Starmer’s China Syndrome – plus Green MP Siân Berry on the new power balance on the Left

Oh God, What Now?

Podmasters

Politics, Government, News, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 17 October 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

After the collapse of the China spying case, do we have to accept that Britain is way past being able to spar with Beijing? Especially when we depend so much on their students? Green MP Siân Berry talks about the party’s future under new eco-populist leader Zach Polanski, how to square green infrastructure with their support’s suspicion of development, and whether the Greens would enter a coalition with Labour to keep Farage out. And in the Extra Bit for Patreon people… Sunak’s back, sort of. What do ex-PMs get up to these days? And the terror of the A.I. Margaret Thatcher ChatBot. • Our partner pod American Friction just won Best News and Politics show at the Independent Podcast Awards. Listen and see what you’ve been missing. ESCAPE ROUTES • Raf recommends Film Club on BBC iPlayer. • Rachel recommends The Finest Hotel In Kabul by Lise Doucet. • Siân Berry recommends The French Lieutenant’s Woman . • Ros recommends The Line on ITVX. Buy The Finest Hotel In Kabul through our affiliate bookshop and you’ll 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 6 top-rated wines from our sponsor Naked Wines for £39.99, delivery included. • Get our exclusive NordVPN deal here: nordvpn.com/ohgodwhatnow. It’s risk- free with Nord’s 30-day money back guarantee! • 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 [email protected] to find out more • Back us on Patreon for ad-free listening, bonus materials and more. Written and presented by Ros Taylor with Rachel Cunliffe and Rafael Behr. Audio production by Tom Taylor. Theme music by Cornershop. Art direction: James Parrett. Produced by award-winning Chris Jones. Managing Editor: award-winning 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	I'm Alison Phillips.
0:01.3	And I'm John Ewich.
0:02.4	And this edition of Oh God What Now is sponsored by naked wines.
0:07.5	A great tasting wine is one of life's little treats.
0:11.1	But it's not always easy to find.
0:13.5	Especially when you're in the supermarket and all the wines kind of look the same.
0:17.0	Good thing there's naked wines.
0:18.8	Skip the fath, shop with confidence and enjoy hundreds of excellent wines from world-class independent winemakers. As a member of myself, I love that I can try stuff I wouldn't find anywhere else. Even better. Each bottle costs up to 33% less compared to other retailers. So you know you're always getting great wine and a great price.
0:41.2	Plus, there's no need to leave the house. Naked delivers the wine straight to your doorstep.
0:45.5	And if you ever feel like a wine doesn't quite hit the spot, you can always get a credit back to try something else. Good luck doing that in a supermarket. Now today, we are going to be trying
0:51.8	Simpsons of Servian Rose.
0:54.9	Right, here we go.
0:56.0	So it's giving vibes of like hanging out in Provence with my family, which is lovely.
0:59.9	Which is nice memory to have on a Friday afternoon when I probably shouldn't be drinking wine at this time.
1:04.4	Oh, that's lovely.
1:04.9	It gives me sort of vibes of maybe sitting in a park, the sun's shining, which it is today.
1:11.3	I have no idea how to talk about wine, but it's delicious.
1:13.8	You will enjoy it.
1:15.4	It is really, really nice.
1:16.8	I'm going to have another little glug there.
1:18.0	That is really lovely.
1:20.1	So if you like the sound of that, there's an offer exclusively for Oh God What Now listeners.
	...

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