The Bunker – News without the nonsense

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Starmer has had another tumultuous week amid the Peter Mandelson and Olly Robbins drama. Is there a route back and who’s really benefiting from the fallout?

Plus: The Onion buys Alex Jones’s InfoWars, Donald Trump’s administration shows fresh signs of strain as the Iran ceasefire is extended, and how worried should we be about Anthropic’s new model Mythos? Jacob Jarvis is joined by Jonn Elledge to unpack the biggest stories from the past week.

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Jonn Elledge.  Producer: Kathleen Johnston. Production Assistant: Jake Preston. 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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Written and presented by: Jacob Jarvis with Jonn Elledge.  Producer: Kathleen Johnston. Production Assistant: Jake Preston. 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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• It’s Podmasters’ 10th birthday! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing. 

Péter Magyar’s stunning victory over Hungary’s arch-populist Viktor Orbán put progressives around the world into raptures. Was this the beginning of the end for the European far-right? But behind the energy and charisma, Magyar is a complex figure – driven, ruthless, a traditional conservative and graduate of Orbán’s Fidesz movement, and maybe not exactly the centre-left’s dream date. Euronews EU Correspondent Sandor Zsiros takes Andrew Harrison on a tour of the formative years and astonishing scandals that put Péter Magyar on course to Make Hungary Sane Again.  

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Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production: Robin Leeburn and Chris Jones. 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 news is no longer what people in power want to hide – it’s what algorithms say will keep you clicking. And it’s become a breeding ground for misinformation. As powerful, politically-connected people tighten their grip on what we read and hear, how do you know what to trust? Eliot Higgins of the investigative journalist group Bellingcat tells Rafael Behr how the news environment is evolving, and why open-source intelligence – freely-available information that’s hiding in plain sight – can break us out of the world of managed news. 

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Written and presented by Rafael Behr. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.
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The far-right “Unite The Kingdom” march in London in September 2025 was an unprecedented display of populist, xenophobic anger. It shocked the country – but it didn’t surprise Liam Byrne, the Labour MP and former minister who dissects the Age of Rage in his book, Why Populists Are Winning – And How To Beat Them. He talks to Zoe Grünewald about how mainstream politics took away ordinary people’s certainties and left them prey to unscrupulous, well-funded demagogues – and what we need to do to turn back the populist tide. 

NB This episode was recorded before the defeat of Viktor Orbán in Hungary. 

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Written and presented by Zoë Grünewald. 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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The Mandelson scandal is back and all eyes are on Starmer as he looks to once again justify the baffling and increasingly disastrous appointment. Gavin Esler joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss what could happen and what it all means, plus the latest from Trump’s war in Iran, political change in Hungary and more. 

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Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Gavin Esler. Audio production: Simon Williams. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.   
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