The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

We’ve all heard of ChatGPT. But what is the recent drama surrounding the lesser-known parent company OpenAI and its fired-then-reinstated CEO Sam Altman? Chris Jones gets the 411 on the controversy with The Bunker’s resident AI expert Dr Kate Devlin.

•“We should be talking about the repercussions of our technology, and about how a small handful of people in a small part of America have huge amounts of global control.” – Dr Kate Devlin

• “My fear is that they are going to be more focused on developing the technology rather than the ethicality of AI and its consequences for humanity.” – Dr Kate Devlin

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

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The far-right is often associated with angry white men — but their female counterparts might be even more dangerous. 

Dr Eviane Leidig, a postdoctoral fellow at Tilburg University and author of The Women of the Far Right: Social Media Influencers and Online Radicalization. She joins Marie Le Conte in The Bunker, to discuss how these women weaponise social media to disseminate extremist ideologies. 

Dr Eviane Leidig’s book: The Women of the Far Right: Social Media Influencers and Online Radicalization 

• “These women are normalising and legitimising extreme ideas to mainstream audiences; they are not on fringe platforms, they are very much out in the open.” – Eviane Leidig 
• “There is a moment in which all these women describe feeling deeply unhappy and depressed with their lives — they attribute this to feminism, and prescribe traditionalism as the antidote.” – Eviane Leidig 

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Written and presented by Marie Le Conte. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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What should we actually pay attention to in Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement, away from the points he wants to spin? To make sense of the mini-budget, Alex Andreou is joined in The Bunker by Jo Michell, professor of economics at the University of the West of England, to take a closer look at the chancellor’s proposals.

• "We shouldn’t treat taxes as a burden, but a responsibility.” – Jo Michell

• “Longer term forecasts are completely unpredictable." – Jo Michell

• “The government is against investment itself, just green investment." – Jo Michell

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Written and presented by Alex Andreou. 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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The small period of post reshuffle harmony is over and Sunak’s party is back to doing what it does best: infighting. Could new Home Sec James Cleverly enrage backbenchers by moving away from the Rwanda plan? And Matt Hancock is back in the spotlight as he faces the Covid Inquiry. What can we expect from his testimony? 

Plus, the latest on the Israeli/Hamas ceasefire. Could it be extended? And finally, King Charles is heading to Dubai for COP28. Will the environmentalist monarch speak his mind or toe his government’s line?

Ros Taylor is joined in The Bunker by Hannah Fearn to get you prepped for the week ahead. 

• “Migration is 3 times higher than before Brexit, and that’s nothing to do with small boats.” – Hannah Fearn
• Reform UK is holding the door wide open for a Farage comeback." – Ros Taylor
• "There’s no evidence that migration is a do or die issue for Conservative voters.” – Hannah Fearn

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Written and presented by Ros Taylor and Hannah Fearn. 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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The Marvel Cinematic Universe may be teetering in 2023 — but for two decades it’s been the dominant force in Hollywood. Andrew Harrison is joined by Gavin Edwards, co-author of MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, to discuss how its characters and storylines help to explain the chaos and drama of 21st Century politics. From Thanos’ economic failings to Captain America’s patriotism – enjoy a politics and comic book super-geek-out crossover. 

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

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Tell us what you think of The Bunker in our Listener Survey – five respondents will get the Bunker mug or t-shirt of their choice. 

President John F. Kennedy’s assassination remains a favourite topic for conspiracy theorists. How did the momentous event spark a new era in conspiratorial thinking? And what makes it persist 60 years on. Jacob Jarvis is joined by Tom Phillips, co-author of Conspiracy: A history of bollocks theories and how not to fall for them to discuss. 

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

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It’s been ten years since China launched its colossal Belt and Road initiative, intended to usher in a new era of trade and economic growth. Has it achieved what it set out to? Or is progress starting to ebb? Alex Andreou is joined by George Magnus, an associate at the China Centre at Oxford University and author of Red Flags: Why Xi's China Is In Jeopardy, in The Bunker. 

• “People thought that the Belt and Road was a very planned and thought out centralised project from Beijing - it’s really nothing of the sort.” - George Magnus 

• “China sees the Belt and Road as fertile ground to get countries to align with its own governance priorities.” - George Magnus 

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

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Doctor Who: bold individualist, woke mouthpiece for wet BBC liberalism, interfering Galactic colonialist, sidekick to the Military Industrial Complex… or all and none of the above? For the show’s 60th birthday we discuss the politics of Who. Were the Daleks always Nazis? What’s the most politically dodgy story? Why do the Doctor’s politics keeping changing? And what can we expect from Ncuti Gatwa, the first black actor* to play the Doctor in an ongoing role?

Our panel of dyed-in-the-scarf Time Lord experts: author and Who spin-off writer Jenny Colgan, the New Statesman and Paper Cuts regular Jonn Elledge, and Seth Thévoz of Oh God What Now? 

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Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Eliza Davis Beard, Chris Jones and Liam Tait. Art by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

* Yes we know about Jo Martin. She was great, wasn’t she?

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Tell us what you think of The Bunker in our Listener Survey – five respondents will get the Bunker mug or t-shirt of their choice.

David Cameron’s recent comeback baffled everyone – but just how strange is it? And how does it compare to the other PM’s actions after leaving Number 10? Rock and Roll Politics host Steve Richards and Seth Thevoz discuss the history of political comebacks – and whether these moves ever work out.

• “To come back to the heart of politics so suddenly and unexpectedly, since retiring under the most humiliating of circumstances, is one of the many extraordinary elements to this saga.” – Steve Richards 
• “Prime Ministers are restless and angry with their successors.” – Steve Richards 

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Written and presented by Seth Thévoz. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard and Chris Jones. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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The Covid-19 inquiry is nowhere near halfway through, but already we’ve learned a lot. But there’s been so much to learn about how our government worked (or didn’t) during the pandemic that it’s been a little hard to comprehend. So before we hear the likes of Patrick Valance give evidence Alex Andreou sat down in the Bunker with Prof. Christina Pagel, Professor of Operational Research at UCL, to explain 7 key moments that we’ve seen so far and why they’re so important to notice.

• “How can we change the way that we do politics so we have serious people in charge?…I feel like we’ve not had that in years?” – Prof. Christina Pagel.
• “We’re really good at collecting stuff – we’re really bad at acting on it.” – Prof. Christina Pagel.
• “I find it incredible there were no safety precautions in number 10, and I find it incredible how little attention it’s had.” – Alex Andreou.
• “If you talk to people on that frontline they were absolutely overwhelmed… and they’re still recovering.” – Prof. Christina Pagel.

Support us on Patreon:

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by: 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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