• 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 Mandelsequel, where does Labour go from here? Is Starmer permanently damaged? And who would step into No.10: Angela Rayner, Andy Burnham, Al Carns, or someone else entirely from the political alphabet?

And while opening ChatGPT has become as routine as morning coffee, millions are probably using it all wrong. So says special guest Jamie Bartlett, algorithm whisperer and author of How to Talk to AI, who explains how to master the art of prompts. 

• Order How to Talk to AI 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. 

• Hear America Against The World from This Is Not A Drill on your favourite podcast app.

• Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at [email protected] 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Marie recommends The Princess of 77nd Street by Elaine Kraf.

• Hannah recommends Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico. 

• Jamie recommends Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton and The Parakeeting Of London by Nick Hunt.

• Seth has been enjoying Michael Gove pimping free gin for The Spectator. 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Seth Thévoz with Hannah Fearn and Marie Le Conte. 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.

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• 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.

• Hear America Against The World from This Is Not A Drill on your favourite podcast app.

• Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at [email protected]. 

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.

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• 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 [email protected]

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.

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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 [email protected]. 

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 

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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 [email protected]. 

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 

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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 [email protected]  

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 

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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 [email protected].  

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  

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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 

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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

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 story about Richard Tice’s tax avoidance not damaging the Reform deputy leader when it would sink any other politician? Does Louis Theroux’s documentary Inside The Manosphere tell us anything new about young men’s descent into hatred as recreation and business model? And in the Extra Bit: The usual suspects lose their mind over the ONS adding hummus and alcohol-free beer to the inflation basket. Can we have one day without a freakout over woke? Just one? 

• Join our live Zoom for Patreon backers on Thursday 26 March at 7pm. 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Marie recommends the classic movie Kind Hearts and Coronets

• John recommends Death by Lightning on Netflix. 

• Jason recommends It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time: The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote by Bruce Vilanch

• Andrew recommends The Vorrh by B. Catling. 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Marie le Conte, Jonn Elledge and Jason Hazeley. Audio Production by Chris Jones and 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

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? Zoë Grünewald and Rafael Behr talk over the unfurling consequences of the second-worst files in the world.

Plus, liberalism has taken a battering this past decade, but don’t worry! Centrism can still save the world. Bloomberg columnist Adrian Wooldridge’s new book Centrists of the World Unite! is a battle cry to get liberalism back into the game. What went wrong? What does liberalism even mean in the 21st Century? Does anything unite left liberals, neoliberals and managerial liberals and why do they keep screwing up? And in the battle between liberalism and tech power, who wins? 

Buy Centrists of the World Unite! through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund Oh God, What Now? by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Adrian recommends Southland on Netflix.

• Zoë recommends anything by the Danish painter Anna Ancher but if you can get to the Dulwich Picture Gallery it’s definitely worth a visit. 

• Raf has been reading Consciousness Explained by Daniel Dennett. 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Zoë Grünewald with Rafael Behr. Audio and Video 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 

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