Oh God, What Now?
Oh God, What Now?
Podmasters

Oh God, What Now?

PoliticsSociety & CultureGovernmentEnglish
Making sense of our political hell every Tuesday and Friday! Oh God, What Now? is the no-bulls**t politics podcast, making the unbearable bearable with top quality guests and analysis, plus poor quality jokes. 

Regulars include: Guardian writer Rafael Behr • Rachel Cunliffe of the New Statesman • New Statesman columnist Jonn Elledge • Writer and host of This Is Not A Drill Gavin Esler • Social affairs journalist Hannah Fearn • Comedian Matt Green • The Lead's Westminster Editor Zoë Grünewald • Group Editor Andrew Harrison • Podmasters Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis • Journalist Marie Le Conte • Former Mirror editor Alison Phillips • Writer and commentator Ros Taylor

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Oh God, What Now? is a Podmasters production
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Starmer’s China Syndrome – plus Green MP Siân Berry on the new power balance on the Left
17 October 2025

Starmer’s China Syndrome – plus Green MP Siân Berry on the new power balance on the Left

After the collapse of the China spying case, do we have to accept that Britain is way past being able to spar with Beijing? Especially when we depend so much on their students? Green MP Siân Berry talks about the party’s future under new eco-populist leader Zach Polanski, how to square green infrastructure with their support’s suspicion of development, and whether the Greens would enter a...
Card Declined – Inside the Digital I.D. Wars
14 October 2025

Card Declined – Inside the Digital I.D. Wars

Labour want to bring in digital I.D. and many people do NOT like it. Are they right? Are they wrong? And what is the “Lethal Trifecta” that makes the plan so risky? Hannah Fearn is very opposed to digital I.D. on civil liberties grounds. Jonn Elledge thinks it’s not that big a deal. Special guest Alex Hern – The Economist’s correspondent on A.I. – has the inside tech perspective. And Matt Green...
Is the Conservative Party dying? – Plus: What the Manchester terror attack means
10 October 2025

Is the Conservative Party dying? – Plus: What the Manchester terror attack means

The Tory Party looks fatally damaged. Who hijacked the corpse at their conference in Manchester – Reform or Robert Jenrick? Josh Glancy of The Sunday Times was there and he explains whether there’s any life in the old party yet. Plus, the horrific killings at a Manchester synagogue left many British Jews saying they feel unsafe in their own country. We look at the complex and emotive issues of...
Who would win a war in Europe?
07 October 2025

Who would win a war in Europe?

Nobody wants to imagine a large-scale war in Europe. But after Putin invaded Ukraine and Trump tore up Europe’s security guarantee, it’s horribly plausible. Is Russia as powerful as Putin wants us to think? Is there more to military power than tanks and guns? Why do strategists keep making the wrong predictions? And what does Pete Hegseth’s unhinged locker-rom pep talk/incitement to the US...
Starmer vs. Farage – Keir finally picks his enemy
03 October 2025

Starmer vs. Farage – Keir finally picks his enemy

Keir Starmer’s conference speech is getting heaps of praise after he finally went hard against Farage. But has he done enough to show he’s in control, or is the Labour messaging still all over the place? Plus, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, isn’t going away. He says he wants the UK to rejoin the EU, but do they want us? And does Labour even want him!? And in the Extra Bit for...
Build, baby, build – Is Labour losing the Regeneration Game?
30 September 2025

Build, baby, build – Is Labour losing the Regeneration Game?

Labour has staked its future on building hundreds of thousand of homes and fixing up crumbling communities. But does “regeneration” actually work? Housing expert and author of Big Capital: Who Is London For? Anna Minton joins OGWN regular and development wonk Hannah Fearn to look at the nightmare of trying to build houses in a system designed to inhibit it. Includes regeneration horror stories...
Enoch, Enoch, Who’s There? – Reform’s deranged repatriation plans
26 September 2025

Enoch, Enoch, Who’s There? – Reform’s deranged repatriation plans

The ghost of Enoch Powell punches the air as Farage announces jaw-dropping plans for mass deportations and tearing up Indefinite Leave to Remain, claiming it will save Britain over £230bn (it won’t). Is Reform succumbing to the gravitational pull of the far-far-far right or just showing its true, cruel face? And does Labour’s feeble response that “this plan won’t work” just accept the premise of...
So wrong, it’s right wing – Could Project 2025 happen in Britain?
23 September 2025

So wrong, it’s right wing – Could Project 2025 happen in Britain?

Project 2025 gave Trump a roadmap for his authoritarian presidency. As the UK turns to the right, Reform UK is on the rise and fears over a Farage general election victory loom, we ask whether such a project could be undertaken here? Peter Geoghegan of the Democracy for Sale blog joins Alison and Jonn to discuss. Escape Routes:• Jonn is watching The Paper • Peter is awaiting Slow Horses and is...
Inside the new ‘Battle for Britain’
19 September 2025

Inside the new ‘Battle for Britain’

British politics is increasingly divided – but where are voters really going as they shift between parties? And how should Labour recalibrate their tactics? The Economist’s Matthew Holehouse joins us to discuss the new ‘Battle for Britain’. Plus, the panel discusses the reaction to Charlie Kirk’s death worldwide and how it might change politics. And in the extra bit for subscribers – political...
Starmer drama – Who's in control of the Labour Party?
16 September 2025

Starmer drama – Who's in control of the Labour Party?

Starmer is Prime Minister and leader of the Labour Party – but does he feel totally in charge of things? Plus, the race to be Deputy Leader of the Labour Party is down to the final two. Who’s the most likely to take the role? And Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham is being increasingly tipped to swoop back to Westminster. Could he be the answer Labour has been searching for, realistically?...