Best of 2025 – The Future is Slop – Why the Far-Right loves tacky A.I. imagery

The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Podmasters

News, Government, Politics, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 31 December 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

It’s the last of our Best of 2025 and the final Bunker of the year! And how better to see off/kick out the year than with the thing that’s blighted the last twelve months, crappy artificial intelligence imagery? The far-right stuffs your feeds with blond white children at play, London as an open sewer patrolled by threatening migrants, and Trump as Superman – but why? Is A.I. slop the official art style of the new authoritarianism? New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie talks to Andrew Harrison about why the radical right loves shiny, sentimental images; how they connect to Hitler’s fascist kitsch; and what it means when reality doesn’t live up to your fantasies. patreon.com/bunkercast Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Chris Jones and Robin Warren. Produced by Liam Tait. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Art by Jim Parrett. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs.
0:04.6	Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy, customizable themes that let you build your brand,
0:11.9	marketing tools that get your products out there. Integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time.
0:16.7	From startups to scaleups, online, in person and on the go.
0:23.0	Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you.
0:27.4	Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
0:33.8	Happy New Year's Eve.
0:37.4	It's Andrew Harrison here with the last of our best of 2025 editions, the Ponsier
0:38.2	might have missed. And this one I absolutely loved doing. Jamel Bowie is one of my favorite
0:43.1	writers on US politics and when I saw him talking on blue sky about how the language of sentimental
0:48.5	back to the 50s margar politics was inevitably garbage AI imagery and knew we had to talk to him. Is AI Slop the art
0:57.1	style of the new fascism? This is one of the most fascinating talks I've had all year, and Trump's
1:02.1	infamous turd bombing video hadn't even happened yet. We're back with brand new episodes from
1:06.5	Monday the 5th of January, so we'll see you then. Until then, enjoy this one and have a happy and peaceful new year. It can't be as bad as this one.
1:23.0	Hello and welcome to the bunker, your morning bout of news without the nonsense. I'm Andrew Harrison.
1:28.2	If you're a Patreon backer, thank you. You're helping us keep the podcast going and in rude health.
1:32.8	If you're not, perhaps you'd like to think about pitching in.
1:35.6	Follow the link in the show notes to keep independent podcasts podcasting.
1:39.7	Today, why does the right wing love AI slop imagery so much?
1:45.3	If you've been anywhere near social media, you must have noticed it.
1:48.7	Does the utopian stuff, pictures of square-jured white guys in 1940s suits,
1:53.0	raising a union jack in front of the houses of parliament,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Podmasters, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Podmasters and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.