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. 

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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.

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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. 

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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

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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.

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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.

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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 

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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. 

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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 

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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. 

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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

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British voters are overwhelmingly against Trump’s war in Iran but the pundits and politicians of the Tory-Reform universe seem to want more, harder and faster. Why is the British right hooked on tough-guy politics? And will Farage’s fawning over Trump prove to be Reform’s Achilles heel? Plus, first pickings from the Mandelson files, Rachel Cunliffe on why Labour’s justice reforms (and the controversial moves on jury trials) might be one radical reform the Government doesn’t duck… and in the Extra Bit, the Nepo Babies of world politics. 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Rachel recommends Small Prophets on BBC iPlayer

• Jason recommends Daniel Farson’s Guide To Britain Vol.1 on Blu-Ray. 

• Ros recommends Louis Theroux: Inside The Manosphere on Netflix. 

• Andrew recommends David Byrne’s Who Is The Sky? tour 

Help keep independent podcasting alive and kicking by supporting us at www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Rachel Cunliffe, Ros Taylor and Jason Hazeley. 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.

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The Government’s migration and asylum plans have had that unique Keir Starmer way of annoying everyone. Including many of their own MPs, such as Walthamstow’s Stella Creasy. She says her party is now asking people to live in “limbo” and that the new policy change is not “socially just”. She joins the panel to explain why. And in the second half, monsters are everywhere (including politics). But what is a monster? Why do humans keep inventing them — and what does that say about us? Dr Surekha Davies’ new book Humans: A Monstrous History, explores all of that, and she joins the panel to give her take. 

ESCAPE ROUTES: 

• Jonn has been reading the work of Iain M. Banks: https://iainbanks.co.uk/ 

• Zoë went to the Tate Modern to see the Nigerian Modernism exhibition 

• Surekha recommends a visit to the Samurai exhibition at the British Museum 

• Stella was DJing at the weekend to raise money for two charities WHICH YOU CAN STILL DONATE TO! They are Eat or Heat and Furnishing Futures

Buy Humans: A Monstrous History 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. 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow 

Presented by Zoë Grunewald with Jonn 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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On the upside, a tyrannical theocrat and much of his entourage are dead. On the downside, so are thousands of innocent children and adults. As Trump’s open-ended and ill-defined Iran adventure unfolds, is it game over for the tattered remnants of the so-called Special Relationship between Britain and the US? Are there any good choices left for Starmer? And is Britain’s rah-rah right-wing press fantasising that British people support this war?

Plus: after the Greens’ win in Manchester is Gorton & Denton Derangement Syndrome driving the legacy parties over the edge? And in a special extended Extra Bit: Dubai Schadenfreude, or: Won’t anyone think of the influencers? 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Jonn recommends The Lady on ITV. 

• Marie recommends Stefan Zweig’s Burning Secret

• Raf recommends Departure(s) by Julian Barnes. 

• Matt recommends Murder Most Foul by Guy Jenkins 

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Presented by Matt Green with Jonn Elledge, Marie le Conte and Rafael Behr. 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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This edition recorded before the US attacks on Iran. The dust is still settling from Gorton and Denton. Are the Greens playing with fire with their voter targeting? If Keir Starmer’s leadership is back in question, how long has he got? Are Reform going full Trump with their whining about “cheating”? And can anyone think of anything at all to say about the Tories? Plus: Is there any appetite for an ICE-style immigration Gestapo like Zia Yusuf wants for his “Deportation Command”? After our EmergencyPod, Ros Taylor, Andrew Harrison and Steve Richards of the Rock & Roll Politics podcast reconvene to take a longer view. 

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Ros recommends Nonesuch by Francis Spufford. 

• Steve has been watching Brazilian movie The Secret Agent, reading one chapter of War And Peace a day with the help of this Substack, and masochistically enjoying the torment of Tottenham Hotspur FC. 

• Andrew recommends superior sci-fi action movie Predator: Badlands on Disney+. 

• Hear more of Steve Richards on Gorton and Denton on the Rock & Roll Politics podcast 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Ros Taylor and Steve Richards. 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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A special crossover edition from our geopolitics podcast This Is Not A Drill – Trump’s stunning surprise attack on Iran could be the most consequential world event since 9/11. Will the President’s goal of smooth regime change work when it failed every other time, or trigger a regional conflagration? Iran’s hated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is dead but the Islamic Republic is showing no sign of collapsing. And now Hezbollah has attacked other Arab states as well as British and US military targets.

How will the war play out? How resilient is the Islamic Republic? Does Israel want regime change or regime destruction? Does Iran have any potential leaders that the US could tolerate? And has anyone planned for running a country of 90 million people which is now in chaos? Live from Beirut our guest Paul Salem, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, speaks to Gavin Esler. 

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Produced by Robin Leeburn. Original theme music by Paul Hartnoll – https://www.orbitalofficial.com. Executive Producer Martin Bojtos. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. This Is Not A Drill is a Podmasters production.

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