Since the EU referendum in 2016 the lives of two people have been completely taken over by Brexit. Femi Oluwole had been studying law and had just begun a career in European human rights. Owen Reed was 16 and still at school in 2016. But both these men became political activists and have been campaigning ever since. We spoke to them both about the last two years and discovered that despite being in opposite camps they share some views. Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Producers: Philly Beaumont and Geor...
Mar 29, 2019•19 min
It’s the most widely used LGBTQ app in the world with 27 million global users, but many of the people who use Grindr have a complicated relationship with it. We speak to comedian Jack Rooke and author of ‘Grindr Survivor’ Andrew Londyn about whether Grindr can shake off its reputation and what the future could look like for a gay dating app. With special thanks to George Hicks, Josh Cockcroft, Simon Haupt and Isobel Power Smith for the music. You can hear Jack Rooke's programme 'Telling Tales' a...
Mar 28, 2019•19 min
Two weeks ago Cyclone Idai tore through Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, some of the poorest countries in Africa, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless and hundreds dead. Cholera has become a major concern among survivors. But it’s not just a catastrophic natural event, there are human causes behind the misery. BBC reporter Nomsa Maseko and Africa Editor Fegal Keane tell us a story of climate change, global corruption and devastation - but also progress and hope. Producers: Duncan Ba...
Mar 27, 2019•16 min
Trump, Brexit, the far left, the far right, Russia is often accused of interfering with Western democracy. But one Tupac-loving PR guy went beyond politics and masterminded the disruption of an entire global political system. The BBC’s Gabriel Gatehouse introduces us to Vladislav Surkov, the most powerful man you’ve never heard of. This episode contains strong language.
Mar 26, 2019•24 min
He calls himself a body modification artist, but Brendan McCarthy AKA ‘Dr. Evil’ has just been sentenced to 40 months in prison for grievous bodily harm. He was jailed over tongue splitting, and nipple and ear removal procedures despite having the consent of his clients. We speak to one of his customers Wayne Fitzpatrick and BBC Stories’ Ruth Evans, who had been following the case for two years, about the limits of consent when it comes to our bodies. Producers: Lucy Hancock and Georgia Coan Edi...
Mar 25, 2019•17 min
Three years ago thirty two people died in three suicide bombings in Brussels. How authorities and civilians responded on that day can help us understand what we should do if we are caught up in a terror attack. Larissa Kennelly from the BBC’s Brussels bureau has been learning those lessons, while BBC producer Piers Scholfield and Benoit Remacker from the Belgian Crisis Centre take us through what happened that day. Producer: Maria Byrne Mixed by Nicolas Raufast and Maria Byrne Editor: John Shiel...
Mar 22, 2019•23 min
Bradford has a tricky relationship with the national media. Big stories that have come out of the city include a bitter election battle over Bradford West, grooming gangs, and Islamic extremism. We joined a BBC project searching for unreported and more positive news from underserved communities across the UK. The first stop was Bradford. Producers: Seren Jones and Jaja Muhammad Mixed: Andy Mills Editor: John Shields
Mar 21, 2019•17 min
This is an episode about what happened when global tech gurus were invited inside one of the world’s oldest and most conservative institutions. The Catholic church is thinking about the big ethical questions - perhaps in a way many of our governments are not - that are swirling around around tech. So they gathered some of the big players in robotics and AI in Rome, at the Vatican. BBC Click’s Jen Copestake was there to see what happened. Producers: Philly Beaumont and Duncan Barber Mixed by: And...
Mar 20, 2019•18 min
Almost half of young women in the UK are considering freezing their eggs, according to a recent survey. It involves harvesting eggs from a woman’s ovaries and keeping them in storage so she might be able to still have a baby even if her fertility declines. But it costs thousands of pounds and currently the success rates are low. Many women either can’t afford it, or don’t want to spend so much on something that might not work. Should the state or employers shoulder the cost? And should we all ta...
Mar 19, 2019•22 min
After the mass shooting at two mosques in New Zealand in which 50 people were killed there has been widespread shock that it happened in a country that regards itself as inclusive and welcoming. The attack was livestreamed on Facebook, and social media companies were criticised for waiting too long to take the footage down. But the attacker also posted on extreme free speech message boards – where a racist subculture is thriving. We speak to Mike Wendling, Editor of BBC Trending, who has been tr...
Mar 18, 2019•21 min
The comedian and director Simon Amstell is a familiar face who a lot of us grew up with. He visited the Beyond Today studio to tell us about his semi-autobiographical film ‘Benjamin’ in which the main character is constantly seeking external validation. We also discussed his fear of intimacy, an imaginary gorilla, and veganism. 'Benjamin' is in cinemas March 15th. Producer: Duncan Barber. Editor: John Shields. Mixed by Nicolas Raufast.
Mar 15, 2019•19 min
We are told we are living through historic political times. The Prime Minister has faced unprecedented defeats in the House of Commons yet survives in the job. With two weeks to go to the deadline for leaving the EU, we still don’t know how Brexit will work. So where will we end up? Has politics changed forever? And who can explain the chaos? We speak to the BBC’s Nick Robinson, host of the Talking Politics podcast and Radio 4’s Today programme, and Daniel Kraemer from the BBC’s Political Resear...
Mar 14, 2019•19 min
Money. We all want more of it. But apart from securing a bumper pay rise or winning the lottery, probably the most obvious way to maximise our finances is to sensibly look after what we do have. It can be hard though, with financial jargon like ISAs, pension options, and interest rates sometimes feeling impossible to understand. We’ve been collecting your questions about your money and have put them to finance gurus Bola Sol and Laura Whateley. Producers: Harriet Noble and Jaja Muhammad Mixed by...
Mar 13, 2019•17 min
Right now Shamima Begum is in a sprawling internment camp in the Syrian desert, stripped of her British citizenship and unable to leave. Buried there is her son Jarrah, who died last week of pneumonia. He was under three weeks old. The BBC’s Middle East correspondent Quentin Sommerville has interviewed her twice in the past few weeks and spoke to us about what happens to her now, and who’s to blame for the death of her child. Producers: Harriet Noble and Jessica Beck Mixed by: Nicolas Raufast Ed...
Mar 12, 2019•21 min
In 1993, an 18 year old black teenager, Stephen Lawrence was murdered in a racist attack in East London. The police messed up the investigation into his killers. The inquiry that followed led by the judge Sir William Macpherson was one of the most damning documents to emerge about the police – describing it as “institutionally racist”. Twenty years on the barrister and broadcaster Hashi Mohamed has made a documentary about what has happened since for Radio 4. We speak to him about the legacy of ...
Mar 11, 2019•20 min
In March 2009, an Islamic extremist group called Al-Muhajiroun staged a demonstration as 200 soldiers paraded through the town of Luton after returning from Iraq. The radical Islamists fuelled anger in the local community, and these tensions led to the formation of the English Defence League by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - aka Tommy Robinson. Ten years on, we speak to the people who were there as Luton faced a global media storm and find out how they have been working to beat extremism ever since. Pr...
Mar 08, 2019•22 min
It’s often said that we get trapped in online "filter bubbles” or “echo chambers” and that we don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. It’s a convincing narrative - but is it true? And how do you know if you live in one? BBC Media Editor Amol Rajan has been finding out for a series called Crossing Divides. Producer: Duncan Barber. Editor: John Shields. Mixed by Nico Raufast.
Mar 07, 2019•20 min
US teenager Ethan Lindenberger has been speaking out against his mother who refused to vaccinate him as a child. Why has the anti-vax movement captured the imagination of so many people despite being detrimental to public health? Whether it’s spreading bad information on social media or seeing dark conspiracies, Joseph Stubbersfield a Cognitive Anthropologist at Durham University and Bob Blaskiewiccz, Professor of Critical Thinking at Stockton Uni explain how bad ideas can thrive. Plus, Dr. Jen ...
Mar 06, 2019•17 min
In the Canadian city of Vancouver a woman named Meng Wanzhou is under house arrest in her $4.2bn mansion. Chief financial officer of the Chinese tech firm Huawei, and the founder’s daughter, she’s accused by the US of bank fraud and violating sanctions against Iran. But as the BBC’s Silicon Valley Reporter Dave Lee tells Beyond Today, her arrest is about more than this: we might look back on it as the opening salvo in the tech cold war. Reporter: Harriet Noble Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: Jo...
Mar 05, 2019•22 min
After two 17-year-olds were killed in separate incidents in London and Greater Manchester at the weekend, we hear from a former gang member who tells our Home Affairs correspondent Danny Shaw why he’d never leave the house without carrying a knife. We also hear from BBC London reporter Greg Mckenzie who has covered 19 murders in the capital already this year. Producers: Philly Beaumont and Duncan Barber. Editor: John Shields. Mixed by Nico Raufast.
Mar 04, 2019•21 min
Michael Jackson is perhaps the biggest pop star there’s ever been. He’s still thought of as a legend, despite years of allegations regarding his relationships with young boys. Jackson was found not guilty at a court case in 2005, but now one of the men who testified in Jackson’s defence in that case has appeared in a documentary to say, alongside another man, that the singer did regularly sexually abuse him. Michael Jackson’s family has rejected the claims and say there is "not one piece of evid...
Mar 01, 2019•24 min
As tensions mount between India and Pakistan, Matthew Price goes behind the scenes of Qasa Alom’s show on the BBC Asian Network to find out why it is such an emotive subject for different generations of British Asians. He also speaks to World Service presenter Anu Anand, whose family fled Kashmir, about how the conflict continues to impact her identity and that of many others outside South Asia. Producers: Duncan Barber and Philly Beaumont Editor: John Shields Mixed by Weidong Lin
Feb 28, 2019•18 min
What you drive has always said a lot about who you are – and car-making has defined the identity of whole towns and cities in the UK. But this is only partly an episode about cars. It’s also about what the changes in the car industry tell us about the massive disruptions that are happening all over the place, shifts that are changing the way things are made, the jobs we can get, and the way business works – the future essentially. BBC Business Correspondent Joe Miller prepares us for what’s next...
Feb 27, 2019•19 min
Yesterday the government announced updates to the 20 year-old sex education curriculum in England. It will now include lessons on sharing private photos and explicit content. We hear from a group of female students on their experiences of sex education and the influence of porn. The discussion is very graphic. We also speak to Sadie Lune and Poppy Sanchez from the Sex School Hub in Berlin, which makes explicit educational videos. Producers: Duncan Barber and Lucy Hancock Editor: John Shields Mix...
Feb 26, 2019•20 min
The Empire actor Jussie Smollett has been all over the media and internet after allegations that he falsely claimed that he was the victim of a hate crime. The 36-year-old is accused of filing a fake police report claiming he was the victim of a homophobic and racist assault. Police say he staged the attack because he was “dissatisfied” with his salary: Smollett maintains he’s innocent. The BBC’s North America correspondent Aleem Maqbool has been in Chicago covering this case and takes us throug...
Feb 25, 2019•19 min
Grayson Perry is an award-winning artist and documentary maker who has spent most of his career teasing the establishment. He likes to tackle the big subjects like class, gender and how we deal with death. Perry makes ceramic vases and tapestries, cross-dresses and is now so famous he’s on the national curriculum. We went to see him at his pottery studio in a wealthy part of North London, where he swore about the liberal elite and moaned about well-educated remoaners. Producers: Philly Beaumont ...
Feb 22, 2019•16 min
Who do you think of when you think about an opiate dealer? Probably not a young woman in China, who dreamed of being an English teacher. This is the story of one woman in her 20s who’s made a career out of sending fentanyl through the post. The BBC’s Danny Vincent takes us to meet the new generation of drug kingpins, who Jeremy Douglas from the UN says are disrupting the drugs market just like Uber did for transport. Producers: Heidi Pett, Lucy Hancock, Georgia Coan and Jaja Muhammad Mixed by We...
Feb 21, 2019•19 min
It’s the Oscars on Sunday, the pinnacle of awards season. Every year hundreds of films and performances are eligible, so what exactly is it that means some win and others don’t? It’s not enough to just be the best, there are a whole host of other factors that determine who takes home a gong. From prosthetic noses to silly dances and branded pillows, Oscar veteran and BBC Entertainment Correspondent Colin Paterson tells us the secrets to awards season success. Producers: Harriet Noble and Jaja Mu...
Feb 20, 2019•22 min
Four years ago, at the age of 15, Shamima Begum ran away from home in East London to marry an Islamic State fighter in Syria. Now she’s 19, has just given birth in a refugee camp - and wants to come home. There has been huge interest in the story, but are we missing out on a bigger and more complex picture when it comes to understanding the role of women in IS? In the second of this series on IS we hear from the BBC’s Daniel De Simone about other foiled terrorist plots and the role women played ...
Feb 19, 2019•20 min
When the British teenager Shamima Begum ran away from East London to join IS, the caliphate was at the peak of its powers. It waged war with the West by beheading hostages and carrying out deadly attacks on European soil, while establishing a sophisticated state infrastructure in Syria and Iraq. IS at one point controlled an area the size of Britain. But now, as Shamima Begum waits in a Syrian refugee camp to see if she’ll be allowed home, IS is on the brink of military defeat. Does that mean th...
Feb 18, 2019•19 min
