Blair: “Modern Life is Rubbish”

“Brexit? It wasn’t our job to have a plan” – What the BBC’s jaw-dropping doc reveals

The BBC gets in early with its “ten years since the Brexit Referendum” jamboree with a “star”-studded retro-documentary, Brexit: A Very British Civil War [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002xhvl] from legendary film-maker Norma Percy. Our panel bravely retraumatise themselves by watching it. What do we learn that’s new? Who comes out of it worst: Cameron, Corbyn, Johnson, Seumas Milne, Gove, Osbourne or Cummings? Could anything have averted this catastrophe? And have any of these egotists and hobby-horsers learned a damn thing in the past decade?  Plus, in related matters… Why do we believe what we believe? Why are conservatives more disgusted by disgusting things than liberals? And why (good news!) do liberals have more interesting sex? Author Turi Munthe joins us to discuss the psychology behind our deepest impulses.  • Buy Turi Munthe’s book Why We Think What We Think [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13277/9781529153842] 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. • Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk [ogwn@podmasters.co.uk].  ESCAPE ROUTES • Rachel enjoyed A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering on audiobook – but you can read it on paper too.  • Rafael has been listening to Paris 1919 [https://open.spotify.com/album/6oNqOeW4FADs5D8fEXOT2n?si=nsOS77PYSwKqdzAVdthu4Q] by John Cale.  • Turi Munthe recommends Other People’s Children [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13277/9781803513010] by Ben Faccini.  • Matt recommends crime comedy Deep Cover [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Deep-Cover-Tom-Kingsley/dp/B0F3SFF49P] starring Nick Mohammed, Orlando Bloom and Bryce Dallas Howard, on Amazon Prime.  www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow [https://www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow] Presented by Matt Greene with Rachel Cunliffe and Rafael Behr. 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. www.podmasters.co.uk [http://www.podmasters.co.uk]  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Farage’s riot act — How the right is exploiting Henry Nowak’s murder

Farage and the far-right have been quick to seize on Henry Nowak’s horrific murder, ignoring pleas from the victim’s family for the killing not to be politicised. Instead the Reform leader decried “two-tier” policing and called for “pure, cold rage”. What does it all mean? Are we in for another summer of racially-triggered rioting? Plus: what would an Andy Burnham government actually look like? Can Manchesterism succeed where Starmerism stumbled? And in the Extra Bit… mantropreneurship irritant Steven Bartlett claims that two glasses of wine “ruined” his life for three days. Our panel examine the toxic cult of peak performance.  • Buy tickets for Ahir’s Golden tour [https://www.ahirshah.com/] • Because of developments in the news we’ve postponed the promised BUT YOUR EMAILS special by one week. But you can still send your questions to ogwn@podmasters.co.uk [ogwn@podmasters.co.uk].  ESCAPE ROUTES • Ros has been watching the BBC’s hit drama Two Weeks in August [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002stj0] • Seth rewatched Lawrence of Arabia at Soho’s iconic Prince Charles Cinema • Ahir has been binging darkly-comical superhero series The Boys, which led him to the comic [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13277/9781524108595%C2%A0] • Zoe has been reading Caro Claire Burke’s new novel Yesteryear [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13277/9780008742768] about a time-travelling tradwife.   When you buy books through our affiliate bookshop, you 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 [https://www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow] Presented by Zoë Grünewald with Seth Thévoz, Ros Taylor and Ahir Shah. 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 [https://www.podmasters.co.uk]  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Who votes Reform and why? – with Sir John Curtice

• One last chance to get an extra 10% off [https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-tenth-to-156100247] a year’s Patreon backing – our tenth birthday offer ends Wednesday morning. If you’ve been telling yourself that Reform are only surging because people are unhappy with what the Government hasn’t delivered, the don of political research Sir John Curtice has bad news for you. New British Social Attitudes research shows it’s deeper than that: angry Reform voters are energised by divisive culture issues and won’t be easily persuaded back to either Labour or the Tories. Would Burnham or Streeting (or anyone) be able to overcome their new identity politics? Plus: Does the latest tranche of Mandelson messages and emails shine any more light on the whole ambassadorial mess? • Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk [ogwn@podmasters.co.uk].  ESCAPE ROUTES • Sir John has been watching Dear England [https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002qktz/dear-england], the BBC’s new drama on England football manager Gareth Southgate • Marie went to watch “charming thriller” Tuner at the movies.  • Raf really hated Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu but hey, it’s still a distraction.  • Andrew has been reading Adrian Tchaikovsky’s sci-fi epic Children of Strife [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13277/9781035057788]. 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 [https://www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow] Presented by Group Editor Andrew Harrison with Marie Le Conte and Rafael Behr. Produced by James Liddell. Audio Production by Robin Leeburn. Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Tom Taylor and Simon Williams. Managing Editor: Jacob Jarvis. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production. www.podmasters.co.uk [https://www.podmasters.co.uk]  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Blair: “Modern Life is Rubbish”

• Podmasters is 10 years old! Get an extra 10% off a year’s Patreon backing [https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-tenth-to-156100247]. 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 ogwn@podmasters.co.uk [ogwn@podmasters.co.uk].  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 [https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002stj0/two-weeks-in-august%C2%A0] • Seth has been reading Being Liberal: The Liberal Disposition [https://ethicspress.com/products/being-liberal?INTEGRITY] in Contemporary British Politics by Cambridge professor David Howarth www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow [https://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. www.podmasters.co.uk [https://www.podmasters.co.uk]  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

The Count of Dodgy Crypto

• Podmasters is 10 years old! Last chance to get an extra 10% off [https://www.patreon.com/posts/happy-tenth-to-156100247] a year’s Patreon support.  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 ogwn@podmasters.co.uk [ogwn@podmasters.co.uk].  ESCAPE ROUTES • Jason recommends visiting Crossness Pumping Station [https://crossness.org.uk/] on the Thames and also the Great Western Railway Museum [https://www.steam-museum.org.uk/] in Swindon. • Rachel is watching Rivals [https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/browse/entity-97399b9f-964e-444c-91f3-7db9f11efe5d] on Disney+.  • James Ball is rewatching How To Get Away With Murder [https://www.channel4.com/programmes/how-to-get-away-with-murder] on Channel 4.  • Matt recommends Thirst: 12 Drinks That Changed My Life [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/13277/9780241740040] 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 [https://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. www.podmasters.co.uk [https://www.podmasters.co.uk]  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]