Lost in the Far-Right Funhouse – How bots and fakes create a false, angry Britain

Oh God, What Now?

Podmasters

News, Politics, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Social media’s sewer pipe of white nationalism, conspiracy thought and violent far-right incitement is seeping into mainstream politics. But where is all this extremism coming from? Who’s creating it? Is anyone on political social media not a bot? And what are we going to do about it? Special guest Olivia Brown from the University of Bath explains how a tiny number of far-right accounts weaponise tragedies like Southport and use AI and engagement tricks to fake grassroots, us-vs-them banter. The goal: to warp Britain’s perception of what’s normal. 📳 Hear Paul Merton on Experience is Everything – Brought to you by Saga. 🎄Get 20% off a year’s support for Oh God, What Now? until Christmas – whether you’re a new backer, renewing or upgrading. ESCAPE ROUTES • Olivia recommends The Guardian Football Weekly podcast. • Jonn recommends Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today by Naomi Alderman. • Zoë recommends Sandwich by Catherine Newman. When you buy books through our affiliate bookshop, you help fund OGWN by earning us a small commission for every sale. Bookshop.org’s fees help support independent bookshops too. • Head to nakedwines.co.uk/ohgodwhatnow to get a £30 voucher and 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • Get our exclusive NordVPN deal at nordvpn.com/ohgodwhatnow. It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee! www.patreon.com/ohgodwhatnow Presented by Zoë Grünewald with Jonn Elledge. Produced by Chris Jones. Audio and Video Production by: Chris Jones Art direction: James Parrett. Theme tune by Cornershop. 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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1:44.0	Hello and welcome to oh god what now, the podcast that grabs the Overton window just as it's being yanked off its hinges and fixes it firmly back into place.
1:52.6	I'm Zoe Grunewold and on today's show we are diving headfirst into something that increasingly shapes everything.
1:59.1	The rapidly mutating and perpetually disturbing online ecosystem of the far right.
	...

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