The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

OpenAI chief Sam Altman once wrote that the most successful people don’t build companies, they “create religions”. Will artificial intelligence really solve humanity’s greatest problems and elevate humans to a heaven-like state like the tech bros claim – or just ruin our civilisation? Best-selling author and investigative journalist Karen Hao gained unprecedented access to OpenAI to unearth the story of what’s really going on inside a project that could transform humanity. She talks to Seth Thévoz about the disturbing story she discovered for her new book Empire of AI: Inside the Reckless Race for Total Domination. 

  • Buy Karen’s book Empire of AI: Inside the Reckless Race for Total Domination from our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

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Written and presented by Seth Thévoz. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Democratic rights and freedoms have expanded for a century or more, yet the super-rich have never been richer and wealth has never been shared less fairly. And we keep on voting to prop up systems that make a bad situation worse. Why? Political scientist and author Jeffrey Winters has a theory – that oligarchic power isn’t an unforeseen product of democracies, it’s designed into the system. So how do we fix it? He talks to Andrew Harrison about how to make democracies more… democratic. 

• Buy Jeffrey’s book The Blind Spot: How Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracies from our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

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Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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A huge dump of messages linked to Peter Mandelson are about to drop – what can we expect and who’s the most nervous? Alex von Tunzelmann joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss the news to look out for in the week ahead, from domestic news and Labour fallout to the consequences of conflict across the globe.   

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Alex von Tunzelmann. Audio production: Simon Williams. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. 

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Tony Blair has weighed in on Labour’s direction – but what does he actually want? Plus: Pope Leo warns about the rise of AI, a major review warns Britain risks creating a “lost generation” of young people, and a buffalo that resembles Donald Trump... Jacob Jarvis is joined by Rafael Behr to unpack the biggest stories from the past week.

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Rafael Behr.  Producer: James Liddell and Jake Preston. Audio production: Jade Bailey.  Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Iran’s hardline regime may have weathered Donald Trump’s onslaught for now – but behind Teheran’s defiance there are deep cracks in its hated, repressive system. They go right back to the genesis and betrayal of the 1979 Revolution, when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini promised freedom, independence and prosperity only to deliver brutal Islamic law, political executions and a system of oppression that has endured for almost five decades. Award-winning journalists Bozorgmehr Sharafedin and Yeganeh Torbati tell the story of the Iranian people’s dogged struggle for freedom from the mullahs in Stolen Revolution: Betrayal and Hope in Modern Iran. They talk to Dorian Lynskey about what Iran’s future might hold. 

 • Buy Bozorgmehr and Yeganeh’s book Stolen Revolution: Betrayal and Hope in Modern Iran from our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

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Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Is time finally running out for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? The Knesset has voted to dissolve itself, the horrors of October 7th still haunt his coalition, and a newly united opposition is closing in. With right-wing Naftali Bennett and centre-left Yair Lapid joining forces and their Together party neck-and-neck with Netanyahu’s Likud in the polls, is the great survivor of Israeli politics about to meet his Waterloo? The Economist's Israel correspondent Anshel Pfeffer joins Rafael Behr to break it down. 

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Written and presented by Rafael Behr. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Setting up the stories for the next seven… sorry, six days. As Britain suffers unprecedented May heatwaves, can Ed Miliband defend Net Zero from the denialists in Reform and the oil-funded PR greenwashers? Plus, Nigel Farage’s excuses for his £5m gift from a crypto baron start to catch up with him. Could Reform be outflanked in Makerfield by the even battier, Musk-funded Restore UK? The latest on social media bans for under-16s. And Richard Burgon, Labour leader? Ros Taylor and Andrew Harrison set out the week ahead. 

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Written and presented by  Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Simon Williams. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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The Makerfield by-election is heating up, with Andy Burnham officially entering the race. But what does he really stand for? As he pitches both locally and nationally, we’re a bit confused. Plus: Donald Trump granted tax immunity, the T-Rex arms race, and Keir Starmer waters down Russian oil sanctions. Jacob Jarvis is joined by Alex von Tunzelmann to unpack the biggest stories from the past week.

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Alex von Tunzelmann.  Producer: James Liddell and Jake Preston. Audio production: Jade Bailey.  Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

www.podmasters.co.uk 

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The Doomsday crowd was once confined to fringe congregations and rural survivalists stockpiling beans and ammunition. Now it’s gone mainstream, with one in three Americans believing the world will end in their lifetimes. So why do so many people think the end is nigh? Did Ruby Ridge start it all? And is the Trump administration adding fuel to the fire? Chris Jennings, author of End of Days: Ruby Ridge, the Apocalypse, and the Unmaking of America, joins Gavin Esler to explain.  

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Donald Trump came, he saw, and left Beijing without much to show for his high-stakes summit with Xi Jinping. Behind the pomp and pageantry, tensions over trade, tech and Taiwan didn’t go away. So did two days of diplomacy actually achieve anything? And can Xi’s vision of “great rejuvenation” coexist with Trump’s “Make America Great Again”? William Hurst, Chong Hua Professor of Chinese Development at the University of Cambridge, joins Gavin Esler to break down the relationship. 

• Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercast

Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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