The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

Reform UK’s conference was as weird and worrying as you might have expected. If you haven’t seen the “highlights” then we’ll spare you watching. Matthew Holehouse, The Economist’s British politics correspondent, was there and joins Gavin Esler to discuss what went on. 

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. 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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Angela Rayner’s departure has left Labour in turmoil as the party looks to recalibrate. Will Starmer’s changes work? Plus, Reform UK held its conference at the weekend – is there any way of stealing the spotlight back from them? Gavin Esler and Jacob Jarvis discuss all this and more in Start Your Week.

We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. 

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Gavin Esler. 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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As the fake news pandemic worsens, Twitter/X and Facebook are phasing out their human fact-checkers in favour of crowdsourcing the job – that is, getting the users to do it. And it turns out that the “Community Notes” system Musk loves so much doesn’t work at all as you’d expect. Are fact-checkers fighting a losing battle? Chris Morris, Chief Executive of the independent investigative charity Full Fact, talks to Andrew Harrison about the crisis of truth in news, how A.I. is making it worse, and what happens if we leave it all to the alleged wisdom of crowds. 

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• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker to get your £100 sponsored credit.

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Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Simon Williams. Produced by Liam Tait. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Art by Jim Parrett. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Conspiracy theories used to be confined to fringe internet discussions and the guy you’d avoid in the pub. Now, thanks to figures like Donald Trump, they’ve gone mainstream. But where’s the line between healthy scepticism and believing the Royal Family are lizard people? Today in The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by Daniel Jolley, social psychologist and Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham, to find out how the UK embraced conspiracy theories and what we can do to sort fact from fiction. 

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Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Blond white children playing in slightly-too-colourful fields? London as an open sewer patrolled by threatening migrants? Trump as Superman? Alligators in MAGA hats? The far-right thrives on generative artificial intelligence images and they’re all so naff. Is A.I. slop the official art style of the new authoritarianism? New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie talks to Andrew Harrison about why the radical right loves shiny, sentimental images; how they connect to Hitler’s fascist kitsch; and what it means when reality doesn’t live up to your fantasies. 

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Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Chris Jones and Robin Warren. Produced by Liam Tait. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Art by Jim Parrett. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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It’s been more than 1,280 days since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The death toll is unthinkable, peace talks are stuck and Trump’s latest “summit” in Alaska hasn’t shifted the dial.

Today in The Bunker, Chris Jones is joined by journalist and This Is Not a Drill co-host Oz Katerji to ask: where does the war stand now, and how is Ukraine enduring under the relentless assault from Russia?

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.  

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Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social 

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Written and presented by Chris Jones. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editors: Simon Williams. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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‘Weekend At Donald’s’? After a feverish few days of speculation about the President’s health, we get back to reality. Alex von Tunzelmann guides you through the week ahead, from the beginning of Starmer’s make-or-break autumn with all its thorny taxation issues to the endless flags-and-hotels protests – will they burn out with the summer? Plus the assassination of a Ukrainian politician, earthquake in Afghanistan and Trump’s latest power-grab. 

• Support us on Patreon for early episodes and more.

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker to get your £100 sponsored credit.

• Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Produced by Liam Tait. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Art by Jim Parrett. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

www.podmasters.co.uk

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At the core of the most infamous regime in history is a paradox: a leader who somehow exercised total control while being personally lazy and issuing only vague instructions to his ministers. In Hitler’s People: The Faces of the Third Reich the renowned historian Richard J Evans investigates Hitler’s central clique from Göring, Goebbels and Himmler to low-level followers and fellow travellers. He talks to Alex von Tunzelmann about the power dynamic at the centre of Third Reich and what it can tell us about how authoritarians rule today. 

• Buy Hitler’s People through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

• Support us on Patreon for early episodes and more.

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker to get your £100 sponsored credit.

• Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more

Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Produced by Liam Tait. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Art by Jim Parrett. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

www.podmasters.co.uk 

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He’s climbing up a lamp-post near you to hang flags. He’s smearing every immigrant in terms that would have got you kicked out of the Tories even five years ago. And he thinks he can lead the Conservatives. What turned Robert Jenrick from a non-threatening Cameroonist Tory into a trouble-stirring Cosplay Farage? Does he really believe in anything? Would he do a deal with Reform? Or would he merge with it? Rob Hutton, parliamentary sketchwriter for The Critic magazine, joins Andrew Harrison to discuss the hidden shallows of the man they still call “Robert Generic”.  

• Support us on Patreon for early episodes and more.

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker to get your £100 sponsored credit.

• Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Produced by Liam Tait. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Art by Jim Parrett. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

www.podmasters.co.uk

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Inside today’s Russia, conspiracy theories like this aren’t just fringe curiosities, they’re mainstream. From TV talk shows to Putin himself, wild stories about stolen lands, shadowy Western plots, and circling enemies aren’t dismissed; they’re used to fuel Russia’s war in Ukraine and position the country as a morally just state.

Today in The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by Dr Ilya Yablokov, Lecturer in Digital Journalism and Disinformation at the University of Sheffield, to explain how the Russian state uses mass media to normalise conspiracy theories to the public.

• We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to https://indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit.  

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Follow us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bunkerpod.bsky.social 

Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact [email protected] to find out more

Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editors: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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