The Bunker – News without the nonsense

The English public school is one of the country’s strangest and often most sinister institutions. James Scudamore, author of the moving and gripping novel of memory, friendship and abuse English Monsters, talks to Arthur Snell about his own experience with the mad and petty regime of the English boarding school. How did this culture spread the “profound damage” of men who’d seen true horror in war down to generations of pupils? And why do public schools produce an emotionally damaged elite?  “There’s a special toxicity in that closed world of elitism and privilege.” “That blend of extremely rigid rules and the psychopathy of the punishments… it’s incredible that these things were still going on as late as the 80s.”  “One thing you have to do to survive is to completely shut down your empathy. And another is to fall into extreme flippancy.” Presented by Arthur Snell. 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

The pubs are back! Can the Great British Public drink the county back to economic health? Plus, did the deeply strange Prince Philip memorial weekend give us any pointers to the future fate of the Monarchy? Should we give up hoping for ‘normal’ politics to come back? And why shouldn’t there be a black James Bond?  “AstraZeneca? I’d have taken a North Korean vaccine if they offered me.” – Justin Quirk “Brits treat the Royal Family as both superhuman and somehow subhuman too.” – Alex Andreou “If there’s one thing that Labour hates, it’s Labour.” – Marie le Conte Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison with Alex Andreou, Marie le Conte and Justin Quirk. 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 England scratches at the doors of pubs and hairdressers like a starving cat, Yasmeen Serhan joins Andrew Harrison to set out the week’s news stories. Are we on for a retail superspreader event? Plus the Cameron-Greensill scandal gets worse, London decides to let Northern Ireland stew, Prince Philip is still dead… and Ramadan for dummies (i.e. Andrew).  “If you guys want this change to be permanent, you need to make sure your queues outside Primark are socially distanced.”  “Advice for non-Muslims: if you’re going to annoy your friends, do it today while they’re still allowed to swear.” 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

When digital artist Dan Hett tragically lost his brother Martin in the 2017 Manchester bombings, he turned to the world of interactive fiction to help him understand what had happened – and ultimately he produced the game ‘Closed Hands’, which examines the causes and effects of a terrorist attack in a fictional UK city.Dan talks to Arthur Snell about the fascinating world of interactive fiction novels, how he turned his painful experience into a piece of art, and the role it could play in tackling extremism. “There is a route through the game that reflects my reality, but I’m the only one who knows what it is” “This game is me questioning society and us as a population, rather than my individual experience” “Closed Hands was difficult to write, difficult to research, and for some people it’s difficult to play” “Sometimes the decisions you make during the game are not black and white, and there isn’t a correct way of doing things” “If can reach one person through games, who hadn’t thought about this, then I’ve succeeded” Presented by Arthur Snell. 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

Content warning: Includes discussion of sexual violence and abuse. What is it like being an “activist prosecutor” in a legal system hampered by institutional prejudice and often indifference? Former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal tells The Observer’s Nick Cohen about his memoir The Prosecutor: One Man’s Pursuit for Justice for the Voiceless and what it reveals about British justice. Why are marginalised young women so badly served by our justice system? How might COVID transform that system? And is “cultural sensitivity” a cover for failures on racial and class prejudice? “Police and prosecutors often use excuses to cover the fact that ‘This is really difficult, why are we bothering?’” “The idea of ‘working in the interests of justice’ got changed to ‘working in the interest of just us’.” “Our legal system is stuck in the past and isn’t updating with any speed.” “One police station has been sold to a pizza restaurant. And do you know who owns it? Organised crime.” Presented by Nick Cohen. 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

Good news, everyone! Institutional racism is over, at least according to the Government-sponsored Sewell Report into racial disparity in the UK. As the report falls to pieces in plain sight, special guest Matthew Ryder QC (former London Deputy Mayor for social integration) joins Ayesha Hazarika, Ahir Shah and Ros Taylor to discuss a textbook example of selecting your conclusion before looking for evidence. Plus: Populism’s endgame in Brazil, the joy of blue plaques, and is Britain less divided than we thought? “The Sewell Report is a huge backwards step.” – Matthew Ryder “This should be a wake up call for Labour. The party just doesn’t trust people of colour with the big jobs.” – Matthew Ryder  Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison with Ayesha Hazarika, Ahir Shah and Ros Taylor. 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

Russia is massing troops on the Ukrainian border. Does Putin just want to hand Biden his first test, or is there more to it? Plus: the tangled mess that is vaccine passports. Why your foreign holiday is probably off this year. Keir Starmer under a cloud on his first anniversary as Labour leader. And what’s going on in Jordan? Arthur Snell sets out the week ahead. “It’s a bad look for an opposition leader if you can’t win a by-election in the North of England.” 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

What is it like being one of the few black people at Eton and Oxford? And what do they actual teach our future rulers? Musa Okwonga is the author One of Them: An Eton College Memoir, and host of the Stadio football podcast. He talks to Alex Andreou about imperial pride in private schools, why Brexit led him to move to “the heart of Europe”, and whether Spurs will make it to the Champions League… “MPs would learn more about the world by getting off the train one stop earlier, not going on a gap year.” “Schtick only works when people buy into it.”  “It’s easier to name Henry VIII’s six wives than the six biggest colonial massacres.” “A lot of the people at Eton didn’t know black people. I felt like I was representing all black people.” “Eton is the kind of school where you can be a kind of Gatsby.” 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

When writer Erica Buist had the traumatic experience of finding her partner’s father dead in his home, it led her to ask why we respond to death with fear and sadness – and ultimately to travel from Mexico to Nepal and beyond to research the surprisingly uplifting book This Party's Dead: Grief, Joy And Spilled Rum At The World's Death Festivals.She talks to Arthur Snell about greeting the dead and dancing with corpses, feasts where dead bodies are “invited to the party”, the true meaning of Voldemort… and why Westerners need to get over the idea that talking about death is “rude”.  “We leave this incredibly important thing to your highest moment of trauma. Why would you do that?” “I got hit on the head with a corpse at one of these festivals. They were dancing with it…” “We’re happy to look at the blue corpse of a girl in a movie, but somehow not in real life.” “In the West, when you die you lose your powers. But in a lot of these cultures, death is where you GAIN your power.” “Hanging out with a dead body sounds bizarre. But after a couple of minutes, it’s so normal.” “The idea that teaching kids about death will traumatise them? No. Kids LOVE death. It’s their favourite.” Presented by Arthur Snell. 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

What will the Sturgeon/Salmond stand-off mean for the SNP’s make-or-break bid for re-election and a second independence referendum? And can an independent Scotland pay its way? SNP Cabinet Secretary for Finance Kate Forbes is our special guest. Plus: What’s behind Johnson’s defence plans for fewer soldiers and more nukes? And Alan Turing is on the £50 note but will the Queen be on our banknotes for much longer? “If Scotland goes independent, England would lose an unruly neighbour, and gain a close ally.” – Kate Forbes “By repeatedly saying ‘No’, it’s almost as if Boris Johnson has given up on making the case for the Union.” – Kate Forbes Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison with Yasmeen Serhan and Arthur Snell. 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