The Explanation

Why is the Kremlin worried about population decline? President Putin has made the increase of human capital a national priority. Decision-makers have been competing to offer a solution, from fiscal incentives to encourage women to have more children, to restricting access to abortion, to banning "propaganda" of “childless lifestyle”. Will their plan work? Producer: Francis Scarr, Veronika Malinboy...

John Simpson, in discussion with the BBC's unparalleled range of experts across the world, analyses how the Iranian regime might respond to Israel’s attack on the country, examines the role of disinformation in the US Presidential election and looks at whether a rape trial in Provence will change French society.

Ros Atkins is in Washington DC and asks what what the upcoming election tells us about the role the media plays in modern America. The Washington Post finds itself at the heart of a debate on media impartiality after a reported loss of thousands of subscribers following its decision not to endorse a candidate. NPR's media correspondent, David Folkenflik, joins us to unpack the unfolding crisis. Wi...

What’s behind the evolution of President Erdogan’s narrative on LGBT issues, and how did Turkey’s Islamic conservatives find common ground with American Evangelicals? President Erdogan skipped the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris in August after his granddaughter warned him about the “LGBT show”. He berated the French organisers for “debasing humanity to a level below animals”. His a...

John Simpson, in discussion with the BBC's unparalleled range of experts across the world, analyses the attitudes of other countries in the Middle East towards Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon, examines the signs of a recovery in the global economy and looks at the Italian Prime Minister’s right-wing domestic agenda.

Andy Cohen is the executive producer behind the Real Housewives TV franchise. He tells Katie how it became a global phenomenon. Also in the programme, after Yulia Navalnaya’s BBC interview, an assessment of Putin’s crackdown on the media which her husband Alexei Navalny used to promote his message. Francis Scarr of BBC Monitoring explains. Presenter: Katie Razzall Producer: Simon Richardson Assist...

John Simpson, in discussion with the BBC's experts around the world, analyses Israel’s long-term strategy in the Middle East, examines whether the US government will force Google to break up and looks at the terrifying ordeal of migrants trying to cross from Africa to Europe.

The ISIS Prisons Museum was established in 2017 when a group of journalists, filmmakers and activists entered deserted Islamic State prisons to collect evidence. We talk to two journalists behind the project as their archive launches to the public. Amer Matar is Director of the ISIS Prisons Museum, Robin Yassin-Kassab is its Chief English Editor, and Yvonne McDermott Rees is Professor of Law at Sw...

Ten years on, where do the warring parties stand? And is there a way out of the stalemate? This is not just a civil war - it’s a battle between rival camps in the Middle East, led by Iran on the one hand, and Saudi Arabia on the other. The Houthis are said to be Iran’s proxy, but they sometimes act against Tehran’s interest. We go granular on the complexities in the alliances and the rivalries tha...

John Simpson, in discussion with the BBC's unparalleled range of experts across the world, analyses the prospects for the Middle East on the anniversary of the October 7th attacks on Israel, examines Russia’s recent advances in their war in Ukraine and looks at the state of democracy in Tunisia after its president wins re-election.

What’s it like to report from Gaza? The BBC’s Rushdi Abualouf discusses the editorial and practical challenges, keeping his family safe while reporting in a conflict zone, and how he made the difficult decision to leave Gaza in November and continue his work from abroad. We’re also joined by the Editor-in-Chief of The Economist, Zanny Minton Beddoes, and the Israeli journalist Noga Tarnopolsky, to...

John Simpson, in discussion with the BBC's unparalleled range of experts across the world, analyses what Iran’s strategy will be in the wake of Israel’s assault on Hezbollah, looks at how the attack is being seen inside Israel and examines the disappearance of one of China’s leading economists.

As the Israeli offensive against targets in Lebanon continues, we discuss the challenge for journalists reporting the story with the BBC’s Lyse Doucet and Shayan Sardarizadeh. Also on the show, one of the biggest flops in video game history as Sony pulls its new game Concord just days after launch. Keza MacDonald of The Guardian explains why it failed. And Jordan Schwarzenberger, the manager of th...

Ten years after the start of the civil war in Yemen, Sanaa, Aden and Taiz are stuck in a “no war, no peace” limbo. The three ancient cities are ruled by different warring parties, all vying to expand their reach. We look at life under the Houthis, the “government of hotels”, the separatists and the snipers. Producer: Kriszta Satori, Elchin Suleymanov, Sumaya Bakhsh Presenter: Krassi Twigg

Mohamed Al Fayed was the flamboyant billionaire whose investments once included the luxury department store Harrods and a Premier League football club. He was the father of Dodi, who was killed alongside Princess Diana in 1997. Fayed died last year and this month the BBC has released a new investigation that portrays him in a very different light. Erica Gornall, director of “Al-Fayed: Predator at...

Donald Trump’s false claim that migrants are eating pets in Springfield Ohio will go down in history as one of the most memorable political soundbites. Jack Brewster, Enterprise Editor at NewsGuard, has traced its origin. AJ Bauer, Assistant Professor, at the University of Alabama, explains how it became a meme. David Rennie has been The Economist’s correspondent in Beijing for the last 6 years. A...

The Department of Justice says it has busted a Russian plot to recruit popular right-wing influencers to convey its messages. Maggie Miller, Cybersecurity Reporter from Politico, and Catherine Belton, International Investigative Reporter for The Washington Post, discuss the case and the evolution of Russian disinformation tactics. Also on the show, as the public inquiry into what happened at the E...

From Squid Game to The Masked Singer, some of the most popular TV formats of recent years have come from South Korea. InSoon Kim, a Korean TV producer, and journalists Lucas Shaw and Regina Kim, discuss why. Also on the show, Catherine Philp, World Affairs Editor at The Times, explains how she went inside the Kursk region of Russia with Ukrainian forces. Francis Scarr from BBC Monitoring, tells us...

Pavel Durov, the CEO of messaging app Telegram, has been arrested in France. For an executive of a big social media company to face a criminal enquiry is highly unusual. Mike Isaac, Tech Correspondent of The New York Times and Steve Rosenberg, Russia Editor for BBC News discuss the case. The Onion, the satirical news website, is relaunching a print edition. Its editor, Chad Nackers, explains the a...

To many, we're living through a golden age of TV. But behind the rich offerings for consumers lie several growing structural issues, from a market oversupplied by streamers desperate for subscriptions, to the consequences of the US actors and writers strike, to a downturn in the advertising spend that powers the UK industry. Ros talks to Broadcast Editor Chris Curtis; Stephen Lambert, Chief Execut...

As one of the smallest Supreme Courts in the world, do nine justices fairly represent the diversity of views in the US? Host Claire Graham talks to the BBC's senior North American reporter Anthony Zurcher about how the ratio of republican to democratic judges has changed over time. The controversy over lifetime tenures of justices is discussed with no set term limits or mandatory retirement ages a...

In recent weeks parts of the UK saw violent riots fuelled by misinformation online and anti-immigration sentiment. Some rioters have since been sentenced using evidence from social media. Nazir Afzal, a former Chief Crown Prosecutor, and Lorna Woods, Professor of Internet Law at the University of Essex, explain how it worked. Many of you may have seen Elon Musk’s interview on X with Donald Trump....

Consisting of 193 member states, the United Nations is a global organisation which strives for peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet. Founded in 1945, it provides a forum for the world's nations to come together, discuss issues and find solutions, which transcend national boundaries. The UN has successfully ended conflicts across the world and has won the Nobel Peace Prize over ten times...

The Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan has led to the erasure of women from public life. There’s a UN-led campaign to recognise it as “gender apartheid”, but the international community is divided and lacking leverage. Three years after the group took the capital Kabul, our experts explain what life is like for half of the population and why women have become a proxy for the nation’s image o...

In parts of the UK, violent protests broke out after the fatal stabbing of three young girls in the English town of Southport – rumours had spread that the suspect was an asylum seeker. Maria Breslin, editor of The Liverpool Echo, Priyanka Raval, reporter at The Bristol Cable and Stephanie Stacey, technology reporter at The Financial Times, have all been reporting the story. Also , a development i...