Oh God, What Now?

Keir Starmer’s decision to raise defence spending and cut foreign aid has raised a whole load of questions (but not any asked by Kemi Badenoch because she’s, like, really bad at that). Is cutting aid the right choice? Are we ready for war? And is this the start of Starmer being tougher towards Trump? Plus: is centrism dead? Award-winning pollster and former President of YouGov Peter Kellner joins...

Even though the AFD didn’t win the German election, the far-right party still doubled its vote. Has Germany dodged a bullet? And is America now the enemy of Europe? German politics Professor Rudi Wurzel joins the podcast to get into it all. Plus, How can we deal with a world where politics forces itself into everything?  We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow   www.patreon.com/oh...

Trump’s decision to rip up 80 years of transatlantic security co-operation leaves Europe in a panic. What happens when America lines up with a despot like Putin? Can Europe afford to defend itself? Dr Julie Norman of UCL joins us to look at the alarming new security environment. Plus, with Badenoch’s Tories in an apparent doom spiral, we look at why politics needs a functioning opposition. And in...

US Vice President JD Vance proves himself to be as much an arse as his boss with a hateful, trollish performance at the Munich Security Conference. Will his culture war insults and support for the European far-right signal the final end of the Atlanticist dream… and is Ukraine now doomed? Plus, only 40% of 18-27 year olds say they’re proud of Britain. Can we blame them? And should we persuade them...

Labour’s ‘crackdown’ on illegal workers was an obvious ploy to tame Reform UK’s growing influence. But will Starmer’s Labour alienate its own supporters just to chase voters who’ll always hate them? Plus, only one in five Brits approve of the government’s handling of crime. Will Labour turn that around with the PM’s experience of the justice system? Are the police even fit for purpose? Former Met...

Keir Starmer may have been enduring stormy weather since winning power – but is the sky really falling in, as parts of the media think? And why are so many UK commentators and pundits addicted to the idea that we’re living in times of ultimate crisis? Plus, it’s 100 days since Kemi Badenoch took on the Tory leadership. Has she turned the party's fortunes around and made her party a laughing stock...

Donald Trump and his evil nerd henchman Elon Musk continue to “flood the zone” with new harmful executive orders and bullshit headlines. How do we figure out what matters and what doesn’t? Plus, Reform UK has – somehow – topped a poll as the UK’s most popular political party. Should we stop paying so much attention to polls, and letting them set the agenda? Plus in the Extra Bit for supporters: re...

As Keir Starmer visits Brussels for a meeting with European Union leaders, Trump has the EU in his sights. But Trump says Starmer is “nice”, so will Britain get away unscathed from new tariffs? It’s quite the predicament for the British PM – will he have to choose between one or the other? And what’s with all the DISRUPTION? From electoral politics to business to popular culture, we’re told that “...

It’s five years this week since we left the EU. Isn’t everything going brilliantly? Special guest Anand Menon of UK In A Changing Europe joins us to assess the many, many achievements of Global Britain. Has Brexit changed Britain irrevocably? What destroyed the Tory party: leaving the EU, Liz Truss or Boris Johnson’s own hubris? What’s the real reason why Labour won’t touch this issue? And what ha...

BBC politics coverage is in trouble: browbeaten by the Mail and Telegraph, still reeling from Tory intimidation, and addicted to ever-shorter, cheaper, surface coverage in an age that wants depth and complexity. Special guest Steve Richards of the Rock and Roll Politics podcast, himself an ex-BBC politics correspondent, joins us to work out what’s wrong with BBC politics and how to fix it. Plus: W...

Trump starts as viciously as he means to go on, with a confected state of emergency on immigration, attacks on gay and trans people, withdrawals from the Paris Climate agreement and the World Health Organisation, and pardons for the anti-democracy rioters of Jan 6. Reed Galen, co-founder of the anti-MAGA Republican group The Lincoln Project and host of The Home Front podcast, joins us to assess Tr...

And so it begins. The second age of Trump is upon us. Are we all braced? All eyes are on what executive orders he will enact in his first week. So, how do we handle Trump’s politics of chaos? Or will we simply have to grin and bear it? Plus, Labour promised “a new deal for working people” before winning the election. Has it kept its promise with the new employment rights bill? General Secretary of...

As Musk and Zuckerberg vie to enshittify Twitter and Facebook, is the Right’s victory over social media final? Is there something intrinsic to social media that drives its users rightwards (and crazy)? Does Zuckerberg believe in anything at all? Expert in digital politics and radicalisation Alan Finlayson joins us to look at the abasement of Big Tech before Trumpism. Plus: Has Starmer drunk the A....

As Britain’s economic growth slows and gilt returns go up (no, we can’t remember what it means either) the Tory press are eager to construct a narrative of “Labour’s mess”. How real is it – and is Chancellor Rachel Reeves really at risk? Plus: Trump wants to annex Canada, Greenland and possibly your house. Are we back to 19th century foreign policy where the world is basically a game of Risk? Seth...

Senior Tories like Badenoch and Jenrick are cynically following the lead of far-right wackos like Elon Musk to stoke the grooming gangs story. Are there any red lines left for a desperate Conservative Party that will now say things even Nigel Farage won’t? Former editor of The Mirror Alison Phillips joins the panel to get into it all.  Plus, it’s a But Your Emails special as we answer as many of o...

We did it, we survived 2024. Now, we face 2025 – a year where the world’s most influential country is headed by a convicted felon. How consequential will Donald Trump and his nerdy henchman, Elon Musk, be? And back home, Labour is taking on its first full year in charge. Keir Starmer has made a lot of promises, can he and his government get any of it done? And what will happen to Nigel Farage’s Re...

• Last chance to get 20% off a year’s Patreon support for OGWN! Rishi in the rain? Musk ruining everything? Boris Johnson’s stupid book? In the OGWN Political Awards of the Year we choose the defining moments of the year – but also the heroes, villains, and even the reasons to be optimistic for 2025. Dorian Lynskey, Marie le Conte, Ros Taylor and Rafael Behr gather to pore over the entrails of 202...

As bad Brexit news piles up, a new poll says that even Leave voters would welcome freedom of movement if it meant access to the Single Market. But is the question of Britain rejoining the EU ever going to make it into mainstream politics conversation? We look at the hurdles. Plus, the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has put the American people’s hatred of their health system in the s...

• Our Cyber Monday sale is still on. Get 20% off a year’s Patreon support for OGWN. Back from the interval? Got your drinks and crisps? Return to London’s legendary Comedy Store to hear Dorian Lynskey, Marie le Conte, Jonn Elledge and special guest John Crace – parliamentary sketchwriter for The Guardian – delve into the wreckage of the French elections, sift the entrails of US Presidential Electi...

• Our Cyber Monday sale is still on. Get 20% off a year’s Patreon support for OGWN Is it that time of year again? Join Dorian Lynskey, Marie le Conte, Jonn Elledge and special guest John Crace – parliamentary sketchwriter for The Guardian – LIVE at London’s Comedy Store for the OGWN Christmas Show 2024. In part one, we look back with disbelief on the UK election and what it all meant… Support us o...

• Get 20% off a year’s Patreon support in our Cyber Monday sale. Why not ask for it for Christmas? Panic stations? Reform UK has overtaken Labour in the polls for the first time. Is this just a standard mid-term setback (albeit a bit early) or is Labour’s real battle with Farage not the Tories? The Guardian’s Polly Toynbee joins us to explore it. Plus, after the Assisted Dying debate, is religion...

• Get 20% off a year’s Patreon support in our Cyber Monday sale. Why not ask for it for Christmas? • Last chance for tickets to our Christmas Live Show on Tue 10 Dec at the Comedy Store London. All we want for Christmas is… a feisty front-foot reset from Labour? Can Keir Starmer turn round the Government supertanker and get the Civil Service to be a little more co-operative towards the Labour agen...

• Get 20% off a year’s Patreon support in our Cyber Monday sale. Why not ask for it for Christmas? • Last few tickets for our Christmas Live Show on Tue 10 Dec at the Comedy Store London. 🎵 Shoulda left my phone at home/Cos this is a disaster. 🎵 What does the surprise resignation of Louise Haigh tell us about propriety and forgiveness in the new government? Is it one strike and you’re out? Plus...

• Get 20% off a year’s Patreon support in our Black Friday sale. Why not ask for it for Christmas?  • Get your tickets for our Christmas Live Show on Tue 10 Dec at the Comedy Store London. Is Rachel Reeves a Thatcher 2.0 for simply standing by her budget? Or is she right to stick to her guns? Plus, did 1990s lad culture pave the way for the toxic masculinity we see today? We unpack the new Loaded...

• Get 20% off a year’s Patreon support in our Black Friday sale. Why not ask for it for Christmas? • Get your tickets for our Christmas Live Show on Tue 10 Dec at the Comedy Store London. Barbour-ism begins at home… Could the farm protests become the centre of a new right-wing opposition to Labour? Can Starmer’s team fix their messaging on the inheritance tax issue? And maybe there is two-tier pol...