The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Could there be cause for optimism on climate change? Do individuals have power over our planet’s future? Paul Behrens, author of new book The Best Of Times The Worst Of Times, tells Ros Taylor about the best and worst climate scenarios, why women’s rights are the key to a manageable future, meat, flying, renewables… and how to avoid falling into impotent despair about tomorrow.“We might have been able to save ourselves with minor changes once. Now we need a complete overhaul in the way we live our lives.”“The carrying capacity of a planet of carnivores is very different from a planet of vegetarians.”“There’s a clear path from eco-anxiety to hope, through action.”Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As COVID cases are back on the rise another lockdown looks likely, but has the Government blown its pandemic response? And how will Britain react to an autumn trapped indoors? Plus, following a scathing report by the Public Accounts Committee, is the Home Office ever going to change its nasty ways? And after Priti Patel called on the nation to dob-in their neighbours for breaking lockdown rules, we ask the panel if they’re likely to snitch anytime soon.• “Every school and workplace is implementing different measures because there is no clarity” - Minnie Rahman• “Johnson has lost the country and I’m not sure there is a way of fixing it” - Alex Andreou• “I don’t think anyone has anything positive to say about the Home Office” - Minnie Rahman• “We’re going to deter people from coming to Britain who we badly need here” - Naomi SmithProduced and presented by Andrew Harrison with Naomi Smith, Alex Andreou and Minnie Rahman. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

COVID has developed from a short-term emergency into a public health crisis that could define the next half century. As Lockdown II looms, Conservative MP Daniel Poulter, former junior Health Minister and chair of the the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health, explains the long-term outlook to Naomi Smith – his own experience of fatigue from COVID – and what Brexit might mean for our battle against the pandemic. Presented by Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rage Against The Machine’s TOM MORELLO is one of the most charismatic and energising figures in rock’n’roll and politics. He tells Dorian Lynskey about the role of radicalism in rock, protofascism, AOC, Trump, the Presidential Election, cancel culture, and his political journey from a super-progressive childhood – via arguing with teenage Trotskyists at Harvard and working for a US Senator – to spearheading rock’n’roll’s most righteous band.  Tom Morello’s photo memoir Whatever It Takes is available to pre-order now at www.TomMorelloBook.com.  “There’s only two positions when it comes to free speech. You’re either for ALL of it or you’re against ANY of it.” “If I was in a job where I couldn’t call a damn racist a damn racist, I knew I was in the wrong job.” “Injustice met me head on in the playground when I was three or four years old.” “Taking anyone’s ideas off the board is very dangerous – because I know there are people in office who would like to take MY ideas off the board, permanently.” “Everything is at stake right now. So someone better be singing or rapping about it.” “Trump vs Biden is not the lesser of two evils. It’s the evil of two lessers.” “Why do I vote? Because THEY don’t want me to.”   Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer 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

Can we really guide and control human activity by constructing networks of carrots, sticks and semi-invisible hints? Behavioural science AKA “nudge” is key to the UK Government’s COVID response yet, as tech journalist and sceptic Andrew Orlowski says, its roots are questionable and its efficacy debatable. He tells Andrew Harrison why we humans stubbornly refuse to behave like herd animals… … and why Malcolm Gladwell has a lot to answer for. “If you want to get people fit, it’s expensive to build more playing fields. It’s a lot cheaper just to send out tweets about Mars bars.” “Behavioural science doesn’t tell you anything about people’s deep motivations which are gradually being erased from the picture.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s an unseen epidemic of people dying while homeless, and journalist MAEVE McLENAGHAN tells their stories in No Fixed Abode: Life and Death Among the UK's Forgotten Homeless, out this week. She tells Dorian Lynskey what she learned, how there was more to the 2010s explosion in rough sleeping than just austerity… and a radical solution to homelessness: give people places to live.“From attending the funerals of homeless people I discovered how loved these people were”“Dehumanisation drives the violence which homeless people experience”Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Boris Johnson wants to blow up the Brexit talks with an Internal Market Bill that shatters international law. Will it blow up in his face?And on the six-month anniversary of Britain locking down for the first time, we’re joined by Miatta Fahnbulleh of the New Economics Foundation to discuss how the Government got COVID so very wrong.Presented by Andrew Harrison with Ros Taylor and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickenson. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Digital disinformation from hostile powers is attacking our democracies, but do our politicians even want to stop it? Disinformation expert, security specialist and former US intelligence officer MATTHEW FERRARO talks to Nina Schick about the evolving threat of information pollution, who’s next on the fakers’ hitlists, and why Russia hates 5G.“To fight back against Russian propaganda, you need to think like a spy”Presented by Nina Schick. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What can you do when your society is responsible for racist atrocities? What should you do? One country trying to atone for their past is Germany. Susan Neiman, moral philosopher and author of ‘Learning from the Germans’, told Ros Taylor about what the U.S. can learn from the way Germany deals with its past, and why the English have been even slower than America in facing up to their national crimes.  “The Germans saw themselves as the worst victims of the war” “No two pieces of history are exactly alike” “Every nation would like to see its people as heroes” Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

According to recent polls, half of Britain would not trust a COVID vaccine, and a majority of Republican voters in the US believe in the bizarre QAnon theory. So why are these crazy notions becoming so widespread? Political communications specialist AMIL KHAN told Arthur Snell all about how these theories start, the role social media plays in making them mainstream, and the psychology of those behind them. “It’s a brave new world but it’s not entirely new” “Social media platforms are designed to push content out which is nasty and divisive” Presented by Arthur Snell. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices