After possibly the most aggressive speech on immigration ever made by a British Prime Minister, we attempt the adult conversation on the topic that politicians won’t have. Why can’t Britain accept the benefits of immigration? Who’s going to bail out the care system when it collapses? And what the hell is Labour playing at anyway? Plus: Politicians think artificial intelligence will fix everything. Have they bought the snake oil? And in the Extra Bit for Patreon people, should we fight to save the after-work pint?

• Come to Oh God, What Now? Live at 21Soho, London on Weds 11 June. Tickets on sale here.

• Listen to the latest edition of Crime Scene – the truth about true crime.

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Hannah recommends Jamie Oliver on the Louis Theroux podcast.

• Jonn recommends This City Is Ours on BBC iPlayer.

• Marie recommends The Border: A Journey Around Russia by Erika Fatland.

• Dorian recommends This Mortal Coil .

• Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more.

Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey with Marie le Conte, John Elledge and Hannah Fearn. 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

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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.

• Come to Oh God, What Now? Live at 21Soho, London on Weds 11 June. Tickets on sale 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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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“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