Oh God, What Now?

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What else does a beleaguered PM like Keir Starmer need but… unsolicited advice from Tony Blair? In a new essay published by his think tank, the former PM calls on Labour to cosy up to Donald Trump and axe Ed Miliband’s net zero agenda or risk relegation from the “Premier League of nations”. Is Blair offering a genuine diagnosis or is he just dusting off the 1990s playbook?

Plus, jobs tsar Alan Milburn’s bombshell report on youth unemployment warns that young people are being “rewired” by their smartphones and trapped in a doom loop that’s keeping them out of work. Can they escape it? And Reform's candidate for the Makerfield by-election Robert Kenyon is facing a firestorm for a string of resurfaced sexist social media posts. In the age of the political lout, why do the rules always seem different for the right?

And in the Extra Bit: our panel reveals how they find their Zen in the age of doom-scrolling. 

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

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Hannah went to see Francois Ozon’s new movie adaptation of Camus' existentialist classic The Stranger. 

• Ros also visited the cinema to see Project Hail Mary 

• Jonn watched the first episode of the BBC’s Two Weeks in August

• Seth has been reading Being Liberal: The Liberal Disposition in Contemporary British Politics by Cambridge professor David Howarth

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Seth Thévoz with Jonn Elledge, Ros Taylor and Hannah Fearn. Produced by James Liddell. Audio Production by Jade Bailey. Art direction by 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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Nigel Farage’s latest defence of his “gift” from a crypto magnate: you wouldn’t know about it if I hadn’t been hacked by pesky Russians! (Although erm I forgot to tell the National Cyber Security Centre). Has he finally pushed his luck too far? Plus, the right-wing press and Reform are busting their guts to paint Andy Burnham as a carpetbagging, conviction-free shapeshifter who’s simultaneously a far-left zealot. Will any of it stick? And why are Rupert Lowe’s ultra-right Restore UK much, much worse than just an amusing problem for Reform?

• We pinched the title of this edition from someone called AshWarp – but if you know the real originator, get in touch. 

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

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Jason recommends visiting Crossness Pumping Station on the Thames and also the Great Western Railway Museum in Swindon.

• Rachel is watching Rivals on Disney+. 

• James Ball is rewatching How To Get Away With Murder on Channel 4. 

• Matt recommends Thirst: 12 Drinks That Changed My Life by John Robins. Buy it 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.

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Matt Green with James Ball, Rachel Cunliffe 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.

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And OGWN is nine years old! Today: A Labour candidate up against a local plumber in a North-Western by-election? It’s beginning to feel a lot like Groundhog Day. If Andy Burnham beats Reform’s Robert Kenyon in Makerfield his path to Number 10 gets a lot clearer. But has Burnham just walked into a Reform bear trap? Plus: Brexit is back, right on cue. Wes Streeting lobs a grenade into the Burnham campaign by raising the Europe question. Could this leadership battle finally break Britain out of its Brexit loop of denial?

And in the Extra Bit for Patreons, we do that Find Your Politics thing to discover whether we’re secret Leninists or Freemen of the Land without realising it. (And why no talk of the Greens, you ask? We did a big will-they-won’t-they bit and then they announced a candidate so we had to drop it. More next time). 

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

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Marie is getting set to host her Outsiders Art Club, a social club putting emerging artists in the spotlight

• Matt has been bingeing Imperfect Women on Apple TV. 

• Raf went to see Zambian singer and rapper Sampa the Great at the Brighton Festival 

• Andrew has been listening to Tomora, the new duo comprising Chemical Brother Tom Rowlands and Norwegian singer Aurora. 

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Andrew Harrison with Rafael Behr, Marie Le Conte and Matt Green. Producer: James Liddell. 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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Makerfield residents, wire up your letterboxes – the leaflets are coming… A month until Andy Burnham’s by-election, Reform is knocking. Can the King of the North hold them off – whoever their candidate may be? Has he done enough for his message to land?

Plus: Is it time up for Ed Davey as leader of the Liberal Democrats? Several Essex councillors seem to think so. Comedian Rosie Holt weighs in on whether political satire has changed for the better or worse. And Matt Brittin officially started as the BBC’s Director General this week – is it possible to steady the ship? 

• Get your tickets for Churchill’s Urinal with Rosie Holt at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington.

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

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Jonn watched Ncuti Gatwa throw jabs at Doctor Who in Saturday Night Live UK

• Jason has been reading The Design of Childhood, by Pulitzer Prize-winner Alexandra Lange

• Rosie is rewatching a duo of British comedy classics: Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace and Toast of London

• Ros has been seeking escapism in Danish television and has binged Seaside Hotel

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Ros Taylor with Jonn Elledge and Jason Hazeley. 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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Broadcasting from the middle of the Labour chaos vortex, we look how things stand after the Streeting-Starmer confrontation at No.10 – was it a 17-minute staring contest? – and whether the Health Secretary has the support within Labour to win… if he stands. And who is Wes Streeting anyway? What does he actually stand for? Our panel share their experiences of “the man you can’t libel, because he has no vices.”

Plus: Zack Polanski houseboat council tax evasion imbroglio! And in the Extra Bit: There’s a new Beatles museum in London… not Liverpool. So where else deserves a museum in a slightly unexpected location? 

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

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Seth enjoyed the English Touring Opera’s production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers  

• Marie has been binge-watching Rivals on Disney+

• Hannah went to the West End to watch David Hare’s Teeth’n’Smiles 

• Zoë has been watching Half-Man, Richard Gadd’s follow-up to Baby Reindeer

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Zoë Grünewald with Hannah Fearn, Marie Le Conte and Seth Thévoz. Produced by James Liddell. 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.

www.podmasters.co.uk 
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