The Bunker – News without the nonsense

You couldn’t make it up: the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks coincides almost perfectly with the fall of Afghanistan and the West is left wondering what it was all for. Gavin Esler, former diplomat Arthur Snell and terrorism expert Dr Maria Norris recall where they were on the day the world changed, and ask if we’ve learned the right lessons. Plus, will climate change plus conflict create a new kind of crisis in Afghanistan? And how did 9/11 change pop culture.  “We were told we’d seen the end of history. Then 9/11 happened.” – Gavin Esler “All war is about resources.” – Maria Norris “You can draw the cynical politics of the Trump era right back to 9/11.” – Arthur Snell https://www.patreon.com/bunkercastPresented by Andrew Harrison with Gavin Esler and Arthur Snell. 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

Parliament returns to a family-sized party pack of Government cruelty and ineptitude: a National Insurance hike that hits the lowest-paid the hardest, an end to the £20 Universal Credit bonus for the neediest families, and an Elections Bill that makes it harder for us to vote them out. Business as usual, then. Plus: the Texas Taliban’s war on abortion, the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and where in the world is Andrew Neil? Alex Andreou starts your week.  “The message to backbenchers is, stop opposing us and we might just cancel those vaccine passports you hate.” “Cancelling the extra Universal Credit isn’t just unjust, it’s economically illiterate.”  “If I'd have said 'drink bleach, it's good for acne', I'd have been bundled into the back of a van. So why are the police ignoring COVID sceptics?” 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

What stopped Heseltine, Ken Clarke, Dennis Healey and Kinnock from taking the top slot? Why didn’t Barbara Castle become Britain’s first female PM? The Observer’s Nick Cohen talks to the political columnist and podcaster Steve Richards about his new book The Prime Ministers We Never Had… the intriguing factors that prevented these politicians from reaching power… the tragedy of the Miliband Brothers… and the alternate futures we could have seen if these flawed talents had won.  “Those with a formidable past tend not to take the crown BECAUSE of that past.” “If Heseltine had won the leadership contest in 1990, he would have redefined the Tories as a pro-EU party.”  “The Dennis Healeys and RAB Butlers were TOO good. They alienated their own parties.” “Ken Clarke used to say ‘My hobby is standing in Tory leadership contests and losing.’”  “Ed Miliband destroyed David – but David destroyed Ed too. Because Ed then lost all sense of who he was.”  https://www.patreon.com/bunkercasthttps://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Steve-Richards/The-Prime-Ministers-We-Never-Had--Success-and-Failure-from-Butler-to-Corbyn/26113646 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Middle Ages are an unloved tract of history, by turns alien and baffling – but these thousand years of violence, crisis and conquest set the foundations for our modern world in the most unexpected ways. Historian, TV presenter and journalist Dan Jones tells Alex Andreou how his new book Powers and Thrones unveils a medieval world few of us understand, the parallels between Millwall and the Middle Ages, and why Dick Whittington deserves more than his panto fame… “The real Dick Whittington was an oligarch – and a mayor in France.”  “We treat ‘medieval’ as an insult but the medieval world is not that different to our own.” “The things that animated people in the Middle Ages like climate change and plagues still animate us now.” “Unlike Empress Theodora, Dominic Cummings won't be that important in twenty years.” “The Crusades was more than a clash of civilisations – and you don’t learn that at school.”  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 https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Dan-Jones/Powers-and-Thrones--A-New-History-of-the-Middle-Ages/25535694  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The sight of Michael Gove getting his rave on in Aberdeen is the only cheering moment in a week of unremitting grimness. As the collapse of Afghanistan gives way to a growing refugee crisis, why is the UK Government doing the bare minimum for those who helped us? And what will the debacle mean for relations between government and military? Plus the Pen Farthing fiasco and the tyranny of TripAdvisor.  “I am a Dog Fiend, but this Pen Farthing story made me so angry.” – Marie Le Conte “The Taliban don’t want the world looking too closely. Then they can start their culture war.” – Arthur Snell Presented by Andrew Harrison with Marie Le Conte, Yasmeen Serhan and Arthur Snell. 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

Schools are back. Will the decision not to vaccinate 12-15 year olds turn classes into superspreader factories – or do we actually want school-age kids to catch COVID and build up immunity? Plus, why the Government won’t provide the catch-up funds that education needs. What the Pen Farthing episode tells us about sentimental Britain. And the shame of Afghanistan is just beginning. Ros Taylor starts your week.  “It’s simple – the Government is pursuing de facto herd immunity by not vaccinating children.” “The problem with education goes beyond our woeful Education Secretary… We have a perfect storm of public spending” “It’s hard not conclude that some of the British public care more about a dog than they care about a brown person.” 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 ProductionSee acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For many he’s the great leader that Labour should have had. Now that he’s left frontline politics, Alan Johnson is trying his hand at writing fiction with his debut thriller The Late Train to Gipsy Hill out now. In a wide-ranging interview, he talks to Andrew Harrison about his love of suspense novels, whether the book’s plot alludes to the Litvinenko murder, Starmer’s first year in charge, Labour’s Brexit turmoil… and that infamous election night monologue against Jon Lansman. Also featuring mod talk, with a special playlist chosen by Alan. •  “I never wanted to be Labour leader… neither did Corbyn and it showed”•  “I was part of the history of the Labour Party. 2010 was not my time”•  “The public are still unsure if we’re in the Corbyn mould. Keir needs to assure them that we’re not”•  “If Theresa May’s deal had gone through the Tory Party would’ve torn themselves apart”•  “Nobody should go into politics without some real-life experience under their belt” Produced and presented 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 Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3q8577kzcw3HVN6XvabFtw?si=4BNgYsoTQTWzVSeRGDfirg&dl_branch=1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

British-Turkish novelist and academic Elif Shafak is an international feminist icon followed by legions of passionate readers. She tells Dorian Lynskey about her latest novel The Island of Missing Trees, a story of identity, belonging and love that takes place between Cyprus and London – and how she too finds comfort in two places, her home city of Istanbul and her adopted home in the UK. Listen for a fascinating exploration of the power of fictional escapism and what it means to a citizen of the world. •  “Cyprus is a place where the wounds of division are still not healed.”•  “Putting yourself in the shoes of another person is a humbling experience, even if just for a few hours.”•  “Fiction was my way of belonging, of tasting a sense of freedom.”•  “Emotionally I’m very attached to Turkey, but it’s a difficult place to exist when you need freedom to make fun of those in power.”•  “I would like to see myself as a citizen of the world, of humanity. That doesn’t make me a citizen of nowhere.” 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 Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Does the year we were born really shape us people? Are Gen X Snowflakes really battling Baby Boomers in an intergenerational war? Friend of the podcast Professor Bobby Duffy returns with Ros Taylor to discuss his latest book Generations, why age cohorts aren’t so consistent, and how COVID has changed Gen Z forever… “The cliches around generations are presented as cohort characteristics. But Gen Z are more materialistic just because they’re young.” “It’s simply a myth that Gen Z are more risk averse.”  “Gen Z are probably having less sex because they're drinking less.” “Intergenerational separation - not conflict - is the problem.” “Gen X got a cool name, and some cool bands and films. That's about all we have going for us.” 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 Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If we stopped trying to do everything, would we finally get chance to do what counts? Do to-do lists create anything but meaningless pressure? Can we ever really get everything done? Journalist Oliver Burkeman talks to Dorian Lynskey about how to answer the ultimate time management problem – the question of how best to use our brief moment on the planet – in his new book Four Thousand Weeks.  “We’re all drawn to things that we struggle with.”  “There shouldn't be anything embarrassing about the concept of self-help. It has developed a bad reputation on the basis of bad approaches.” “The action of clearing the decks just adds to the decks." “Time used to be a medium, not a resource.”  Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Oliver-Burkeman/Four-Thousand-Weeks--Time-and-How-to-Use-it/25942066 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices