Oh God, What Now?

Oh God, What Now? started as a reaction to the Brexit chaos of 2017, and the title has remained depressingly appropriate ever since. The podcast features a rotating cast of sharp political commentators including Rafael Behr, Rachel Cunliffe, Gavin Esler, Marie Le Conte, and Andrew Harrison, who gather twice a week to make sense of whatever political mess is currently unfolding. Episodes run 50-70 minutes and drop every Tuesday and Friday. The format is roundtable discussion with a panel of journalists and commentators who actually enjoy arguing with each other. The show promises "top quality guests and analysis, plus poor quality jokes," and that is a pretty accurate description. It manages to be both informative and genuinely funny, which is not easy when you are covering things like government u-turns and parliamentary procedure. With 800 episodes and a 4.5-star rating from 144 reviews, the show has quietly built one of the most engaged audiences in UK political podcasting. The rotating panel means you get a variety of perspectives rather than the same two voices every episode, and the contributors tend to come from across the political spectrum. Produced by Podmasters, it has a slightly scrappier feel than the big BBC or Guardian productions, which works in its favour -- the conversations feel less managed and more honest. If you are tired of overly polished political coverage and want something that treats politics as the absurd, maddening, occasionally hilarious thing it actually is, this one delivers consistently.