The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

From postal workers to nurses, we face a winter of strikes. What do they want and why should we all be invested in their cause? Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the British Trades Union Congress, joins Jude Rogers to discuss the problems faced by Britain’s workforce – and whether those taking action can pull together for a better future. 

• “With real wages falling and living standards stagnating there is a coordinated offensive against working people.”
• “There is no light at the end of the tunnel unless we stick together.”
• “When striking workers win, we all win.”

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Presented by Jude Rogers. Producers: Alex Rees and Jet Gerbertson. Assistant Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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It’s hard to remember a time when the NHS wasn’t at ‘breaking point’. But with more than 7 million people in England on the NHS waiting list, real-term wage decreases, over-stretched ambulance services, and impending strike action from nurses – can it make it through the winter? Anita Charlesworth, Director of Research at the Health Foundation, joins Siân Pattenden to weigh up if there is any hope of saving it.

• “The NHS staff are wracked with trauma post-Covid.”
• “We ran the NHS hot at the edge of capacity before the pandemic.”
• “Pay is far from the central factor of low staff morale, they haven’t felt valued for years.”
• “A lot of hospitals are now running food banks for their staff.”

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Presented by Siân Pattenden. Producers: Jet Gerbertson and Alex Rees. Assistant Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Our unwritten constitution relies on our politicians acting in good faith. But with recent political crises leaving it creaking at the hinges, do we still benefit from its flexibility? Andrew Blick, co-author of The Bonfire of the Decencies: Repairing and Restoring the British Constitution, talks to Alex Andreou about how to fix the rules that rule us.

• “Our flexible constitution can adjust in times of public emergency.”
• “The ‘good chap’ phrase is as outdated as the theory.”
• “Our constitution isn’t codified, but there are more checks and balances.”
• “We have lost faith in politicians behaving themselves.”

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Written and presented by Alex Andreou. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Producers: Alex Rees, Jet Gerbertson. Assistant producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Audio production by Jade Bailey Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music: Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. 

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As Sunak embarks on a mission to “get tough” this week – is this another Tory vanity project avoiding the real issues? With pressure over the situation in Manston, more strikes looming and the economy still in turmoil, where should his focus actually be? Plus, mass unrest is shaking China – how will it play out? Yasmeen Serhan joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss the week ahead. 

• “Sunak isn’t being compared to a lettuce, yet.” – Jacob Jarvis 
• "A draconian approach has sparked mass protests across China." – Yasmeen Serhan 
• “There are big strikes on the horizon.” – Yasmeen Serhan

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Presented by Jacob Jarvis with Yasmeen Serhan. Producers: Jet Gerbertson and Alex Rees. Assistant Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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The UK has a jobs crisis – too many vacancies, and not enough people to fill them. Is migration the fix? The end of free movement of EU workers is partially to blame for the worker shortage – and filling the swathes of roles across the NHS, social care, hospitality and construction is not an easy task. Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory, tells Ros Taylor what the Government can do to fix the situation.

• “In the past the availability of some of those EU workers to fill jobs had papered over the problems.”
• “Low pay is effectively baked into the system by policy.”
• “From a purely mercenary perspective, the UK benefits a lot from bringing in people that it didn’t pay to train.”
• “The government hasn’t done enough to plan the workforce effectively”

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Presented by Ros Taylor. Producers: Jet Gerbertson and Alex Rees. Assistant Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Tucker Carlson is the most-watched cable news host in America. Who is he, why is he so popular and what makes him tick? He’s praised Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban, perpetuated the “stop the steal” nonsense, and regularly fills the airwaves with rhetoric to enrage the Republican right. Dan Cassino, author of Fox News and American Politics, joins Jacob Jarvis to discover what Carlson’s influence means for the future of the United States.

• “If he makes a mention of a candidate – either positively or negatively- that candidate moves up in the polls the next day.”
• “Tucker Carlson is a troll. He is a right-wing troll. He is someone who is saying the things that will get people upset because he believes that's the way to get attention and to have influence. The worst thing is, he’s not wrong.”
• “If I can make an extreme argument, once you respond to me, I’m in control. I’m the one setting the agenda.”
• “I’ve no doubt if that populist wing of the Republican party comes into disarray, that he’ll rebrand himself. “

Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Producers: Alex Rees and Jet Gerbertson. Assistant Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER USA is a Podmasters Production.

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As one of the world’s biggest economies, trouble in China means trouble for us all. China’s stringent Covid policy has seen businesses lock down, having a huge prolonged impact on trade and international relations. From global development to the war in Ukraine, George Magnus, author of Red Flags: Why Xi’s China is in Jeopardy joins Alex Andreou in The Bunker to tell us how the ripples of Chinese intervention spread far wider than we may imagine.

• "We’re all worried and thinking a lot about what’s going on in China. It's a huge economy and it has a huge impact on trade and international economic relations."
• “You’d need huge political reform as well and that’s just not going to happen, especially not under Xi Jinping”

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Written and presented by Alex Andreou. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Producers: Alex Rees and Jet Gerbertson. Assistant producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Music: Kenny Dickinson. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Lisa Nandy talks to Dorian Lynskey about the people and places left behind in modern Britain – and how to empower them. The shadow secretary of state for communities and local government discusses the communities that give her hope, the missteps of recent Governments and what shifts she’d like to see – as outlined in her new book All In: How We Build a Country That Works. 

• “Everywhere you go there is this feeling that everything is falling apart.”
• “People know that this country could be better… they’re very angry that for a long time they’ve been saying things haven’t been working.” 
• “People need hope. There’s got to be hope on the horizon.”
• “Change is inevitable. People won’t put up with the system anymore.” 

Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Producers: Jet Gerbertson and Alex Rees . Assistant producer Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. The Bunker is a Podmasters production.

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Musk’s Twitter takeover is leading to a mass exodus from the site. But is this just the Elon effect, or was that bound to happen anyway? Jacob Jarvis is joined by Marcus Gilroy-Ware, Lecturer in Creative Digital Media at SOAS and author of Filling the Void: Emotion, Capitalism and Social Media, about what the decline of the Twittersphere means for how we participate in politics – and to discuss whether this was an inevitability, regardless of who ran the platform. 

• “Musk is known for entrepreneurial pseudo-logic.”
• “Musk represents the death of the political.”
• “We all skip ads, so it’s not a viable way to fund social media.”

Support us on Patreon:

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis. Producers: Alex Rees, Jet Gerbertson. Assistant producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Music: Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has changed the world forever, but what was it like to be in Kyiv as the first bombs fell? Luke Harding, foreign correspondent at The Guardian, joins Arthur Snell to reveal all about the grim reality of Putin’s war, and the unheard human stories behind the headlines, covered in his new book Invasion: Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival.

• “A mum and two kids came into my shelter with colouring books, and you just knew people were already dying.”
• “Russian occupation means terror and murder.”
• “Deep down Putin is a coward, and I would be surprised if he used a nuclear bomb.”
• “Crimea is where Ukrainians used to go on holiday, but Russia has turned it into a ghastly military garrison.”

Support us on Patreon:

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Written and presented by Arthur Snell. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Producers: Jacob Archbold, Jelena Sofronijevic and Alex Rees. Assistant producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Music: Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. 

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.