The summer of Flagmania? Donald Trump’s “FIFA Peace Prize” AKA the “At Least You Tried” Award? Albania’s AI Cabinet minister? Ed Miliband, Nuclear ASMR star? The events of 2025 have defied comprehension… but which were the strangest? Regulars Gavin Esler, Alex von Tunzelmann and Jason Hazeley reconvene to complete our run-down of the most jaw-dropping events of a year from hell.

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler with Alex von Tunzelmann and Jason Hazeley. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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From Trump remodelling the White House along the fake gold New Jersey steakhouse aesthetic to the shambolic launch of Your Party (splitting the party before there’s a party to split?) 2025 has set new standards in bafflement. But which are the supreme moments of weirdness? Regulars Gavin Esler, Alex von Tunzelmann and Jason Hazeley set out the most bizarre, unnerving and occasionally enchanting moments from a year we can scarcely believe.

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler with Alex von Tunzelmann and Jason Hazeley. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Wrapping up the stories of the week… Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by Jonn Elledge to examine the global response to the antisemitic Bondi Beach shooting and ask whether it signals a wider rise in the threat of terror attacks. Plus, how will resident doctor strikes affect the NHS as the flu wave intensifies? Jonn tries to work out if the unexpected drop in inflation is good or bad news for Rachel Reeves and crowns his winner and loser of the week.

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Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Simon Williams. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Not long ago, China’s pandemic response was met with deep scepticism in the West. But fast-forward just a few years, and the picture looks very different. China’s bio-pharma industry is now booming, racing from low-cost manufacturing hub to serious contender in the global battle to create the next blockbuster drugs. China is rolling out vast new pharma facilities capable of producing next-generation medicines at a scale the West is struggling to match.

Today on The Bunker, Gavin Esler speaks to the FT’s China Technology Correspondent, Eleanor Olcott, to find out what this means for global drug development, competition, and who controls the future of medicine.

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Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Robin Warren. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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For more than a decade, Tommy Robinson has been written off again and again. Yet he keeps re-emerging, reshaped for the moment. From street agitator to convicted criminal to most recently, self-styled Christian crusader. Robinson has followed a familiar far-right playbook: collapse, reinvention, repeat. 

On The Bunker, Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by journalist Daniel Trilling to examine the staying power of Tommy Robinson and the strategy that keeps bringing him back. We look at the warning signs we missed and what Robinson’s latest reinvention reveals about the durability, adaptability and danger of Britain’s far-right ecosystem.

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Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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From 9/11 and the wars that followed to the expenses scandal, the Financial Crash, austerity, Brexit and a carousel of leadership crises, Westminster has spent the last 25 years governing through upheaval. Since 2000, crisis has shifted from disruption to default setting, with governments reacting rather than governing and institutions stretched well beyond their limits. Prof. Andrew Hindmoor, author of Haywire, talks to Zoë Grünewald about how British politics got stuck in crisis mode and what we can do about it. 

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Written and presented by Zoë Grünewald. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Robin Warren. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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The stories that will shape the week ahead: How will the atrocity at Bondi Beach reverberate in a world where antisemitic violence is rising? Plus: the shocking murder of Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife. Junior doctors decide whether to strike as Britain hits peak winter flu. Will Phase Two of the Gaza peace talks stay on the rails? And happy 250th birthday to Jane Austen. Alex von Tunzelmann and Andrew Harrison set out the week ahead. 

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Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Alex von Tunzelmann Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Wrapping up the stories of the week… Alex von Tunzelmann is joined by LBC host Natasha Devon to break down Keir Starmer’s latest approach to tackling the migration crisis. Across the pond, we take a look at Trump’s ongoing campaign against the EU and ask”why now”? Plus, Natasha shares her view on the proposed ban on social media for under-18s, we read your comments from the week, and finally we take a look at the stories that have gone under the radar.

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Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Robin Leeburn Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Personality politics isn’t just a modern problem – it started centuries earlier with an aristocrat called Charles James Fox. You can trace the roots of modern political celebrity back to this 18th-century provocateur, whose charm, scandals and theatrics helped redefine what leadership looked like. Fox built a movement around himself rather than his policies, offering an early blueprint for the dangerous style of politics reshaping democracies today. Alex von Tunzelmann speaks with Dr Callum Smith of Aberystwyth University about Fox’s rise and how history helps us understand the dominance of modern figures like Trump and Farage.

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Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Robin Leeburn Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Nigel Farage continues to react furiously to growing allegations that he engaged in racist and antisemitic bullying when he was a pupil at Dulwich College in the late ’70s and early ’80s. But are his angry response and his attempts at diversion doing the real damage? And can you really judge an adult on what they may have done at school? Long-time Reform-watcher Michael Crick joins us to explore a crisis unlike anything Farage has faced before. His verdict? “Farage is as rattled as a baby’s pram.” 

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Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Producer: Liam Tait. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.

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Far fewer people are getting into relationships than they were in the past, with a major rise in the amount of single people across the world. Why are we seeing this so-called “relationship recession”? And how can it impact us all? Jonathan Rosenthal, international editor at The Economist, wrote about this for a magazine cover story recently and joins Zoë Grünewald to discuss.

• Head to ⁠https://www.nakedwines.co.uk/thebunker⁠ to get a £30 voucher and 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. 

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Written and presented by Zoë Grünewald.  Audio production: Tom Taylor. Producer: Liam Tait. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.    

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