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David Aaronovitch and guests explore the thinking behind Iran's decision to attack Israel and ask what the short and long term aims of the Iranian regime are. Guests: Shashank Joshi, Defence editor at The Economist
Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at International Crisis Group
Dr Roxane Farmanfarmaian, lecturer specialising in the politics of Iran and the Middle East at Cambridge UniversityProduction team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to “eliminate” Hamas but after six months of death and destruction in Gaza what do we know about their status?David Aaronovitch talks to: Jennifer Jefferis, Teaching Professor at Georgetown University's Security Studies program and author of Hamas: Terrorism, Governance, and its Future in Middle East Politics.Michael Clarke, Professor of Defence studies and Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.Khalil Shikaki, Director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey ResearchGershon Baskin, Middle East Director, International Communities Organization and a former Israeli negotiator with HamasProduction team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Ibtisam Zein
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
The state pension system relies on the workers of today paying the pensions of current retirees. But does an aging population and rising costs threaten that model continuing?David Aaronovitch talks to:Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Paul Lewis, financial journalist and presenter of Radio 4’s Money Box programme
Claer Barrett, consumer editor at the Financial Times and presenter of the FT's Money Clinic podcast
Sir Steve Webb, formerly Minister for Pensions and current partner at Lane Clark & PeacockProduction team: Drew Hyndman, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
2024 is the year of elections. According to one estimate just under 50% of all the people on earth live in countries where by December 31st there will have been a national vote. To mark this phenomenon we are broadcasting three special programmes. In the third and final programme in this special series we’re focusing on South Africa. It is 30 years since the African National Congress - led back then by Nelson Mandela - first won power. It has had a majority in parliament ever since. But this year it could well be different. If so, does this decline of the ruling party bode well or badly for South Africa? Guests:David Everatt, Professor at the Wits School of Governance in Johannesburg
Dr Ayesha Omar, British Academy International Fellow at SOAS
Alexander Beresford, Associate Professor in African Politics at Leeds University
Professor Cherrel Africa from the University of the Western CapeProduction team: Rosamund Jones and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineers: Hal Haines and Neil Churchill
2024 is the year of elections. According to one estimate just under 50% of all the people on earth live in countries where by December 31st there will have been a national vote. To mark this phenomenon we are broadcasting three special programmes. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss why do some countries bother holding elections if the outcomes are pre-determined and they also ask why the public bother voting in them?Guests:Naomi Hossain, Professor of Development Studies at SOAS
Katerina Tertychnaya, Associate Professor in Comparative Politics in the Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Oxford
Ben Ansell, Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, University of Oxford
Erica Frantz, Associate Professor of Political Science at Michigan State UniversityProduction team: Ellie House, Ajai Singh and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineer: James Beard
2024 is the year of elections. According to one estimate just under 50% of all the people on earth live in countries where by December 31st there will have been a national vote. To mark this phenomenon we are broadcasting three special programmes. The first – this one - focuses on the world’s biggest democracy - India - where prime minister Narendra Modi is hoping – perhaps expecting – to win a third term. The party first came to power in 2014 and since then fears about “democratic backsliding” have been growing. David Aaronovitch and guests ask how worried we should be about that.Guests:Yogita Limaye, BBC's South Asia Correspondent
Rohan Venkat, editor of “India Inside Out” newsletter
Louise Tillin, Professor of Politics in the India Institute at King’s College London
Chietigj Bajpaee, senior research fellow for South Asia at Chatham House. Production team: Rosamund Jones and Ben Carter
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineers: Hal Haines and Sarah Hockley
In 1964, pre-historic remains were discovered at Jabal Aṣ-Ṣaḥābah - or Mountain of the Companions - in the Nile Valley near what is now the border of northern Sudan and Egypt. That site contained evidence of the earliest known warfare believed to have taken place around 13,500 years ago. It’s thought that climate change led to that conflict; as crop yields became smaller, more groups had to compete with each other for what food sources were available. Spears and possibly arrows were the high-tech weapons of choice in the Nile Valley. Flash forward to today and it’s AI-enabled drones that have been - literally - levelling the playing field for Ukraine in their battle against Russia. But as technological advancement continues apace what lessons have we learned from recent conflicts and how might things change in the wars yet to begin? Guests:
Shashank Joshi, defence editor at The Economist,
Dr Jack Watling, Senior Research Fellow for Land Warfare at the Royal United Services Institute
Dr Emma Salisbury, associate fellow in military innovation at the Council on GeostrategyProduction team: Ben Carter and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Richard Vadon
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
It is two years since Russia began its costly conflict against Ukraine. How does it fund its war effort, how do sanctions impact that and how tight is Putin's grip on power?Guests:
Sarah Rainsford, BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent
Maria Shagina, Research Fellow for Economic Sanctions, Standards and Strategy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies
Isaac Levi, Europe-Russia Policy & Energy Analysis Team Lead at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air
Mark Galeotti, Writer on Russian security affairs and director of the consultancy Mayak IntelligenceProduction team: Nick Holland, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
Deaths from synthetic opioids such as nitazenes and fentanyl are low in the UK but there are fears the problem could escalate and that figures don't show the true picture of the situation.
David Aaronovitch explores how dangerous these drugs are, why the opioid crisis is so bad in the US, where they come from and why a shortage of heroin in the UK could mean drug cartels switch to supplying these often fatal alternatives.Guests:
Rick Treble, Forensic chemist, and advisor to the Government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
Dr Caroline Copeland, Director of the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths
Alex Stevens, Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Kent
Sam Quinones, journalist and author of 'Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic'Production team: Nick Holland, Kirsteen Knight and Charlotte McDonald
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Penny Murphy
This week a great queue of dentistless Bristolians appeared outside a new practice offering NHS treatment.
That followed a report on children’s health which specifically referenced the poor and worsening state of their teeth.
This week the government announced a package to try and improve things in England. But did it go anything like far enough to solve the problems of too few dentists being willing or able to treat NHS patients? David Aaronovitch is joined by the following experts:Beccy Baird, Senior Fellow, the King’s Fund
Ian Mills, Dentist and Associate Professor of Primary Care Dentistry at the Peninsula Dental School in Plymouth
Thea Stein, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust
Professor Claire Stevens CBE, Spokesperson, British Society of Paediatric DentistryProduction team: Nick Holland, Kirsteen Knight and Charlotte McDonald
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon
This week the Education Select Committee said that Ofsted and the Government must rebuild trust and make major changes to school inspections.This follows months of news coverage of the death of Ruth Perry, the headteacher who killed herself following an Ofsted inspection at her primary school. The coroner ruled that it contributed to her death.This week we ask - what’s the point of Ofsted?David is joined by the following experts:
Sam Freedman, senior fellow at the Institute for Government
John Jerrim, Professor of Education and Social Statistics, at UCL
Carole Willis, Chief Executive, National Foundation for Educational Research
Colin Diamond, Professor of Educational Leadership, University of BirminghamProduction team: Nick Holland, Kirsteen Knight and Charlotte McDonald
Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman
Sound: Hal Haines and Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
The UK is experiencing more rain and more floods than previously, and because of climate change this is set to get worse. More than 6 million homes are at risk of flooding in the UK.
What is the state of the country’s flood defences? Can people get insurance? What can we do to prepare for a wetter future?David Aaronovitch is joined by the following experts:
Louise Slater, Professor of Hydroclimatology at the University of Oxford
Edmund Penning-Rowsell, Research Associate at Oxford University Centre for the Environment
Hannah Cloke, Professor of Hydrology at the University of Reading
Steven Forrest, Lecturer in Flood Resilience and Sustainable Transformations, Hull UniversityProduction team: Nick Holland, Kirsteen Knight and Charlotte McDonald
Production Co-ordinator: Sophie Hill and Katie Morrison
Sound: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
It’s been another difficult week for local government. Birmingham City Council announced it needs to make up to 600 redundancies to help balance its books and Middlesbrough Council decided to apply to the Government for £15m of emergency funding to avoid effective bankruptcy. Also this week new figures have been released showing just how much debt some local authorities hold. And it’s a lot. Since 2021 there have been six councils which have declared themselves effectively bankrupt. Given the responsibilities of local government that feels serious for many of us. So what are the financial pressures facing councils and why?David Aaronovitch is joined by the following experts:
Aileen Murphie, specialist adviser to the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities select committee and former National Audit Office Director
Tony Travers, visiting Professor at the LSE’s Department of Government
Kate Ogden, Senior Research Economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.Production team: Nick Holland, Kirsteen Knight and Charlotte McDonald
Production Co-ordinators: Sophie Hill
Sound: Andy Fell
Editor: Richard Vadon
As if the conflict in Gaza wasn’t bad enough, the fighting has ignited old and new tensions elsewhere across the region. Since the surprise attack by Hamas on 7th October, clashes on the Lebanon-Israel border have restarted, attacks on US troops stationed in Syria and Iraq have escalated and a group of Houthi armed rebels from Yemen has started firing rockets at cargo ships trying to access the Suez Canal from the Red Sea. So in this week’s programme David Aaronovitch asks how close the war in Gaza is to becoming a wider conflict across the Middle East. David is joined by the following experts:
Frank Gardner, BBC’s Security Correspondent.
Dr Elisabeth Kendall, Arabist & Middle East specialist and also The Mistress of Girton College at the University of Cambridge.
Jane Kinninmont, Policy & Impact Director at the European Leadership Network.
Scott Lucas, Professor of International Politics at University College Dublin’s Clinton Institute.Production team: Nick Holland, Kirsteen Knight and Charlotte McDonald
Production Co-ordinators: Sophie Hill
Sound: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
It’s almost 4 years since the UK left the European Union. Recent polls show a majority of people want to re-join the EU. But is this a realistic option?So in this week’s programme David Aaronovitch asks could we re-join the EU if we wanted? If we did, would it be of any benefit to the UK? And under what terms would the EU have us back?David is joined by the following experts:
Peter Foster, Public Policy Editor at Financial Times
Mujtaba Rahman, Managing Director for Europe at Eurasia Group who advise investors on political risk
Jill Rutter a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Government who directed the organisation's work on Brexit
Anand Menon, Director of the UK in a Changing Europe Production team: Sophie Eastaugh, Kirsteen Knight and Alex Lewis
Production Co-ordinators: Katie Morrison
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Richard VadonPhoto by ANDY RAIN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock (13998647a)
Aliens are back on the radar after a US Congressional hearing in the summer that featured former intelligence officer, David Grusch. The US Air Force veteran was once part of a task force created to look into what used to be called UFOs. Mr Grusch gave evidence that caused a sensation in America, claiming that the US military had, for decades, been in possession of crashed UFOs and 'non-human biologics'. His shocking claims were evidence that, whatever their accuracy, both created and reflected a growing and serious debate - from astrophysicists and astrobiologists to policymakers about what if anything, is out there. Anything alive and anything civilised. So, as 2023 turns into 2024, what is the state of our understanding about whether or not we are alone in space? David Aaronovitch explores the history of UFOs stretching back to the 1940s and discusses whether intelligent life exists beyond Earth. David Aaronovitch talks to:
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, British space scientist and science educator
Garrett Graff, Journalist and historian. Author of ‘UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government's Search for Alien Life Here ― and Out There’.
Avi Loeb, Astrophysicist and Baird Professor of Science at Harvard University
Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Science at the Open University.Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producer: Sally Abrahams
Sound: James Beard and Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon Archive Credits: Congressional Hearing on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, 26 July 2023 courtesy of C-Span
Housing charity Shelter’s latest figures show that homelessness has risen rapidly in the last year. In England, 279,400 people are living in temporary accommodation - an increase of 14% - most of whom are families.
And the government’s own figures reveal that almost half (47%) of families who are homeless in temporary accommodation have been there for more than two years.
Councils have a legal duty to house families and people who are vulnerable if they lose their homes, but the acute shortage of affordable homes means they are having to rely on temporary accommodation for long periods.
So what can be done to fix the growing numbers who find themselves homeless?David Aaronovitch is joined by the following expert guests:
Christine Whitehead, Housing Economist, London School of Economics
Rachelle Earwaker, Senior Economist, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Matthew Wilkins, Head of Value for Money, Centre for Homelessness ImpactProduction team: Kirsteen Knight, Alex Lewis and Sophie Eastaugh
Production Co-ordinators: Jacqui Johnson and Sophie Hill
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Richard Vadon
Euthanasia is illegal in the UK. All attempts to change the law have failed. Other countries have legalised Assisted Dying and/or Euthanasia. In this week’s Briefing Room with David Aaronovitch we find out what their experience has been and what, if anything, the UK could learn from that.Joining David on the programme are:- Imogen Goold Professor of Medical Law at University of Oxford
- Agnes van der Heide: Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam
- Thaddeus Pope: Professor, Health Law Institute, Mitchell Hamline School of Law (Minnesota, USA)
- Richard Huxtable: Professor of Medical Ethics and Law at the University of BristolProduction: Kirsteen Knight, Alex Lewis and Claire Bowes
Production Co-ordinators: Jacqui Johnson and Gemma Ashman
Sound: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon
The start of Ukraine’s counter-offensive against occupying Russian forces was hailed as the breakthrough moment of the war so far. Now six months on, we ask what happened?The Secretary General of NATO has said we should be ‘prepared for bad news’ and the White House has warned that the US is running out of time and money to fund the war. In this week's Briefing Room with David Aaronovitch we find out why things haven’t progressed as hoped and how much Ukraine’s key backers still support the war.Joining David to discuss are:
Shashank Joshi - Defence Editor at The Economist
Michael Clarke - Professor of Defence studies and Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy
Karin Von Hippel - Director General, Royal United Services Institute
Prof. Dr. Daniela Schwarzer - Executive Board member of the Bertelsmann Stiftung, a German foreign policy think tank based in BerlinProduction: Kirsteen Knight and Alex Lewis
Production Co-ordinators: Jacqui Johnson and Sophie Hill
Sound: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
UK net migration hit a record 745,000 in 2022 according to recently revised figures from the Office for National Statistics.That means the numbers coming to live in the UK were almost three quarters of a million more than those leaving.Reducing the numbers of people entering the country has long been a government priority with famous promises to reduce it to “tens of thousands”. In a post-Brexit era it had been assumed that the figures would naturally decline, but that hasn’t been the case. David Aaronovitch invites you into his briefing room to discover what these numbers mean for the UK.He’s joined by:
Jay Lindop, Director, Office for National Statistics, Centre for International Migration
Heather Rolfe, Director of Research and Relationships at the think tank British Future.
Madeline Sumption, Director of Migration Observatory, University of OxfordProduction: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight, Alex Lewis
Production Co-ordinator: Jacqui Johnson + Sophie Hill
Sound: Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon
Interesting overview of the national picture re the nhs. But unfortuntely we dont have a national health service. Its a post code lottery, with excellence in some ltd geographic areas and massive inefficiencies in others. The GP issue was glossed over. Access to treatment is ltd to your access to a GP. There is no other route. Improved National spend and technology improvements is of little relevance if you dont have acess to a GP.
Very interesting podcasts!!
Excellent current affairs programme. Always balanced, informative, interesting and to the point. The briefing room title is a perfect anology of the content.
wow, that may as well have been a Mi5 propaganda podcast. awful.
Would be great to revisit this in the light of where the UK is right now...
Interesting 👍
As always, extremely balanced