Oh God, What Now?

By PodmastersSociety & Culture News Politics

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Oh God, What Now? episodes

October 01, 2021Brighton Rocked? – with guest Clive Lewis MP
So, how did that Labour conference go? Did Keir Starmer snatch victory from the jaws of fratricidal defeat with that closing speech? Special guest Clive Lewis MP joins us to work out whether Labour is back on the road to recovery – and what was missing from the Conference. Plus, the German elections a row of light for the centre-left? And is it really so terrible if politicians call other politicians “scum”?
“If you were casting hecklers to look mad and unsympathetic, you couldn’t have done a better job.” – Alex Andreou
“Starmer won on a platform of sensible Corbynism. Now he’s changed into a New Labour tribute band.” – Clive Lewis
“Labour’s choice is they can be the biggest coalition party under PR – or be in opposition forever under FPTP.” - Naomi Smith
“The Conservative Party is the most successful party in the world – which by default makes Labour the most unsuccessful.” – Clive Lewis

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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1 hr 2 min
September 24, 2021Clause IV Concern: Energy drains and Labour pains with guest Rafael Behr
This week, Mr Spaff Goes to Washington. But as Boris Johnson chums up to Joe Biden, an energy crisis is looming back home. With two providers collapsing and more on the way, what does the winter have in store?

And on Saturday the Labour Party conference kicks off at the scene of Neil Kinnock's seaside tumble in Brighton. Can Keir Starmer capture a post-Covid comeback with his own Militant moment? Guardian journalist and host of Politics on the Couch RAFAEL BEHR joins the panel to hash out this week's stories.
"At least The Simpsons' power plant is still running. Well done, Mr. Burns." - Dorian Lynskey
"The government should be buying out, not bailing out, the companies that are failing." - Minnie Rahman
"Our energy market is failing consumers and the planet." - Minnie Rahman.
"People have stopped listening to Labour." - Rafael Behr.

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Minnie Rahman. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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1 hr 4 min
September 17, 2021 Back to Drawing Borders?
Recorded before this week’s reshuffle was finalised. For full analysis, listen to our Emergency Pod!

As Boris Johnson kicks Gavin Williamson out from the cabinet, the issues of trade with the EU, especially in Northern Ireland, have been kicked into the long grass once again. Independent MLA Claire Sugden joins the panel for the view from across the Irish Sea.

Plus, as the chess pieces move around him, Health Sec Sajid Javid announces the government’s plan to tackle Covid in England over the winter.

And, a year since Ian’s book was released, he reflects on Covid’s effect on liberalism and what it means to be free in a world where freedoms are being suppressed across the world…

"Liberalism demands of you to imagine what life is like for others." - Ian Dunt
"How can it be five years, and we're still talking about Percy Pigs at the border?" - Ian Dunt
"Our government has got its eyes on lowering food standards." - Naomi Smith
"I'm less concerned about when the Northern Ireland administration collapses, and more what happens afterwards." - Claire Sugden

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

How to be a Liberal is out in paperback now with an exclusive chapter at Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-to-be-a-liberal/ian-dunt/2928377065010

Presented by Alex Andreou with Naomi Smith and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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57 min
September 16, 2021Emergency: Oh God, Who Next?
The mince pies and P45s arrive on the shelves earlier every year. That’s right, it’s reshuffle season - and we’re here with an emergency pod to assess the latest shower of sycophants.

With Oliver Dowden taking over as party chair, are the Tories now on election footing? What awaits the justice system with Dominic Raab in charge? Can the panel bring themselves to speak the name of the new Culture Secretary, Nadin- Nadine Do- Na- oh, never mind, we can’t do it either.
“It’s sense of moral despair that the Justice system is a consolation prize to someone who’s messed up elsewhere” - Ian Dunt
“Tory members see Truss as a modern day Thatcher” - Naomi Smith
“Liz Truss has been able to produce ‘copy and paste’ trade deals very effectively” - Naomi Smith
“You get the sense this will be the team that will lead the Tories into the next election” - Ian Dunt
“The best cabinet is where you have people who disagree, who raise problems, rather than closing yourself in an echo chamber” - Ian Dunt
“Grant Shapps is doing an awful job at transport, especially on HGV drivers, yet he’s still in there” - Alex Andreou

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Alex Andreou with Naomi Smith and Ian Dunt. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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26 min
September 10, 2021The End Is N.I.
Does it matter when a Government breaks a keystone promise? Former Blair advisor John McTernan joins us to look at Boris Johnson’s punitive National Insurance hike and ask whether even a serial liar can get away with a whopper like this. What sort of devil is in the detail of the Government’s social care plans? Plus, on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 we ask whether the baleful effects of the terrorist attacks on Western politics could ever have played out differently.
“Breaking a promise is a profoundly important moment for any government… Promises go to leadership, and that matters.” – John McTernan
“The likelihood that we’ll fall into a conspiracy theory is so much greater that at the time of 9/11 simply because of the way we access information now.” – Minnie Rahman
“There are people within Labour who want to seek out new ideas and energy with the aim of crushing them.’” – John McTernan
“It’s not the rate that matters, it’s the complexity. This is a new layer of complexity, and that always benefits the rich.” – Alex Andreou
“Johnson was elected on levelling up and now he’s going to level down, to the tune of £1,000 a year for some people.” – John McTernan

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Minnie Rahman and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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1 hr 4 min
September 03, 2021Pets over people: “The last smear on our character”
With Afghanistan left to the mercies of the Taliban, Dominic Raab filibusters his own Foreign Affairs committee and ensures that no lessons are learned. Ian gives his verdict on the Pen Farthing pet evacuation spectacle. Plus, the five big issues on the Government’s plate in the autumn. And with Michael Gove out dancing in Aberdeen, we ponder the loneliness of the single politician on the pull.
“Pen Farthing made me so angry I could burst through my skin.” – Ian Dunt
“The very wealthy old men who own our press don’t care about saving the planet in the future. They want low taxes now.” – Alex Andreou
“The international law around drones is not clear. But Biden will keep using them anyway.” – Ros Taylor
“Even as you’ve got these medieval fanatics coming for people, the response from Britain is still ‘Papers please.’” – Ian Dunt

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor, Ian Dunt and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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1 hr
August 27, 2021Foreign Sec’s On The Beach
As Dominic Raab tries to get his deposit back from Tui, we ask how he got here and what he wants. Meanwhile the pandemic recedes, exposing supply chains and worker pools dangerously denuded by Brexit – meaning empty shelves, shuttered shops, care homes without carers, and missing milkshakes at McDonald’s. How is the Government going to get out of this one? Our special guest is Independent sketchwriter Tom Peck.
“If you’re fleeing the Taliban, you don’t have time to fill in a form and wait for a Government to protect you.” – Minnie Rahman
“If we have a crap Christmas there will be plenty of Brexiteers saying this is what a REAL Christmas looks like.” – Tom Peck
“Brexit has created a new kind of brain drain, an EXPERIENCE drain, and it’s going to be a big drag on the British economy for years to come.” – Alex Andreou
“People will regret throwing their milkshakes at Nigel Farage now they can’t get another one…” – Tom Peck

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Minnie Rahman and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. Intern: Nat Amos. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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1 hr 4 min
August 20, 2021Worse than Suez: Afghanistan abandoned
The Government’s flat-footed and callous response to the collapse of Afghanistan and the resultant refugee crisis has enraged even the House of Commons. What should Britain do to help the people who helped us? And was the whole enterprise for nothing? Also, after the the horrific killings in Plymouth, should we see the incel culture as terrorism?
“This is cutting deep into the Tories’ idea of who we are… They have woken up to the fact that Biden like Trump is pursuing an America First policy.” – Ian Dunt
“The Government has called this wrong… The British public are bloody sympathetic to Afghan refugees and want them helped.” – Naomi Smith
“The promise to people who helped us was that we will protect you. That’s a promise we have completely broken.” – Ian Dunt
“This is not a reformed, humane Taliban… Everyone who disagrees with their interpretation of Islam is in danger of violent, painful death.” – Nina Schick

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Naomi Smith, Nina Schick and Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. Intern: Nat Amos. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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1 hr 5 min
August 13, 2021Swot vs Blot – The Sunak-Johnson Smackdown
As the shine comes off the Prime Minister and the Cabinet gets fractious, is the country ready for a brutal Rishi-on-Boris battle? Special guest Gracie Bradley, interim director of Liberty, takes us through the Government’s suite of repressive civil liberties legislation. What can listeners can do about them? Plus, in the Extra Bit, the frankly astonishing tale of teenage Minnie Rahman’s meeting with… David Cameron?
“Boris Johnson has no principles. Rishi Sunak has terrible principles. Take your pick.” – Ian Dunt
“It’s a complete myth that Boris Johnson is a libertarian. As London Mayor he a bought a water cannon. There’s nothing libertarian about him.” – Gracie Bradley
“The Home Office is using the costs of cases against them for behaving unlawfully as a reason to cancel judicial review. Why not just stop behaving unlawfully?” – Ian Dunt
“We don’t protest because there’s a law that says we can protest. We protest because it’s our freedom to do so.” – Gracie Bradley

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Naomi Smith with Ian Dunt and Minnie Rahman. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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1 hr 1 min
August 06, 2021The Last Days of COVID?
With new cases of COVID declining, are we really seeing COVID dwindle? Or is this the calm before the next wave? The expert’s expert Christina Pagel of independent SAGE joins us to explain whether we really are turning the corner. Plus, what does the Tories’ ‘Advisory Board’ tell us about cronyism, nepotism and how our governing party preserves its privilege? Ete operae pretium sit Latine discendi?
“It’s fair to say that nobody was expecting the decline in COVID infections… What this ISN’T is herd immunity emerging.” – Christina Pagel
“Relations with France are as bad as they’ve ever been… We’re danger of becoming a country that nobody can do business with at all.” – Alex Andreou
“State aid could well become another way for friends and colleagues of the Conservative party to enrich themselves – enabled again by Brexit.” – Ros Taylor
“After Spanish Flu in 1918 there was a mini-epidemic of Parkinson’s. We just don’t know the risk of NOT vaccinating.” – Christina Pagel
www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow
Presented by Ros Taylor with Ian Dunt and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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59 min

About Oh God, What Now?

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Making sense of our political hell every Tuesday and Friday! Oh God, What Now? is the no-bulls**t politics podcast, making the unbearable bearable with top quality guests and analysis, plus poor quality jokes.