The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

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A double-header on what you need to know about this week’s national elections: In Wales Labour could face an historic annihilation that will reverberate through the whole country. Should they blame Starmer or their own poor government? Will Plaid Cymru have to choose between the Greens and what’s left of Labour as coalition partners? And how in hell are English nationalists polling so well, even though their last leader is in prison for taking bribes to make pro-Russian speeches? Which way will Wales swing? Journalist Will Hayward, the go-to voice on Welsh politics, joins Andrew Harrison to make sense of it all.

• Follow Will’s must-read Substack on Welsh politics here

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

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. 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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• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing. 

Setting out the stories of the week ahead… As Labour braces itself for a battering in the local, Scottish and Welsh elections, Reform have an idea to liven things up: punishing anyone who votes Green by putting migrant detention centres in their constituency. Plus: What Russia’s scaled-down, tank-and-missile-free ‘Victory Day’ tells us about the state of Putin’s power. Protesting against the antisemitism crisis. And David Attenborough turns 100. Alex von Tunzelmann and Andrew Harrison set out the next seven… sorry, six days of news. 

• Get tomorrow’s Scotland and Wales election explainers TODAY when you back us at www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

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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They wear suits, sport shades and say almost nothing. The Secret Service deliberately operates in the shadows but a third assassination attempt on Donald Trump has suddenly put them in the spotlight. So what exactly do they do all day? And what does it take to protect the president? Former agent Mike de Gues, who previously guarded Trump, gives Gavin Esler the insider story. 

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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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• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing for The Bunker. 

King Charles’ US state visit has gone well so far — but what does it really mean for the UK’s increasingly strained “special relationship” ? Plus: we discuss the horrific attack in Golders Green, Keir Starmer dodges a parliamentary enquiry into the Peter Mandelson appointment, and finally, the end of hereditary peers. Jacob Jarvis is joined by Rafael Behr to unpack the biggest stories from the past week.

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Rafael Behr.  Producer: Kathleen Johnston and Jake Preston. Audio production: 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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• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off  a year’s Patreon backing.

Our op-ed obsessives are back tackling the brilliant, the baffling, and every take in between. This month’s edition is extra special: it's an American Friction takeover to mark Podmasters’ 10th birthday with Jacob Jarvis, Chris Jones and Nikki McCann Ramirez wading knee-deep into this month’s weirdest columns.  On the menu: resurfaced Donald Trump conspiracies, the Wegovy essay that broke the internet, Adrian Chiles' thoughts on, er, dog poo… and much more! 

• Spotted a column we should talk about next time? Send it to [email protected]  

• Stay in the loop with all things American Friction

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis, Chris Jones and Nikki McCann Ramirez. 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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Far-right politics used to mean street thugs, secretive meeting and the ever-present threat of violence. Now the far-right is in Westminster, suited, booted and hungrier than ever for power. How did a fringe ideology move to the mainstream? Author, journalist and expert on the far-right Daniel Trilling joins Zoë Grünewald to discuss how we got here – and whether we can stop Britain’s slide into extremism. 

 • Buy Daniel’s book If We Tolerate This: How the British Establishment Made the Far Right Respectable 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.

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

Written and presented by Zoë Grünewald. 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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Cryptocurrency has come a long way since it was a fringe enthusiasm for get-rich-quick bros and anti-state libertarian fantasists. Now “stablecoins” like Tether are on the verge of becoming a parallel banking system in the US, except much less regulated. And the moneymaking opportunities that crypto affords are corrupting American politics to a staggering degree.

Why is stablecoin more potent than regular crypto? Is the Trump Administration’s crypto boosterism essentially an enrichment scheme for the Trump family? WTF is going on with “Trumpcoin” and “Melaniacoin”? How deeply are Nigel Farage and Reform UK committed to bringing all this to Britain? And what happens if a mega stablecoin falls over? The FT’s Katie Martin takes Rafael Behr on an enthralling nightmare tour of “the biggest conflict of interest in history.”

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Written and presented by Rafael Behr. Producer: Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Chris Jones. 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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• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing. 

Setting up the events of the next seven days… Another day, another assassination attempt. Will the attack on Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner overshadow King Charles’s visit to the US? Will the gun attack change anything apart from making conspiracy nutters crazier? And what were journos doing at an event to celebrate a man who hates them and says they’re enemies of the people?

Plus: It’s Groundhog Day all over again as Labour agonises over Starmer’s leadership. Morgan McSweeney to be seen in public at last. And it’s Forest vs Villa in a Europa League semi-final that’s straight from 1979! Ros Taylor and Andrew Harrison read the runes for the week ahead.

• Don’t miss the Oh God, What Now? vs Origin Story Patreons’ Podclash this Thursday 30 April. 

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

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.

www.podmasters.co.uk 

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• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing. 

Our original podcast is back for one week only! Bigmouth AKA The Culture Bunker, the pop culture chatpod that birthed The Bunker, Oh God, What Now? and more, returns for our tenth birthday. On the agenda: Kneecap’s new album ‘Fenian’, Apple TV’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles, hot new tunes from the panel… and all the stuff we missed when we were off air, including Project Hail Mary and The Lowdown.

With regulars Andrew Harrison and Siân Pattenden plus returning guests, The Guardian’s Jude Rogers (who was on the very first Bigmouth on 24 April 2016) and writer and music tech guru Michael Moran… who reveals an astonishing secret.

• Hear the tunes we talk about today on the Bigmouth rolling playlist… still going! 

• Hear Boots On The Ground by Massive Attack & Tom Waits, which isn’t on streaming.

• And neither are The Shashashanimals. 

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison and Siân Pattenden. Audio production: Tom Taylor. 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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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing for The Bunker. 

Starmer has had another tumultuous week amid the Peter Mandelson and Olly Robbins drama. Is there a route back and who’s really benefiting from the fallout?

Plus: The Onion buys Alex Jones’s InfoWars, Donald Trump’s administration shows fresh signs of strain as the Iran ceasefire is extended, and how worried should we be about Anthropic’s new model Mythos? Jacob Jarvis is joined by Jonn Elledge to unpack the biggest stories from the past week.

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Jonn Elledge.  Producer: Kathleen Johnston. Production Assistant: Jake Preston. Audio production: Simon Williams.  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 

Written and presented by: Jacob Jarvis with Jonn Elledge.  Producer: Kathleen Johnston. Production Assistant: Jake Preston. Audio production: Simon Williams.  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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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.