Oh God, What Now?

What does Trump’s attack on Venezuela mean for the world – and what happens if he’s serious about Greenland? Plus, back home in the UK, politics is incredibly fractured. Reform UK leads many polls, Labour’s favourability is drowning, and the Green Party is neck and neck with the Lib Dems. But can the tide be turned in time to prevent Nigel Farage becoming PM? And in the Extra Bit for subscribers, as we start a new year, our panel describes the things they’re looking to do to push them out of their comfort zones.

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Marie: All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West

• Seth is reading a series of memoirs by disgraced politicians.

• Jonn: King & Conqueror on BBC iPlayer

• Raf: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders

If you buy through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund Oh God, What Now? by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

https://www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Seth Thévoz with Rafael Behr, Jonn Elledge, and Marie Le Conte.  Audio Production by: Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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Trump’s actions in Venezuela revealed how far he’s prepared to push his power – and how happy he is to act like Vladimir Putin. How will America’s invasion embolden Russia? And what does it mean for Europe and its safety? Andrew Harrison speaks with Mark Galeotti, Russia expert and host of the In Moscow’s Shadows podcast, to discuss how Trump’s aggression compares to Putin’s and what that means for the world. 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison. Produced by Chris Jones. Audio Production by: Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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Who and what will receive our FIFA Peace Prize-style gongs for the year? Elon Musk for his brief, mayfly political life of casual mass murder? Trump and Vance for their disgusting Oval Office attack on Zelenskyy? Liz Truss, madwoman for hire? Oasis? Prince Andrew? Stephen f**king Miller? All these and more feature in our heated debate about the defining moments, heroes, villains, blessed distractions and underreported stories of a year we’re already drinking to forget. Cheers!

Get our exclusive NordVPN deal at ⁠nordvpn.com/ohgodwhatnow⁠. It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee! 

ESCAPE ROUTES AND BOOKS OF THE YEAR

• Ros recommends Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York by Andrew Lownie – and likes to watch Danger Mouse: The Snowman Cometh at Christmas. 

• Jonn recommends Ghosts of Iron Mountain by Phil Tinline plus Scrooged, Home Alone and Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol. 

• Andrew recommends The Power Fantasy by Keiron Gillen and Caspare Wijngaard and the 1951 Alastair Sim movie of A Christmas Carol. 

• Seth recommends The Radical Print and The Black Cat (1935). 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Seth Thévoz with Jonn Elledge, Ros Taylor and Andrew Harrison. Produced by Chris Jones. Audio Production by: Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk 

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Thank God that’s nearly over… It’s been a grim old year in politics, so in the penultimate OGWN of 2025 our panel pores over the entrails of the year to seek reasons for optimism in 2026. Plus in a But Your Emails Special we answer as many of your questions as we can squeeze in. And if that’s not enough, we suggest Christmas presents for major politicians that might make them better at their jobs… or at least inspire them to give up politics and get out of our hair.

• Be here on Monday 22 Dec for the final edition of the year – the Oh God, What Now? Politics Awards of 2025. 

🎄FINAL DAY! Get 20% off a year’s support for Oh God, What Now? until Fri Dec 19 – whether you’re a new backer, renewing or upgrading. 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Seth Thévoz with Jonn Elledge, Ros Taylor and Andrew Harrison. Produced by Chris Jones. Audio Production by: Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk 

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As 2025 spirals around the plughole of posterity, The Guardian’s parliamentary speechwriter John Crace joins us to look at the year inside the Westminster Village. Did Farage successfully cross over from consequence-free rabble-rouser to horribly plausible Prime Minister? Will the growing racism allegations halt his ambitions? Is there more going on in Starmer’s government than meets the eye? And what did we learn from the launch of Your Party, the fall of Angela Rayner and the Tories’ gap year?

📚 John Crace’s The Bonfire of the Insanities is available to buy now.

📧 Next week’s edition features a But Your Emails 2025 special. Send your questions to [email protected] – should old email addresses be forgot?

🎄 Get 20% off a year’s support for Oh God, What Now? until Christmas – whether you’re a new backer, renewing or upgrading.

ESCAPE ROUTES

• John recommends Blue Lights on BBC iPlayer.

• Rachel hates Christmas pop but she likes White Wine In The Sun by Tim Minchin and Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) by The Darkness.

• Andrew recommends the science fiction novel Blood Music by Greg Bear.

Buy any book through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund Oh God, What Now? by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

• Get our exclusive NordVPN deal at nordvpn.com/ohgodwhatnow. It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee!

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Rachel Cunliffe. Produced by Chris Jones. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Art direction by James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk

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America’s new National Security Strategy is a hellish concoction of far-right obsessions, paranoid conspiracy thought, imperial fantasy, and outright aggression. European leaders are horrified but what are they going to do about it? Plus: Glasgow South MP Gordon McKee explains the UK’s debt to GDP ratio using towers of custard creams and bourbons. But can you make politics too simple? And in the Extra Bit for Patreons, we talk about Netflix’s real goal in trying to buy Warners: to kill off cinema. 

🎄Get 20% off a year’s support for Oh God, What Now? until Christmas – whether you’re a new backer, renewing or upgrading. 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Jonn recommends Pluribus on Apple TV+. 

• Hannah recommends Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisy. 

• Jason recommends the BBC documentary I Am Martin Parr

• Matt went to see Edgar Wright’s The Running Man at the cinema but doesn’t recommend it much. 

• When you buy books through our affiliate bookshop, you help fund Oh God, What Now? by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

• Get our exclusive NordVPN deal at nordvpn.com/ohgodwhatnow. It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee! 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Matt Green with Hannah Fearn, Jonn Elledge and Jason Hazeley. Produced by Chris Jones. Audio Production by: Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

https://www.podmasters.co.uk 

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Social media’s sewer pipe of white nationalism, conspiracy thought and violent far-right incitement is seeping into mainstream politics. But where is all this extremism coming from? Who’s creating it? Is anyone on political social media not a bot? And what are we going to do about it? Special guest Olivia Brown from the University of Bath explains how a tiny number of far-right accounts weaponise tragedies like Southport and use AI and engagement tricks to fake grassroots, us-vs-them banter. The goal: to warp Britain’s perception of what’s normal.

📳 Hear Paul Merton on Experience is Everything – Brought to you by Saga. 

🎄Get 20% off a year’s support for Oh God, What Now? until Christmas – whether you’re a new backer, renewing or upgrading. 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Olivia recommends The Guardian Football Weekly podcast. 

• Jonn recommends Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today by Naomi Alderman. 

• Zoë recommends Sandwich by Catherine Newman.

When you buy books through our affiliate bookshop, you help fund OGWN by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. 

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

• Get our exclusive NordVPN deal at nordvpn.com/ohgodwhatnow. It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee! 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Zoë Grünewald with Jonn Elledge. Produced by Chris Jones. Audio and Video Production by: Chris Jones Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk 

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What went wrong with “Your Party”? As absolutely nobody could have predicted, the new Left vehicle’s first conference collapses amid factional squabbles. Zarah Sultana gets to rule over the ruins but will all that new energy on the left now head over to Zack Polanski’s Greens? Plus: After a budget that pleased nobody, is Labour really taking young people seriously? And in the Extra Bit for Patreon people, will the War on London ever end?

🎄⁠Get 20% off a year’s support for Oh God, What Now?⁠ until Christmas – whether you’re a new backer, renewing or upgrading. 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Ros recommends Trespasses on Channel 4 catch-up.

• Raf just caught up with 2001: A Space Odyssey .

• Marie recommends the movies Pillion and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, both in cinemas now. 

• Andrew finally, finally watched Under The Skin with Scarlett Johansson.

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

• Get our exclusive NordVPN deal at nordvpn.com/ohgodwhatnow. It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee! 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Marie le Conte, Rafael Behr and Ros Taylor. Produced by Chris Jones. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk 

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Britain is in trouble. Stagnating wages, collapsing public services and a feeble economy are turning politics angry and rancorous. Keir Starmer says Labour’s economic plan will take “years” to deliver – but does the party really have a long-term plan? And what would one look like? Our guest John Springford, associate fellow at the Centre for European Reform, has put one together at getting-out-of-the-hole.uk – and he’s here to talk about it.

Why is our productivity so bad? Why are we getting work, energy, manufacturing and cities wrong? Why do we keep basing our strategy on things we’re not good at? And can we fix any of it without reversing Brexit? Listen in to find out. 

🎄Get 20% off a year’s support for Oh God, What Now? until Christmas – whether you’re a new backer, renewing or upgrading. 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Rachel recommends the new Wicked movie, Wicked: For Good.

• John recommends human-extinction themed episodes of the podcasts If Books Could Kill and Past Present Future.

• Seth recommends a visit to the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library to buy their themed Christmas ornaments. 

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

• Get our exclusive NordVPN deal at nordvpn.com/ohgodwhatnow. It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee! 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Seth Thévoz with Rachel Cunliffe. Audio and Video production: Chris Jones. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk 

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Behind all the predictable shrieking about “tax raids”, what really happened in Rachel Reeves’s much-trailed misery Budget? And what’s behind Labour’s fear of making bolder moves? Plus, Private Eye’s Daily Mailograph gag comes true – it looks like the Mail is going to buy the Telegraph. Our special guest, Radio 4 Now Show veteran and musical satirist Mitch Benn, helps us explore what it will do to diversity of the press (rhetorical question) and will Lord Rothermere get a free bottle of water with his purchase? And in the Extra Bit – Who should we ban from pubs: solo drinkers or kids? 

• Get 20% off a year’s Patreon backing for OGWN until Christmas – new members, renewals, upgrades, all are welcome. 

• Get your tickets for Mitch’s one-man performance of A Christmas Carol. 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Hannah went to see EEVAH on tour. 

• Mitch went to see the RSC production of My Neighbour Totoro at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London. And it’s not sold out, there are loads of tickets available. 

• Ros recommends the Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe drama Prisoner 951 on BBC iPlayer. 

• Jonn is rewatching the Scandi-noir classic The Bridge. 

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

• Get our exclusive NordVPN deal at nordvpn.com/ohgodwhatnow. It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee! 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Ros Taylor with Hannah Fearn and Jonn Elledge. Produced by Chris Jones. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Art direction by James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. 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