BBC Radio 4

From Our Own Correspondent

News EN ↓ 1218 episodes

Insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers telling stories beyond the news headlines. Presented by Kate Adie.

Author

BBC Radio 4

Category

News

Podcast website

www.bbc.co.uk

Latest episode

Jul 4, 2026

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Episodes

The Lucky Ones 02.05.2015

The best in news and current affairs story-telling. In this edition: a week after the quake in Nepal huge problems remain but some believe it could all have been much worse; El Salvador has some of the toughest abortion laws in the world - it's meant some women doing time for crimes they never committed; the double life of a far-right Hungarian politician who was both an anti-Semite and a Jew; for...

Sahafa BBC 25.04.2015

The human stories behind the news headlines: dodging bullets while trying to reach Yemen's port of Aden, where the hospital is overwhelmed with casualties. The Africans who moved to South Africa for a better life, and ended up having to seek refuge from violence. In Turkey's south-east, a hundred years after the Armenian minority was massacred, the Kurdish minority has hopes for a stronger presenc...

Risking Everything 18.04.2015

The people behind the news headlines: the migrants risking everything boarding flimsy boats to cross the Mediterranean; the inhabitants of a Russian provincial town and what they think of the country's leadership at a time of economic hardship; the families living in Delhi, alarmed by reports that the Indian capital has the worst air quality in the world; the Venezuelans having to queue at the sho...

Battles over Books and Statues 11.04.2015

History rears its head, not for the first time, in this edition of From Our Own Correspondent. Attacks on colonial-era statues in South Africa mean people there are making a fresh assessment of their country's historical legacy; while in the Far East, what's written in the text books is the subject of a fierce row between South Korea and Japan. A farewell may be bid to decades of hostility between...

'A Win-Win Outcome' 04.04.2015

The stories behind the week's news: what's led to this outbreak of fighting in Yemen? Who stands to lose and who to win? Why some are not convinced about the deal reached in Lausanne on Iran's nuclear programme. The Nigerian election: a great moment for democracy but the new president faces a people with high expectations. The steady growth in the wealth of some Chinese - it means consumption is n...

A Kafkaesque Nightmare 28.03.2015

Insight. Analysis. Colour. In this edition, people in the German town of Montabaur try to come to terms with the fact that one of their neighbours, Andreas Lubitz, deliberately crashed an aircraft into the French Alps killing 149-people; two years of negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme reach a climax in Lausanne -- the implications, if there's agreement, could be far-reaching; the Royal Fle...

A Dramatic Turnaround 21.03.2015

Colouring in the spaces between the headlines. In this edition: from elected government to Death Row, the change in fortunes of the Muslim Brotherhood is creating ripples throughout the Middle East; livelihoods devastated by a cyclone - Vanuatu is the kind of place that only makes the news when it's bad news; the Cubans and Americans are talking at last, historic announcements seem imminent, but o...

'We Dazed Them!' 19.03.2015

Around the world in less than half an hour! In this edition: euphoria in the Nigerian army as successes are notched up in the battle against the jihadis of Boko Haram; a stunning election victory for Benjamin Netanyahou in Israel -- but it means frustration, anger and dismay for the country's Palestinian population; bombs explode in a Christian neighbourhood in Pakistan - we hear how Christians th...

Novice on the Front Line 14.03.2015

News and current affairs story-telling. In this edition, the foreign fighters signing up to join the battle against Islamic State - some British and without military experience; China's political event of the year is coming to an end with most people completely unaware of what's been going on there; could Indian Bollywood inspire Pakistan to lavish more attention on one of its ancient cities, crum...

Dreams Deferred, Hope on Hold 12.03.2015

Reporters' stories. Obstacles to President Obama's immigration reforms pile up -- it could mean a long wait for those who came looking to become legal US citizens. Will prime minister Modi's plans for investment in India's infrastructure adversely affect the country's longterm development? Sixty thousand Indian troops were killed fighting for the British in World War 1 -- we visit the battlefield...

The Death of Gypsy Music 07.03.2015

The best in news and current affairs story-telling. In this edition, the music which once provided the soundtrack to life in eastern and central Europe is fading into history, Nick Thorpe; a despatch by Fergal Keane from the Ukrainian city reduced to rubble by shelling; the Indian tea business hit by scandal and reports that workers face routine abuse, Humphrey Hawksley; Stephen Sackur's been to t...

Please Don't Kill Our Sons 05.03.2015

Around the world with correspondents' stories. In this edition: executions in Indonesia - the authorities believe they will help counter a national drug emergency. Security forces in Tunisia crack down on Islamist hardliners -- most people there insist they don't want ISIS or other militants gaining a foothold in their country; the president of Mexico has been on a state visit to Britain -- at hom...

The Devil's Building Site 28.02.2015

Around the world in less than half an hour! Today: a four-day trek through the remotest parts of Argentina in search of an old man who might have a story to tell; communal activities finally return to the agenda in Liberia now the fear of Ebola is fading; the Israeli prime minister's about to address the joint Houses of Congress in Washington - the White House is not enthusiastic; a journey underg...

The Best Nightclub in Africa 26.02.2015

Story-telling from around the world. In this edition Charlotte Pritchard travels to Botswana in search of the best nightclub in Africa; Jonah Fisher in Myanmar tells us why the much-criticised military there is enjoying an unlikely surge in support; Rosie Goldsmith meets writers in Colombia convinced their country's in a critical year of its history; Rob Crossan's hunting for even a crumb of good...

The Athens Experiment 21.02.2015

The human lives behind the headlines: a view from the pistachio field after a tense night of talks on the Greek debt crisis; the Argentine president under scrutiny as thousands take to the streets demanding an investigation into the death of state prosecutor Nisman; the government in Bangkok tries to stop foreign couples using Thai women as surrogate mothers; the young foreigners flying into Surin...

Please Mick. Not boring .. 19.02.2015

The correspondent's trade: memories of the late Ian McDougall who filed for the BBC from more than 40-countries and once told this programme he'd broadcast from the only radio studio in the world equipped with a bidet! Also in this edition: Steve Evans on perceptions of the north/south divide in Korea; Linda Yueh asking if American workers will really countenance a return to the factory floor; Jam...

A Pig of a Sea 14.02.2015

More and more migrants are trying to cross the Mediterranean and there are suggestions the new force charged with rescuing those in danger of drowning isn't up to the job. Emma Jane Kirby's been to Europe's southern shores to see how it's coping. Andrew Harding was in the parliament building in Cape Town when President Zuma's state of the nation speech was interrupted by hecklers. He considers whe...

Tea and Cakes in Addis 12.02.2015

Questions and answers beyond the headlines. Little urgency apparent as the factions from the bitter war in South Sudan gather in Ethiopia to talk about peace. President Putin's been attending another peace conference, this one in Minsk - we've been considering how his standing at home has been affected by the worsening conflict in eastern Ukraine. Our Middle East Editor has a face to face intervie...

Jordan Retaliates 07.02.2015

The news behind the news. In this edition Paul Adams is in Jordan as the country takes the fight to Islamic State. Sian Griffiths in Ottawa talks of the plight of homeless people in an icy winter. Nick Thorpe in Hungary on why a little baby's at the centre of a storm over racism. Chris Bowlby has been trying to find details about the killing of an ancestor in China. And Christine Finn on how a pac...

Into the Line of Fire 05.02.2015

Around the world in 28-minutes. Residents of eastern Ukraine fear the war raging around them is set to intensify. A life in hiding -- how the husband of a Pakistani woman accused of committing blasphemy fears for his life and wants the international community to intervene. We visit the heart of the Tata empire in India and, in the wake of the release from an Egyptian prison of the former BBC-corre...

Tomorrow You Will Be Heroes 31.01.2015

The human stories behind the headlines. Like any war, the one against Ebola is leaving scars which will take generations to heal, as Grainne Harrington has been finding out in Guinea. Mark Rickards on how, at last, the outside world has found a way to infiltrate the hidden Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. The Chinese are calling for the UK to return art looted by the British soldiers who destroyed the...

A Cosy Dinner in Leipzig 29.01.2015

What are they talking about? In Germany there's emotional debate about Pegida; Libyans try to lead normal lives amid violence and instability; left-wingers from around Europe descend on Greece hoping a revolution's underway; surprise, subterfuge and misinformation swirl around the fighting in eastern Ukraine while Brazilians explain why they are proud to be the only nation in the region speaking P...

The Revolt Against Austerity 24.01.2015

'Crisis' and 'Hope,' two words which have continually cropped up in the Greek election campaign. Chris Morris has been out with campaigners from the leftist Syriza party. Kamal Ahmed talks of chasing the stories in the bubble that is the World Economic Forum in Davos. Devastating floods in Malawi, Rosie Blunt's been meeting families who've lost everything. Kevin Connolly's in Auschwitz where they...

The Knot Comes to the Comb 22.01.2015

Correspondents' stories: in this edition Maria Margaronis on the keenly-awaited Greek election; Will Ross meets soldiers who've been dismissed from the Nigerian army and asks them for their views on the battle against Boko Haram; Susie Emmett's in South Africa talking to farmers about controversial government plans for land reform; Richard Fleming's in Haiti where he's been meeting a photographer...

Poached Pangolin 17.01.2015

Story-telling from the world of news and current affairs. In this edition: Shaimaa Khalil in Pakistan meets relatives and survivors of last year’s army school massacre in Peshawar, on the day the school reopens; Ruth Sherlock in Lebanon on how Syrian refugees are struggling in the snow; Caroline Wyatt flies to Sri Lanka on the Papal plane; Martin Fletcher in Vietnam on how an unusual scaly creatur...

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