Episódios

  • Return of the Mandel-Scandal

    Return of the Mandel-Scandal
    Apr 21 2026
    • 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 die is back (again). Can Keir Starmer style this one out or is his credibility finally shot? Plus, imagine if you wrote a hoax government report about how a secretive shadow government controls America and then everyone believed it. Even though you admitted it was false. And believed it so completely that they ended up destroying democracy. Nightmare, right? Author Phil Tinline talks us through the scarcely believable true tale he sets out in Ghosts of Iron Mountain – a story that takes in Lee Harvey Oswald, the Oklahoma Bombings, neo-Nazis, hippies, Oliver Stone and The X Files – and how it’s still warping our world today. • Order Ghosts of Iron Mountain through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk. ESCAPE ROUTES • Rachel recommends The Critic with Ian McKellen on Netflix • Raf has just discovered Fast As You Can by Fiona Apple from the album ‘When The Pawn Hits Etc Etc Yadda Yadda’. • Phil has been listening to drum, bass and related stuff from Ivy Lab • Andrew went to see the Murdoch vs Brenda Dean play In The Print at the New King’s Head in Islington, London – it’s on til 3 May. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Andrew Harrison with Rachel Cunliffe and Rafael Behr Audio Production by:Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Tom Taylor and Simon Williams. 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
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    1 hora e 7 minutos
  • The End is Nige – What happens if Reform win?

    The End is Nige – What happens if Reform win?
    Apr 17 2026
    • 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 plausible near-future where Nigel Farage becomes PM and everything goes… about as well as you’d expect. It’s all gamed out in a new fact-based “non-fiction thriller”, What If Reform Wins? by our special guest, Times reporter Peter Chappell – from how Reform would tackle an ICE-style crackdown to the end of Net Zero and the return of Dominic Cummings. This could be the future, so how do we stop it? Plus: Is the UK ready for a politics that does God? The IMF warns Britain could take the biggest hit from the Iran War’s economic shock. Should we get behind Samantha Niblett MP’s Summer of Sex? And in the Extra Bit… after the smooth dancefloor moves of victorious Hungarian MP Zsolt Hegedűs “broke the internet” we ask – should politicians be less embarrassed about dancing? • Pre-order What If Reform Wins: A Scenario by Peter Chappell – it’s out 30 April. • Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk ESCAPE ROUTES • Marie read and loved The Door by Magda Szabó. • Jonn recommends No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood. • Peter went ceilidh dancing at Cecil Sharp House in Camden, north London. • Matt is watching Steve Carrel’s new series Rooster on HBO Max, Now and Sky. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow • When you buy books through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. Presented by Matt Green with Marie Le Conte and Jonn Elledge. Audio Production by Tom Taylor. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Tom Taylor and Simon Williams. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    1 hora e 6 minutos
  • Viktor is a Loser – Hungary’s brilliant revolution

    Viktor is a Loser – Hungary’s brilliant revolution
    Apr 14 2026
    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 Putin, Trump and MattGPT and wonder where the JD Vance Reverse Midas Touch should be applied next. Elsewhere in the pod: Trump comes for the Pope. Why are his Christo-Nationalists getting Catholicism wrong? Is politics being taken over by egomaniacs? A(nother) heated debate about the pros and cons of space. And check out our new theme tune, good eh? Today’s special guest is Ava Santini of Politics Joe. • Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk. ESCAPE ROUTES • Zoë watched Jaws for the very first time and loved it. • Jason recommends Beatles deep-dive documentary Evolver ’62 • Ava is diving into Season 3 of Euphoria on HBO. • Andrew went to see Obscure, the Pet Shop Boys’ rarities shows, where they played these songs. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Andrew Harrison with Zoë Grünewald and Jason Hazeley. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Tom Taylor and Simon Williams. 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
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    1 hora e 6 minutos
  • For Whom The Booth Tolls – or, Strait to Hell

    For Whom The Booth Tolls – or, Strait to Hell
    Apr 10 2026
    Trump threatens the literal obliteration of an entire civilisation, then announces a ceasefire. So war crimes work, right? Er, not when you create the “Tehran Tollbooth” in the Strait and transform your enemy into potentially the Middle East’s richest, best-armed hostile power with a $90bn war and reconstruction chest. We examine possibly the biggest self-own in geopolitical history. Plus: Labour squares up to the Greens in the local, Scottish and Welsh elections. How do they fight Polanski without coming across like bullying establishment incumbents? We look at the Kanye West fiasco. And in the Extra Bit for Patreon backers, what was that strange feeling we got from the Artemis moonshot? Was it… hope? This week’s special guest is James Ball, political editor of The New World. • Save our classic theme tune Demon Is A Monster by Cornershop for posterity. • Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk. ESCAPE ROUTES • Jonn recommends HBO Max medical drama The Pitt starring Noah Wylie. • Ros recommends Danish life-juggling comedy drama Rita on Netflix. • James recommends video game Greedfall: The Dying World plus old series of Taskmaster on C4 (for sleeping to). • Seth recommends the rediscovered episodes of Doctor Who: The Daleks’ Master Plan. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Seth Thévoz with Ros Taylor and Jonn Elledge. Audio Production by Tom Taylor. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop (thank you for everything!). 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
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    1 hora e 4 minutos
  • Why is Keir Starmer so hated?

    Why is Keir Starmer so hated?
    Apr 2 2026
    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 this unprepossessing and fairly boring man become such a figure of loathing? Has hating politicians no matter who they are become the default position in British politics? Plus: Liz Truss (remember her?) is going to launch her own CPAC and save Britain, again. What is going through that, ahem, unusual mind? And should we maybe scoff less at the idea of a populist revolt and fear it more? This week’s special guest is comedian, musician and Radio 4 veteran Mitch Benn. • Catch Mitch Benn’s show The Lehrer Effect across the country this month. • Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk ESCAPE ROUTES • Ros has got right back into The Archers on BBC Sounds. • Mitch thinks you should watch the James Blunt movie One Brit Wonder, not just because he’s in it. • Seth recommends The Usual Channels: Inside the Mysterious World of Political Whips by Sebastian Whale. • Zoë recommends academic romance drama Vladimir on Netflix. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Zoë Grünewald with Ros Taylor and Seth Thévoz. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. 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
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    1 hora e 1 minuto
  • Shake your money-maker – Why you’re getting Capitalism wrong

    Shake your money-maker – Why you’re getting Capitalism wrong
    Mar 31 2026
    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? Is it about to enter a dark new digital era where it doesn’t even need people? What do we get wrong about it? Can we fix it? What even IS it? Sven Beckert is the author of the epic exploration of money-making, Capitalism: A Global History. He joins Andrew Harrison and Jonn Elledge for the unexpected, untold story of how profit made power. • Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk. ESCAPE ROUTES • Sven Beckert recommends the Neapolitan Quartet novels by Elena Ferrante. Start with My Brilliant Friend. • Jonn Elledge has been revisiting This Life on the BBC iPlayer. Don’t miss the This Life episode of our partnerpod Talk ’90s to me. • Andrew Harrison loved the film DJ Ahmet – if you’re only going to see one Macedonian sheep-herding rave movie this year, this is the one. When you buy books through our affiliate bookshop you help the podcast by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Andrew Harrison and John Elledge. Audio Production by Chris Jones. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. 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
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    1 hora e 2 minutos
  • Has Trump destroyed Trumpism?

    Has Trump destroyed Trumpism?
    Mar 27 2026
    Trump promised America lower prices, cheaper gas, no more foreign wars and worldwide respect. Instead his Iran rampage has dynamited the world economy, skyrocketed oil prices, and bogged the US down in a worsening military quagmire – and no-one is coming to help. As MAGA squabbles over the future, has Trumpism been torpedo’d by the only person who could destroy it: Donald Trump? Plus, an economic tsunami is arriving from the Strait of Hormuz just when Rachel Reeves doesn’t need it. Is Britain ready for Cost of Living Crisis II? And who will pay the political price? And in the Extra Bit: America discovers the Baked Potato. What could possibly go wrong? “The madman theory of foreign policy only works if you’re not actually a madman.” ESCAPE ROUTES • Hannah recommends the Ill-Advised podcast with Bill Nighy • Matt saw Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo + Juliet for the first time in 30 years and loved it. • Zoë recommends the new series of Married At First Sight Australia. • Seth has been reading The Man Who Sold Honours by Stephen Bates www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Zoë Grünewald with Hannah Fearn, Matt Green and Seth Thévoz. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. 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
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    1 hora e 5 minutos
  • Have we reached Peak Reform?

    Have we reached Peak Reform?
    Mar 24 2026
    Is Farage faltering? Reform’s poll lead is slowly sliding, so much so that last week Farage administered a Trumpian punishment beating to pollsters YouGov in classic “shoot the messenger” style. Is Britain starting to see through Nigel’s chicanery – or is it all wishful thinking on our part? And how are Labour and the Tories dealing with not one but two insurgent parties: the Greens as well as Reform? Seth Thévoz and Rachel Cunliffe are joined by crossover guest Steve Richards of the Rock & Roll Politics podcast to read this week’s political tea leaves. • Last chance to sign up to our Live Zoom for Patreon people this Thursday 26 March. ESCAPE ROUTES • Rachel loved Summerfolk, “Maxim Gorky's razor-sharp portrait of privilege and denial”, at the National Theatre • Steve saw Sirat, the astonishing road movie about travellers’ raves and existential loss. • Seth recommends Hoax: The Inside Story of the Howard Hughes-Clifford Irving Affair. www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Seth Thévoz and Rachel Cunliffe. Audio Production by: Chris Jones. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. 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
    Exibir mais Exibir menos
    1 hora e 3 minutos