What in the World

Russell Brand started off as a comedian and presenter in the UK, known for his back-brushed hair and self-proclaimed sex addiction. After fame in the US and a short marriage to Katy Perry, he’s now a big religious influencer. He’s also now been found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault in a big trial in London. He was found not guilty on three other counts. We will find...

You might’ve seen lots of chat online about ‘ferritin face’ alongside zoomed in before and after pics of people’s faces. Some claim that changes in their appearance, like pale skin and hair loss, are down to having low ferritin levels. But what even is ferritin? It’s the protein responsible for storing iron in the body. Iron is important for creating red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the...

Democrats in the US have won control of Congress in the midterm elections. They’ve done better than even the polls suggested - winning seats held by Republicans for decades. But what does that actually mean? BBC reporter and What in the World’s resident American, William Lee Adams, breaks down what the elections were for, what voters were most concerned about, what it means for President Trump and...

While job hunting have you ever spotted a job ad that never seems to go away? When you apply you don’t get a reply, let alone a rejection. You may have spotted a ghost! Or a ghost job. In fact, it’s happening so much ‘ghost jobs’ was on the shortlist for Collins dictionary word of the year (mogging won in the end). According to a study across the US, UK and Germany up to 22% of jobs posted online...

Modern Warfare 4 - the latest Call of Duty game - was already deemed controversial before its release. The main storyline depicts a fictional conflict in the Korean Peninsula, with North Korea invading the South. That’s upset many Koreans: More than one million people died in the real Korean War, and technically North Korea and South Korea remain at war because a peace deal was never signed. Loyal...

When you think of Hyrox, you might remember of those viral pictures of an athlete pushing through the race even though diarrhoea was running down her legs. Her name is Joanna Wietrzyk - and in an exclusive interview with the BBC, she’s described the fallout after she won the competition. She and Hyrox have previously apologised. She’s spoken to the BBC now about the online hate she got after the r...

Need good weather for your birthday? Want a date to go well? Maybe you’ve got exams coming up or want a promotion at work and need some good vibes. An Etsy witch might be able to help… There are loads of them offering online spells to help us through all sorts of things in life. But do they work? And why has witchcraft taken off online? Morgan from the Divine Eyes Etsy shop explains how she casts...

Kylian Mbappé - the French football superstar sometimes nicknamed a ‘Dictator’ online - has found himself at the centre of a scandal in China this week, after mentioning one of the memes made about him. It shows his face on the body of Mao Zedong, the former Chinese leader, and on a French talk show, when Mbappé describes it, he refers to Mao as a dictator. The backlash against Mbappé has been hug...

For weeks, the city of Busan in South Korea has been playing host to an unexpected visitor. A Dusky shark nicknamed Bukangi. She swam into a canal in the city and simply won’t leave, despite efforts from experts to try to coax her back to the to the open sea. Those attempts to move her have been live-streamed and Bukangi has become something of a celeb in Busan. There’s merchandise of her, posters...

Snap elections in Serbia have resulted in the toppling of the long-term leader, Aleksandar Vučić, as protest movement ‘The Student List’ won a decisive victory over the weekend. Over the last two years, students have protested against the government after a concrete roof collapsed outside of a train station and 16 people were killed. Lots of people saw the disaster as a result of corruption and ne...

El Niño has been strengthening for several months now and is already having a significant impact on global weather patterns. Countries including Indonesia, India and the United States have been experiencing droughts, floods and heatwaves in line with projections about how extreme weather events will be supercharged by the phenomenon. The World Meteorological Agency says the record-breaking El Niño...

After drinking alcohol, some people don’t just have a headache - they feel guilt, dread, low mood and a deep sense of embarrassment. It’s known as ‘hang-xiety’ or hangover anxiety, and science backs up that it’s a real phenomenon. Alcohol affects all systems in the body, including the brain. so it can cause psychological symptoms. Millie Gooch, author of Hangxiety and speaker breaks down how the n...

Protests are still ongoing across France, but now it’s no longer just about schools. People of all ages are protesting over a high cost of living. But there was violence and riots over the weekend, with thousands of arrests. Dramatic pictures of wreckage, fires and police clampdowns have spread online and have had a huge response internationally. But what exactly is happening and why have things s...

Have a look at the label in the clothes you’re wearing today. Chances are, you’re wearing some polyester. It’s the most- produced synthetic fibre on the planet and it’s having a bit of a moment on socials. In a bad way…people are giving it up and swapping for more natural fibres. You might’ve seen claims that polyester is linked to diseases like cancer and can cause fertility issues. But how worri...

Is educational content about women’s reproductive and sexual health being removed or restricted on social media apps? Content moderation tools are meant to flag specific words and imagery that breach platform guidelines, like showing nudity or explicit content, but posts that use clinical terms like ‘vagina’ are getting blocked too. BBC reporter, Ashitha Nagesh has been speaking to charities, camp...

What began as a peaceful protest in Albania turned violent in October, as students took the lead, setting buildings on fire and clashing with police. They are demanding better university conditions, greater opportunities for young people – and an end to what they describe as a corrupt government. This all goes back to a proposal to build a huge, luxury tourist resort in Zvërnec, where there’s a fl...

Shoes on or off? Laptops in or out? And don’t get us started on the rules around liquids! Getting through airport security never seems to be simple. It’s there for a reason, of course. But there are so many rules and why do they seem to be different everywhere you go? We’re joined by science journalist and presenter Caroline Steel to talk about everything from the miles long luggage belts our suit...

Singapore’s got a reputation for being one of world’s cleanest cities. But right now, it’s covered in a thick blanket of smog. And it’s recently seen its worst air quality levels for the year. The reason? Fires in nearby Indonesia. Indonesia’s seen its worst wildfire season in years. Huge areas of land have been burning for weeks. Fires are sometimes lit as a way to illegally clear land to make ro...

It’s no surprise more people want to become influencers - a study found that in 2024, YouTube content creators alone contributed £2.2bn to the UK’s economy. But… would you pay thousands to study how to be one? A growing number of universities around the world, like Arizona State University in the US, have started offering Content Creation courses. We hear from Martyna who is currently studying BA...

There’s just SOMETHING not quite right about that French influencer we’re seeing all over socials. His blonde bob, the suit he wears, and that moustache! His name is Jean Philanthrope, and his videos have wracked up millions of views. But, it turns out, he’s not real. He’s AI and he’s being used to promote a risky type of crypto called a Meme coin. We speak to BBC Verify’s Marco Silva about how he...

Last week, Christa Pike, a death row inmate in the US faced execution via lethal injection for a murder she committed in 1995. But after she was given two full doses of the drug pentobarbital, she survived. At the time of uploading this podcast, she remains awake in hospital and it’s unclear what went wrong with the attempted execution. We hear the details from BBC reporters in the US, who have be...

January isn’t the only time for new year’s resolutions anymore. The end of the year is having a moment too - as part of the great lock-in trend. There’s lots of content online about locking in for the last four months of the year - whether that’s working out more regularly, spending less time on your phone, or trying to get that promotion at work. Some people call it a winter arc, a September rese...

Film and TV show spoilers often come with a warning because people know they can be annoying. But when it comes to footage from concerts and gigs… those rules don’t really apply, as Olivia Rodrigo fans found out when clips of a surprise moment from her ‘Unraveled Tour’ went viral on socials. You might have saved up for a ticket to see your favourite artist, found the perfect outfit and be counting...

Can we really get swallowed by a black hole? And what would actually happen if we did? Black holes are really mysterious and there is still so much we don’t know about them. So, grab your space helmet because we’re getting into some of the biggest questions scientists are still trying to answer. We speak to science journalist, Caroline Steel, to clear up some of the mysteries around black holes. H...

Across France, thousands of high school students are protesting. They say they’re doing it because of conditions in their schools - that classrooms are overcrowded, there’s not enough teachers and they can’t concentrate on exams because school buildings aren’t being maintained well enough. Five hundred schools are shut and some protests have turned violent, with riot police being deployed and some...