The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

A special crossover episode with This Is Not A Drill, our geopolitics podcast. Why are UK and US navies defending Western shipping against missile attacks and hijacks from rebels in the poorest country in the Middle East? The battle between the Yemeni government and the Houthi militia threatens to spill over into a wider regional conflict – and Iran is fanning the flames. What happens next?

Gavin Esler talks to Helen Lackner, author of Yemen In Crisis, to find out who the Houthi are, what they want, what their rebellion means for the West… and whether the war could spread.

Follow This Is Not A Drill on your favourite podcast provider for weekly interviews and reports on the world’s flashpoints.

Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Art by James Parrett. Bunker music by Kenny Dickinson. TINAD music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER and THIS IS NOT A DRILL are Podmasters Productions

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Brainwashing has been utilised as a political tool for centuries. How exactly is it weaponised today? Daniel Pick, author of Brainwashed: A New History of Thought Control, discusses the history and contemporary manifestations of thought control with Alex Andreou, in The Bunker. 

• “Brainwashing seeks both to decimate and damage the mind – and to infiltrate ideas and to organise ideologies in a systematic way.” – Daniel Pick

• “Behavioural units exist within governments, including Downing Street, to advise on the best way to nudge people in a benign way. Such units were utilised, for example, during the Covid pandemic.” – Daniel Pick

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Presented by Alex Andreou. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production: Simon Williams. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Internet culture has changed a lot since the last general election – so the way politicians use it will have to evolve too. Facebook may no longer be the king of social media, but have Sunak and Starmer mastered Tiktok, Instagram or YouTube? Today in The Bunker, Ros Taylor speaks with professor of digital politics at Sheffield University, Kate Dommett, about the tricks politicians will be using to win your votes.

• "Political parties are trying to reach out to younger voters and they aren’t using Facebook anymore.” – Kate Dommett

• “A code of conduct on digital campaigning among major parties isn’t going to stop campaign groups using underhand tactics online." – Kate Dommett

• “No politician in the UK has successfully mastered TikTok yet." – Kate Dommett

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Written and Presented by Ros Taylor. Producer: Liam Tait. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Simon Williams. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Once known as the Brexit Party, Reform UK wants to mortally wound the Tories in the General Election. Do its recent poll spikes show real support for Richard Tice’s vociferously anti-migration, anti-woke party? Should the Tories really worry – and should Labour? And could those fanciful stories about Nigel Farage joining the Tories and taking over as leader really come true? Legendary journalist and broadcaster Michael Crick explains it all to Andrew Harrison.

Buy One Party After Another: The Disruptive Life of Nigel Farage 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.

• “I think there’s a 20% chance Farage will be Conservative leader someday.” – Michael Crick

• “If he wanted to get rid of Richard Tice, he could. He’s a ruthless figure is Farage.” – Michael Crick

• “You can’t just say that all of the votes Reform get would have gone to the Conservatives.” – Michael Crick

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

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Rishi Sunak faces more backbench backlash as Parliament returns. Plus – will an emergency summit give closure to the 700 victims of the Post Office scandal? Finally in a year of vital elections, how will the Taiwan election shape global politics?  

• “Sunak should not be pandering to the party faithful. That’s not governing.” – Ros Taylor 

• “We’re looking at three byelections in just eight days. It doesn’t look good for the Conservatives.” – Alex Andreou

• “Why has it taken an ITV drama to get the Post Office scandal noticed?” – Ros Taylor

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Written and presented by Alex Andreou with Ros Taylor. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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There’s pretty much only one certainty in US politics in 2024: chaos. Trump faces a reckoning with the law, but is still very much in the running for the presidency. Meanwhile scrutiny against Biden ramps up. How will these controversies play out? Joining Gavin Esler in The Bunker to discuss all of this is senior editor at The Dispatch and host of the Advisory Opinions podcast, Sarah Isgur. 

• “Asteroids hit every day, but yes, it’s going to be Biden vs Trump.” – Sarah Isgur

• “I have no idea whether Trump can pardon himself and neither does anyone else.” – Sarah Isgur

• “We have not had a truly viable 3rd party candidate arguably ever.” – Sarah Isgur

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Presented by Gavin Esler. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio production: Robin Leeburn Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Britain’s damaged economy will dominate this election year but it’s a sprawling topic. We’ve broken it down into five key issues to keep an eye on in 2024 – from the endless battle over tax cuts to the still-dire cost of living crisis, from the mortgage timebomb to the unforeseen consequences of AI. Former advisor to Vince Cable and now senior fellow at the Institute for Government Giles Wilkes lays out the issues for Andrew Harrison. 

• “Tax cuts don’t win elections.” — Giles Wilkes

• “Debt is not evil in itself. Debt is the ability to borrow from the future and if we hadn’t invented it, we’d be much poorer.” – Giles Wilkes

• “The past couple of years have probably been as bad for the cost of living as we've had since the period of rationing.” – Giles Wilkes

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Presented by Andrew Harrison. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production: Simon Williams. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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AI took the world by storm in 2023 – and has the potential to fundamentally change it in 2024. But will it be for better or worse? That all depends on who utilises it. Dr. Kate Devlin is joined in The Bunker by Kyle Taylor, author of the The Little Black Book of Artificial Intelligence: How Big Tech is Making Humanity Redundant to discuss. 

• “Everything in the AI space is being designed in a for-profit lens.” – Kyle Taylor

• “Now it’s the white collar jobs that can be replaced easily.” – Dr. Kate Devlin

• “Half the world is going to the polls – and now because of AI you have no idea what is real online anymore.” – Kyle Taylor

Buy The Little Black Book of Artificial Intelligence: How Big Tech is Making Humanity Redundant 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.

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Written and presented by Dr. Kate Devlin. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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New year, same old Sunak. Alex Andreou joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss the latest misjudgements from the PM and the immediate political news to look out for, before diving into a forecast for 2024. From elections across the globe, to conflicts worldwide and AI – we discuss the key themes you need to look out for over the next 12 months. 

• “Sunak has no time to do or promise anything meaningful.” 

• “The economy is stagnant and I see nothing in Sunak’s plans that will stimulate it.” 

Support us on Patreon:

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Alex Andreou. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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From pandemics to natural disasters, terror attacks to global warming, it seems the world is becoming more disastrous by the minute – and government responses consistently fall short. Why aren’t we ever prepared? 

Ros Taylor speaks to Jeff Schlegelmilch, director of Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness Director and co-author of Catastrophic Incentives: Why Our Approaches to Disasters Keep Falling Short. 

• “The disasters we think about are the photogenic ones… but the ones I worry about are the slower creeping disasters, like drought and extreme heat.” — Jeff Schlegelmilch

•“Intelligence predicted 9/11, it was just missed” – Jeff Schlegelmilch

• “In developing environments, charities are essentially providing government services and subsidising failed states.” – Jeff Schlegelmilch

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

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

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