Kemi Badenoch was supposed to reboot and re-energise the Tories. Now she’s tanking in the polls and flailing in the Commons. If she can’t beat Farage, will her leadership make it to the end of the summer? Plus, America’s slide from functioning democracy to autocracy summons up dark memories of when the same thing happened to the Ancient Roman republic. Classics lovers Rachel Cunliffe and Jonn Elledge join Zöe Grünewald and Andrew Harrison to ask whether the Fall of Roman democracy is a warning or a manual. 

• Read Rachel’s New Statesman piece What Went Wrong of Kemi Badenoch?

• Andrew interviews John Higgs, author of Exterminate! Regenerate! – The Story of Doctor Who at the Rock’n’Roll Book Club, Walthamstow on Tue 22 April.

Escape Routes:

• Zöe’s choice Broken Country.

• Andrew’s choice Exterminate! Regenerate!

• Jonn’s History of the World in 47 Borders in paperback.

• Jonn’s choice I Want To Go Home But I'm Already There.

• Jonn’s OTHER choice Ghosts of Iron Mountain.

• Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. 

Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Rachel Cunliffe, Jonn Elledge and Zöe Grünewald. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk

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It’s been five years since Boris Johnson announced the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown. How much did that strange time in our recent history change the world we live in today? What lessons have we learned? And what hasn’t gone back to how it was before Covid-19 took hold of our lives? Christina Pagel is a professor of operational research at University College London and a member of Independent SAGE and joins the panel for an important two-part discussion.

We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Dorian Lynskey, with Marie Le Conte, and Hannah Fearn. Producer: Chris Jones Audio. Production by: Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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Trump’s election win delighted Farage, the Telegraph, GB News and the Tory Right – but since then the President’s behaviour has horrified British voters. Has the British Right bet on the wrong horse? And will it pay a price for backing a man who seems intent in punishing Europe? Plus, if you like TV but haven’t seen Adolescence yet – do. The harrowing knife crime drama starring Stephen Graham takes in the ‘Manosphere’, social media and what that toxic mix can do to our young people. What does it tell us about Britain today?

The Economist’s British politics correspondent Matthew Holehouse joins Andrew Harrison, Ros Taylor and Jonn Elledge n the studio.

• Buy Jonn Elledge’s A History of the World in 47 Borders through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund us by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.

• Hear Ros Taylor’s More Jam Tomorrow.

• Listen to Constellations For The Lonely by Doves. 

• We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Ros Taylor and Jonn Elledge. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio. Production by Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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With defence spending rising and welfare cuts causing unease, is it finally time for Labour to bite the bullet and raise taxes? Plus, DOGE has been tearing the US government apart at breakneck speed. But are Elon Musk and his band of merry nerds doing it legally and what could the consequences be to everyday Americans? Dr. Casey Burgat, author of We Hold These “Truths”: How to Spot the Myths that are Holding America Back and host of the Mastering the Room podcast. joins the panel to get into it.

• Join Dorian and Ian Dunt for Origin Story Live: Grand Theft America in London on Weds 16 April. 

• Buy We Hold These "Truths": How to Spot the Myths that are Holding America Back 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.

• We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Dorian Lynskey, Zoë Grünewald and Marie Le Conte. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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Has Keir Starmer finally found a crisis he can excel in? Will his supposedly boring manner and measured approach steer Britain and Europe through the Trump-Ukraine horror show? And will he eventually have to stop pretending he’s best friends forever with Trump? Plus, UK universities are going through a bit of a crisis. Are they still the pathway to bring young people out of poverty that they were? We find out from Exeter University’s Lee Elliot Major, the first UK professor on social mobility. 

• Sign up for our Live Zoom on Thursday 20 March at 7pm, exclusive to Patreons.

• We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

Presented by Ros Taylor, with Hannah Fearn, and Seth Thévoz. Producer: Chris Jones Audio production by: Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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As Trump freezes aid for Ukraine and Vance appears to call the UK or France a “random country that hasn't fought a war in 30 or 40 years" – have we reached the end of the post-war world? And will the second coming of Trump result in the death of NATO? Peter Apps is the author of Deterring Armageddon: A Biography of NATO and joins the panel. Plus, what parts of the media are covering the Trump administration particularly poorly, and how difficult has reporting on it all been? And in the Extra Bit for subscribers – what is the political value of ‘lived experience’?

We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow 

Buy Deterring Armageddon: A Biography of NATO 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.

Presented by Dorian Lynskey, Jonn Elledge and Marie Le Conte. Producer: Chris Jones. Audio production by: Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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After the callous and cowardly attack on Zelensky in the White House, will support from European leaders be enough to compensate for Trump’s contempt for Ukraine? And does Starmer have a new job as official Trump Whisperer? Plus, back home, can Labour get the growth it needs without finally delivering for the North? Matt Kelly, editor-in-chief of The New European, co-host of podcast The Two Matts and real-life northerner joins us to thrash it out

We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Ros Taylor and Alison Phillips. Audio production by: Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Keir Starmer’s decision to raise defence spending and cut foreign aid has raised a whole load of questions (but not any asked by Kemi Badenoch because she’s, like, really bad at that). Is cutting aid the right choice? Are we ready for war? And is this the start of Starmer being tougher towards Trump? Plus: is centrism dead? Award-winning pollster and former President of YouGov Peter Kellner joins us to discuss why it just might be. And in the Extra Bit for Patreon backers, Boris Johnson keeps referring to Jaws – a film that was out when he was 11 years old. Which movies from when the panel were 11 left an impression on them…?

We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Ros Taylor, with Rachel Cunliffe, and Marie Le Conte. Producer: Chris Jones Audio production by: Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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Even though the AFD didn’t win the German election, the far-right party still doubled its vote. Has Germany dodged a bullet? And is America now the enemy of Europe? German politics Professor Rudi Wurzel joins the podcast to get into it all. Plus, How can we deal with a world where politics forces itself into everything? 

We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison, with Hannah Fearn, and Gavin Esler. Producer: Chris Jones Audio production by: Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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Trump’s decision to rip up 80 years of transatlantic security co-operation leaves Europe in a panic. What happens when America lines up with a despot like Putin? Can Europe afford to defend itself? Dr Julie Norman of UCL joins us to look at the alarming new security environment. Plus, with Badenoch’s Tories in an apparent doom spiral, we look at why politics needs a functioning opposition. And in the Extra Bit for Patreons: White Lotus is back and the Murdoch family hate each other. Why do we love watching the rich suffer? 

• Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. 

Written and presented by Dorian Lynskey with Rachel Cunliffe and Rafael Behr. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. 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

US Vice President JD Vance proves himself to be as much an arse as his boss with a hateful, trollish performance at the Munich Security Conference. Will his culture war insults and support for the European far-right signal the final end of the Atlanticist dream… and is Ukraine now doomed? Plus, only 40% of 18-27 year olds say they’re proud of Britain. Can we blame them? And should we persuade them otherwise? And we go inside Labour’s pledge to build 12 new towns nationwide by the next election to fight housing affordability?

Some Escape Routes choices:

• Stream Ahir’s choice, Paradise, on Disney+.

• Read Issue 1 of Andrew’s choice, comics series The Department Of Truth, for free.

• Stream John’s choice, Big Boys from C4.

• Ros’s choice Bridget Jones 4: Mad About the Boy is in cinemas. You know how they work.

• We’re on YouTube!: https://www.youtube.com/@ohgodwhatnow  

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison, with Jonn Elledge, Ros Taylor and Ahir Shah. Producer: Chris Jones Audio production by: Robin Leeburn. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices