Scotcast

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay is suggesting lowering the school leaving age to 14 to 'transform' young people’s opportunities. We ask education journalist James McEnaney from The Herald and the BBC’s Lysney Bews if critics are right to describe the idea as 'Dickensian'. And Martin and Laura discuss the prospect of football’s ban on alcohol being lifted. Scotcast is the BBC’s Scottis...

The owners of NFL giants San Francisco 49ers, led by Paraag Marathe, are making a move for Rangers FC. We ask the BBC’s Chris McLaughlin and Sharyn Fleming and football finance expert Kieran Maguire how big a deal it could be for Scottish football. And after US President Donald Trump paused aid to Ukraine, we unpack First Minister John Swinney’s reaction. Plus, an update on the case of Jagtar Sing...

Martin Compston is one of our busiest, and most successful, actors. Now the star of Line of Duty wants to bring more big films and TV shows to Scotland. He tells us about his plan to make a movie about a 16th-century Scottish cannibal, the 'dark places' he’s had to go as an actor and answers the obvious question: will Line of Duty be back? And we reflect on Martin Geissler’s interview with the Fir...

A Scottish man called Jagtar Singh Johal has been jailed in India for seven years without conviction. The Indian government call him a terrorist. A UN working group says he’s been arbitrarily detained. Jagtar himself alleges he's been tortured. What are the British government doing to bring him home? The team speak to the BBC’s Katie Hunter and Calum McKay, asking how a man from Dumbarton became t...

The First Minister has taken aim at Nigel Farage, calling him an 'accomplice' to Russia, and backed Keir Starmer, who is raising defence spending ahead of talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington. The BBC’s David Wallace Lockhart tell us what John Swinney’s attack on the Reform UK leader is all about. And we ask former SNP MP Stewart McDonald if Ukraine has changed his party's tune on de...

A report has found the attainment gap has worsened for Scottish schools. It means the level of qualifications gained between young people in the most affluent and least affluent areas is widening. For nearly 10 years the Scottish Government has said that closing the attainment gap is their 'priority'. We ask education journalist James McEnamey and BBC Political correspondent Phil Sim about a bold...

The arrest of 74-year-old Rose Docherty outside a Glasgow abortion clinic for breaching the Safe Access Zone Act has put Scotland’s buffer zone law back in the spotlight. As anti-abortion campaigners 40 Days for Life pledge not to break the law during upcoming vigils, we ask Gillian Mackay – the Green MSP who came up with it – and Lois McLatchie Miller from Christian campaign group Alliance Defend...

The changing room tribunal involving Sandie Peggie, Dr Beth Upton and NHS Fife has dominated headlines. As First Minister’s Questions gets fiery on the gender debate, we ask if the temperature of political opinion is changing. We speak to Mark Diffley, pollster and analyst, and BBC Scotland’s Chief Political Correspondent, Lynsey Bews. And an archaeologist from Galashiels finds a pharaoh’s tomb. S...

What’s the price of climate progress? As another Scottish pylon project is approved, the team hears about the communities in the way of the green energy revolution. Prime Minister Keir Starmer calls them Nimbys (Not in my back yard). But campaigner Kate Matthews tells us how 70m monster pylons will blight the landscape around her home in Aberdeenshire. Kate is from one of the many local groups fig...

Energy experts Cornwall Insight are predicting a 5% increase to typical household bills when Ofgem announces the latest change to the price cap. We ask David Sheppard from the Financial Times and fuel poverty campaigner Frazer Scott from Energy Action Scotland why prices aren’t coming down. And Laura and Martin have another debate about how to pronounce ‘Scotcast’.

As world powers gather for talks to secure peace in Ukraine (without Ukraine), and Prime Minister Keir Starmer talks of sending British troops there, how do those who have fled the war view their future? Alona and Iryna, who arrived in Scotland after Russia’s invasion, tell us they don't know when (or whether) they can return home. And BBC Ukrainecast presenter Vitaliy Shevchenko reacts to an extr...

The big council tax freeze is over. Scotland's local authorities are setting their tax rates, with many considering rises of up to 10 per cent to balance the books. It comes after years of concerns about pressures on local budgets. Roads filled with potholes, cuts to bin collections, schools in disrepair - these are some of the regular complaints. Is it time to rewrite the entire council tax syste...

First, four lynx. Then, a group of feral pigs let loose in the Cairngorms. Do the Highlands need the reintroduction of a permanent predator? We speak to rewilding campaigner Peter Cairns on the virtues of wild cats and wolves, and the BBC’s climate editor, Justin Rowlatt.

A BBC investigation into Scotland's biggest children's psychiatric hospital, Skye House, has exposed a ‘culture of cruelty’ at the NHS unit in Glasgow. We hear from BBC Disclosure’s Mark Daly and Shelley Jofre about the art of investigative journalism in an era of fake news. They tell us how they made their documentary, Kids on the Psychiatric Ward, which features the testimony of six young women...

An emergency law to free inmates early is coming in to bring down the prison population. We hear from Barlinnie's governor, Michael Stoney, and a former inmate on what it's like inside Scotland’s biggest and busiest jail. And after Super Bowl LIX, Natalie hears about Martin’s former life as an NFL host. Scotcast is the BBC’s Scottish news podcast, with Martin Geissler, Laura Miller and Natalie Hig...

As homelessness stats reach record highs in Scotland, the team asks what it’s really like not to have a home. We talk to the editor of The Big Issue, Paul McNamee, and Sylvia Douglas, who experienced homelessness as a child and now supports women in poverty, about how to fix this complicated problem. And Martin and Laura discuss whether they’re sick of looking at their own faces. Get in touch with...

Donald Trump says America will 'take over' Gaza, resettling most of the native population. His comments have drawn astonishment and anger. Humza Yousaf, former First Minister, has a personal investment. Members of his wife's family are still living in Gaza. In conversation with Martin Geissler, Yousaf reacts to Trump’s overnight press conference, and what it might mean for a two-state solution. Ge...

We drink it, wash with it and curse it when it falls from the sky. But how much do we really know about our water supply? The man in charge of it, Scottish Water's Chief Executive Alex Plant, talks to Martin about supply, demand, rising bills and why we need to think seriously about how much water we use. Scotcast is the BBC's Scottish news podcast, with Martin Geissler, Natalie Higgins and Laura...

As Keir Starmer becomes the first UK Prime Minister to join a meeting of EU leaders since Brexit, could the decision to leave the union ever be unpicked by our politicians? We ask the BBC’s Glenn Campbell and Angus Robertson, the member of John Swinney’s cabinet responsible for European relations, who tells us why Brexit should be reversed. And Martin Geissler and Laura Miller debate whether it’s...

Will a legal win for environmental campaigners stop new North Sea oil and gas? As extreme weather events become more common, the team asks whether climate change is a political priority anymore - with Tessa Khan, founder of climate action organisation Uplift, and Professor Paul de Leeuw from the Energy Transition Institute at Robert Gordon University. And Martin and Natalie discuss the spike in vi...

With incidents of fraud soaring, can scammers be stopped in their tracks? Harleen Nottay from BBC’s Scam Interceptors gives us a flavour of the fraud she encounters on a daily basis. Plus, ‘Lisa’ tells us the impact a romance scam has had on her life. And Martin and Laura discuss why Harrison Ford is selling whisky. Get in touch with the Scotcast team by emailing scotcast@bbc.co.uk

After the UK Government ruled out compensation for women affected by an increase to the state pension age, is the Waspi campaign over? On the day MPs debate the issue, Waspi campaigner Anne Potter tells us her story and BBC political correspondent Kirsten Campbell explains why it’s a headache for Scottish Labour. And Martin and Natalie discuss the resignation of Stuart Kettlewell, who quit as mana...

John Swinney is promising tens of thousands of extra NHS appointments: how is his government going to deliver them? We reflect on the First Minister's latest plan for the health service with Cancer Research UK’s Dr Sorcha Hume, a former junior doctor, and pharmacist Elizabeth Roddick, whose industry is absorbing an increasing number of potential GP appointments. Get in touch with Martin Geissler,...

With Edinburgh on the verge of approving the country’s first tourist tax, can Scotland cope with tourism at its current levels? We ask Dr Guillem Colom-Montero, an expert in overtourism, and Jo de Sylva, who runs a hospitality business in Inverness. And Martin and Natalie get BBC weather presenter and meteorologist Calum MacColl's take on Storm Éowyn and the red weather warnings in place for parts...

Children aren’t supposed to be able access pornography, but they do in significant numbers and at a very young age. We ask Mary Sharpe, a Scottish lawyer campaigning for stricter regulation of the industry, if adult content is harming our kids and how we can stop them from accessing it. And Martin and Laura Maciver discuss your reaction to our episode about "petrifying" maternity unit failings. Ge...