Looking back at the past seven days… John Healey’s Budget has divided opinion as you might expect, but much criticism has suggested it was not bold enough. Why didn’t he go further than what he has? Plus: Netanyahu’s coalition has lost its far-right majority as Israel’s elections deadlock drags on. And it’s crunch time for the Republicans as they fight to cling on to both chambers of Congress. Jonn Elledge and Jacob Jarvis recap the biggest, strangest and most underreported stories of the week.

• Want the full Budget breakdown? Head over to Oh God, What Now?

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

www.podmasters.co.uk

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What is daily life like inside Putin’s Russia? Censorship is rife, elections are rigged, the media serves the regime, protests are banned, and young men are dragged to the front lines in Ukraine – but how do ordinary Russians cope with everyday life? Is civil society dead or just “sleeping”? And can Russians ever really be free?

Veteran journalist Åsne Seierstad – bestselling author of The Bookseller Of Kabul – has seen Russia before and under Putin. She talks to Seth Thévoz about her new book Never Say War: Life Inside Russia and the day-to-day reality of Putin’s Russia.

• Buy Åsne Seierstad’s book Never Say War: Life Inside Russia 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 The Bunker on Patreon to help keep the podcast going – and get early, ad-free episodes, merch and more.

Written and presented by Seth Thévoz. 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.

After near-miss second places in the Presidential run-off elections of 2017 and 2022, could France’s extreme right National Rally be about to take power? And what happens if they do? Over five decades the party has detoxified its image if not its vociferous racist nationalism, moving from a fringe far-right concern to a power in French politics. Now the centre is imploding and polls indicate that voters in 2027 will face a Hobson’s Choice of the National Rally’s Marine Le Pen or the extreme left Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

How could it happen? And what would the National Rally’s France look like? Georgina Wright, senior fellow specialising in France at the German Marshall Fund, gives Rafael Behr a picture of Le Pen’s France.

• Want more? Listen to Raf explain why far-right populism is sweeping Europe

• Back The Bunker on Patreon to help keep the podcast going – and get early, ad-free episodes, merch and more.

Written and presented by Rafael Behr. 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.