Oh God, What Now?

Monarchy in the USA – Has Charles outfoxed Trump?

01 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

• Podmasters is 10 years old! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing. Applauded by Congress, lauded by Trump and working his way through ...

Trump’s Ballroom Blitz – Reform’s Tragical History Bore

28 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

• Podmasters is 10 years old! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon support – that’s 20% in total.  Another week, another assassination at...

Emotional Support Leadership Candidate

24 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

• Podmasters is 10 years old! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon support – that’s 20% in total.  As the dust settles from the umpteenth M...

Return of the Mandel-Scandal

21 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

• Podmasters is 10 years old! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon support – that’s 20% in total.  Oh Mandy… the scandal that won’t d...

The End is Nige – What happens if Reform win?

17 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

• Join our OGWN vs Origin Story Tenth Birthday Podclash on Zoom on Thur 30 April.  What happens if Reform actually wins? We dive into a darkly pl...

Viktor is a Loser – Hungary’s brilliant revolution

14 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Good news for a change! Revolting far-right tinpot tyrant Viktor Orbán gets his marching orders in Hungary. Our panel talk about how it’s bad news ...

For Whom The Booth Tolls – or, Strait to Hell

10 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Trump threatens the literal obliteration of an entire civilisation, then announces a ceasefire. So war crimes work, right? Er, not when you create the...

Why is Keir Starmer so hated?

02 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

After nearly two years in the job, Keir Starmer isn’t just disliked or unpopular – he’s actually hated in much of the country. But why? How did ...

Shake your money-maker – Why you’re getting Capitalism wrong

31 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Capitalism: Where did it come from and what does it want? Is it falling to pieces or just reinventing itself to remain immortal, as it always has done...

Has Trump destroyed Trumpism?

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Trump promised America lower prices, cheaper gas, no more foreign wars and worldwide respect. Instead his Iran rampage has dynamited the world economy...

Have we reached Peak Reform?

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Is Farage faltering? Reform’s poll lead is slowly sliding, so much so that last week Farage administered a Trumpian punishment beating to pollsters ...

Great British Nukes, Tice’ s tax and the Manosphere – Theroux the looking glass

20 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Davey wants Britain to have its own nuclear weapons – smart move against the Greens or the end of the old anti-nuke Lib Dems? Why is the damning...

Can Centrism save the world… again?

17 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Mandelson Files are beginning to dribble out and they don’t look good for Keir Starmer. Will this be the final albatross round the PM’s neck? ...

Tough-Guy Politics – Will Britain ever be free of it?

13 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

British voters are overwhelmingly against Trump’s war in Iran but the pundits and politicians of the Tory-Reform universe seem to want more, harder ...

“Performative cruelty and a waste of money" – Stella Creasy MP rips into the Government's migration plans

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Government’s migration and asylum plans have had that unique Keir Starmer way of annoying everyone. Including many of their own MPs, such as Wal...

The Special Abusive Relationship – Starmer trapped in Trump’s Iran Nightmare

06 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On the upside, a tyrannical theocrat and much of his entourage are dead. On the downside, so are thousands of innocent children and adults. As Trump’...

Straight Outta Denton – What it really means for Labour, Reform and the Greens

03 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This edition recorded before the US attacks on Iran. The dust is still settling from Gorton and Denton. Are the Greens playing with fire with their vo...

Trump’s deadly Iran gamble – Special from This Is Not A Drill with Gavin Esler

02 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A special crossover edition from our geopolitics podcast This Is Not A Drill – Trump’s stunning surprise attack on Iran could be the most consequ...

It Ain’t Easy Beating Greens – Gorton and Denton EMERGENCYCAST

27 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Greens take Gorton and Denton and Labour take a pounding. What does it all mean? Is there more going on than all the hot takes suggest? Is the Sta...

Peter Mandelson and the Never-Ending Scandal

26 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Who gave the tip-off that resulted in Peter Mandelson’s sensational arrest? And will this mess ever stop unraveling? Plus, an Australian-style socia...

24 Hours In Police Custody: Royal Edition

24 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on Epstein-related allegations of misconduct in public office stuns the world. He has not been charged with a...

Withstanding the Farage Barrage – Can we Reform-proof the UK?

20 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Could Reform really carry out a Trump-style, Project 2025-inspired shock-and-awe assault on Britain’s institutions and politics if they get into gov...

Is Britain ready for war with Russia?

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

“There is no British security without Europe,” Keir Starmer told the Munich Security Conference this weekend. Nobody wants a wider war in Europe, ...

The End of the Keir Show?

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

First thing on Monday it looked like Keir Starmer was organic sourdough toast. By teatime he’d riled up Labour MPs and looked – somehow – safe f...

Is Trump a psychopath? – The cruel psychology of modern power

11 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Remember Trump’s first term when we talked about “kakistocracy”: rule by the worst of the worst? They’re back and they’re worse than ever –...

Morgan McSweeney: So gone, what now? – Emergencycast!

09 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Keir Starmer’s now former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney has gone, so what does this mean for the Prime Minister’s project and government? Zoë G...

Mandel In The Wind – Will the scandal destroy Starmer too?

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

“I’m Mandy – buy me.” Peter Mandelson’s career finally collapses in a scandal more poisonous than Profumo, more serious than Partygate, and...

The Universities’ Doom Spiral – Can Britain avert disaster?

03 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A forty-year slow-motion disaster in higher education is reaching its climax – and Labour is left holding the bag. If young people decide a degree i...

Burnham booted, Braverman back ... and how to beat the New Censorship

30 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Starmer slaps down Andy Burnham’s bid to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election: bad move for Labour, bad timing from Burnham, or another distra...

The next war and how to stop it

27 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

“Things are more dangerous now than during the Cold War.” The world is breaking up into mutually suspicious power blocs, Trump is trying to destro...

The Curse of Davos – plus: The future without America?

23 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

• Get the latest reaction on Trump’s climbdown from Weekly Wrap-Up on The Bunker with Raf Behr and Andrew Harrison.  “If you’re not at the ...

Heated Rivalry – Will the Jenrick-Farage team-up work out?

20 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

“You can’t fire me, I quit!” The world of politics is stunned – stunned! – as rightward-lurching public transport vigilante Robert Jenrick...

Invasion of the Party Snatchers – Are the Tories taking over Reform?

15 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This edition recorded before Jenrick got sacked from the Conservatives and then joined Reform. Hey, it’s just like 2018… Two-month chancellor and ...

“Reform tell you Utopia is there for the taking… but it’s not.” – Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson is our guest

13 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Hands up who’s had enough hot-off-the-headlines politics for 2026 already? No problem! In a change of pace we go politics-adjacent and welcome Jason...

Trump vs The World

09 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What does Trump’s attack on Venezuela mean for the world – and what happens if he’s serious about Greenland? Plus, back home in the UK, politics...

Raw power – Is Trump turning America into a new Russia? – Bonus episode with Mark Galeotti

07 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Trump’s actions in Venezuela revealed how far he’s prepared to push his power – and how happy he is to act like Vladimir Putin. How will America...

The Oh God, What Now? Politics Awards 2025

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who and what will receive our FIFA Peace Prize-style gongs for the year? Elon Musk for his brief, mayfly political life of casual mass murder? Trump a...

2025: The Year of Tragical Thinking – End of Year Special

19 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Thank God that’s nearly over… It’s been a grim old year in politics, so in the penultimate OGWN of 2025 our panel pores over the entrails of th...

Westminster Village Idiots? – Parliament in 2025 with John Crace of The Guardian

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As 2025 spirals around the plughole of posterity, The Guardian’s parliamentary speechwriter John Crace joins us to look at the year inside the Westm...

Trump to Europe: “Drop Dead”

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

America’s new National Security Strategy is a hellish concoction of far-right obsessions, paranoid conspiracy thought, imperial fantasy, and outrigh...

Lost in the Far-Right Funhouse – How bots and fakes create a false, angry Britain

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Social media’s sewer pipe of white nationalism, conspiracy thought and violent far-right incitement is seeping into mainstream politics. But where i...

In-Fight Club – Your Party flames out

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What went wrong with “Your Party”? As absolutely nobody could have predicted, the new Left vehicle’s first conference collapses amid factional s...

Can we get Britain out of its hole?

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Britain is in trouble. Stagnating wages, collapsing public services and a feeble economy are turning politics angry and rancorous. Keir Starmer says L...

Big Budget Breakdown – Wage Against the Machine

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Behind all the predictable shrieking about “tax raids”, what really happened in Rachel Reeves’s much-trailed misery Budget? And what’s behind ...

Why Tech Sucks – Cory Doctorow on Enshittification and how to fix it

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s the word of the moment. “Enshittification” is the reason Google is all ads and no useful results, Amazon serves you crappy overpriced produ...

Cruel Britannia – Labour loses it on migration

21 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Labour’s controversial asylum plans have sparked a backlash and it’s not clear they’ll even work. So, why have they gone down this route? What o...

Deface The Nation – Is Trump starting to lose? – with Molly Jong-Fast

18 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is Trump finally falling apart? His approval ratings are catastrophic, the Republicans took a hammering in the November elections, his gross-out distr...

Make Auntie Great Again – Will Trump destroy the BBC?

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Trump and the right wing press are gleefully hounding the BBC over a clumsy speech edit – will they succeed in taking down the broadcaster? Plus, ma...

Budget ’25 – Why Rachel Reeves should hold her nerve

11 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tax rises! Cuts to everything! Here comes the pain! Seldom has a Budget been heralded with such dire warnings… if you believe the Toryform Press. ...

Mamdani – First we take Manhattan

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Zohran Mamdani’s victory in the New York mayoralty race electrifies the global Left, rocks the Democratic establishment and leaves Trump titanically...

Starmer’s dilemma – Electoral reform or Farage in No.10?

04 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After decades of waving away electoral reform, Labour and the Tories suddenly have a reason to question First Past The Post – the nightmare prospect...

System Failure – Why does British politics feel broken?

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

British politics feels stalled and the only people benefiting are Farage and the quick-fix demagogues of Reform UK. Why is the debate about our nation...

Scary Migrants, Super Creeps – Can Britain break out of migration madness?

28 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A neurotic obsession with illegal migration is driving British politics rightwards, trapping the parties in an arms race of escalating harshness towar...

Jumping out of the Overton window – Is brainrot taking over politics?

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Reform UK just pulled off the sequel to the Jackie Weaver Handforth Parish Council Zoom meeting, and it’s excellent. The leaked Zoom meeting from Re...

Don’t mention the pension! – Can we avoid a two-tier society?

21 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The papers still dangle the dream of a sun-dappled retirement. Yet millions have nowhere near the savings they’ll need, while a fortunate few are am...

Starmer’s China Syndrome – plus Green MP Siân Berry on the new power balance on the Left

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After the collapse of the China spying case, do we have to accept that Britain is way past being able to spar with Beijing? Especially when we depend ...

Card Declined – Inside the Digital I.D. Wars

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Labour want to bring in digital I.D. and many people do NOT like it. Are they right? Are they wrong? And what is the “Lethal Trifecta” that makes ...

Is the Conservative Party dying? – Plus: What the Manchester terror attack means

10 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Tory Party looks fatally damaged. Who hijacked the corpse at their conference in Manchester – Reform or Robert Jenrick? Josh Glancy of The Sund...

Who would win a war in Europe?

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nobody wants to imagine a large-scale war in Europe. But after Putin invaded Ukraine and Trump tore up Europe’s security guarantee, it’s horribly ...

Starmer vs. Farage – Keir finally picks his enemy

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Keir Starmer’s conference speech is getting heaps of praise after he finally went hard against Farage. But has he done enough to show he’s in cont...

Build, baby, build – Is Labour losing the Regeneration Game?

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Labour has staked its future on building hundreds of thousand of homes and fixing up crumbling communities. But does “regeneration” actually work?...

Enoch, Enoch, Who’s There? – Reform’s deranged repatriation plans

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The ghost of Enoch Powell punches the air as Farage announces jaw-dropping plans for mass deportations and tearing up Indefinite Leave to Remain, clai...

So wrong, it’s right wing – Could Project 2025 happen in Britain?

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Project 2025 gave Trump a roadmap for his authoritarian presidency. As the UK turns to the right, Reform UK is on the rise and fears over a Farage gen...

Inside the new ‘Battle for Britain’

19 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

British politics is increasingly divided – but where are voters really going as they shift between parties? And how should Labour recalibrate their ...

Starmer drama – Who's in control of the Labour Party?

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Starmer is Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party – but does he feel totally in charge of things? Plus, the race to be Deputy Leader of the L...

Britain’s Got Tyrants – Can any party out perform Reform?

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Reform UK kicked off party season in the weirdest way possible – will any of the other parties be able to overshadow them in the coming weeks? Perha...

Angela’s Ashes: Rayner fallout – plus The Crazy World of Tony Blair

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The (former) Deputy Prime Minister resigns literally two minutes before we press “record”. Regulars Rafael Behr and Andrew Harrison plus special g...

It never Rayners, it pours — EmergencyCast

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Angela Rayner’s out. The resignation, which most of us saw coming, finally happened on a Friday afternoon. Was her position really untenable, or cou...

Reshuffles, Polanski, the EHRC on trans rights… and the Fight to Stay Sane

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Equality and Human Rights Commission new guidance on trans people’s rights is coming up. What will this mean for trans people in the UK and how ...

How to fix the future – with lessons from the past

02 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Warning: contains hope for tomorrow! It sometimes feels like the polycrisis of global heating, collapsing democracy, job-killing A.I. and radicalisati...

The Very, Very Cross of St George

29 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who let the flags out? We look at the mania for running a Cross of St George or Union Jack up the nearest lamp-post, who’s fomenting it and why it’...

Confessions of an Unlikely MP – Chris Bryant on his astonishing life

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

One of the best-liked MPs in Westminster, Chris Bryant has led an incident-packed life as the title of his new autobiography A Life And A Half  prove...

Why predict a riot? – The people who want Britain to explode

22 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Jenrick’s hanging out with the far-right at the migrant hotel protests, the Express claims “tens of millions” of Britons want a full-blow...

Israel and Gaza – The full picture and what happens next – with Dr Julie Norman

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It seems like there’s no end to the horrors in Gaza, the torment of the Israeli hostages and Netanyahu’s expansionism. And the more events escalat...

“Farage will be found out” – ED DAVEY on how the Lib Dems can fight Reform and rival Labour

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ed Davey’s reborn Lib Dems are on a 100-year high with 72 MPs and a shot at becoming the conscience of progressive Britain. So why do Reform get all...

Art of the Steal – Could Trump run for a third term?

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

 The Constitution expressly forbids anyone from seeking a third term as US President. But since when did that ever stop Trump from doing anything? Ex...

Identity crisis – Are I.D. cards inevitable?

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is the hysteria around digital I.D. cards justified? Or should we simply realise this is the future and get on with it? Plus, how deep is the UK unive...

The ultimate A.I. explainer – Will it kill us all or make us rich?

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In one of the most fascinating episodes we’ve ever done Alex Hern – A.I. writer at The Economist, who writes on A.I. but isn’t one himself – ...

Chaos Addicts – Why the Right wants a summer of anger

31 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Far-right agitators are amping up protests against a migrant hotel in Epping and Farage claims Britain is “close to civil disobedience on a vast sca...

Jezza’s Revenge – But will [party name here] hand power to Farage?

29 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

OK, the launch might have been a bit shambolic and the name isn’t settled – but will Corbyn and Sultana’s “Your Party”* have more impact th...

Pride and Prejudice – Can patriotism be a force for good?

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Has our perception of what it is to be patriotic been skewed by the likes of angry protesters parading outside a refugee hotel in Essex? And can the i...

Teenage Rampage – Will votes at 16 help Labour?

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The government wants to lower the age of voting to 16. Does anyone really know why? Do most 16-year-olds even care about politics? And will it make ev...

Stop getting change wrong! – Clive Lewis MP on Labour's stuttering start

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Keir Starmer suspended 4 ‘persistent rebels’ on Wednesday. Clive Lewis was not on that list, despite his many disagreements with his party, but he...

The French Dispatch – Will Starmer’s migrant plan work?

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Macron-Starmer love-in during the French President’s UK visit was guaranteed to enrage the Continuity Brexiters. But will their one-in-one-out m...

After Trump’s Big Bill – Death by a thousand tax cuts

11 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump’s bill, we won’t be calling it beautiful, which takes from the poor and gives to the rich has passed into law. What’s in it and how...

Fear of Farage

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Fragmentation special! It’s all kicking off on the right and the left. Are our panic-stricken political classes talking Britain into a Farage premie...

System of a Climbdown – Starmer: Year One ends in tears

04 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What better way for Labour to celebrate a year in power than with a humiliating climbdown on welfare? Political historian Steven Fielding joins the pa...

Tiers for Keirs

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Labour MPs rebelling over Keir Starmer’s planned cuts to welfare benefits – where does he stand now with his party and does even more trouble...

Rivers of Bulls*it – Why is the modern right copying Enoch Powell?

27 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dog whistle think pieces seem to be back in fashion and right wingers are more frequently using rhetoric that sounds a bit like Enoch Powell. Powell w...

Oh God, Not Now! – War in Iran and a Brexit anniversary

24 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Happy Dan Hannan Day! We “celebrate” nine years of Desperate Dan’s infamous Brexit prediction. Plus, War in and/or on Iran. Whatever happened to...

Dawn of the Dread – Ten years of Trump

20 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Trump came down that golden escalator ten years ago this week, and thus began America’s descent to the depths of madness. The gang looks back on his...

Trump parade – The empire strikes out

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tanks for nothing… We look at the contrast between Trump’s pathetic North Korean-style self-celebration, the magnificent #NoKings protests, and t...

Hey, mid spender!

13 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel Reeves’ spending review is out – what’s in it and what do the panel think should have got more attention? Plus, Reform UK wants to bring ...

The Battle of the B*stards

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The world is watching in horror as Los Angeles turns into a real-life immersive Rage Against The Machine song. Is the President looking for a Reichsta...

Burnham down the house – Is Starmer really under threat?

06 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Seems like King in the North Andy Burnham fancies his chances of taking over Labour and giving the troubled government new direction. Is talk of a lea...

Vote of the Living Dead – Why British politics is ruled from beyond the grave

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

He’s old, he’s reactionary, he’s authoritarian-curious, he hates the EU… and he’s dead. Why are the main parties fixated on the demands of ...

So long, Elon Musk – Molly Jong-Fast talks to American Friction

30 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Special crossover edition... Well, Elon Musk is putting Washington behind him – or so he says… Molly Jong-Fast joined American Friction to talk Ch...

Faking plans for Nigel – What would a Reform government actually look like?

29 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Reform UK gets a lot of coverage but not enough scrutiny. Say Nigel Farage did become Prime Minister (God forbid), what would a Reform UK-led UK look ...

Cruel Summer – Can Starmer handle the heat?

28 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rebellious MPs, a nightmare spending review, the endless Two Child Benefit Cap row, dire polling… is Labour in for a summer of discontent? We ask w...

Treason! Betrayal! Why Brexiters can’t handle Starmer's deal

23 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Tory press and pundits reacted as rationally as you’d expect to the new UK-EU deal, accusing Starmer of sneaking back into the EU, betraying the...