Oh God, What Now?

Donald Trump’s tariff masterplan is working! Well that’s just utter bulls**t, isn’t it? Trump’s decision to reverse global tariffs for 90 days caught everyone by surprise, even us! Dorian, Hannah, Matt and Marie recorded the whole pod before the announcement, but don’t fear, Andrew Harrison and The Guardian’s Rafael Behr were on-hand to add some reaction to the tariff u-turn. And don’t miss the panel on Trump’s obsession with big MAN jobs.

• Tariff craziness meant we got a longer-than-usual edition so we’ve split it in two, Dune-style, and brought it to you early. Be here on Friday morning for Part Two in which we ask… Is it time to start taking the Lib Dems seriously?

• We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Hannah Fearn, Matt Green, Marie Le Conte, Rafael Behr, and Andrew Harrison. Producer: Chris Jones 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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Donald Trump’s tariffs are tanking stock markets and bankrupting penguins. How is Britain coping with Trump’s assault on free trade… and is there anything we can do to protect ourselves from protectionism? Plus, the most crucial voters are aged between 35 and 59 – and they’re also the most economically worried. Professor Jane Green is the Director of the Nuffield Politics Research Centre and co-author of a new report detailing why this group of people is so politically important. She joins the podcast to uncover what she found.

We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Zoë Grünewald, and Rachel Cunliffe. Producer: Chris Jones 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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Trump is upending the world once again. We go on a whistlestop tour of tariffs, woke and the far-right in our latest show. 

First up, trade policy expert Dmitry Grozoubinski joins Andrew Harrison to explain why chaos is inevitable, following the new tariffs. Then into the main bulk of the episode, dinner time’s over for the tofu-eating wokerati… apparently. Some say the dawn of the post-woke world is upon us, but is it really? And what does that even mean? Also, what’s the state of hate in the UK? Luckily, Hope Not Hate has compiled a 140-page report detailing precisely that – and their Director of Research, Joe Mulhall, joins us in the studio to get into what’s in it. And in the Extra Bit for subscribers, after more than two centuries WH Smith leaves the high street. Is anyone surprised? But is the high street really dying or is it just changing?

Listen to Andrew and Dmitry’s full conversation: https://linktr.ee/bunker_pod 

Read The State of Hate 2025 report: https://hopenothate.org.uk/state-of-hate-2025/ 

We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

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

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Rachel Reeves’s spring not-a-budget has gone down like a cup of cold sick and many Labour supporters are asking what they’re backing the party for. Is Labour on the verge of losing popular confidence – and could it win it back? Plus, as Trump gets weirder and weirder we look at two movies that explain the trashy allure of American fascism: Paul Verhoeven’s hyperviolent sci-fi satires Robocop and Starship Troopers. Would you like to know more…?

• Listen to The Bunker: Northern uproar – How Canada is standing up to Trump.

• Tickets are on sale now for Matt’s Legitimate Concerns tour.

• Andrew interviews John Higgs, author of Exterminate! Regenerate! – The Story of Doctor Who at the Rock’n’Roll Book Club, Walthamstow on Tue 22 April.

Escape Routes:

• Hannah’s choice Crib Notes on Substack. 

• Matt’s choice Paradise on Disney+. 

• Raf chooses The Remix with Chris Hawkins.

• Andrew’s choice The Residence on Netflix.

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

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Rafael Behr, Hannah Fearn 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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Rachel Reeves’ Spring not-a-budget Statement is out and it’s hard to take. What’s in it, what’s not, and are we all going to be rich now (hard no)? Plus, the return of Donald Trump has been hard to ignore – but should we wean ourselves off American politics, in favour of sorting out our own problems closer to home? And in the Extra Bit for Patreon backers: Everyone on the panel speaks a second language. How important are they and is Duolingo the right way to go?

We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Ros Taylor, with Marie Le Conte, Ahir Shah and Seth Thévoz. Producer: Chris Jones Audio. 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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Kemi Badenoch was supposed to reboot and re-energise the Tories. Now she’s tanking in the polls and flailing in the Commons. If she can’t beat Farage, will her leadership make it to the end of the summer? Plus, America’s slide from functioning democracy to autocracy summons up dark memories of when the same thing happened to the Ancient Roman republic. Classics lovers Rachel Cunliffe and Jonn Elledge join Zöe Grünewald and Andrew Harrison to ask whether the Fall of Roman democracy is a warning or a manual. 

• Read Rachel’s New Statesman piece What Went Wrong of Kemi Badenoch?

• Andrew interviews John Higgs, author of Exterminate! Regenerate! – The Story of Doctor Who at the Rock’n’Roll Book Club, Walthamstow on Tue 22 April.

Escape Routes:

• Zöe’s choice Broken Country.

• Andrew’s choice Exterminate! Regenerate!

• Jonn’s History of the World in 47 Borders in paperback.

• Jonn’s choice I Want To Go Home But I'm Already There.

• Jonn’s OTHER choice Ghosts of Iron Mountain.

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

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Rachel Cunliffe, Jonn Elledge and Zöe Grünewald. Audio production by 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.

www.podmasters.co.uk

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It’s been five years since Boris Johnson announced the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown. How much did that strange time in our recent history change the world we live in today? What lessons have we learned? And what hasn’t gone back to how it was before Covid-19 took hold of our lives? Christina Pagel is a professor of operational research at University College London and a member of Independent SAGE and joins the panel for an important two-part discussion.

We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Dorian Lynskey, with Marie Le Conte, 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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Trump’s election win delighted Farage, the Telegraph, GB News and the Tory Right – but since then the President’s behaviour has horrified British voters. Has the British Right bet on the wrong horse? And will it pay a price for backing a man who seems intent in punishing Europe? Plus, if you like TV but haven’t seen Adolescence yet – do. The harrowing knife crime drama starring Stephen Graham takes in the ‘Manosphere’, social media and what that toxic mix can do to our young people. What does it tell us about Britain today?

The Economist’s British politics correspondent Matthew Holehouse joins Andrew Harrison, Ros Taylor and Jonn Elledge n the studio.

• Buy Jonn Elledge’s A History of the World in 47 Borders through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund us by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

• Hear Ros Taylor’s More Jam Tomorrow.

• Listen to Constellations For The Lonely by Doves. 

• We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Ros Taylor and Jonn Elledge. 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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With defence spending rising and welfare cuts causing unease, is it finally time for Labour to bite the bullet and raise taxes? Plus, DOGE has been tearing the US government apart at breakneck speed. But are Elon Musk and his band of merry nerds doing it legally and what could the consequences be to everyday Americans? Dr. Casey Burgat, author of We Hold These “Truths”: How to Spot the Myths that are Holding America Back and host of the Mastering the Room podcast. joins the panel to get into it.

• Join Dorian and Ian Dunt for Origin Story Live: Grand Theft America in London on Weds 16 April. 

• Buy We Hold These "Truths": How to Spot the Myths that are Holding America Back 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.

• We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Dorian Lynskey, Zoë Grünewald 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.

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Has Keir Starmer finally found a crisis he can excel in? Will his supposedly boring manner and measured approach steer Britain and Europe through the Trump-Ukraine horror show? And will he eventually have to stop pretending he’s best friends forever with Trump? Plus, UK universities are going through a bit of a crisis. Are they still the pathway to bring young people out of poverty that they were? We find out from Exeter University’s Lee Elliot Major, the first UK professor on social mobility. 

• Sign up for our Live Zoom on Thursday 20 March at 7pm, exclusive to Patreons.

• We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

Presented by Ros Taylor, with Hannah Fearn, and Seth Thévoz. 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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