Oh God, What Now?

Quinn Slobodian, a Professor of International History at Boston University and author of Hayek's Bastards, dives into the Labour Party's response to local election results. He questions whether Starmer's strategies are misguided, sparking a discussion on the shifting nature of right-wing politics and the challenges Labour faces in reconnecting with voters. The conversation also touches on the complexities of contemporary populism and the legacy of neoliberalism, revealing why the political landscape feels so volatile.

Nigel Farage is going to be Prime Minister! Reform are going to eat the Tory Party alive! A plague of bats will devour Kate Middleton! As the locals and Runcorn/Helsby fallout settles we look at Starmer’s panic over Reform, ask whether Badenoch can survive, and stare into the dark heart of Farage Derangement Syndrome. Plus: Was the 2015 General Election – ten years ago this week if you’re planning a party! – the true moment when Britain went inexorably down the pan? ESCAPE ROUTES • Seth says rent the VRBO property with Orson Welles’ ashes in the well. • Hannah recommends Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors and Birding by Rose Ruane • Zöe recommends Perambulations guides and Stath Lets Flats.  • Andrew recommends Doctor Who: Lucky Day.  • Come to The Angry Brigade – Anarchy In N16 at the Hackney History Festival on Sunday 11 May.  • Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more.  Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Hannah Fearn, Zöe Grünewald and Seth Thévoz. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re on a highway to Helsby… As Reform take Runcorn, rack up council seats and take Staffordshire and Lincolnshire county councils, Rafael Behr joins Andrew Harrison to explain what it all means. Is it really Farage’s night? Who’s more damaged, Badenoch or Starmer? Is this definitive proof that Labour can’t beat the enemy by becoming the enemy? And… Andrea Jenkyns. Sheeeeesh.  • Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more.  Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second presidential term have been overwhelming. He’s signed a record 142 executive orders and cultivated historic unpopularity. What have we learned so far and CAN IT GET ANY WORSE? Host of the Home Front podcast Reed Galen joins us from across the pond. Plus, the media has spent so much time deliberating young men’s hard turn to the right of politics, but what about the women turning left and to the Greens? And in the Extra Bit for subscribers: the Lib Dems want to ban loud music on trains. A good idea or one that will fall on deaf ears? • Don’t miss our new podcast Crime Scene with Bernard Hogan-Howe and Alison Phillips – the truth behind true crime, every Thursday.  • We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow   www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Ros Taylor with Matt Green and Marie Le Conte. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Try a bite-sized sample of our brand new podcast Crime Scene. Every week ex-Met Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe and former Mirror editor Alison Phillips lift the lid on how criminal investigations really work. In our debut episode: The horrific shooting of an innocent nine-year-old girl in Dalston in 2024 laid bare bitter rivalries between London’s armed gangs. Are police they fighting a losing battle against guns in the Capital? Want to know more? Hear the full episode here and subscribe for new episodes every Thursday. Presented by Bernard Hogan-Howe and Alison Phillips. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Music by Simon Williams. Produced by Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis and Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Executive Producer: Martin Bojtos. Thanks to Helen Purvis at Knight Ayton Management. CRIME SCENE is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The local elections AND the Runcorn and Helsby by-election stampede towards zero hour. Will Labour do as badly, and Reform as well, as predicted? And what will it all mean? Plus, we’re joined by the hosts of our new companion podcast CRIME SCENE. Ex-Met Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe and former editor of the Mirror Alison Phillips tell us how they’ll bring the truth about true crime from the guns of London to the Southport Riots… and delve into the complex truth about the knife crime epidemic. • Listen to CRIME SCENE NOW on your favourite apps. • We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow   www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Produced by Chris Jones. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all know the Conservatives got just about everything they could wrong when they were in government. But can we pinpoint where it all started to go wrong? And has the party learned its lessons? Tim Bale is a professor of politics at Queen Mary University London and his newly updated book: The Conservatives After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation is best placed to answer those questions. Plus, is pronatalism having a moment under Donald Trump 2.0?  And in the Extra Bit for subscribers, following the death of Pope Francis, how much does religion play a part in politics? We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  Buy the updated version of Prof. Tim Bale’s Book – The Conservatives After Brexit: Turmoil and Transformation, HERE.  www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnowPresented by Dorian Lynskey with Rachel Cunliffe and Hannah Fearn. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio Production by: Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Nice liberal democracy you got there, shame if something wuz to happen to it…” Trump behaves like a mob boss, complete with extortion and protection scams against universities, businesses and governments. But is he a real Godfather or just cosplaying as one? John Dickie, Professor of Italian Studies at UCL and expert on the Mafia, joins us to dismantle La MAGA Nostra. Plus – the IMF think we should work well into our seventies. Do we need longer working lives, or better ones?• Don’t miss our live Zoom on Thur 1 May – free to Patreon backers. Escape Routes• Seth’s London Clubland: A Companion for the Curious • Ros’s choice – A Life by Simone Veil.• John’s choices – The Red Brigades: The Terrorists who Brought Italy to its Knees by John Foot and Judgment At Tokyo by Gary J Bass. • Andrew’s choice – the Battle-Action mini-series.• Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. Written and presented by Andrew Harrison, Ros Taylor and Seth Thévoz. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Crossover edition with hit pod The Two Matts. What the hell is ‘Hard Labour’? Is it Blue Labour in disguise, Old Labour on steroids, or Starmerism’s inevitable final form? The New European’s Matt Kelly and Matt D’Ancona join Zöe Grünewald and Dorian Lynskey to look at Labour’s identity crisis. Plus: Fortress Europe vs Trump 2.0, The Beatles vs Andrew Tate in the battle for young men’s minds in the Extra Bit… and we invent “base-punching”. • Dorian’s Introduction to Father John Misty playlist. • Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey and Zöe Grünewald with special guests Matt Kelly and Matt D’Ancona. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.www.podmasters.co.uk  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trump 2.0 is a different animal compared to his first term. His administration has already made massive cuts to the federal government and conducted a war on woke – all with terrifying ferocity. Is Trump ruling America by fear? Special guest and host of the Fast Politics podcast, Molly Jong-Fast, joins the panel. Plus, is there a future in British Steel? As Labour nationalises a key strategic industry we wonder just how worried we should be about China.We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnowPresented by Andrew Harrison with Seth Thévoz and Ros Taylor. Producer: Chris Jones Audio. Production by: Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices