The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Will bribes for Deliveroo and Uber be enough to persuade recalcitrant youth to get their jabs? Are we nearing herd immunity on COVID? Is Tony Blair to blame for food shortages because his university drive produced a generation of egghead boffins who can’t drive an HGV? And with thousands of kids catastrophically behind on their schooling, the Government has the solution: bring back Latin. Ros Taylor nobis narrat de septem praemisit.  “A Deliveroo voucher isn't going to turn a hardcore anti-vaxxer.”  “You should see Gavin Williamson's ratings. They are off the scale bad.” “The Government's Latin announcement is a bauble for fans of The History Boys.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if you discovered that your Dad was living a double life, and really worked in the CIA? Does managing The Police prepare you for advising the Pentagon? From his chateau in France, maverick music manager Miles Copeland chats to Dorian Lynskey about his memoirs Two Steps Forward, One Step Back, moving from the Middle East and London, and how his record label IRS launched the careers of The Go-Gos, The Bangles, and R.E.M. “I already knew my Dad was in the CIA when I was fourteen years old.” “If you don't LIKE the music, how can you really sell it?” “When I heard Roxanne, I knew it was a song that would change our lives.” “Most bands think once they've made it, then they’ve made it. But what goes up must come down.” “There are many Iraqi women who preferred life under Saddam Hussein.” Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters ProductionSee acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The wrongful conviction of hundreds of subpostmasters for false accounting was so shocking that even Boris Johnson as called it one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in our history. Why did Post Office management cover up the truth about its flawed software, even after innocent people went to prison? As the Government sets aside £233m in interim compensation, criminal law expert Dr Hannah Quirk untangles a Kafkaesque nightmare that led innocent people to be ruined, jailed, shamed and pushed to suicide. Could anything stop something like this from happening again?https://www.patreon.com/bunkercast “Many innocent people pleaded guilty in the hope of avoiding prison.” “The Post Office knew there were flaws in its system. They hid that evidence from people they knew were wrongfully convicted.” “You can imagine the terror people felt of being imprisoned for crimes they did not commit.” “Somehow it didn’t occur to anyone that hundreds of corrupt subpostmasters were coming to light where previously there were none.” Presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

COVID is a paradise of hindsight – a world of self-appointed experts who tell us what should have happened – and sometimes rewriting what did happen to suit themselves. But what about those people who could see what was going to happen? On March 10 2020, writer Tomas Pueyo posted an article called Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now – it made strong argument for rapid lockdowns at a time when Boris Johnson was still arguing that washing our hands was enough. 40 million views later, he joins Justin Quirk to discuss what he got right, what he got wrong – and where countries need to go next.  “Once you use the hammer, you can't use it over and over again.”  “Credentials are only one source of trustworthiness.”  “COVID has exposed how decision making in Western democracies is broken.” “You know the system is broken when every country failed.” “You can fulfil your needs for storytelling by watching Netflix.”  “The media's goal is to grab your attention, not to get your insights.” “There's more hours of work per word in a book, than a newspaper article.”  “The easiest thing is to remove the stimulus. If you don’t go on Facebook, you wouldn't fall into that black hole of content.” Presented by Justin Quirk. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s time for Parliament’s end of term report card. Does anyone at all get an A, or should everyone be forced to repeat the year in disgrace? Special guest Thangam Debbonaire MP, Shadow Leader of the Commons, joins us to explain the meaning of Dawn Butler calling Boris Johnson a liar in the House; whether Rees-Mogg actually casts a shadow; what Labour is doing right and wrong… and her as-yet unpublished novel ‘Murder In The Whip’s Office’. “People in space know that Boris Johnson tells lies. I know toddlers who are more honourable than the Prime Minister…” – Thangam Debbonaire “The Olympic committee is like a deeply inconsiderate flatmate hosting a house party at a deeply inconsiderate time.” – Ahir Shah “Johnson has managed to alienate all of his own MPs… and when you’ve rebelled once, it’s so much easier to do it again.” – Marie le Conte “Speaker-watchers will know that Lindsay’s been quite shirty with the Government lately…” – Thangam Debbonaire https://www.patreon.com/bunkercastPresented by Alex Andreou with Marie le Conte and Ahir Shah. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic . Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. Produced by Andrew Harrison. The Bunker is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New COVID infections are trending downwards. Has Johnson’s Freedom Day gamble paid off, or are we just in a moment of calm before a new wave breaks? Plus pingdemic panic, vaccine passports, the Government gives up on students (again), Lord Frost tries to bore the EU into submission, and why the Taliban probably won’t take all of Afghanistan. Arthur Snell joins Andrew Harrison to lay out what’s coming in the week ahead.• “Johnson no longer has a team in Number 10 to manage the political landscape for him.”• “Students are never going to vote Conservative. The Tories have given up on them.”• “It’s clear that Cummings was running the show, because Johnson himself isn't capable of running anything.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With new technology, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you become part of the road. What are the big topics in tech that we should be talking about – for our own prosperity and survival? King’s College Professor Mischa Dohler tells Alex Andreou how a real plan for tech can use hyperfast Wi-Fi to create an “internet of skills”. Are there any insurmountable barriers between us and technological nirvana? And how close are we to building an actual working Iron Man? “We should use technology to automate jobs – but humanise work” “Building a kilometre of road costs lots of money – adding digital fibre cost pennies. So every infrastructure investment needs a digital dimension.”  “At some point we’ll hit a limit of, why do we actually need petabytes of data per second? Who’s watching this stuff?” Presented by Alex Andreou. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s astonishingly beautiful, fiercely independent, full of mystery and a crossroads of jaw-dropping historical events – so why do we still think of Romania as a backwater? Paul Kenyon, author of Children of the Night: The Strange and Epic Story of Modern Romania, tells Arthur Snell how this sensational state has survived multiple coups, fascist death cults, dictators, and Cold War spies…and why Dracula doesn’t enjoy such a bad rep among his fellow Romanians.  “Romania’s fascist movement was led by a rock star mystic who looked like Hugh Grant.”  “Romania’s fascist leader was so patriotic, he wore a sack of Romania’s blood-soaked earth around his neck.”  “Everybody thought that one in three members of their family were part of the Secret Police.”  “All the leading Romanian football clubs have seen their owners go in and out of prison.” Presented by Arthur Snell. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. Produced by Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Productionhttps://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Paul-Kenyon/Children-of-the-Night--The-Strange-and-Epic-Story-of-Modern-Romania/25376753  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

India’s brutal second wave of COVID is now receding, leaving behind intensified poverty, economic carnage, a staggering estimated 400-700m infections and a death rate of approximately 2%. But things were already going catastrophically wrong in the world’s largest democracy thanks to the rule of science-denying populist Narendra Modi. Ros Taylor talks to journalist Debasish Roy Chowdhury and Professor John Keane about their latest book, To Kill A Democracy: India’s Passage To Despotism – and what Modi tells us about how democracies collapse.  “India is perceived as the world's largest democracy. But there are only grains of truth in this India Story.” – John Keane “It takes seven generations for the Indian to reach the average income level. In Denmark, it only takes one.” – Debasish Roy Chowdhury “The strongman in a state of demagogues.” – John Keane “In Delhi, you can inhale half a pack of cigarettes in air pollution on a good day.” – Debasish Roy Chowdhury “India is a warning to the rest of the democratic world.” – John Keane Presented and Ros Taylor. Assistant producers Jelena Sofronijevic and Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Alex Rees. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Productionhttps://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Debasish-Roy-Chowdhury/To-Kill-A-Democracy--Indias-Passage-to-Despotism/26292160  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Boris Johnson and Sajid Javid roll the dice with the health of millions, healthcare commentator Roy Lilley takes us on a deep dive into what’s in store for the NHS. Plus, the Cuban uprising and the Labour Left, the Pegasus spyware scandal, and do universities really need a Free Speech Enforcer? (Spoiler: no). Plus… are you on a pilot scheme? If not, why not?  “I’ve been around politics for a long time, and this is the worst situation I’ve ever seen.” – Roy Lilley  “The problem with making irreversible promises is that when you have to reverse them, you look like a shambles even to people who agree with you.” – Yasmeen Serhan  “Two hours of Twitter and Johnson reverses himself. We appear to be governed by jellyfish.” – Gavin Esler  “The NHS is holding its breath… it’s high wire time.” – Roy Lilley https://www.patreon.com/bunkercastPresented by Andrew Harrison with Yasmeen Serhan, Gavin Esler and Arthur Snell. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic . Music by Kenny Dickinson. Audio production by Alex Rees. Produced by Andrew Harrison. The Bunker is a Podmasters Production See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices