The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

Hollywood bowled over: Coronavirus has thrown the entire movie industry into suspended animation. Are the studios strong enough to withstand this unprecedented shock? Will smaller movies become collateral damage in the shutdown? Will straight-to-streaming become the new norm for even blockbuster movies? And anyone for Tenet? Is Christopher Nolan’s mind-scrambler really going to save the movies business? Nick de Semlyen of EMPIRE magazine explains the industry’s travails to Dorian Lynskey.

“I don’t think the cinema experience is going to die. But it’s definitely under threat.”

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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The Government’s emergency measures have saddled Britain with levels of debt unseen outside wartime – and a possible future of mass unemployment. How can we rebuild the economy for a post-COVID future? What’s the scale of the task? And which industries could thrive after the shutdown and which are doomed? DR GARRY YOUNG, co-Deputy Director of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, sets out our possible futures to 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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As we disappear deeper into virtual worlds both for work and relaxation, what are the political dimensions of the technologies we depend on to connect? Videogame scriptwriter Edward Stern, who has worked on Dirty Bomb, Gears Of War and other “shooty bang” games, explains to novice Ros Taylor why games will be increasingly important in our distanced future… what makes a good game tick… why they aren’t as gendered as you thought … what their ascendancy can teach us about our modern world… and how to present yourself on Zoom.  

• “For people with disabilities, a game that lets you fly when you can’t walk is quite a big deal. That’s existentially redefining.” 
• “Reality is quite badly written at the moment. The characters are bad. You have very few actions available to you. And you’re stuck in one place for far too …” 

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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Are YOU staying alert? If not, WHY not? We look at the Government’s confusing (and possibly self-serving) re-do of its COVID advice. UCL Global Politics professor and presenter of the Power Corrupts podcast Brian Klaas explains why we’re asking the wrong questions about Trump’s shambolic Corona response. And is this the most disappointing apocalypse ever if you happen to be a guy visiting Subway with a bazooka? 

Ros Taylor and Ahir Shah of The Mash Report join Dorian Lynskey for this week’s full-length BUNKER.

• “Socially-distanced congas are at least preferable to eating the neighbours.” – Ahir Shah
• “Blithering on about garden centres is not a sensible way to run a country.” – Ros Taylor
• “This virus really doesn’t listen to the will of the people at all…” – Dorian Lynskey
• “Every time you don’t directly say ‘Don’t do this’, a portion of the population is going to do that thing.” – Brian Klaas

Presented by Dorian Lynskey with Ros Taylor and Ahir Shah. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Script and assistant production by Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickenson. Logo and artwork by Mark Taylor. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters production.

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Coronavirus has changed everything – and maybe inaugurated a strange new era of history that nobody anticipated. What can we learn from past existential crises, from the oil shock to the world financial emergency of 2008? Will 2020 be a turning point like 1945 or 1979? And what good could come from this great upheaval? Historian ALWYN TURNER, author of Rejoice! Rejoice!: Britain in the 1980s, Crisis? What Crisis?: Britain in the 1970s and the upcoming All In It Together, talks to Andrew Harrison about life on the hinge of history. 

“Whether we like it or not, this is the dawning of a new era.” 

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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Meanwhile, in Brazil… Extreme populist President Jair Bolsonaro’s dismissive response to the Corona crisis makes even Trump’s look vaguely reasonable. Could the anti-lockdown sentiment he’s fomenting push Brazil into real crisis? And how does this homophobic, military fetishist, formerly marginal far-right figure maintain power? Rio-based British journalist DOM PHILLIPS talks to Dorian Lynskey about wild times in the world’s sixth-largest country. 

• “A professor in Rio once described Bolsanaro as just a troll… but he has a very popular touch. And he’s very, very extreme.” 
• “The stuff I saw during the elections, it’s absolutely staggering that a mainstream politician would say these things.” 

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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Who’s up for some philosophy? COVID is shaping up as a crucible for the very idea of freedom – and an ultimate test for populism and libertarianism. Ian Dunt talks to TOBY BUCKLE of the Political Philosophy Podcast about what freedom means, who owns it, what the lockdown is doing to international notions of liberty, and whether Boris Johnson is, if possible, even worse than Trump.

“Look at the evidence. Don’t look at your intuition. What seems obvious to you won’t be obvious to someone from another part of the country.”

“Politics isn’t about policies. It’s about disagreements about the meaning of words.”

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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How is the Great Home Schooling Experiment going? Is distance learning exposing the holes in Conservative eduction policy – and the gulf between wealthy pupils and state students without laptops and iPads? Do we need to stop treating schools as a national childcare service? And will we see the end of traditional summer holidays? Education journalist LAURA MCINERNY who runs Teacher Tapp talks to Dorian Lynskey about the ongoing class struggle. 

• “Nine in ten vulnerable children are now NOT at school.”
• “Those in the poorest areas are reporting that their children are doing the least and have the least resources.” 
• “Motivation is a massive issue. If something you’ve spent five years working towards is taken away, you might just think ‘I’m never going to work for anything again’.” 

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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Britain’s COVID response is now officially the worst in Europe – yet somehow Boris Johnson is getting away it. How? Plus: The NHS triumphant. Health policy expert Roy Lilley on how the service must change after the Corona ordeal. And what have we learned on our enforced retreat into inner space? Gavin Esler and Ayesha Hazarika join Andrew Harrison for this week’s full-length BUNKER.

“Everyone’s an epidemiologist nowadays.” 

Produced and presented by Andrew Harrison. Script and assistant production by Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickenson. Logo and artwork by Mark Taylor. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters production.

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After an economic shock that’s unique in human history, how can we rebuild Britain’s businesses and public finances? How are we going to pay off a national debt unseen outside of wartime? Ian Mulheirn, Chief Economist of Renewing the Centre at the Tony Blair Institute, tells Naomi Smith about the hard choices ahead in a world without rules. 

• “This is the first time ever that governments have actively decided to switch the economy off.” 
• “We won’t be as worried about paying this debt off as we might have been in the past. We’ll just have to live with it.” 
• “This is what the State is for. It’s for safeguarding livelihoods and lives in times of crisis.” 

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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