The Bunker – News without the nonsense

The vastly wealthy Sackler family are known as respectable patrons of the arts, but the story behind their philanthropy is a dark one. The Sacklers made their billions from OxyContin or “Hillbilly Heroin”, the $35m prescription drug that precipitated America’s opioid crisis – an epidemic that has killed half a million people.Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, tells Ros Taylor about the corruption and influence that turned a deadly addictive drug into a medical staple, how the Sacklers insulated themselves from what they’d done, and how racism in medicine – surprisingly – spared many African Americans while devastating poor whites.• “The truth has caught up with the Sacklers. I don’t know that justice ever will.”• “This story is a slow-moving disaster. It took a quarter of a century to get to a quarter of a million deaths.” • “Many people hooked on OxyContin just switched to heroin when they reformulated it in 2010.” • “The question is, What did the Sacklers know about the harm OxyContin caused? And evidence shows that they DID know.” Presented by Ros Taylor. 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

As the dust settles, what are these bizarre elections really telling us about how British politics work? Electoral consultant Kenny Campbell, a former journalist and editor of the Metro newspaper, goes deep into the entrails of Elections ’21 with Alex Andreou. Does Labour have to wean itself off its attachment to the shattered Red Wall? Might levelling up the North provoke a backlash in vulnerable southern Conservative seats? And do we have to face up to the fact that England is becoming a one-party democracy? • “The pandemic has come good for Johnson at exactly the right time… If anything, voters were voting simply not to mess things up.”• “We know what Johnson, Sturgeon and Drakeford stand for. Starmer is struggling to articulate what Labour stands for.”• “When Johnson does blow up, it will be because of a monumental catastrophe.” 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

As Labour find a way to make a bad week worse, we look at the long-term consequences of Starmer vs. Rayner. Plus, we might be on the eve of the biggest economic boom since 1948 but will the boom play in Hartlepool? The Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance in trouble. And would it be better for Britain if we stopped worrying and let London balloon until it becomes Mega-City N1 (and other postcodes)? “Mark my words, the person who’ll undo Boris Johnson will be Boris Johnson.” – Alex Andreou “Starmer’s main selling point has been competence, but this reshuffle has been a total mess.” – Miatta Fahnbulleh “Global Britain is trying to find its place in the world and for Brexiters, the Anglosphere is their happy place.” – Arthur Snell Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison with Arthur Snell, Miatta Fahnbulleh and Alex Andreou. 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

How will Labour’s post-election Hell Weekend and the sacking-not-sacking of Angela Rayner play out this week? How badly is Starmer damaged? And what sort of a Queen’s Speech can we expect from a Government that has no reason to fear opposition? IAN DUNT ruins… sorry, starts your week. • “Starmer has come out of these elections absolutely savaged.” • “If you’re an urban voter, it looks like Labour is almost embarrassed of your support.” • “Voter ID is pure voter suppression. There are many problems in this country, but voter fraud is not one of them.” 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

Tax havens aren’t all desert islands with palm trees. One of the worst offenders is rainy Britain. So are we wrong focus on offshore tax chicanery? And what can we do about it at home as well as away? Chair of the Tax Justice Network Alex Cobham tells Arthur Snell about how tax injustice goes beyond beaches and palm trees – and the implications for businesses in post-Brexit Britain. www.taxjustice.ukwww.taxwatchuk.orghttps://fairtaxmark.net/• “When it comes to tax havenry, Britain is the biggest actor out there.” • “We think we know what tax haven means… but it’s actually quite slippery.” • “You can avoid tax on a sunny beach with a palm tree, but you can also do it in London and Amsterdam.”• “The UK and its network is the biggest single actor in tax avoidance.” • “Every single second, one nurse’s salary is lost to tax havens – mostly to multinational companies.” Presented by Arthur Snell. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producers: Jacob Archbold and Jelena Sofronijevic. Logo and branding by Mark Taylor. Music: 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

What if the Prime Minister was corrupt, and nobody cared? As Labour steels itself for a tough election day, we look at where sleaze is and isn’t cutting through. Plus, as the COVID horror in India worsens, Ahir Shah tells us what his friends and family in India are experiencing – and the extend of Modi’s culpability.And a Wild Idea for the future: Universal Basic Capital. Rather than tinkering with inequality through a complex benefits system, why don’t we just give everyone £10,000 on their 18th birthday? “The country is so fucking broken that Johnson will put himself on sale for a pair of curtains.” – Alex Andreou “If you’re asking ‘If Labour can’t win now, when can it?’, you’re asking the wrong question.” – Ros Taylor “If someone gives you a shit-ton of money, surely you’re beholden to them?” – Ahir Shah “We’ve somehow decided that old people deserve state handouts during this pandemic, and young people don’t. That’s a really poisonous point of view.” – Ros Taylor Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison with Ahir Shah, Ros Taylor and Alex Andreou. 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

Enforced isolation, powerlessness, boredom, even emasculation – lockdown was the perfect petri dish to create a pandemic of online gambling which affects young people worse than most. The Director of Clean Up Gambling Matt Zarb-Cousin was a problem gambler himself and betting almost destroyed his life. He talks to Andrew Harrison about how sponsorship and ads normalise dangerous betting behaviour, how the gambling industry capitalises on toxic masculinity, his personal experience with addiction, and what we need to do about this growing problem.  “We’ve created a generation who believe that betting obsessively on football is all part of supporting your team.”  “These are highly addictive products… I found myself missing sixth form classes to go to the bookies.” “Gambling offers the illusion of control but people end up feeling subordinated to it.”   “By advertising on football shirts, gambling companies can bypass advertising laws.”  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

As votes loom in Hartlepool, Scotland, Wales and in local authorities and metro mayor regions across England, is Keir Starmer’s message on Government sleaze finally cutting through? And what will it all mean for independence in Scotland and Wales? Ros Taylor is here to start your week. “When the media just hang on the Prime Minister’s every word the result is this decrepitude of politics.”. “It’s a wonderful time for an incumbent government to have an election.” 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

Can the classics tell us the truth about Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow and the Marvel pantheon? Robert Eaglestone, Professor of Contemporary Literature and Thought at Royal Holloway, University of London, uses the Marvel Cinematic Universe to explain Aristotle’s Poetics to his students. He sits down with fellow Marvelite Andrew Harrison to discuss the mythic resonances of the MCU. Face front! Warning: many spoilers here.  “What Aristotle says about Greek tragedy and drama fits the Marvel Universe perfectly.” “Captain America and Iron Man’s moral choices come right out of their characters. And Aristotle would really appreciate that.”  “Fighting Thanos is fighting the inevitability of death. We’re all going to lose – but what is a good death?” “Aristotle’s Lyceum was a kind of counter-school to Plato’s X-Men.” 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

Is Britain really the hopelessly split society that we fear? The good news is that as the Brexit rubble settles, our common ground is growing, and Britain is more up for serious political change than almost any other Western democracy. Tim Dixon, co-founder of pro-consensus pressure group More In Common and former advisor to Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard in Australia, talks to Ros Taylor about the weird online and offline dynamics that over-represent vocal extremes, and why Brexity nationalists agree with progressives more than you think.  “We’ve lived off the capital of past generations in terms of the glue that holds society together. Now we need to reinvest in it.” “People’s identities as Remainer or Leaver is still a lot stronger than their identification with a political party.” “We tend to forget that most people don’t see the world through a political lens.” “If politics can come back into people’s lives, and be useful again, then it can be really transformative.” Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced 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