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The Bunker – Your daily news Deep Dive
Can Trump rig the midterms? – Deep Dive with The Atlantic’s David Graham
The stakes in the US midterm elections could not be higher – and Donald Trump has had six years to learn from his failure to overturn the 2020 presidential vote. Democrats are likely to take control of Congress but Trump has intensified his rhetoric, warning this week that the US will “burn” like France if the House and Senate flip on November 3.
Can Trump do anything to stop the expected “blue wave”? Will the US collapse into chaos and accusations of voter fraud if the Republicans lose? Could Trump deploy the military? Will some Americans be prevented from voting at all? Atlantic Staff Writer David Graham joins Zing Tsjeng to explore all these terrifying scenarios – and what’s at stake.
• Read David’s prescient midterm prediction piece from last October
• Buy David’s book The Project: How Project 2025 Is Reshaping America from our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.
• Listen to American Friction for the latest commentary on US politics
• Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercast
Written and presented by Zing Tsjeng. Producer: James Liddell. 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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1926. The BIG wellness con – Deep Dive with Dr Xand van Tulleken
30:45||Season 1, Ep. 1926We’re obsessed with health and wellness, from fixating on last night’s sleep score to swallowing a cocktail of supplements to stave off every ailment. But is there any real evidence behind the health hacks we’re sold? Are we being very professionally ripped off by Big Wellness – now four times larger than Big Pharma? British doctor and BBC broadcastert Dr Xand van Tulleken spent three years investigating the industry. He joins Emma Kennedy to separate the real science from the snake oil. • Buy Dr Xand van Tulleken’s book Make Me Well: A Quest to Understand the Confusing World of Wellness from our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.• Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercastWritten and presented by Emma Kennedy. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk
1925. Was Rishi Sunak… not that bad? – Deep Dive with Sir Anthony Seldon
21:17||Season 1, Ep. 1925Was Rishi Sunak not actually as bad as we remember? No, we haven’t hit our heads… Yes, he led the Conservatives to their worst ever defeat and pandered to the far right with the hopeless Rwanda detention scheme. But he also inherited the wreckage of Liz Truss’s 49 days in power. Was Sunak really doomed from the start? Could a better politician have steadied the ship? And might he be the last ever Tory prime minister? Sir Anthony Seldon, the leading political biographer, joins Seth Thévoz in an attempt to make the case for Sunak. • Buy Anthony’s book Sunak at 10: The Last Conservative Prime Minister? from our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.• Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercastWritten and presented by Seth Thévoz. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk
1924. Paris is Burning, Again – Start Your Week with Rafael Behr
29:11||Season 1, Ep. 1924Setting out the stories of the next seven days… France wakes to scenes of urban destruction straight out of wartime. Are the “cost of living protests” even protests any more, and can lame duck president Emmanuel Macron prevent them from running out of control? Also: Trump’s betrayal of Ukraine deepens, but he’s also supposed to be in court for his case against the BBC. Will he turn up? Plus: A decision on the Jackdaw gas field, Brazil on the verge of electing another Bolsonaro, and the iPhone Duo arrives. Rafael Behr looks at the week ahead with Andrew Harrison. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Produced by James Lidell. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk
1923. Trump fuels Putin’s war machine, Reform caught out again – Weekly Wrap-Up with Zoë Grünewald
27:16||Season 1, Ep. 1923Looking back at the past seven days… Donald Trump pumps billions of dollars into Putin’s war chest by easing sanctions on Russian diesel. Is the world’s most hateful bromance back on, or is it a desperate attempt to sway America before the midterms? Plus: Reform sacks more councillors for making sickening remarks on camera. And Nigel Farage steps in as Robert Jenrick vows to use “lethal force” against small boats crossing the Channel. Zoë Grünewald and Jacob Jarvis recap the biggest, weirdest and most under-reported stories of the week.• Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercastWritten and presented by Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk
1922. “Putin jailed me for 500 days. This is how I survived.” – Deep Dive with US journalist Evan Gershkovich
38:27||Season 1, Ep. 1922Few people jailed in Russia on charges of spying for the CIA live to tell the tale. Evan Gershkovich is one of them. Just over two years after his release in a Cold War-style prisoner swap, the Wall Street Journal reporter tells his story for the first time: how moving to Russia “on a whim” led to him being snatched by the FSB and jailed in the first espionage conviction of a US journalist in Russia since the end of the Cold War. Evan tells Dorian Lynskey about the violence and interrogation during his 500 days behind bars, how he was freed, the lasting effects of his incarceration, and why despute his ordeal, he hopes to return to Russia one day. • Buy Evan’s book This Cursed Beautiful Land from our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.• Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercastWritten and presented by Dorian Lynskey. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk
1921. Margaret Hodge: “We need to be a LOT tougher on dirty money” – Deep Dive with Labour’s “battleaxe”
30:33||Season 1, Ep. 1921Margaret Hodge has never been one to bite her tongue. The veteran Labour politician served as a minister under Blair then Brown, saw off the BNP in Barking, and told Jeremy Corbyn exactly what she thought of him. It’s why she’s a self-styled “Battleaxe” – and why it’s the title of her new memoir. She tells Zoë Grünewald what she’s learned about fighting the far-right and anti-semites; where Burnham is getting it right and wrong; and why the need to get dirty money out of politics is more urgent than ever. • Buy Margaret’s book Battleaxe: A Memoir from our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.• Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercastWritten and presented by Zoë Grünewald. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk
1920. Nazi nightmares – The strange dream life of Hitler’s Germany – Deep Dive with Amanda Rubin and Andrew Harrison
28:06||Season 1, Ep. 1920The hidden story of a nation sleepwalking into evil. After Adolf Hitler took power in 1933 the German Jewish journalist Charlotte Beradt found herself tormented by dreams of persecution and torture. Realising she could not be the only German who was processing Nazism through their dream life, she began secretly recording the dreams of her friends and neighbours, both Jewish and non-Jewish.Beradt escaped Germany and in the ’60s published The Third Reich Of Dreams, a collection “diaries of the night” now out in a new edition. Now film-maker Amanda Rubin is working on a dramatisation of this extraordinary story. She talks to Andrew Harrison about what Beradt discovered, the chilling psychological undercurrents of a traumatised nation, and how under a totalitarian regime even the dreamer is not free. • Buy The Third Reich Of Dreams through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast 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 Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Produced by James Lidell. Audio production: Simon Williams. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk
1919. Russia DID push Brexit, Trump sells out Ukraine – Start Your Week with Ros Taylor
28:34||Season 1, Ep. 1919Setting out the stories that will shape the next seven days… Andy Burnham confirms what everyone suspected, that Russia interfered in the UK to push the Leave vote over the line. How will the revelations affect the reopened Brexit debate? Plus, Will Trump’s sordid diesel deal with Putin stave off a kicking in the mid-terms? The Houthis cause chaos in Saudi Arabia, and more. Ros Taylor and Andrew Harrison look at the week ahead. www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Produced by James Lidell. Audio production by Simon WIlliams. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk