Is “fandom” one of the drives behind our dysfunctional politics? That’s the thesis of Dr Phoenix Andrews new book I Heart Politics – who writes about how people power is behind a series of quake moments in recent political history. He joins Andrew Harrison to discuss whether the phenomenon and power of fandom is overlooked in contemporary politics, and how the fandoms of politicians like Trump, Farage and Thatcher affect the cultural zeitgeist.

• “The world feels mad, but finding people with a common passion is uplifting.” – Dr Phoenix Andrews

• “Political fandom is basically Eurovision with consequences.” – Dr Phoenix Andrews

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

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The brand new podcast from the makers of The Bunker. Bewildered by the US Presidential Election? Don’t worry, American Friction has got you. Every Friday Chris Jones, Jacob Jarvis and Nikki McCann Ramírez of Rolling Stone join expert special guests to count down to America’s most rancorous election in generations. 

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Written and presented by Chris Jones, Jacob Jarvis and Nikki McCann Ramírez. Audio editor: Simon Williams. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Executive producer: Martin Bojtos. Artwork by James Parrett. Music: Orange Factory Music. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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Fox News is regularly criticised for being sensationalist, full of conspiracies and obsessed with Trump. But, what’s it like if you really watch it for hours on end? Jacob Jarvis did just that and he talked to Dan Cassino, a political scientist at Fairleigh Dickinson University and author of: Fox News and American Politics: How One Channel Shapes American Politics and Society, about what he saw. What is the channel, which has been America’s most watched cable news station for twenty years, really all about? 

• “What’s happened over the years to Fox News is it’s turned into something akin to a celebrity gossip magazine.” – Dan Cassino 

• “If you come to the US Fox News is on wherever you are and that’s how it’s meant to be consumed… with about 30% of your brain.” – Dan Cassino 

• “We’re still living in the world that Fox News Created.” – Dan Cassino 

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

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Trump’s followers are often described as cult-like. But how much does the former president actually act like a cult leader? Does he employ the same coercive control tactics utilised by infamous infamous figureheads of the past – like Jim Jones and Sun Myung Moon? The Cult of Trump author and leading mind control expert Steven Hassan tells Rafael Behr how perceiving Trump as a cult leader might let us better understand the current political climate. 

• “People don’t care that Trump has ninety-one criminal charges against him, that he has over 40,000 documented lies. They refuse to believe he lost the election. Their minds have been hacked.” – Steven Hassan

• “There are a lot of different cults in the cult of trump.” – Steven Hassan

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Written and presented by Rafael Behr. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio editor: Robin Leeburn. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson and artwork by James Parrett. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. 

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Satire has been pronounced dead more times than disco. As the political world has lurched into chaos, satirists have struggled to match the absurdity of the figures they mock. But what happens if politics gets boring? Andrew Harrison is joined by Jan Ravens to find out how satire can survive beyond the next general election.  

• “Liz Truss’s tragic flaw is that she hasn't grown up. She is still a little girl expecting approval.”  – Jan Ravens 

• “Satire can't bring down the government, but it can attach an idea to people that they can never shake off.”  – Andrew Harrison 

• “I'm very happy to do without my Liz Truss impression if it means we can do without her in any position of power whatsoever.” – Jan Ravens 

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Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by Jim Parrett. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. 

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We live in a world of borders – and often take them for granted. But they’ve shaped the world in myriad ways over the centuries. Our politicians go to extreme lengths to secure them and in some cases build giant walls to protect them. So what can we learn from examining their history?  

Andrew Harrison is joined by Jonn Elledge, author of A History of the World in 47 Borders: The Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps, as we talk about the weird and wonderful history of the lines on our maps.  

• “Open borders aren’t inherently progressive, Genghis Khan was in favour of them!”  – Jonn Elledge  

• “When you look back through history, You have empires, you have cities but there aren’t many borders.” – Jonn Elledge 

• “Borders in Europe only really started settling down in the 17th and 18th centuries.”  – Jonn Elledge  

We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. 

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Buy Jonn Elledge’s book A History of the World in 47 Borders: The Stories Behind the Lines on Our Maps through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. 

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. 

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It’s the local elections this week – just how bad does it look for Rishi Sunak? As general election rumours swirl, he’s going to be crossing everything in the coming days… And there was the no confidence vote in Scotland lined up – but it’s been reported Humza Yousaf will quit before it happens. Plus, Trump’s trial continues – will he contain his rage as it rolls on? Then finally we turn to Gaza and look at the latest in terms of ceasefire talks. All that and more in Start Your Week, with Ros Taylor and Jacob Jarvis.  

• “Sunak wants to give the impression that the Rwanda deportations will happen and that no legal issues will get in the way” – Ros Taylor  

• “Calling an election for July might actually be advantageous for Sunak.” – Ros Taylor 

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Written and Presented by Jacob Jarvis with Ros Taylor. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. ENDS 

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Silicon Valley presents itself as a haven for tech start-ups wanting to change the world for the better. But, beneath the facade, it has a serious fraud problem. Why do tricksters thrive among the geniuses? Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the FTX crypto exchange is the latest high-profile example – but he’s far from being the first tech start-up founder to wind up in jail. Erin Griffith is a reporter for the New York Times specialising in tech and finance – and joins Chris Jones in The Bunker to discuss this dark phenomenon. 

• “When there’s a lot of free money going around, that’s going to attract a lot of people to exploit that.” – Erin Griffith

• “The venture capital investors who are backing these companies are sophisticated… but there’s also an element of FOMO because there are only so many startups that might be the next Facebook.” – Erin Griffith

• “I’m not sure anything is changing apart from some of these charges for fraud that are now being prosecuted in criminal court.” – Erin Griffith

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Written, presented and produced by Chris Jones. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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The Conservative Party was once a unified force, able to steadily maintain power. But today’s Tories are in constant turmoil. How did they become the party of chaos? Since Brexit there’s been a revolving door of leaders, the rise of tribalism within the party and a series of humiliating byelection losses. Alex Andreou is joined by professor of politics at Queen Mary University Tim Bale to try and understand this shift in conservative politics.  

• “Everything that top Tories say needs to be considered as part of their future leadership contest.” – Tim Bale 

• “Without Brexit, we wouldn't have seen the turmoil that we've seen over the last decade.”  – Tim Bale 

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Written and presented by Alex Andreou. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. 

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The prospect of a new Civil War in the United States is increasingly discussed as political turmoil rips through America. How could such a conflict actually break out? Rob Hutton is joined by The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future author Stephen Marche to discuss the terrifying new film Civil War – and how the reality could be even worse.  

• “Civil wars when they come are the very worst things that can happen to a country. In England, the civil war demonstrated a level of brutality that is now unthinkable to us.” – Stephen Marche  

• “It’s so dangerous right now, not because the people are inherently violent, but because for those people to get power, they need hatred to get them there.” – Stephen Marche 

Buy The Next Civil War: Dispatches from the American Future through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. 

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Written and presented by Rob Hutton. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson and artwork by James Parrett. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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The Union Jack represents many things for many people, linked to historical pride – but also shame. And, unfortunately, it’s become somewhat synonymous with the political Right. So what is Labour’s relationship with the flag? Andrew Harrison asks The People's Flag and the Union Jack: An Alternative History of Britain and the Labour Party co-author Gerry Hassan if Labour can reclaim Britishness.  

• “I don’t think anyone in the UK can be completely objective about the Union Jack. Flags are things we have emotional connections with. The Union Jack’s meaning has evolved over centuries.” – Gerry Hassan 

• “Lots of people say we have to either identify and feel pride in it, or loathe it – but it’s important we allow for a polarity of meanings.” – Gerry Hassan 

• “In our current age of culture wars, symbols really matter. And symbols like national flags are highly contested.” – Gerry Hassan 

• “Flags are part of who we are as human beings.” – Gerry Hassan 

Buy The People's Flag and the Union Jack: An Alternative History of Britain and the Labour Party through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. 

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Written and presented by Podmasters Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson and artwork by James Parrett. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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