Oh God, What Now?

The papers still dangle the dream of a sun-dappled retirement. Yet millions have nowhere near the savings they’ll need, while a fortunate few are amassing family wealth that could change Britain forever. Meanwhile the generational wealth gap is forcing younger people to forget about starting families. Is the old “work hard and you’ll make it” model broken? And do we need a wealth tax to fix it? Will Snell of the Fairness Foundation joins Andrew and Hannah to discuss a growing crisis.  

• Our partner pod American Friction  just won Best News and Politics show at the Independent Podcast Awards. Listen and see what you’ve been missing.  

ESCAPE ROUTES  

• Will recommends Chief of War on Apple TV+.  

• Hannah recommends going to see Self Esteem, still just about on tour.  

• Andrew went to see The Magnetic Fields perform their classic 69 Love Songs.   

• Head to https://www.nakedwines.co.uk/ohgodwhatnow to get 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included.

• Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more 

• Back us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more.  

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Hannah Fearn. Audio and video production by award-winning Chris Jones. Theme music by Cornershop. Art direction: James Parrett. Produced by award-winning Chris Jones. Managing Editor: award-winning Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. 

www.podmasters.co.uk 

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After the collapse of the China spying case, do we have to accept that Britain is way past being able to spar with Beijing? Especially when we depend so much on their students? Green MP Siân Berry talks about the party’s future under new eco-populist leader Zach Polanski, how to square green infrastructure with their support’s suspicion of development, and whether the Greens would enter a coalition with Labour to keep Farage out. And in the Extra Bit for Patreon people… Sunak’s back, sort of. What do ex-PMs get up to these days? And the terror of the A.I. Margaret Thatcher ChatBot. 

• Our partner pod American Friction just won Best News and Politics show at the Independent Podcast Awards. Listen and see what you’ve been missing. 

ESCAPE ROUTES 

• Raf recommends Film Club on BBC iPlayer. 

• Rachel recommends The Finest Hotel In Kabul by Lise Doucet. 

• Siân Berry recommends The French Lieutenant’s Woman . 

• Ros recommends The Line on ITVX. 

Buy The Finest Hotel In Kabul through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll 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 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included.

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

• Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more

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

Written and presented by Ros Taylor with Rachel Cunliffe and Rafael Behr. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Theme music by Cornershop. Art direction: James Parrett. Produced by award-winning Chris Jones. Managing Editor: award-winning Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk

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Labour want to bring in digital I.D. and many people do NOT like it. Are they right? Are they wrong? And what is the “Lethal Trifecta” that makes the plan so risky? Hannah Fearn is very opposed to digital I.D. on civil liberties grounds. Jonn Elledge thinks it’s not that big a deal. Special guest Alex Hern – The Economist’s correspondent on A.I. – has the inside tech perspective. And Matt Green tries to keep order. Intrusion into privacy or a well-managed public version of something we all consented to years ago? “What this is really about nationalising I.D.,” says Alex, “because the Tories privatised it.”

ESCAPE ROUTES 

• Hannah recommends How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge) on BBC iPlayer. 

• Jonn is looking forward to Celebrity Traitors.

• Alex Hern recommends The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson (and Andrew Harrison heartily agrees). 

• Matt has been watching Hacks Season 4 on Sky.

Buy The Diamond Age through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll 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 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included.

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

• Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more

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

Written and presented by Matt Green with Jonn Elledge and Hannah Fearn. Audio production by Tom Taylor and Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Art direction: James Parrett. 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

The Tory Party looks fatally damaged. Who hijacked the corpse at their conference in Manchester – Reform or Robert Jenrick? Josh Glancy of The Sunday Times was there and he explains whether there’s any life in the old party yet. Plus, the horrific killings at a Manchester synagogue left many British Jews saying they feel unsafe in their own country. We look at the complex and emotive issues of fighting antisemitism while preserving the right to protest against Netanyahu’s war on Gaza. And in the Extra Bit, we look at the Tech Bro nightmare of “996”. Could you work 9am-9pm six days a week?

ESCAPE ROUTES 

• Marie has set up her very own affordable art salon called The Outsiders’ Arts Club.

• Jonn loved Juniper Blood at the Donmar – keep an eye out in case it’s on near you. 

• Josh Glancy recommends Blue Lights on the BBC iPlayer.  

• Andrew went to see Edwyn Collins live in London.

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

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

• Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more

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

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Jonn Elledge and Marie le Conte. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Art direction: James Parrett. 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

Nobody wants to imagine a large-scale war in Europe. But after Putin invaded Ukraine and Trump tore up Europe’s security guarantee, it’s horribly plausible. Is Russia as powerful as Putin wants us to think? Is there more to military power than tanks and guns? Why do strategists keep making the wrong predictions? And what does Pete Hegseth’s unhinged locker-rom pep talk/incitement to the US military to commit war crimes mean for any American role in the world?

In a fascinating, surprise-packed conversation Phillips Payson O’Brien, Professor of Strategic Studies at St Andrews University and author of new book War and Power: Who Wins Wars and Why gives Andrew Harrison and Jacob Jarvis an urgent update on the realities of military power. 

• Buy War and Power through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund OGWN by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

ESCAPE ROUTES 

• Phillips recommends Better Call Saul on Netflix. 

• Jarv recommends horror movies Weapons and Bring Her Back. 

• Andrew went to see Roland Gift of Fine Young Cannibals.

Buy any book through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll 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 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included.

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

• Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more

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

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Jacob Jarvis. Audio/video production by Chris Jones. Theme music by Cornershop. Art direction: James Parrett. 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

Keir Starmer’s conference speech is getting heaps of praise after he finally went hard against Farage. But has he done enough to show he’s in control, or is the Labour messaging still all over the place? Plus, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, isn’t going away. He says he wants the UK to rejoin the EU, but do they want us? And does Labour even want him!? And in the Extra Bit for Patreon backers, the panel takes a look at the politicians who are the most popular with the UK’s young people right now, according to the polls, anyway.

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Jonn is watching House of Guinness on Netflix. 

• Hannah watched the 1961 documentary Barbara Hepworth on iPlayer.

• Seth watched the documentary Hollywood by Kevin Brownlow.

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

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

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Seth Thévoz with Hannah Fearn, Jonn Elledge and Jason Hazeley. Audio Production by: Tom Taylor and Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Labour has staked its future on building hundreds of thousand of homes and fixing up crumbling communities. But does “regeneration” actually work? Housing expert and author of Big Capital: Who Is London For?   Anna Minton joins OGWN regular and development wonk Hannah Fearn to look at the nightmare of trying to build houses in a system designed to inhibit it. Includes regeneration horror stories from Baltimore to Canary Wharf to Liverpool’s Albert Dock. 

ESCAPE ROUTES 

• Anna recommends The Hostage with Suranne Jones on Netflix. 

• Hannah has been reading The Vast Extent by Lavinia Greenlaw. 

• Andrew was blindsided by the 2019 movie A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood with Tom Hanks.

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

• Claim the Naked Wines offer here: ⁠nakedwines.co.uk/ohgodwhatnow⁠

• Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more

• Back us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. 

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Hannah Fearn. Audio/Video production by Chris Jones. Theme music by Cornershop. Art direction: James Parrett. 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

The ghost of Enoch Powell punches the air as Farage announces jaw-dropping plans for mass deportations and tearing up Indefinite Leave to Remain, claiming it will save Britain over £230bn (it won’t). Is Reform succumbing to the gravitational pull of the far-far-far right or just showing its true, cruel face? And does Labour’s feeble response that “this plan won’t work” just accept the premise of a hateful piece of self-harm? Plus, Trump’s Tariffs: how they started and how they’re going, with international trade expert and friend of the pod Dmitry Grozoubinski. And in the Extra Bit, what was the exciting new tech innovation that made you say “OK that’s enough exciting new tech innovations, thanks”?

• See Matt Green on his Legitimate Concerns tour, beginning on 17 October. 

• Get our exclusive NordVPN deal here. It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee! 

ESCAPE ROUTES 

• Matt recommends The Girlfriend on Amazon Prime. 

• Marie watched the whole of Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon and seems to want a medal for it. And Modern Family too. 

• Dmitry has been rewatching the Australian political satire Utopia which you can see on Apple TV+. 

• Ros (mostly) recommends The Hack on ITV. 

Claim the Naked Wines offer here: ⁠nakedwines.co.uk/ohgodwhatnow⁠

• Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more

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

Written and presented by Ros Taylor with Marie le Conte and Matt Green. Audio production by Tom Taylor and Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Art direction: James Parrett. 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

Project 2025 gave Trump a roadmap for his authoritarian presidency. As the UK turns to the right, Reform UK is on the rise and fears over a Farage general election victory loom, we ask whether such a project could be undertaken here? Peter Geoghegan of the Democracy for Sale blog joins Alison and Jonn to discuss. 

Escape Routes:

• Jonn is watching The Paper 

• Peter is awaiting Slow Horses and is reading When the Clock Broke by John Ganz 

• Alison watched The Ballad of Wallis Island

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow 

Claim the Naked Wines offer here: ⁠nakedwines.co.uk/ohgodwhatnow⁠

 Get Exclusive NordVPN deal here ↣ https://nordvpn.com/ohgodwhatnow It’s risk- free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee!  

Presented by Alison Phillips with Jonn Elledge.  Audio/ Video Production by: Chris Jones. Art direction: James Parrett. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. 

 www.podmasters.co.uk  

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British politics is increasingly divided – but where are voters really going as they shift between parties? And how should Labour recalibrate their tactics? The Economist’s Matthew Holehouse joins us to discuss the new ‘Battle for Britain’. Plus, the panel discusses the reaction to Charlie Kirk’s death worldwide and how it might change politics. And in the extra bit for subscribers – political pets! Because we all need something fun to listen to don’t we?

Escape Routes 

Rachel has been reading Terry Pratchett books: Jingo, Thud & The Truth 

Zoe is watching The Real Housewives of London on Hayu

Matthew is reading When The Clock Broke by John Ganz 

Seth recommends the drama series Crown Court

Claim the Naked Wines offer here: ⁠nakedwines.co.uk/ohgodwhatnow⁠

• Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more 

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

Written and presented by Seth Thevoz with Zoe Grunewald and Rachel Cunliffe. Audio production by Robin Leeburn and Tom Taylor. Theme music by Cornershop. Art direction: James Parrett. 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