris “In some analyses, capitalism is coded as a specifically Jewish endeavour.” - Daniel Randall “Antisemitism has a complicated ideology. It's not just, 'Jews bad, non-Jews good.'“ - Daniel Randall “There's a moralistic element to Corbyn's politics, and it's difficult to situate Jews within that.” - Daniel Randall “Anti-racism is a lifelong struggle. But Corbyn treated it like a journey where one could arrive.” - Keith Kahn-Harris Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Productionhttps://www.nopasaran.media/confronting-antisemitism-on-the-left/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Should we feel more compassion towards men who are send to public schools? And what do boarding school books reveal about the emotions of society’s elites? With fellow students like Boris Johnson and David Cameron, Richard Beard’s latest book, Sad Little Men, explores his time at school. He tells Ros Taylor why private school only gives kids a partial education, how sexist attitudes linger beyond the school gates…and why years of emotional suppression makes private school boys very good spies. “You're supposed to leave your time at school behind and go on and be successful.” “When you arrive as a small child, your instinct is to run away back home.” “There is a conflict between what adults are telling you is good for you, and your emotional experience.” “This confidence applies to a limited area of life - but one where power resides.”  “It was male opinion that mattered to us, and it remained so when we left school.”  “Parents and children are drawn into this delusion that boarding school is for the best.” Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Productionhttps://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Richard-Beard/Sad-Little-Men--Private-Schools-and-the-Ruin-of-England/25942336  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Britain staggers into another Winter of Discontent but the atmosphere in the Conservative Party Conference is serenely unworried, says our woman on the spot Marie le Conte. Can anything penetrate Boris Johnson’s reality-distortion field? Plus special guest Annette Dittert, London bureau chief of Germany’s TV channel ARD, explains what the German elections really mean – and how Germany thinks Brexit is going. And is the BBC’s schmaltzy Ridley Road really the best way to dramatise real political events? https://www.patreon.com/bunkercastPresented by Andrew Harrison with Marie le Conte and Gavin Esler. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic . Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. The Bunker is a Podmasters Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the Conservatives convene for their Manchester conference, are there sufficient supplies of Churchillian cosplay, blather about levelling up and performative woke-bashing to cover up their failings on supply lines, fuel, COVID and the economy? Will anyone dare mention the “B” word? Plus the Pandora Papers lift the lid on big money chicanery, anger over police misogyny grows, and who will win the Nobel Peace Prize? Naomi Smith starts your week.  “There's petrol in Kabul, but there’s no petrol in Brighton."  “Johnson’s performance on Marr was so embarrassing. He's trying to gaslight the nation.” “How many appalling situations does Cressida Dick have to preside over before something is done?” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a groundbreaking study, a team of scientists at the University of Dusseldorf have grown mini brains, each with their own sets of “eyes” that can detect light. Dr Jay Gopalakrishnan, the leader of the project, spoke to Alex Andreou about the extraordinary research going on the field of these “organoids”, miniature versions of organs that scientists can grow in the lab from stem cells, and where this remarkable study could lead us in the years ahead. “In the last 10 years my lab has made brains, livers, lungs… every human organ type has been made from stem cells” “My guess is that in 10 years you’ll be able to generate your own cell type for transplants” Presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Remember you can hear the music from every Culture Bunker in full on our rolling playlist.On this week’s pop culture roundtable we meet John Cooper Clarke, the William Blake of Salford, on the occasion of his new collection of poems – and he reads us one too. Plus, have Apple TV+ successfully filmed the unfilmable with their adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation? Is “all the men are dead” comic book adaptation Y: The Last Man any good? The genius of 80s remixer Shep Pettibone. And Jonny Trunk of Trunk Records on the out-thereness of library music.Produced and presented by Siân Pattenden and Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music: ‘Bunker Theme (Juntos Mix)’ by Kenny Dickinson. The Culture Bunker is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices