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Original BBC documentary storytelling, bringing award-winning journalism, unheard voices, amazing culture and “unputdownable” audio. New episodes every week from The Documentary, Assignment, Heart and Soul, In the Studio and OS Conversations.
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The news you know, the science you don’t. Unexpected Elements looks beyond everyday narratives to discover a goldmine of scientific stories and connections from around the globe. From Afronauts, to why we argue, to a deep dive on animal lifespans: see the world in a new way.
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Leading artists, writers, thinkers discuss the ideas shaping our lives & links between past & present and new academic research. Broadcast as Free Thinking Tues – Thurs 10pm on BBC Radio 3 + Proms Plus events
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Analysis

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Programme examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in Britain and abroad, presented by distinguished writers, journalists and academics.
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Haiti is facing its most most acute humanitarian crisis for more than a decade. There’s been a surge in violence with armed gangs in control of most of the capital. The prime minister has resigned, there’s a month long state of emergency and a curfew has been extended. The gangs have destroyed police buildings and, after storming a prison in the ca…
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Andy Zaltzman quizzes the news. Providing all the answers are Zoe Lyons, Andrew Maxwell, Rachel Parris, and Danny Finkelstein. In this week of Lent and Love Andy and the panel address Labour's difficult relationship with itself, Trump's flirtations with Putin, and giving up on the idea of home ownership. Written by Andy Zaltzman With additional mat…
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The Gulf Stream, also known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), is essential to stable global climate, and the reason we have moderate temperatures in Northern Europe. Now, a new modelling study suggests that this circulation could, at some point, be at a tipping point and collapse. We hear from one of the minds behind the mo…
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Rana Mitter explores looks at the role of writing in propagating ideas and exposing political tensions. He hears how writers have given voice to personal and political ambitions, from Ding Ling to the teenagers of modern China. Yuan Yang discusses her new book, Private Revolutions. Simon Ings talks about his latest book Engineers of Human Souls whi…
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A century ago, businessmen from around the world gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, to form a shadowy international organisation called the Phoebus Cartel. Their purpose? To control the production and distribution of lightbulbs across the world - and also, it's alleged, to deliberately shorten their lifespans to make them burn out quicker in order to…
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Kirsty Young talks to the author Philip Pullman about what he’s learned from his life so far. Pullman is the acclaimed novelist behind global bestsellers like His Dark Materials. He recounts the story of his own childhood, how he still contemplates the mystery of his father’s death, and why he owes his literary success to hard work. If you could ha…
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A story of humanity in the face of inhumanity. It starts with women from Malawi who travel to Oman in the hope of improving their lives. Instead, they find themselves trapped in servitude as domestic workers. BBC Africa Eye has spent months uncovering evidence of physical and sexual abuse through voice notes, videos, and texts. But as reporter Flor…
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The Chinese-owned online store has exploded in popularity in the past year, shipping to customers in 49 countries around the world. And its advertising has taken centre stage at one of the world’s most watched events: the Super Bowl. So why is Temu so cheap? And how can it afford to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising to take on it…
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The island is experiencing one of its worst crisis in the last three decades, with people struggling to get staples like milk and bread. Presenter Sam Fenwick examines the difficulties the Cuban economy is facing. Former US President Donald Trump hasn't been able to find a private company to guarantee the $464m million he's been ordered to pay in a…
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Dozens of US citizens have fled the chaos and violence of Haiti on a government-chartered plane. More than 10 bodies were removed on by ambulance on Monday from Petion-Ville on the outskirts of the capital. The BBC’s Will Grant reports from the port city of Cap-Haitien. Also in the programme, the Israeli military says it has taken control of al-Shi…
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Why do babies say "daddy" earlier and what might it mean when a baby does call for "mum" or "anne"? Dr Rebecca Woods, from Newcastle University, calls upon her training in linguistics and observations from her own home to trace the way children’s experiences shape their first words and the names they use for their parents. Rebecca Woods is a New Ge…
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Hannah Fry explores two more tales of data and discovery. Gossip and rumour are plaguing a tile manufacturing company. The chatter is pulling morale to new lows, and amid it all, a question hangs in the air: who is spreading it? Can the science of networks find out? And, what is the secret to ageing well? One man believes he may have found the begi…
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The existential threat caused by Artificial Intelligence is a popular theme in science fiction. But more recently it’s started to be taken seriously by governments around the world and the companies developing the technology. Where did this idea come from, and why is so much money being spent on it, rather than on the regulation of AI and the real …
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As investors wait to see if Japan’s central bank will bring to an end eight years of negative interest rates, Rahul Tandon speaks to a former economist at the Bank of Japan about whether the policy has worked - and what would they do in the current economic climate. China's industrial production picked up in the first two months of 2024, accompanie…
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Israel launches overnight raid on al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City and tells civilians to evacuate. And as aid agencies warn of imminent famine in northern Gaza, the EU's foreign policy chief says Israel bears responsibility. Also in the programme: we hear from Haiti where the security crisis continues and the US has been airlifting its citizens out;…
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Israel has denied preventing food from getting into Gaza. Also: Israeli officials tell Palestinians to evacuate the area around al-Shifa hospital as its forces raid the facility, the latest from Haiti as an aid agency compares life in the capital to a horror film and why the pop star Ed Sheeran is singing in Punjabi.…
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In 1958, a brand new writing system was introduced in China called Pinyin. It used the Roman alphabet to help simplify Chinese characters into words. The mastermind behind Pinyin was a professor called Zhou Youguang who'd previously worked in the United States as a banker. Pinyin helped to rapidly increase literacy levels in China. When it was intr…
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Stephen Sackur speaks to Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. He’s just back from Gaza; before that, he was on the Chad/Sudan border. Hundreds of thousands of people are in life threatening danger. Is the international community failing to protect the most vulnerable?By BBC World Service
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Jazz Emu sets out to write his friends the most romantic song ever created, in order to save their crumbling relationship and make everything in his friendship group nice again. Digging back into his alternative musical archives, Jazz takes inspiration from Barry White, George Michael and ACDC in order to learn about what makes a song romantic. Arm…
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Irish author Colm Tóibín is among the world’s most celebrated contemporary writers. His works includes novels such as Nora Webster and The Blackwater Lightship, but also journalism, criticism, drama and more. His book Brooklyn was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film starring Saoirse Ronan, and his writing has been translated into over 30 languages…
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The Austrian house where a doctor experimented on children. Evy Mages grew up in and out of foster care in 1970s and 80s Austria. But even when she started a new life in the US, she was haunted by traumatic memories of a strange yellow house high up in the Alps, where she had been placed as an eight-year-old. It took an idle internet search in her …
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The president says his victory will allow Russia to become stronger and more effective. Also: The Israeli prime minister promises that Palestinian civilians will be able to leave Rafah before Israeli forces launch their assault on the southern Gazan city, and what's the secret to happiness?By BBC World Service
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President Putin has claimed a landslide victory in an election that featured no genuine competition. The last day of voting was marked by silent protests at polling stations. But how does his expected victory matter? And what might securing a fifth term mean for the war in Ukraine? Lyse and Vitaly are joined by the BBC’s Russia editor Steve Rosenbe…
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The government of Uruguay has launched ambitious plans to make hydrogen and green fuels. The country generates far more of its electricity from renewables than most countries - Uruguay produces more than 90% of its electricity from sustainable resources, like wind. And that, the government says, puts it in a good position to start producing green h…
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has been handed a landslide victory in an election his opponents condemned as a sham. The last day of voting was marked by silent protests at polling stations. Also on the programme: We speak to the prime minister of the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and Grenadines about the political plan for Haiti; and the Moroc…
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Aid agencies warn that the humanitarian situation in the country is deteriorating amid gang warfare and lawlessness. Police have launched an operation to wrest control of the capital from gang leader Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier. Also on the programme: history is made in Wales as Vaughan Gething is set to become the first black national leader in Eur…
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Around 50 protesters have been arrested in Russian cities on the final day of a vote set to confirm Vladimir Putin in office. Long queues formed outside polling stations, heeding a call to gather in protest. The call came from the wife of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died suddenly last month at a penal colony above the Arctic Circle. We he…
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A bonus episode from The Global Story podcast. What keeps China’s president up at night? The Global Story brings you one big story every weekday, making sense of the news with our experts around the world. Insights you can trust, from the BBC, with Katya Adler. For more, go to bbcworldservice.com/globalstory or search for The Global Story wherever …
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Clive Oppenheimer is a volcanologist, filmmaker and Professor of Volcanology at the University of Cambridge. His research has taken him on expeditions across the world, from Antarctica, where he discovered the camp of Captain Scott’s attempt to reach the South Pole, to Ethiopia where he was held at gunpoint by rebels. Clive was born in London, and …
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A bonus episode from The Global Story podcast. Panama Canal: It's running dry and it's going to cost us. The Global Story brings you one big story every weekday, making sense of the news with our experts around the world. Insights you can trust, from the BBC, with Katya Adler. For more, go to bbcworldservice.com/globalstory or search for The Global…
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Police in Haiti are reported to have launched an operation to arrest the leader of the coalition of gangs which now control most of the capital. Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Chérizier is seen as the main instigator of the protests which forced the Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, to resign last week. We hear from a former US diplomat to Haiti. Also in the programm…
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Kate Adie presents dispatches from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, the United States, Croatia and France. The brutality of Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army once made headlines around the world, as #Kony2012 became a global social media cause. While the world soon moved on, the forgotten victims of LRA violence living in the Democr…
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‘Always pass the salt and pepper together, even if your fellow diner has asked just for one of them’. That’s the standard advice given by countless dining etiquette manuals, one of the many rules regarding proper manners that have been handed down from generation to generation. But what if some of the rules have become outdated, silly or just wrong…
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According to the head of the British military, the Russian government spends 40% of its budget on its war machine. But is it true? With the help of Professor Bettina Renz from Nottingham University and Dr Richard Connolly from The Royal United Services Institute, Olga Smirnova investigates the figure. Presenter: Tom CollsProducer: Olga SmirnovaProd…
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First, we go back to 1992, when off the coast of Ireland, a Swiss geology student accidentally discovered the longest set of footprints made by the first four-legged animals to walk on earth. They pointed to a new date for the key milestone in evolution, when the first amphibians left the water 385 million years ago. Dr Frankie Dunn, who is a senio…
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The United States is warning the rest of the world that the US is the canary in the coalmine when it comes to the global opioid crisis. Our presenter Will Bain will be hearing what the US plans on doing. Also, the man who bankrolled Nikki Haley's failed bid for the US Presidency warns where his cash might go next. And there is big news in K-pop for…
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Vladimir Putin faces no serious opposition. The election comes just a month after the death of the President's most prominent and vocal critic, Alexei Navalny, in a penal colony in Siberia. We hear from a young voter who plans to spoil her vote in protest. Also on the programme: The judge overseeing an election fraud case against Donald Trump has r…
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Crowd Science listener Maik wants to know what the BMI is and what his BMI score says about his body. He trains dogs for a living and wonders if, like different breeds of dog, we simply have different body types? Marnie Chesterton comes up with some answers, talking to doctors about how the BMI is used and misused in clinical practice, and looks at…
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When Saved was banned in 1965 by the Lord Chamberlain's office, the Royal Court theatre turned itself into a private club to allow performances of Edward Bond's drama to be staged. This may be the most famous incident in the career of the playwright, who has died aged 89, but he was the author of over 50 plays, including several written for young p…
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