The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

We hear a lot about the personalities of infamous figures like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un – but relatively little about one of the most powerful people in the world: Xi Jinping. Who is Xi, how did he get to where he is today, and what does he want? To find out, Ros Taylor talks to Michael Sheridan, whose new book The Red Emperor: Xi Jinping and His New China charts the leader’s incredible rise to power.

Buy The Red Emperor: Xi Jinping and His New China 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.

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

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

www.podmasters.co.uk

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

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

US presidential debates are part spectacle, part showdown, and sometimes total sh*tshow. What is it about American politics that lends itself to these televised debates, and how have they evolved over time? Ahead of the Harris-Trump debate, Seth Alexander Thévoz spoke to Alan Schroeder, emeritus professor in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University and author of Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail, about the weird history of US presidential debates.

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

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

Written and presented by Seth Alexander Thévoz. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

www.podmasters.co.uk

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

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

In a busy week ahead of conference recess, look out for a major report on the state of the NHS and a contentious vote on winter fuel payments. Plus, there’ll be action on no-fault evictions, new developments in the COVID inquiry and the start of early prison releases. How is Labour navigating these challenges? Plus, Keir Starmer meets with Joe Biden – and in more U.S. politics news, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump hold their first debate this week. Find out what news to look out for in the week ahead with Ros Taylor and Hannah Fearn.

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

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

www.podmasters.co.uk

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

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

Something is going terribly wrong with Hollywood. The movie industry is shrinking, its revenue is down and its employees are being forced out. Fewer major studios are making fewer movies. But why? What is leading this mass creative exodus, and can the engine of America’s movie industry be saved? Pop culture historian Daniel Bessner answers this in his exhaustive Harper's Bazaar piece entitled ‘The Life and Death of Hollywood’, which he discusses with Andrew Harrison in The Bunker. 

The Life and Death of Hollywood, Harper’s Bazaar, by Daniel Bessner: https://harpers.org/archive/2024/05/the-life-and-death-of-hollywood-daniel-bessner/

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

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

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

www.podmasters.co.uk

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

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

Scare stories about Artificial Intelligence are everywhere – but its colossal environmental impact is startlingly underreported. How exactly does the use of A.I. contribute to the climate crisis, is there anything being done to counteract it, and why is this issue largely unknown? To find out, Kate Devlin talks to 

Jesse Dodge, senior research scientist at the Allen Institute for AI. 

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

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Written and presented by Kate Devlin. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production 

www.podmasters.co.uk 

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

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

The US Republican Party used to be known as the party of law and order. Now it’s headed by a convicted felon, Donald Trump. Peter Wehner, has served in three Republican administrations and was speechwriter for George W. Bush during his presidency. He now writes for The Atlantic and The New York Times and says what has happened to his party “haunts” him. He joins Chris Jones in The Bunker to explain why. 

Peter Wehner’s essay for The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/29/opinion/trump-vance-republican-party.html  

Support us on Patreon.

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

Written and presented by Chris Jones. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison Music by Kenny Dickinson. 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.

Keir Starmer has promised change – but what form will it take? And could it mean the return to the concept of the so-called ‘Big State’? Will Labour’s proposed plans for increased public ownership and workers’ rights be the transformation Britain so desperately needs – or could an interventionist approach do more harm than good? To find out, Gavin Esler talks to New Statesman senior politics editor George Eaton.

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

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

www.podmasters.co.uk

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

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

Summer is coming to a close, kids are returning to school, Parliament is back and there’s no shortage of problems facing Keir Starmer. What will the Commons be focused on? And how quickly can Starmer clean up the Tories’ mess? In Germany, the far-right AfD triumphed in state elections on Sunday. How worried should we be? And in the Middle-East, why are we no closer to seeing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas? The week ahead with Ros Taylor and Gavin Esler.

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

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

www.podmasters.co.uk

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

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

We used to think that machines would only take over manual work. Now A.I. looks capable of anything. Will work become a luxury for a select few? Are there some jobs that can never be automated? Alex Andreou talks to Allison Pugh – author of The Last Human Job – about tech’s growing power and why our humanity depends on the connections that work fosters.

Buy The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World 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.

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

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

Written and presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

www.podmasters.co.uk

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

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

With its paranoid fantasies of Donald Trump at war with a secret, Satanic US government, the QAnon conspiracy wrought terrible damage on American politics. But spreading the word of Q exacts damage on believers too. Journalist Jesselyn Cook explored the broken lives and shattered relationships of Q believers for her new book The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family. She tells Andrew Harrison what makes someone fall into the mirror world of QAnon – and whether they can be rescued.

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

Buy The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family 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.

www.patreon.com/bunkercast

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

www.podmasters.co.uk

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

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