Oh God, What Now?

The first of our occasional weekend bonus episodes… Bewildered by the tangled stories of Putin’s war on Ukraine, Trump’s incomprehensible loyalty to the Russian tyrant, and Russia’s interference in British politics? The Guardian’s foreign correspondent Luke Harding ties all the threads together in his riveting new book Betrayed: Trump, Putin And The New Age Of Conquest – laying bare how thoroughly Putin played Trump and the enormity of what has happened to our old world of rules.

He talks to Andrew Harrison about the big picture that daily news misses, the return of Great Power politics, and whether Donald Trump really is a Russian asset.

• Buy Luke’s book Betrayal: Trump, Putin and The New Age of Conquest 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.

• Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk.

• Photo: Trump greets Putin on the tarmac in Anchorage, Alaska on August 15 2025. (Photo by Kremlin Press Service / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Support us on Patreon - www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Written and presented by Group Editor Andrew Harrison. 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. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

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Good news for newsrooms: Harry and Meghan are back in Britain and editors are beside themselves. We might say we don’t care about “Reverse Megxit” but why does the clickrate say otherwise? Plus: Giftgate was only two years ago, but MPs are still accepting freebies. They’ve taken almost £400,000 of hospitality this year alone – including tickets to Harry Styles and the F1. But is that necessarily so bad? Are freebies a serious conflict of interest or do we just want politicians to live in a hair shirt? And in the Extra Bit: people are queuing to take photos at beauty spots – are we all just compliant sheep who need to get over our strangling cultural traditions?

• Get up to £350 off the Eight Sleep Pod 5 here with the code OGWN

• Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk.

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Marie went to watch Tony, the biopic about the late rockstar chef-turned-broadcaster Anthony Bourdain

• Seth watched 60’s crime thriller Cash on Demand – like a “noirish bank heist version” of Dickens ’ A Christmas Carol

• Rachel hasn’t been able to put down Jon Ronson’s new book The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unravelling Men

• Ros has begun watching supernatural French drama Sea Shadows (or Rivages in French)

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Ros Taylor with Marie Le Conte, Rachel Cunliffe and Seth Thévoz. 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. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk
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Is communism having a mini revival? Marxist critiques and socialist ideas are becoming the in thing with Gen Z, while Donald Trump is harking back to the Red Scare of his youth to attack the Democrats. Is it anything more than a resurrected bogeyman for the right? Man of the left, veteran journalist and friend of the pod Paul Mason joins the panel to discuss Reds: A Global History of Communism, his sweeping new history of the movement. Plus: Andy Burnham heads to Ukraine with missile plans in hand, Reform’s bullshit policy of the week and much, much more.

• Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk.

• Buy Paul’s book Reds: A Global History of Communism 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.

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Zoë has started watching award-winning medical drama The Pitt

• Jonn has been watching the BBC murder mystery Ludwig

• Paul went to watch Adrian Lester star as the titular character in Cyrano de Bergerac at the Noël Coward Theatre in London’s West End

• Andrew has been bingeing the late ’70s British fantasy TV hit Sapphire and Steel

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Group Editor Andrew Harrison with Zoë Grünewald, Jonn Elledge and Paul Mason. 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. OH GOD, WHAT NOW? is a Podmasters production.

www.podmasters.co.uk

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The climate crisis got horribly real this summer – but is it really true that ordinary people can’t do anything about it? The National Emergency Briefing is a growing movement around a stunning documentary film that makes clear the reality of the crisis and what we CAN do about it. Green economist Angela Francis joins us to explain where the fight for a liveable climate is heading; how to beat the Reform angle that it’s just too expensive so we might as well not bother; and bring surprisingly good news about tech, investment and the coming battery.

Plus, house prices are falling (in some places), ULEZ is working, and Donald Trump decides North Korea is his favourite Korea. Well, it can’t all be good news.

• Find a screening of the National Emergency Briefing here and if there isn’t one near you, you can request one.

ESCAPE ROUTES

• Hannah went to see Jimmy Eat World and Rise Against at Crystal Palace Bowl.

• Jason has been enjoying the podcast Kevin Eldon’s Speakers

• Angela has been reading How To Lose A Country by Ece Temelkuran and finally watching Call My Agent on Netflix.

• Matt watched Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Buy books 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.

www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow

Presented by Matt Green with Hannah Fearn and Jason Hazeley. 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
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The shocking death of former Cambridge University professor Jason Arday raises serious questions about the press investigation of his career and the claims he made about his life. Some blame the right-wing press for his death, others the university. Some blame the litany of racist and abusive messages Arday received online. Where should responsibility lie?

Plus, Andy Burnham is clearly more comfortable navigating today’s online world than Keir Starmer. But does he fully grasp the forces he’s up against? Are Russia, China and malign actors closer to home “flooding the zone” with disinformation to drown out the truth? Former senior UK government adviser-turned disinformation analyst Amil Khan joins the panel to dissect the information war that Burnham faces.

• Questions for But Your Emails? Thoughts? Comments? Email us at ogwn@podmasters.co.uk.

ESCAPE ROUTES

• James has been playing the strategy video game Civilisation VII

• Marie is in the middle of Pereira Maintains by Italian writer and academic Antonio Tabucchi.

• Amil has been reading Beer in the Snooker Club by Egyptian writer Waguih Ghali.

• Seth watched David Lean’s 1970 epic Ryan’s Daughter

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

Presented by Seth Thévoz with James Ball, Marie Le Conte and Amil Khan. 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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices