The Bunker – News without the nonsense

In the UK the country’s falling out of love with Johnson, the economy’s in crisis and the Conservative government is falling apart. Around the world there are crunch elections in France, Brazil and Hungary… the threat of a nuclear Iran… and in the USA, a battle for the very existence of democracy. Arthur Snell , Justin Quirk and special guest Antonia Jennings from the Centre for Local Economic Str...

What does 2022 have in store? It’s crunch year for three massive British institutions that have defined our lives: the BBC, the NHS and the Monarchy. Putin seems determined to exploit the West’s disarray to invade Ukraine. And if Donald Trump makes a comeback, could American democracy itself fall? Ros Taylor and Gavin Esler look ahead to a nerve-wracking year.  • “The challenge for BBC News is, ho...

From 1970s Westminster, to the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? scandal, James Graham is one of the UK’s most successful playwrights today. As Best of Enemies opens at the Young Vic, he talks to Dorian Lynskey about dramatising the brutal Buckley vs. Vidal debates of the 1968 US presidential elections, how art engages audiences and tackles polarization, composing playlists in the pub after rehearsal...

Anyone for cheese and whine? The noble Lord Frost scuttles away from his Brexit mess as it emerges that real hardworking meetings require a chilled Chablis and an agreeable Comte in an exclusive garden. Plus, as 2021 staggers to its ignominious end, we pinpoint the lasting images and a few rays of hope in a year of misgovernance – and highlight what to look out for in 2022. Marie le Conte, Ahir Sh...

It’s going to be a cold Christmas at No 10, as Lord Frost resigns as Brexit Minister, Simon Case recuses himself over Christmas party investigations - and Nadine Dorries gets booted out of WhatsApp chats. Is jetsetter Liz Truss ready to take up her new position? And what will all this mean for popular compliance with new COVID rules? Naomi Smith and Alex Andreou look at the week ahead, in the last...

A festive homage to the fromage… Nothing says Christmas like cheese, so in a sequel to Ros’s insect-eating special she goes for something a little more festive. Cheesemonger Ned Palmer of the Cheese Tasting Company joins her in the studio to chew over Britain’s long history of dairy production, what constituted the “metropolitan elite” cheeses of the 18th century, why a little blue mould goes a lo...

Hear all the music on our rolling playlist: https://bit.ly/CultBunk We round off 2021 with more picks of the best of the year. Entertainment journalists Laura Barton of The Guardian and Ted Kessler of indispensable music newsletter The New Cue join Siân and Andrew to choose the best albums, TV, films, tracks and ones that got away. Produced and presented by Siân Pattenden and Andrew Harrison. Assi...

We treat TV as the most disposable art form – but for decades it has shaped our world more than we know. From Big Brother to Shameless to Little Britain and Benefit Street , television chose the winners and losers of consumer capitalism, made it OK to sneer at the underclass, and then allowed that underclass a token comeback or two. Author Phil Harrison explores television’s innate cruelty, class...

We’ve all heard of the placebo effect, but what about the Expectation Effect? What we think will happen can change what does happen. David Robson , science journalist and author of The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World , talks to Alex Andreou about how our way of thinking shapes our everyday lives. Does believing stress is beneficial make you more creative under pressure?...

As the leaks about illicit parties and quizzes pile up, and the Tory right wing fly into a rage about COVID passports, is Boris Johnson finally running out of road? And is the Torysphere getting bored with their boy? Plus we talk to Jolyon Maugham of the Good Law Project about the many deep-running scandals behind the day-to-day headlines. And what’s worse, the pressure to be happy all the time –...

It’s Crunch Week (again) for Boris Johnson as he tries to get Plan B Corona restrictions past a mob of increasingly rebellious and COVID-sceptic Tory MPs. Meanwhile the party-that-wasn’t and the world’s most unwise Christmas quiz continue to dog our unfortunate PM. Oh, and there’s the North Shropshire by-election on Thursday too. New PM by Christmas? Ros Taylor alerts you to what’s coming in the w...

Our world is no longer governed by international coordination, with superpowers instead promoting ‘Enduring Disorder’. Jason Pack , non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute and author of Libya and the Global Enduring Disorder, talks to Arthur Snell about why the West has stopped collaborating internationally, and why Libya’s Civil War constitutes the ideal microcosm in which to view today’...

Hear all the music on our podcasts in full on our rolling playlist : https://bit.ly/CultBunk The holidays are almost upon us, and we’ve got a gift of a guest – doyenne of the dinner party, Navratilova of the pavlova, NIGELLA LAWSON. As we wait for the final episode of Succession Series 3, we discuss Nigella’s favourite music, books, TV and culture of 2021 – plus what we should be giving each other...

Nearly a quarter of the world’s population is Muslim, so if we are to fully understand the modern world, we need to know about Islam. Dr Fitzroy Morrissey , Examination Fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford, talks to Alex Andreou about his book A Short History of Islamic Thought, which traces through fourteen centuries of Islamic history to discuss questions of interpretation, legacy,...

Last week far-right TV pundit Eric Zemmour announced he was running in next year’s French Presidential election, but who is he? And what does his candidacy mean for Macron and Marine Le Pen? Normandy-based journalist John Lichfield gives Ros Taylor the lowdown on France’s new far-right contender, as well as Valérie Pécresse of the centre-right, the woman who could take down Macron. “ Zemmour is a...

The Government announces a performative war on middle class drug users just as cocaine traces are discovered in the Commons buildings. Coincidence? Plus, can tennis really stand up to China over the whereabouts of missing player Peng Shuai. Boris Johnson puts off a decision on Christmas to the very last minute, again. And why do we still put up with people winging it in positions of power?  Hear o...

Omicron cases continue to rise, but will new travel rules actually stem the tide of infections, or is it too late? Plus, as ‘crime week’ begins, traces of drugs have been found in Parliament toilets. Will the PM’s hard-hitting announcements fall on deaf ears? And the latest on last years Number 10 party, which did break Covid rules, but it was in the past so it doesn’t matter, right Mr Raab? “Ther...

With The War of The Worlds, H. G. Wells catapulted to international literary success. But how did his adolescence shape the father of science fiction? Journalist and biographer Claire Tomalin talks to Dorian Lynskey about her latest book, The Young H. G. Wells, the author’s complicated love affair with socialism, telling Stalin he was wrong…and how Wells predicted the moonwalk seventy years before...

Hear all the music on our rolling playlist : https://bit.ly/CultBunk It’s the first of two Best Of 2021 editions where we choose the best music, TV and films of a turbulent year. Our special guest is cosmic explorer of northern psychedelia Jane Weaver, whose album ‘Flock’ was one of our favourites this year. Plus journalist, DJ and editor of Umbrella magazine Anthony Teasdale joins us to help Siân...

Last week 27 people tragically drowned trying to cross the Channel from France, and 2021 has seen a record number of migrants attempt to the treacherous journey. Why is this? And how can we prevent more lives needlessly being lost? Zoe Gardner , policy and advocacy manager at the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants , talks to Justin Quirk about why more people than ever are trying to cross...

Laundering the dirty cash of kleptocrats is labour-intensive work. So who are the Western bankers, lawyers, accountants, and realtors enabling corruption across the world? Frank Vogl , co-founder of Transparency International, talks to Alex Andreou about his latest book, The Enablers , cleaning up the City of London, how cash launderers still lurk in the least corrupt countries …and why stunning a...

This week’s panel show out early for Patreon people… Oh good, there’s a new variant in town. Is this really the way we wanted to learn the Greek alphabet? Special guest Christina Pagel of independent SAGE takes us through what we know about COVID: The Next Generation. Plus, the horrific drownings in the Channel. And how can we clear up the terrible crimewave caused by a female Doctor Who ? Hear ou...

The new Omicron variant is here in Britain, but how worried should we be about it? Will the Government be forced to curb Christmas for a second year running? Plus, as the Channel crisis worsens, will Number 10 take serious action to fix things? And Germany has a new government, what should we expect from Europe’s biggest economy in the coming years? Ros Taylor and Yasmeen Serhan take you through t...

Charlotte Raven was in her mid-30s when she discovered her father was suffering from Huntington’s disease. For her and her family, life would never be the same again. Joined by her doctor Ed Wild, Charlotte talks to Nick Cohen about her memoir Patient 1: Forgetting and Finding Myself, a candid account of her coming to terms with an inherited neurodegenerative disease, how it changed her as a perso...

Hear all the music on our podcasts in full on our rolling playlist : https://bit.ly/CultBunk In this week’s show, Madness frontman SUGGS joins us to talk about everything Nutty Boys. Journalist MICHAEL MORAN gives their take on Get Back, the Peter Jackson’s new epic on The Beatles’ Twickenham sessions, and Marvel’s latest series, Hawkeye. Plus THE ITALIAN JOB – film critic LINDA MARRIC unwraps Rid...