The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

Britain’s Miners’ Strike conjures up strong emotions to this day – despite 40 years having passed since the confrontation. But what are the common misconceptions of this period of history? And how are its effects still being felt today? Andrew Harrison asks Robert Gildea, emeritus professor of modern history at the University of Oxford, about the enduring legacy of the Miners’ Strike.   

• “The slogan was ‘close a pit, kill a community’ – and there was indeed devastation across mining communities in the decade after the strikes.” – Robert Gildea  

• "There was a kind of ‘alternative welfare state’ that was set up largely by the miners’ wives who sustained striking miners and their families. Women came into their own.” – Robert Gildea  

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Listen to the latest episode of Jam Tomorrow on the coal industry:  

https://listen.podmasters.uk/JT2404coal 

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson and artwork by James Parrett. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Britain’s police forces seem constantly embroiled in scandal. Where does this stem from and where is most of the corruption? Former police officer and undercover drugs operative Neil Woods, author of Good Cop, Bad War, talks to Alex Andreou about the extent of police corruption in Britain and the pressing need for drug reform to reduce the problem.  

• “If the public understood the extent of corruption caused by drug policy, we would have a referendum... Drug laws in this country are not ethically sound.” – Neil Woods 

• “Because criminals control the over £10 billion a year drug market, which is completely unregulated, the vastness of that wealth is what gives organised crime its power to corrupt.” – Neil Woods 

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Written and presented by Alex Andreou. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio editor: Simon Williams. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson and artwork by James Parrett. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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The Tories face electoral obliteration, according to the polls – can Sunak do anything about it? We reflect on the latest damning survey and the current fallouts swirling around the PM. Plus we discuss conflict in the Middle East, and the latest strikes on Gaza and Syria. And finally we look at the latest from the war in Ukraine, then the election results in Turkey. Alex Andreou joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss the week ahead.  

• “This is a really high-stakes local election – if the Tories do as poorly as some of the polls predict, it might be time-up for Rishi Sunak” – Alex Andreou  

• “Most Tory voters are now either sanguine about a Labour government, or actively want one.” – Alex Andreou  

• “Putin’s words often have the opposite effect to what they intended.” – Alex Andreou 

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Written and Presented by Jacob Jarvis. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Collapsing birthrates have inspired dramas from The Handmaid’s Tale to Children of Men, but it isn’t just science fiction any more. We might not realise it, but we’re living through an epidemic of infertility – and it’s getting worse. How did we get here? What does it mean when humans have fewer babies? And how do we turn it around?  

Jude Rogers finds out from world-leading environmental and reproductive epidemiologist Dr Shanna Swan, author of the cheerily-entitled Count Down: How Our Modern World Is Threatening Sperm Counts, Altering Male and Female Reproductive Development and Imperilling the Future of the Human Race. 

• “This is too fast to be merely evolution... This is a worldwide challenge, if not a catastrophe.” – Dr Shanna Swan 

• “Chemicals that affect hormones are influencing the decline in birth rates. We’re the guinea pigs… People need to exert pressure on governments to bring in legislation to stop that.” – Dr Shanna Swan 

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Written and presented by Jude Rogers. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson and artwork by James Parrett. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Putin’s threats have made nuclear conflict plausible for the first time since the Cold War – but few really understand the enormity of what it would mean. New book Nuclear War: A Scenario describes such a war step-by-step, from a surprise first strike from North Korea to the destruction of Washington D.C, miles-wide firestorms, the immolation of hundreds of millions of people, and the final extinction of civilisation – all within two hours and 40 minutes. 

Pulitzer-nominated author Annie Jacobsen conducted dozens of new interview with military and civilian experts. She talks Andrew Harrison through her timeline of a realistic Apocalypse. 

• “What unfolds is a series of missteps with extraordinary consequences.” – Annie Jacobson

• “This is without doubt the most terrifying book I’ve ever read.” – Andrew Harrison

• “We have a launch on warning policy. If we believe a ballistic missile is going to hit the U.S., the President will launch a nuclear weapon immediately. But they are woefully unprepared and uneducated about it.” – Annie Jacobson

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Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio editor: Simon Williams. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson and artwork by James Parrett. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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The Moon is packed with precious resources – silicon for microchips, manganese for batteries, and titanium for missiles. As private companies, Japan, China, Russia, India and others rush to claim our lunar neighbour, will they look after humanity’s interests or their own? And what happens when these big, belligerent actors collide? A.C. Grayling, writer, broadcaster and philosophy professor, has just published Who Owns the Moon? In Defence of Humanity’s Common Interests in Space. He talks to Alex Andreou about exploration, exploitation and trouble on the next frontier.

Buy Who Owns the Moon? 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.

• “Nobody owns the Moon, which means everybody does. And if we all own it, we should all have a say in it. But in reality, very few people are having a say in it.” – A.C. Grayling

• “The U.N. treaty, in declaring the Moon a no-man’s land, has provided us with nothing that would restrain any activity there. The treaty is not fit for purpose. We need a better one.” – A.C. Grayling

• “Right now is the last time in history that you’d want to try and get everyone to sign an international treaty for the moon.” – A.C. Grayling

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Written and presented by Alex Andreou. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio editor: Simon Williams. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson and artwork by James Parrett. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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We think our media is mostly truthful, honest and fearless, but investigative journalism is increasingly stymied by legal threats and the infamous SLAPP (“Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation”) from the powerful. In Cuckooland: Where The Rich Own The Truth, Guardian investigations correspondent Tom Burgis follows a trail of money and influence from Uzbekistan, Nepal and Putin’s Russia to the heart of the Conservative Party – and an extraordinary encounter with Tory donor Mohamed Amersi. If money, power and limitless legal resources mean the rich can redefine the truth, as Burgis claims, what can we do about it?

Buy Cuckooland 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.

• “People think journalists can report things honestly, but what you don’t see is that … a lot of journalists self-censor, choose not to write about people who are litigious.” - Tom Burgis

• “This is the reality of journalism these days. We’re always carrying a lawyer around in our heads. - Tom Burgis

• “The story of our time, from Putin to Trump and all points in between, is how these kleptocrats seize and maintain power through corruption.” - Tom Burgis

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

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Britain is blaming Beijing for a major cyber attack on voter data – how will this impact relations with China? And how awkward could things get for David Cameron? Plus, Rishi Sunak isn’t doing well as Prime Minister – but are the Tories giving up on plans to replace him? And we discuss the fallout from the recent Moscow terror attack, as well as the latest calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. Alex Andreou joins Jacob Jarvis to talk through the news to look out for this week.   

• “I can’t imagine how [David Cameron] must be feeling, it was only in 2015 he was trumpeting a golden era with China.” – Alex Andreou  

• “Whatever way you cut it – the Conservatives will lose hundreds of seats” – Alex Andreou 

• “There’s been a parade of people saying ’leave Kate alone!’, and those people have made living from not leaving her alone” – Alex Andreou  

• “You can’t punish civilians for the sins of their leader” – Alex Andreou 

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Written and Presented by Jacob Jarvis. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. ENDS 

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With Trump set to be the GOP’s presidential candidate, who will he pick to be his running mate? There’s a whole host of Republicans lining up to take on the role – despite Trump’s backlog of legal battles and the questionable ways he treats those around him. But who has a chance – and who’s been completely ruled out already? Jacob Jarvis is joined in the Bunker by Politico’s senior political columnist and politics bureau chief Jonathan Martin, before taking a deep dive on some of the candidates with Bunker USA producer Chris Jones.  

• “There are plenty of thirsty Republicans, as the kids would say, who are eager to take the risk.” – Jonathan Martin 

• “I think the criteria is someone he can totally control… and in short someone who is not Mike Pence.” – Jonathan Martin 

• “Ambition is a powerful drug and that’s obvious when it comes to US politics.” – Jonathan Martin 

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. 

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Is Britain moving into a “pre-war world”, as Defence Secretary Grant Shapps warned in January? Could we fight a land war or other conflict with Russia if we had to? Are we prepared militarily, economically and psychologically? And what would we have to do to make ourselves secure? RUSI European Security Research Fellow Edward R. Arnold tells Ros Taylor some uncomfortable home truths about NATO, our European allies, and our ability to defend ourselves.

• “Our forces are quite underprepared. Two years ago it was assessed the British army has enough artillery to fight for a week – the German army for only two days.” – Edward R. Arnold

• “War between NATO and Russia would look very different from the war with Russia and Ukraine. Offensive operations are far more complicated than defensive operations.” – Edward R. Arnold

• “The risk of Britain going to war with Russia as a part of NATO is certainly there, either deliberately or accidentally with Russia by the end of the decade.” - Edward R. Arnold

Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio editor: Robin Leeburn. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. 


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