The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive

China has big global plans – from large infrastructure projects to new economic zones across the globe. How are they funding these projects? Dipo Faloyin is joined by Zongyuan Zoe Liu, author of Sovereign Funds: How the Communist Party of China Finances Its Global Ambitions to follow the money behind China’s infrastructure plans and to find out what the West gets wrong. 

• “China’s economic success has been presented as an alternative to the Washington consensus.”
• “I would caution against the idea that African countries do not have the agency to make their own choices.”
• “Xi is very focused on self-sufficiency, which isn’t always the concern of the population.”

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Written and presented by Dipo Faloyin. Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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If you look at the data, this government has been dreadful. But take a closer look and there’s still a chance they might turn the polls on its head. Thankfully, that chance is tiny, but it’s still a chance nonetheless. Ben Walker is a journalist for the New Statesman and has analysed the numbers to work out the reality of a Tory turnaround. He joins Marie Le Conte in The Bunker. 

• “There’s been elections worse than this and parties have recovered.” – Ben Walker.
• “The data doesn’t take into account the sentiment of the nation.” – Ben Walker.
• “If you look at history it’s probably 1 in 4… lower than Biden vs Trump.” – Ben Walker.
• “Is now the time for Labour to start pulling out its policies? Because it still has credibility issues.” – Ben Walker.
• “The best thing I think the Conservatives can do is lose the election now, so they can recover quicker.” – Ben Walker.

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Written and presented by Marie Le Conte. Producer: Chris Jones. 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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Over 1.5k Russian people and entities have been sanctioned by the UK over its illegal invasion of Ukraine. A year on, are they actually working? And could there be more to come? Mark Harrison is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick. He joins Alex Andreou in The Bunker.

• “Historically the difficulty of sanctions has been that the prediction of the impact of them are always overestimated.” – Mark Harrison.
• “Sanctions can do very little on their own, except push Russia towards more adventurism.” – Mark Harrison.
• “Russia will find workarounds, but we have to work to make that as costly as possible.” – Mark Harrison.

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

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The Lionesses didn’t manage to win the women’s world cup. Were our heads of state right not to attend? Lucy Letby has been charged with murder, how will she be sentenced? Plus, with Hurricane Hilary in the Los Angeles and wild fires in Canada, who are the tourists photographing this extreme weather?

We also have an update on Donald Trump’s candidacy, the latest from the violent election in Ecuador, and the news stories you may have missed. Ros Taylor is joined by Yasmeen Serhan to give you the stories to look out for in the week ahead.

• “If it was a men’s tournament, wouldn’t important members of state attend?”– Yasmeen Serhan
• “Letby is only one of three women to get an entire life sentencing.” – Yasmeen Serhan
• “Trump has never played by the rules, so he doesn’t think he needs to go on Fox.” –Yasmeen Serhan

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Written and presented by Ros Taylor and Yasmeen Serhan. Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Creaky pub signs, animal skulls, and empty church yards. The British countryside can be a scary place, but what does the popularity of ‘folk horror’ tell us about our politics? Writer Jude Rogers is joined by John Doran, co-founder of music website The Quietus and presenter of BBC Radio 4 New Weird Britain series, to explore the effects of films like The Wicker Man on our national psyche and what the continued appetite for eerie renderings of the countryside says about us. 

• “Folk horror creates an uneasy clash between the modern and the ancient.”
• “The unstable times we are living through are quite magical in their own horror.”
• “Folk horror symbology is easily co-opted by the far right.”
• “It’s often very conservative in suggesting that female sexuality shouldn’t be trusted.”

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Written and presented by Jude Rogers. Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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In August 2017, deadly violence broke out between white supremacists and counter protestors in Charlottesville, Virginia. The White supremacists claimed they were there to protest the removal of a confederate monument. But was there more to it? Was this actually a carefully orchestrated media event created by the alt right to gain more attention from the press? Aniko Bodroghkozy is professor of media studies at the university of Virginia and author of Making #Charlottesville. She was also there and joins Chris Jones in The Bunker.

• “The alt right was using many of the same tactics that the civil rights movement perfected in the 60s.” – Aniko Bodroghkozy.
• “I saw a contingent of neo-Nazis march right past my Synagogue… that’s a memory I will never get out of my head.” – Aniko Bodroghkozy.
• “The alt right really came to Charlottesville, not to protest the taking down of a statue, but to create a violent confrontation.” – Aniko Bodroghkozy.

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Written and presented 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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This week on Bunker Global: A roundup of the latest on Trump’s impeachment, as the catastrophic wildfires swept across Maui. Plus, we look into the death of two Ecuadorian politicians, and finally – who is the leather jacket wearing maverick storming Argentina’s presidential elections? 

Laura Makin-Isherwood, formerly London bureau chief of Feature Story News, and Dillon Ancheta, a Maui-based journalist for Hawaii News Now, join Chris Jones this week. Listen in for your need-to-know on news and politics from across the world.

• “Despite the sadness and loss, there are glimmers of hope as people come together in Maui.” – Dillon Ancheta
• “It feels like we’re going to discuss Trump being indicted forever!” – Chris Jones 
• "Ecuador is caught in the crossfire between economics and the environment." – Laura Makin-Isherwood 

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Written and presented by Chris Jones. Producer: Liam Tait. 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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China’s home ownership bubble is less bursting and more deflating. As property company Evergrande announces $81bn of debt, why is this crisis slipping under the radar? Giving you the latest on this emerging economic disaster, Alex Andreou is joined by Cindy Yu, host of acclaimed podcast Chinese Whispers and assistant editor at the Spectator to explore how the economic crisis in China will impact the world. 

• “Home ownership from China came about incredibly quickly.”
• “Property developers buy land from local governments, which has a knock-on effect on debt.”
• “It sounds bizarre in a country undergoing inflation, but China’s deflation crisis is very worrying.”

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Written and presented by Alex Andreou. Producers: Liam Tait and Kasia Tomasiewicz. 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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Ozempic is all over social media. You’ve probably seen dramatic before and after pictures of influencers showing off their weight loss. Even Elon Musk claims to be using it. But is it all it’s cracked up to be? Bobby Friction is joined by Dr. Robert Kushner, one of the scientists who led research into the safety of the so-called ‘miracle’ drug. to find out if this drug is the answer to the obesity crisis or just another money spinner for Big Pharma. 

• “Obesity shouldn’t be demonised, it is a disease to be treated.”
• “Once you stop using Ozempic, all the feelings of hunger and cravings for food come back.” 
• “People don’t push back against lifelong diabetes medication, so why does that change for a disease like obesity?”

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Written and presented by Bobby Friction. 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 have been yet more controversial appointments to the House of Lords. Is it fit for purpose? How can we fix it? Ros Taylor is joined by Darren Hughes, chief executive of Electoral Reform Society, to explore how the House of Lords has gone wrong and what we can do about it. 

• “There haven’t been a willing set of retirements from the House of Lords.”
• “Who regulates the regulators?”
• “Don’t forget we still have the Liz Truss list to come!”

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Audio editor: Simon Williams. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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