The Bunker – News without the nonsense – Details, episodes & analysis

The West’s naivete towards Putin in the 2000s cost us dearly. Now Russia’s tyrant – a creature of the KGB/FSB who has returned his country to its roots as a repressive intelligence state – is attacking us with unprecedented ferocity and deviousness. Sean Wiswesser, ex-CIA station chief in the former Soviet Union, says the “reckless” activity of FSB and GRU agents has reached new heights. But can they be stopped – and can we win the intelligence war? He tells Andrew Harrison how intelligence and dirty tricks are inextricable from Putin’s power; how the old skills of “tradecraft” persist alongside new digital tactics; and what really makes Russian intelligence tick.  

• Buy Sean’s book Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin’s Secret War 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. 

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

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Setting out the stories of the next seven days… Labour announce far more draconian restrictions on social media for teens than anyone expected. Why are they being so hardcore now? And will the measures work? Plus: it’s Makerfield by-election week, at last. What will help Labour more: Restore splitting the far-right vote or an England victory against Croatia in the World Cup? And what does Trump’s Iran deal actually mean? Ros Taylor and Andrew Harrison look into the stories of the week ahead.  

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Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production: Simon Williams. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. 

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Democratic rights and freedoms have expanded for a century or more, yet the super-rich have never been richer and wealth has never been shared less fairly. And we keep on voting to prop up systems that make a bad situation worse. Why? Political scientist and author Jeffrey Winters has a theory – that oligarchic power isn’t an unforeseen product of democracies, it’s designed into the system. So how do we fix it? He talks to Andrew Harrison about how to make democracies more… democratic. 

• Buy Jeffrey’s book The Blind Spot: How Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracies 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/bunkercast

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. 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.

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Trump’s foreign policy has been described as “the Donroe Doctrine”, harking back to the Monroe Doctrine. How does the current president’s expansionist mindset compare with this historical outlook? History Seth Thévoz and borders expert Jonn Elledge discuss what the Monroe Doctrine was, how it was formed and how it measures up to the present day. 

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Written and presented by Seth Thévoz with Jonn Elledge. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Robin Warren. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Design by James Parrett. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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As sea levels rise, flooding will become more likely across the globe. But is Britain prepared for the inevitable rising waters? Ros Taylor is joined by Hannah Cloke, professor of hydrology at the University of Reading, to assess when floods might hit and how to prepare for them. 

• “We are going to see many more floods in the summer.”
• “Our great pressure for housing is making flooding inevitable.”

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Written and presented by Ros Taylor. Producer: Jet Gerbertson. Assistant producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Bunker music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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The abrupt end of China's Zero Covid policy shocked the world. What do we know about the consequences of this change in tack? Accurate figures from Xi Jinping’s Government are hard to come by and the Chinese people are torn in two directions: with excitement about opening up and fear as Covid rips through the population. Cindy Yu, assistant editor at The Spectator, joins Alex Andreou to find out what the mood is like, and what opening up means for the rest of the world.

• “Twenty years ago we were talking about ‘The Chinese Century’. I don’t think China is going to take over the USA at this rate.”
• “In terms of Taiwan or Russia, China is going to want to do the stable thing for now.
• “All of this will have a positive impact on the world economy because China is so integrated into the world economy.”

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Written and presented by Alex Andreou. Producer: Jet Gerbertson. Assistant producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Bunker music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. Group editor: Andrew Harrison.THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Austerity is a staple fixture of our political system. How did it become such a dominant economic policy? And is it really a ‘prudent’ and ‘realistic’ way of organising our economics? Philosopher and historian Clara Mattei, author of The Capital Order: How Economists Invented Austerity and Paved the Way to Fascism joins Ahir Shah to explore how austerity came to become the water we swim in and why we can’t imagine a world without it.

• “Austerity has become the water we swim in.” 
• “We use very specific economic models from the 1900s, in which the worker loses agency while the entrepreneur is championed.”
• “The purpose isn’t to ‘trickledown’, it is to incentivise those at the top.”
• “In the US the richest 400 families pay the lowest tax.”
• “Even Lenin had to accept austerity.” 

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Written and presented by Ahir Shah. Producers: Jet Gerbertson, Alex Rees. Assistant producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Bunker music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Jade Bailey. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Airbnb has enabled people to earn more by letting second houses as holiday lets than to families. What does this mean for locals in tourist areas? With housing provision at an all time low, the Welsh Government is looking at a system of carrots and sticks to incentivise landlords to prioritise locals. Can this problem be fixed? Dr Steffan Evans from the Bevan Foundation talks to Hannah Fearn about the communities facing an Airbnb boom. 

• “In every single Welsh local authority bar one a property owner could make as much money in 10 weeks as letting out the house to the housing authority for an entire year.”
• “Properties that were down as holiday homes decided to flip to Airbnbs to get out of having to pay extra council tax.”
• “Don’t think about the maximum amount you can make, maybe yes, get your money back, but think about the community's needs more broadly.”

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Written and presented by Hannah Fearn. Producer: Jet Gerbertson. Assistant Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Lead producer: Jacob Jarvis. Bunker music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Group editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Fasten your seatbelts, because it’s going to be a rocky week in UK politics as sleaze comes back with a vengeance. How will Sunak handle backlash to his car misdemeanour, Johnson’s loan scandal and Zahawi’s ongoing tax quagmire. Plus, we look at the latest news on strikes. Alex Andreou talks to Jacob Jarvis to outline the week ahead.

• “Part of the government is so incestuous, it doesn’t even realise it has a problem.”
• “Sunak’s made an idiot of himself by getting a fine and messing up gaining ground.” 
• “The public perception is that the government always has money for their mates, so the strikes will soon succeed.”

Support us on Patreon:

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Presented by Jacob Jarvis with Alex Andreou. Producers: Jet Gerbertson and Alex Rees. Assistant Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Emmanuel Macron feels firmly like an elder statesman of Europe – but while his global prowess grows, how is he doing at home? With his power held together by coalition, can he be the reformer he wants to be? Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief for The Economist, speaks to Ros Taylor to discuss the French president’s changes in tack and the future of his nation’s politics. 

• “It has been forced on him to govern differently and that's no bad thing.” 
• “Macron has reassessed and changed his judgement of the risks and seen it is important to back Ukraine all the way.”
• “There are a number of ambitious, would-be successors to Macron, but it’s too early to see who might come through.” 
• “Macron is incredibly engaging, he doesn’t try to duck questions – but he has failed to project that in public.”

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Presented by Ros Taylor. Producers: Jet Gerbertson and Alex Rees. Assistant Producer: Kasia Tomasiewicz. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production: Alex Rees. Lead Producer: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

Instagram | Twitter

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.