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Oh God, What Now?

Is time up for Badenoch? – Plus, what Ancient Rome teaches us about Trump

Oh God, What Now?

Podmasters

Politics, Government, News, Society & Culture

4.62.5K Ratings

🗓️ 25 March 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kemi Badenoch was supposed to reboot and re-energise the Tories. Now she’s tanking in the polls and flailing in the Commons. If she can’t beat Farage, will her leadership make it to the end of the summer? Plus, America’s slide from functioning democracy to autocracy summons up dark memories of when the same thing happened to the Ancient Roman republic. Classics lovers Rachel Cunliffe and Jonn Elledge join Zöe Grünewald and Andrew Harrison to ask whether the Fall of Roman democracy is a warning or a manual.  • Read Rachel’s New Statesman piece What Went Wrong of Kemi Badenoch? • Andrew interviews John Higgs, author of Exterminate! Regenerate! – The Story of Doctor Who at the Rock’n’Roll Book Club, Walthamstow on Tue 22 April. Escape Routes: • Zöe’s choice Broken Country. • Andrew’s choice Exterminate! Regenerate! • Jonn’s History of the World in 47 Borders in paperback. • Jonn’s choice I Want To Go Home But I'm Already There. • Jonn’s OTHER choice Ghosts of Iron Mountain. • Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more.  Written and presented by Andrew Harrison with Rachel Cunliffe, Jonn Elledge and Zöe Grünewald. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Theme music by Cornershop. Produced by Chris Jones. 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

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:05.3

episode without interruptions and you'll be helping independent podcasts like, oh God, what now, to thrive.

0:10.8

Follow the link in the show notes to find out more. Welcome to Oh God What Now, filling the potholes of political ignorance with a gravel of insight twice a week.

0:26.5

I'm Andrew Harrison. On today's show, is the clock finally ticking for Kemi Bedouac?

0:31.7

Her supporters thought she'd be the tough, truth-telling voice that will give the Conservative Party back its mojo.

0:37.0

But she's sliding in the polls,

0:38.4

losing the tug of war for right-wing voters with reform, flailing in Prime Minister's questions,

0:43.0

and almost certain to face a savage kicking in May's local elections. Is it really all over

0:47.9

bar the shouting? So much shouting for Kemi Badernock and who comes next? Plus, can ancient Rome's collapse from democracy into

0:55.6

dictatorship tell us about America's slide into autocracy? We're joined by a couple of classically

1:00.8

inclined regulars to unpick that particular nightmare. And one of them is columnist,

1:05.3

an author of a history of the World in 47 Borders, John Ollidge. Hello, John. Hello, how we

1:09.3

doing? Not bad, I think. I hope. Anyway, too early to say on the podcast.

1:13.1

I want to ask you about the Heathrow shutdown at the weekend.

1:15.9

There is no real suggestion of sculledkey sabotage war going on across Europe.

1:32.0

The idea that it was just purely their incompetence, surely they have a case to shut down the airport when something like this happens.

1:37.6

I don't know if it's fair, but I do think it's inevitable and you have to govern on that basis.

1:42.4

I mean, I particularly think it's fair to,

1:44.9

the chief executive has been facing some attacks for having gone to bed.

1:49.5

That is quite bad.

1:50.5

And his argument is basically what I need to be fresh in the morning to make the decisions then.

1:56.6

And I think if you're paid three million a year,

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