The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Rounding up the stories of the last seven days… Trump shatters international law, triggers a conflagration across the Middle East and insults Keir Starmer into the bargain. Also: Shabana Mahmood doubles down on immigration harshness after the Gorton & Denton disaster. The Fall of the House of Brewdog. And who’s been visiting Salford Lads’ Club? Jonn Elledge revisits the week just gone with Andrew Harrison.

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Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Elon Musk is betting big on artificial intelligence. But is this a visionary leap forward, or a high-stakes gamble? His latest move is to merge SpaceX with his A.I. lab xAI, consolidating his companies’ finances and laying the groundwork for something even more ambitious: satellite data centres designed to push A.I. development into space.Zoë Grünewald is joined by The Economist’s US technology editor Henry Tricks to unpack Musk’s moves, what it means for the world’s richest man, and whether this enormous bet on A.I. could end up putting his empire on the line.

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Written and presented by Zoë Grünewald. Producer: Liam Tait and Sophie Clark. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Last week Zia Yusuf, floated a headline-grabbing idea: a British version of America’s deeply unpopular ICE. Today on The Bunker, Zoë Grünewald speaks to Sunder Katwala, director of British Future and author of How to be a Patriot, to unpack what a “British ICE” would actually mean in practice and how the politics of deportation are fast becoming a race to the bottom.

• Buy Sunder’s book How to Be a Patriot: Why Love of Country Can End Our Very British Culture War through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll be helping the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Written and presented by Zoë Grünewald. Producer: Liam Tait and Sophie Clark. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

www.podmasters.co.uk 
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Is Trump using America’s 250th anniversary to rebrand the USA in his own gaudy, aggressive, white nationalist image? There’ll be a “Patriot Games” high school athletics tournament, quickly dubbed America’s Hunger Games. Commemorative quarter coins have been scrubbed of any “woke” content. There’ll be mixed martial arts on the White House lawn. And Trump’s organisers of the celebrations are charging for access to the President. What would George Washington think?

South Carolina political commentator, historical preservationist and navy veteran Mike Bedenbaugh is the author of a new book, Reviving Our Republic. He tells Andrew Harrison why the “Semiquincentennial” is a last-ditch chance for America to rediscover its purpose. 

• This edition was recorded before America’s attack on Iran. 

www.patreon.com/bunkercast 

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

www.podmasters.co.uk 

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Trump’s attacks on Iran have thrown the Middle East into chaos and left the world on the brink of what feels like an existential crisis. What is he doing and why now? And how will this situation develop and worsen in the coming days? Rafael Behr joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss this and the latest British politics updates in Start Your Week. 

 

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Rafael Behr. Audio production: Simon Williams. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.
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