The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

Why do we believe lies just because there’s a graph attached? How can we develop a sixth sense to detect statistical disinformation? Data scientist and University of Washington professor Jevin D West, co-author of Calling Bullsh*t: The Art Of Scepticism In A Data Driven World, talks to Ros Taylor about the warping of COVID statistics by selection bias… how our brains are built to fall victim to false correlation… Sigmund Freud on cocaine… and why sharing information as soon as you see it is like picking a sweet up of the street and eating it. 

• “It’s almost as if data falls from the skies and lands on our desk, and we can’t question it. But we can.”
• “If there’s a rule, it’s share less, think more.”
• “If I wanted to gauge the average height of the population I wouldn’t go to an NBA game. That’s selection bias.” 

Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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What should we watch out for in the impending confrontation between India and China, the world’s largest democracy and the world’s largest autocratic superpower? And how does Pakistan fit in? Prof GUY BURTON of Vesalius College in Brussels joins Arthur Snell to explain the sources of these tensions between the world’s two most populous countries, what leaders Xi and Modi want, why they’re ignoring the Europeans – and what post-colonialism means for the reality of 21st century power politics.

Presented by Arthur Snell. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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A-Levelling down: can the Government just style out a total betrayal of hardworking strivers? And will Gavin Williamson stay unsacked before you finish this paragraph? Former MEP Caroline Voaden joins us to channel the rage of parents and teenagers everywhere. Plus: Will the shine go off the Chancellor as Sunakmania gives way to the Rishicession? And what are we going to eat when Hard Brexit strips the shelves of food? It’s the full-length panel edition of The Bunker.

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Naomi Smith, Ahir Shah and Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Script and assistant production by Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickenson. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters production

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The Government’s new planning ideas hand a huge advantage to developers, with no-question greenlights for permissions in new “growth” and “renewal” areas. Is this a real fix for the housing crisis or just another free market free-for-all? STEVE COLE of Clarion Group – the UK’s largest housing association and also a developer – tells Naomi Smith why our housing crisis is so entrenched, and why the Johnson-Jenrick plans could well mean fewer affordable houses are built.

• “People love a smoking gun – but this is a massively complex crisis that has been a generation in the making.”
• “Housing is one of the most unstable government departments. By the time someone gets their head around it, they usually leave office.”

Presented by Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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What makes comedy happen? Our most celebrated impressionist RORY BREMNER talks to Alex Andreou about how his ADHD drives his own work – plus tracking and tracing Boris Johnson’s offspring, how hard it is to pin down a take on today’s political mediocrities, Brexit, and of course the loss to COVID of his great friend and colleague Tim Brooke-Taylor. And yes, there WILL be impressions… 

• “Fire, bank crashes, plague… We’re living a box set life now and you wonder, Who is writing this?”
• “Johnson isn’t a leader, he’s a cheerleader. His skillset is bluster and bombast.”

Presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Job losses are surging, but the next wave of mass unemployment won’t be like the ones in the 80s, the 90s or the financial crisis of 2008. The Institute for Government’s GILES WILKES – economist and past special advisor to Vince Cable and Theresa May – tells Andrew Harrison why the old remedies for joblessness won’t work, how COVID has robbed the Government of room to manoeuvre, and what sort of industries might emerge from this once-in-a-century crisis. 

Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Belarus is convulsed by pro-democracy demonstrations, the opposition leader has fled in fear and the EU is threatening to reimpose sanctions. Yet pig-farmer turned strongman Alexander Lukashenko shows no sign of relinquishing his 26-year grip on power. Professor Andrew Wilson of UCL, the author of Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship, talks to Dorian Lynskey about how Lukashenko rigs elections, the prospects for bringing real democracy to Belarus, and who’s keeping “Batka” in power. 

• “There’s YouTube video of someone shouting ‘Just swap the votes!’” 
• “Lukashenko was shocked by Putin’s attack on Crimea. Even dictators want to stay in power.”
• “Lukashenko hasn’t done anything clever. It’s just the police vs the demonstrators.”

Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Since before the Referendum, rivers of untraceable money have flowed through our politics, washing away accountability and benefiting secretive and powerful people. Peter Geoghegan of openDemocracy joins us to discuss the revelations of his new book Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics – and explore what we need to do when technology outpaces the law. Plus: Which zone is your home? Why the Government’s plans for planning won’t solve the housing crisis. And the future of Lebanon.

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Nina Schick and Arthur Snell. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Script and assistant production by Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickenson. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters production

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There’s a world going on underground. Ethnographer, archaeologist and author of the eerily prescient Bunker: Building For The End Times BRADLEY GARRETT is fascinated by tunnels, chambers and hidden realms – and what drives people to populate them. He tells Ros Taylor about the allure of the subterranean, the hidden city under Wiltshire – and the Doomsday Preppers who wanted to buy it – and the cocktail of modern dreads that make humans refuge underground.

Hold tight for Bunker on bunker action… with a Rees-Mogg connection too. 

• “COVID has revealed how fragile the society we’ve built over the past 30 years is. We created COVID’s pathways around the world.” 
• “The city is archaeology in reverse… the newest has to be the deepest.” 
• “If you’re heavily invested in societal collapse, and you’re in power, you might want to bring that collapse about.” 

Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Priti Patel might be trying to stoke fears with her ludicrous ‘Clandestine Channel Threat Commander’ but as the Brexit madness recedes, is the environment for immigrants moving in an inexorably more liberal direction? Professor Jonathan Portes of KCL takes Ian Dunt on a deep dive into the economic realities of immigration and finds that not only will we need more immigrants to deal with the post-COVID challenges… but that we may have passed the high point of xenophobia in Britain.

Listen up for what Dunt is calling “my first-even optimistic Bunker Daily…” 

Presented by Ian Dunt. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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