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The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Grindset influencers and CEO cosplay – Is business bullshit harming the real economy?

The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Podmasters

Society & Culture, Government, News, Politics

4.61K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Were you up at 4am, crushing laps on the Assault Bike, triple-dosing beef tallow coffee, journaling your goals, and grinding through a high-performance podcast? No? Then what’s wrong with you? Welcome to the grindset—the cult-like mindset glorifying relentless work, self-optimisation, and so-called success. Fuelled by figures like Stephen Bartlett, Gary Vee, and James Watt, it dominates LinkedIn, podcasts, and bro-business culture. But beneath the hype lies burnout, spiritual emptiness, and a whole lot of cosplay capitalism. Business professor Fiona McQuarrie joins The Bunker to ask: Where did this macho myth come from—and does it really get anyone anywhere? • Listen to Bright Future In Sales by Fiona and Andrew’s favourites, Fountains Of Wayne.  • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more • Support us on Patreon for early episodes and more. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to indeed.com/bunker to get your £100 sponsored credit.   Written and presented by Andrew Harrison. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Music by Kenny Dickinson. 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

If you like our podcasts and you want us to punch above our weight among the big broadcasters,

0:04.6

then please support us on Patreon. Every single backer is worth literally thousands of individual advert

0:10.6

plays. So when you pledge to support us, it really helps. Click the link in the show notes now

0:15.5

and help us keep on podcasting. This edition of The Bunker is sponsored by Naked Wines. I'm Seth Teville. And I'm Zoe Grunewold.

0:24.0

And here at the bunker, we don't believe in guesswork. We go to the experts for the best insights into news and politics. And why should wine be any different? That's why we're pleased to recommend Naked Wines. I enjoy their Baras Scalodoro Reserva from Portugal.

0:39.7

Well, I'm trying their small and small Savignon Blanc from New Zealand. Seth, tell me,

0:45.2

what's your wine knowledge like? Very specialised, so pretty good on things Portuguese,

0:50.3

but non-existent on those other things. How about you, Zay? I drink most anything, but I have to say, I'm really enjoying this savenient blanc. It's citrusy, it's got notes of gooseberry. I could just drink the whole bottle. What makes naked wines so convenient is that they deliver top-quality wines right to your jaw from world-class winemakers from across the globe, whether it's a French rosé, a New Zealand reisling,

1:11.6

or even the Lebanese syra. Naked can help you find your next bottle to fall in love with.

1:16.6

And this premium doesn't have to come at a punishing price. By working directly with the

1:21.5

winemakers, they can pass on the benefit and offer bottles up to 33% less than typical retail prices.

1:28.2

Head to Nakedwines.co.uk forward slash the bunker to get six top rated wines for just

1:34.5

£39.99. That's £6.67 a bottle. I repeat, that's six bottles of wine for just £39.99,

1:43.6

with delivery included. That's naked wines.com.

1:47.1

UK, forward slash the bunker to grab six bottles for just 3999. Click the link in the description.

1:54.8

Hey Jack, I'm seeing your business everywhere. Have you got a new marketing person or something?

1:59.2

You could say I've got a new secret weapon for print. Print? Oh, Vista print, right? That's not a secret. How did you know?

2:06.1

Come on, custom posters, branded mugs, stylish flyers, only one place prints all that. Vista print.

2:12.2

Yeah, I got business cards, stickers, t-shirts, booklets, signage, even photo books from my last

2:16.8

holiday.

2:19.7

Print everything for your business with VistaPrint.

2:23.8

If you need it, we print it at vistaprint.co.uk.

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