Nigel Farage is doing everything he can to deny having been in the wrong in those disastrous sting videos. Can his excuses work? Plus, Trump is going wild with AI slop, Kushner has visited Putin and the far-right are blocking ports in Kent… Alex von Tunzelmann joins Jacob Jarvis to discuss what to look out for this week.www.patreon.com/bunkercast     Written and presented by Jacob Jarvis with Alex von Tunzelmann. Audio production: Simon Williams. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Quick-fire reaction with News Statesman’s associate political editor Rachel Cunliffe and Jacob Jarvis. Given the Farage fallout, we had to record something quickly, so we did an emergencycast! This was originally for Oh God, What Now?, but we thought you’d want to hear it too… The Reform conference is well underway and Nigel Farage is facing another huge crisis after two (now-ex) senior officials were filmed in an undercover investigation seemingly plotting how to bypass electoral law to bag a £500,000 foreign donation… Reform claims it’s all one big hoax, predictably… So can the party weather the storm? Is Farage absolutely done for? And what could happen next?• Find out if you’re owed on car finance at refundclub.co.uk/bunker • Refund Club is a trading style of Sandsford Law Limited, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA no. 8008114). Checking is free. A fee is payable only if your claim is successful. Eligibility: car finance taken out in the UK between 2007 and 2021. The average claim is around £829 per agreement; this is an average and not a guarantee of the amount you will receive. You can also claim yourself for free by contacting your lender or the Financial Ombudsman Service. refundclub.co.uk/bunker• Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercastWritten and presented by Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis with Rachel Cunliffe. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Chris Jones. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Looking back at the big stories of the past seven days… Burnham and Badenoch finally went head-to-head at PMQs. Who came out on top? Reform kicks off its conference, complete with £3,000 tickets for a champagne breakfast with Farage. Polanski eyes Starmer’s old seat in Holborn and St Pancras. And feminist icon Gloria Steinem dies aged 92. Seth Thévoz and Andrew Harrison round up the biggest, strangest and most under-reported stories of the week.• Find out if you’re owed on car finance at refundclub.co.uk/bunker• Refund Club is a trading style of Sandsford Law Limited, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA no. 8008114). Checking is free. A fee is payable only if your claim is successful. Eligibility: car finance taken out in the UK between 2007 and 2021. The average claim is around £829 per agreement; this is an average and not a guarantee of the amount you will receive. You can also claim yourself for free by contacting your lender or the Financial Ombudsman Service. refundclub.co.uk/bunker• Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercastWritten and presented by Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is that mini-mart laundering money? Why have five barbershops opened on the same street? And how can suspiciously empty phone repair shops afford to run? For years, rumours have swirled about Britain’s high streets. Now Andy Burnham has decided he knows who the villain is. He’s declared war on “dodgy” vape shops, branding them a scourge of the high street that only his government can defeat. So… Why are our town centres filling up with vape shops, candy stores and phone-repair shops in the first place? Who’s profiting from them? And can anything spark a high street renaissance? Jim Waterson, founder and editor of the London Centric, joins Zoë Grünewald to unveil the murky world behind Britain’s high streets.  • Read how London Centric’s investigation led to a Harry Potter gift shop raid.• Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercastWritten and presented by Zoë Grünewald. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Tom Taylor. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amoral attack dog for Senator Joe McCarthy during America’s Red Scare of the ’50s. Corrupt mob lawyer, cruel swindler and powerbroker. Racist. Closeted but extremely sexually active gay man who in public spouted homophobic slurs and backed anti-gay legislation. Infamous New York lawyer Roy Cohn was all these things. He was also the man who taught Donald Trump everything he knows. Kai Bird, co-author of riveting new biography American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump explains how Cohen’s vicious, win-at-all-costs methods created a monster – and what both men say about the darkness in American culture. • Buy American Scoundrel by Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll help fund The Bunker by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too.www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Setting up the stories for the week ahead… The carefree summer of announcing fun policies is over for Andy Burnham as Parliament returns with tricky questions on defence funding, prisoner release and the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields. Plus: Reshuffle time as Badenoch rearranges the deckchairs on the Torytanic. It’s Reform conference week. And was the Bayeux Tapestry the first-ever comic book? Ros Taylor and Andrew Harrison take you through the stories of the week ahead.Get tomorrow’s Bunker today when you back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercastWritten and presented by Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Audio production: Simon Williams. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Artwork by James Parrett. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Looking back at the big stories of the past seven days… Dolly Parton’s death leaves the world brokenhearted but reflecting on a true rarity: someone rich, famous and powerful who never stopped being a good human being. Plus: Meta caves in an $18bn settlement of claims that Facebook and Instagram harmed children. Andy Burnham visits Zelensky in Kyiv – and jams to The Smiths. And in Alaska… Dan Sullivan supports Dan Sullivan as he defeats Dan Sullivan in the Senate race. Zoë Grünewald and Andrew Harrison round up the biggest, strangest and most under-reported stories of the week.  • Listen as Gavin Esler explores the breakneck evolution of military technology in This Is Not A Drill’s brand new four-part mini-series• Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Group Editor Andrew Harrison. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hot Take Time Machine is back with Paper Cuts alumni Miranda Sawyer, Jonn Elledge and Jacob Jarvis sniffing out the strangest, worst – and occasionally best – opinions of the past month.  On this episode: Dolly Parton’s death shocks the world, Harry and Meghan’s media storm rages on, the treatment of Jason Arday comes under scrutiny and the Mail’s Liz Jones has another mega moan.  • Spotted a column we should talk about next time? Send it to [email protected]  • Buy Jonn’s book 31 Inventions that Built our World: The Making of Modern Life from 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.  • Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis with Miranda Sawyer and Jonn Elledge. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re living through another technological revolution, but it’s easy to take for granted how much of the world around us was once a radical new invention. Author, columnist and Oh God, What Now? regular Jonn Elledge joins Alex von Tunzelmann to reveal the 31 inventions that made modern life possible. They answer questions such as: Before windows, did people just live in stinking darkness? Are trees really the “most useful technology” a city can invest in? And are buses slowly morphing into… crabs?  • Buy Jonn’s book 31 Inventions that Built our World: The Making of Modern Life from 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. Get tickets for Origin Story Live! at Islington’s Union Chapel on Tuesday, September 1  • Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Jade Bailey. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. www.podmasters.co.uk  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do great leaders actually matter? Or are they just being carried along by bigger forces – from timing to sheer dumb luck? It’s the question that underpins almost every argument about politics, business and sport. And it’s one that Jared Diamond, the UCLA professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, has spent years trying to answer. He joins Emma Kennedy to reveal when leaders can – and cannot – bring about effective change. • Buy Jared’s book Profits, Prophets, Coaches and Kings: (When) Do Leaders Matter? from 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.• Get tickets for Origin Story Live! at Islington’s Union Chapel on Tuesday, September 1 • Back us on Patreon – www.patreon.com/bunkercastWritten and presented by Emma Kennedy. Producer: James Liddell. Audio production: Robin Leeburn. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production.www.podmasters.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.