The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Coronavirus has put women out of work more frequently than men, led to a spike in domestic violence, pushed women’s healthcare down the list of priorities, and set the scene for a mental health crisis for women. Yet politicians appear blind to the pandemic’s gendered consequences. Dr Clare Wenham, Assistant Professor of Global Health Policy at the LSE, talks to Helen Lewis about how the pandemic has hit women hardest, and what we will need to learn from it.  “We’re seeing exactly what happened with Zika and Ebola – but on a global scale.” “Female-dominated industries are the ones hardest hit by pandemics. What it means is, women lose their jobs.” “British exceptionalism means we haven’t learned from what happened during pandemics in the rest of the world.” Presented by Helen Lewis. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer 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 Intelligence report into Russian interference in British elections and the Referendum is finally published this week – but what will it mean? Why are Brexiters so keen to discredit it? And are Tory backbenchers finally growing a spine? Ian Dunt sets the scene for what looks like a momentous week in British politics.  “Eskimos supposedly have a thousand words for snow – and the Russian government has a thousand words for lie.” “The Russians are banking on domestic tribalism to prevent any serious response to their interference.” “The Tories are up to their necks in Russian donations.” “The Raab leak shows how inept and cynical the Government’s response to Russian interference has been.” Presented and produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer 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

Hold the front podcast page! The infamous Russia Report could well come out next week. What will it reveal? The Guardian’s Russia correspondent LUKE HARDING, author of Shadow State: Murder, Mayhem And Russia’s Remaking Of The West and first British journalist to be expelled from Russia since the end of the Cold War, joins Dorian Lynskey to look at what Putin really wants. How did Russia influence Brexit? Why did Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump’s Russian collusion flop so badly? Whatever happened to the classy, erudite KGB of old? Oh, and the Secret Plot against Chris Grayling. “You have to ask, why have Johnson and Cummings burnt so much political capital on suppressing this report?” “Donald Trump is seen in Moscow as the greatest success in Russian espionage history.” “The message of Salisbury was, You may forget about us but we will never forget about you.”  “Robert Mueller was like a boy scout going into Trump’s gambling den.” “Russian interference in Brexit definitely happened – whether you believe it was determinant or not.” Presented by Dorian Lynskey. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer 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

Why do former democrats and intellectuals so often make the squalid journey from liberalism to hardline nationalism? Historian ANNE APPLEBAUM’s new book Twilight Of Democracy: The Failure Of Politics And The Parting Of Friends describes why once-liberal people make deals with devils of demagoguery. She talks to Nina Schick about the revenge of the second-raters, the lure of performative rage, how toxic nostalgia feeds authoritarianism and worse… and what we can do about it.  “If you despair that your society is coming to an end, you will embrace desperate measures.” “When Trump tweets ‘LAW AND ORDER’ what he’s saying is, I can shut these people up.” “Brexit was a coup carried out by one part of the elite against another part of the elite.” “The defeat of Donald Trump is absolutely the most important thing that needs to happen for the world to move forward.” Presented by Nina Schick. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer 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 America faces the dire prospect of a Trump second term, the hardest-hitting, most brutal and effective anti-Trump ads come from the rebel Republicans of Super PAC the Lincoln Project. Former George W Bush and John McCain strategist Steve Schmidt of The Lincoln Project joins us to explain the scale of the stakes, the depths of Trump’s betrayal, and what British listeners can do to unseat America’s worst president. Plus, fun with cancel culture! Ayesha Hazarika and Alex Andreou join Andrew Harrison for this week’s full-length Bunker roundtable.  “In a choice between a sociopath and a socialist, in America the sociopath is going to win seven days a week.” “We have gone full Banana Republic in the US in the past four years.” “Democracies can’t flourish when the truth and a lie are indistinguishable.” “It took 240 years to discover the design flaw in the American system.” “Grievance is the high-octane fuel of Trumpism. No grievance, no Trumpism.” Produced by Andrew Harrison. Script and assistant production by Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickenson. Logo and artwork by Mark Taylor. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. 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 transport in cities change after the COVID wave subsides? Will financial worries make high-frequency public transport a thing of the past, just when we need it most? And will we even WANT to live in cities any more? Jonn Elledge of urban nerdery site CityMetric talks to Ros Taylor about the future of trains, buses and bikes… and why we might have missed the COVID opportunity to rethink transport.  “Uber isn’t even good for Uber drivers. The company clearly wants to phase them out.”  “The Government is going to have to subsidise London’s transport again. If it doesn’t the city will grind to a halt.” “If London life no longer exists as it once did, what’s the point of spending a fortune to live there?”  “I do worry that anything we were going to do about traffic, the moment has now passed.”  Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer 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

Not everyone with COVID ends up in hospital. Sufferers are beginning to report a disturbing post-viral syndrome of deep, extended fatigue, weakness, “brain fog”, anxiety and weird physical sensations that they’re calling “Long COVID”. Paul Garner of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine tells Naomi Smith about his own strange and debilitating ten-week experience with Long COVID – and explains why employers and medical professionals need to take it seriously.  “I felt very fatigued, with brain fogs, my heart was racing… it felt like my life was draining out of me.” “I used to do an hour of intense yoga regularly. Now I do 15 minutes and I’m floored for two days.”  “This disease messes with your head. I’ve woken up in a very low mood, in tears… then later in the day I’ll be fine.” “This is very similar to ME and long-term fatigue… And patients are not being believed by employers and health professionals.”  Presented by Naomi Smith. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer 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

COVID’s impact on people with multiple sclerosis has been cruel beyond even the privations experienced by the rest of us. Our panelist Ros Taylor has never spoken about her own MS diagnosis before. In conversation with David Martin, CEO of the MS Trust, she discusses the astonishing hardships faced by people with MS during the pandemic, why all charities are facing a potential extinction event… and what listeners can do to rescue essential charities that face total ruin.Presented by Ros Taylor. Produced by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer 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

Donald Trump annihilates the language of democracy even as he campaigns to destroy its institutions – and in this, he’s just like Putin. In a podcast unlike any we’ve recorded (complete with live thunderstorms), the author of Surviving Autocracy MASHA GESSEN talks to Dorian Lynskey about the lies designed to purely to bully, the perils of the next Trump… and why we might come out of the populist mess better than we went in.Produced and presented by Andrew Harrison. Assistant producer 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 #BlackLivesMatter puts law enforcement under microscope worldwide, policing expert and former Met officer Peter Kirkham gives the view from inside British policing. Plus, what does Beijing’s draconian crackdown on free speech mean for Hong Kong citizens – and will Britain’s offer of BNO passports make any difference? And what are you going to spend your £500 government stimulus voucher on? Nina Shick and Arthur Snell join Dorian Lynskey for this week’s full-length Bunker podcast.  “Lockdown isn’t a policing issue. It’s a government and a health issue. Portraying it as a policing issue just shows how shambolic the Government’s response has been.” – Peter Kirkham  “Any organisation put together by white males will put the interests of white males first. We have to ask ourselves how we deal with that.” – Peter Kirkham  Produced by Andrew Harrison. Script and assistant production by Jacob Archbold. Music by Kenny Dickenson. Logo and artwork by Mark Taylor. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. 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