Oh God, What Now?

Donald Trump’s bill, we won’t be calling it beautiful, which takes from the poor and gives to the rich has passed into law. What’s in it and how easily did it get through Congress? Dr Colin Provost is an associate professor of public policy at University College London and joins the panel to get into it. Plus, Palestine Action has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government. Has this gone too far and what does this say about our right to protest in the UK, if anything? And in the Extra Bit FOR EVERYONE this week, is Angela Rayner’s Employment Rights Bill an attack on banter? 

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Escape Routes: 

• Colin recently read Careless People: A Story of Where I Used to Work 

• Zoe recently watched America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy’s Cheerleaders on Netflix 

• Ros watched Saltburn now it’s on iPlayer 

• Dorian has been watching Such Brave Girls

Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/ohgodwhatnow.bsky.social 

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Zoë Grünewald. Audio Production by: Tom Taylor. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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Fragmentation special! It’s all kicking off on the right and the left. Are our panic-stricken political classes talking Britain into a Farage premiership just by making it sound inevitable? And could Zarah Sultana’s (possibly premature) launch of a new party of the anti-war left turn into a genuine threat to Labour? We’re calling it CorbTana. It’s going to catch on. Really. 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Hannah recommends Couples Therapy on BBC iPlayer. 

• Jonn recommends the US version of Ghosts. 

• Raf saw War at the A Love Supreme festival. 

• Andrew saw Goat and Infinity Song at Glastonbury. 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Rafael Behr, Jonn Elledge, and Hannah Fearn. Audio Production by: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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What better way for Labour to celebrate a year in power than with a humiliating climbdown on welfare? Political historian Steven Fielding joins the panel to discuss rebellions, “Austerity PSD”, and how Starmer and Reeves can make Year Two better than Year One. Plus, after the anti-IDF rants by punk band Bob Vylan at Glastonbury, has the festival really become the antisemitic “hatefest” its critics claim? Unlike most of them, our own Andrew Harrison was actually there… And in the Extra Bit for Patreon supporters, is far-right ideologue Matthew Goodwin serious when he says he wants to be Reform UK’s Home Secretary, or just waffling to sell his Substack?

• Listen to Why? with Emma Kennedy: Could we make a real Jurassic Park? 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Rachel has been bingeing on Wimbledon. 

• Jonn has been reading Trespasses by Louise Kennedy.

• Steven has been listening to the title track of Close To The Edge by Yes.

• Alison is very excited about the Women’s Euros. 

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

Presented by Alison Phillips with Rachel Cunliffe and Jonn Elledge. Audio production by Robin Leeburn and Tom Taylor. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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With Labour MPs rebelling over Keir Starmer’s planned cuts to welfare benefits – where does he stand now with his party and does even more trouble lie ahead? Plus, the UK’s new industrial strategy is hot off the press. What makes it so ambitious, and has it learned the lessons from Boris Johnson's failed levelling up plan? 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Seth recommends Gilbert and Sullivan’s Princess Ida

• Hannah recommends Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth and the new Adam Curtis series, Shifty

• Zoe recommends Olivia Rodrigo at Glastonbury

• Ros recommends The Four Seasons on Netflix

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Ros Taylor with Zoë Grünewald, Seth Thévoz and Hannah Fearn. 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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Dog whistle think pieces seem to be back in fashion and right wingers are more frequently using rhetoric that sounds a bit like Enoch Powell. Powell was condemned for Rivers of Blood, why isn’t sounding like him so damaging for the modern right? Plus – AI and copyright. It’s put Labour at odds with Elton John, never a good place to be. Politico’s Joseph Bambridge joins the panel to talk through the furore. 

Read Joseph’s piece in Politico: https://www.politico.eu/article/ai-copyright-political-nightmare-labour-uk-models-tech/ 

ESCAPE ROUTES 

•  Rachel watched Virgin Island on Channel 4 

• Raf has been reading Barbara Kingsolver novels

• Joseph watched The Contestant 

• Dorian watched Black Ops 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow 

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Rafael Behr and Rachel Cunliffe. 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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Happy Dan Hannan Day! We “celebrate” nine years of Desperate Dan’s infamous Brexit prediction. Plus, War in and/or on Iran. Whatever happened to “America First”? Does Britain have any influence on Trump in this? And would Tony Blair have joined in America military action? And… this terrible, terrible heat. As the 1.5 degree limit looks increasingly fanciful, is living in a sweaty Britain the best we can hope for? 

Charlotte Nichols MP of Warrington North is our special guest.

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Zoe recommends Shock And War: Iraq 20 Years On on BBC Sounds and Sirens on Netflix. 

• Marie recommends Hacks on Amazon Prime.

• Charlotte recommends Everything Must Go by our own Dorian Lynskey and On The Calculation Of Volume by Solvej Balle.

• Ros recommends Lionessheart: The Life and Times of Joanna Plantagenet by Catherine Hanley. 

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

Presented by Ros Taylor with Marie le Conte and Zoe Grünewald. 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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Trump came down that golden escalator ten years ago this week, and thus began America’s descent to the depths of madness. The gang looks back on his political journey, from launching into the GOP race from Trump Tower to whatever you’d describe where we are now. Plus, Reform UK won loads of council seats – and now it actually has to take charge of things. So, how’s that going? (We promise we say more than just bad.) Then in the Extra Bit for supporters – can we ever be as happy as Finland? And what does that even mean?

• Listen to The Bunker including Andrew’s interview with Peter Ricketts. 

ESCAPE ROUTES 

•  Matt went to see The Ballad of Wallis Island at the cinema

• Zoe went to Primavera in Barcelona – and she says to watch Chappell Roan’s set online if you can! 

• Raf went to see Showstopper!

• Dorian suggests Decoder Ring  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow 

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Rafael Behr, Zoe Grunewald and Matt Green. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio. Production by Robin Leeburn. Music by Cornershop Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. 

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Tanks for nothing… We look at the contrast between Trump’s pathetic North Korean-style self-celebration, the magnificent #NoKings protests, and the horror of the Minnesota assassinations. Plus, Starmer flips on a grooming gangs inquiry and the violence in Ballymena. And we grill special guest Chris Curtis MP on Labour’s housing plans and why Paul Weller was wrong about Milton Keynes. 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Hannah recommends Pulp live and their new album More. 

• Jonn recommends Our Friends In The North, no longer on iPlayer but on Apple TV+ instead.

• Chris recommends baffling 2010s series Lost on Netflix.

• Andrew recommends East German hit woman comedy-thriller Kleo also on Netflix. 

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

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Jonn 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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Rachel Reeves’ spending review is out – what’s in it and what do the panel think should have got more attention? Plus, Reform UK wants to bring the DOGE mentality to Britain. We explain why that’s a terrible idea. Author of Failed State and the indispensable Comment is Freed substack Sam Freedman joins the panel. And in the Extra Bit for subscribers, as the Millennium Bridge turns 25, what has Britain built in the first quarter of the 21st century and what does it say about us?

• Listen to the latest Why? With Emma Kennedy: What is scrolling doing to our brains?

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Sam Freedman has been bingeing on The Big Bang Theory on Channel4.com. 

• Ros recommends Series 2 of The Gold on BBC iPlayer. 

• Jonn recommends Microserfs by Douglas Coupland. 

• Dorian recommends Platonic featuring Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne on Apple TV+. 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Jonn Elledge. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Video Production by Chris Jones. Music by Cornershop. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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The world is watching in horror as Los Angeles turns into a real-life immersive Rage Against The Machine song. Is the President looking for a Reichstag to set on fire as he threatens to use US troops on US citizens? Plus, the Battle of the Bastards! First, what does Trump’s mega fallout with Musk tell us about the realities of far right politics… if anything? Then, what’s behind Zia Yusuf’s on-off resignation from Reform UK? 

Escape Routes

• Raf recommends Maybe I’m Amazed by John Harris. 

• Alison recommends Scarface (1983) directed by Brian de Palma. 

• Matt recommends Your Friends And Neighbours with John Hamm and The Studio with Seth Rogan on Apple TV+. 

• Andrew recommends All Asimov And No Fresh Air by Half Man Half Biscuit. 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Alison Phillips, Rafael Behr, and Matt Green. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Video Production by Chris Jones. Music by Cornershop. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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