The World Health Organisation predicts that by 2025 half of the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas. This means the demand for water will be more than the supply. This is already happening in Chennai. The Indian city with more than five million people has been having a water crisis since June. The taps have run dry and experts say there’s no end in sight. Rajini Vaidyanathan has been reporting from Chennai for the BBC. She tells us what it’s like for the residents to live withou...
Aug 06, 2019•17 min
Two mass shootings in 24 hours have shocked America: the first in El Paso, Texas and the other in Dayton, Ohio. 29 people have lost their lives. The El Paso shooter opened fire in a Walmart store only a few miles from the Mexican border. Police are treating the attack as domestic terrorism after finding an anti-immigrant “manifesto” on 8chan - a forum that promotes freedom of speech. We speak to Michael Wendling from BBC Trending about how 8chan came to be taken offline. The BBC’s security corre...
Aug 05, 2019•21 min
Improving social mobility has been a key pledge of successive governments with politicians promising to create a meritocracy in Britain. However, research shows time and time again that the best-paid and most influential jobs still go to those from privileged backgrounds while the working classes aren’t getting ahead… even if they’re better candidates for the position. So, why is class the last big barrier to getting a top job? In this episode we speak to broadcaster Amol Rajan about his documen...
Aug 02, 2019•22 min
When swimmer Mack Horton refused to share a podium with Sun Yang, accusing him of being a drug cheat, what he didn’t know is that one of his own teammates had tested positive for a banned substance. On Friday Shayna Jack will attempt to clear her name as she faces a four year ban. The consequences for athletes are serious– stripped of medals, barred from competition and a reputation in tatters, it hardly seems worth the risk. Time and time again athletes get caught, but is the testing regime kee...
Aug 01, 2019•20 min
US rapper A$AP Rocky went on trial in Sweden this week, accused of assaulting a 19-year-old in Stockholm. Donald Trump has publicly called for his release online, tweeting “Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM. We do so much for Sweden but it doesn’t seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem! #FreeRocky”. The US president has also spoken to the Swedish prime minister about the case. But why does Donald Trump care about the rapper’s arrest? And how has his interventi...
Jul 31, 2019•17 min
As technology advances, we’re going to become more reliant on artificial intelligence. Robots are being programmed and piloted in primary schools and care-homes to teach basic maths and to help tackle loneliness. Robots are even available to provide romantic intimacy and sex. It seems inevitable that robots will play a significant role in our emotional lives, but who might benefit from them? Meanwhile amongst the Silicon Valley elite, there’s a growing movement that is turning away from technolo...
Jul 30, 2019•21 min
Once upon a time the concept of legalising recreational cannabis was something stoners at house parties dreamt about, but in the past few years the conversation around cannabis has changed. BBC Newsbeat journalist Jim Connolly travelled with Labour's David Lammy, Conservative MP Jonathan Djanogly and Liberal Democrat Sir Norman Lamb on a fact-finding trip to Canada. In 2018 Canada became the first G7 country to allow recreational use of the drug. The MPs are now convinced the UK will fully legal...
Jul 29, 2019•20 min
More than 6 million people have tuned in to watch series 5 of Love Island. It all comes to an end next week but ITV has announced that it’s doing so well they’ll start running two series a year. We speak to superfans Sarah Manavis, digital culture writer for the New Statesman, and broadcaster Richie Anderson about the show’s success and why the Love Island friendships have been stronger than ever. Produced by: Beyond Today producers Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: Philly Beaumont...
Jul 26, 2019•24 min
Matt Forde set out on a mission to humanise politics with his podcast the Political Party. He’s interviewed some of the biggest politicians of our time: Tony Blair, Nigel Farage and even Tommy Robinson. But there’s a thin line between humanising politicians and doing their PR job for them. In the week that a politician known for his jokes became prime minister, we ask how much does comedy feature in modern politics? Can it be a tool for something darker, and is satire now just the pursuit of smu...
Jul 25, 2019•24 min
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve probably used Faceapp to see how you’ll look when you’re older. But in the days after Faceapp blew up, a conspiracy theory spread across the internet. People were worried that Wireless Lab - the app’s maker - was feeding data to the Russian government. This led to the Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer calling for an investigation into FaceApp. In a letter posted on Twitter, Mr Schumer called it "deeply troubling" that personal data of US citizens ...
Jul 24, 2019•19 min
Boris Johnson has been elected new Conservative leader. He will take over as prime minister from Theresa May on Wednesday. He says he will deliver Brexit and unite the country. But Boris Johnson is a divisive character. This episode is about the mistakes he’s made along the way, but why in the end his ambition and sheer force of personality got him there. He’s gone from being a journalist to celebrity to now the man with the top job in the country. We hear from the Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Vine,...
Jul 23, 2019•26 min
Today’s episode is all about Theresa May, but that doesn’t mean it’s all about Brexit. It’s a common argument: the main reason Theresa May failed as prime minister is that she got her whole approach to Brexit wrong and screwed up negotiations with both the EU and MPs. But there are other moments that could ultimately have caused her political demise, even before she took the top job. Her former adviser Chris Wilkins and the BBC’s Deputy Political Editor John Pienaar take a look back at Theresa M...
Jul 22, 2019•20 min
This is part two of our interview with Eliot Higgins, the man who began investigating international crimes from his living room in Leicester after dropping out of university. Despite having no formal journalism training or experience, he quickly gained a reputation in the relatively new field of open-source citizen journalism, where people analyse publicly available materials to uncover new facts about major stories. On yesterday’s episode we heard about his investigative website Bellingcat and ...
Jul 19, 2019•18 min
Five years ago passenger flight MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over conflict-hit Ukraine. Investigators blame Russian-backed separatists who they say targeted the plane with a Russian-made missile. One of the reasons they’re sure is because of the work of Eliot Higgins. He founded the website Bellingcat, which describes itself as "the home of online investigations". Eliot tells us how he traced the missile system from Eastern Ukraine back to Kursk in Weste...
Jul 18, 2019•16 min
It’s three months since the 29-year-old journalist Lyra Mckee was killed in a riot in Northern Ireland. Her death shocked the world and there were calls for politicians in Northern Ireland to unite. But since then the assembly in Stormont still hasn't sat. There has, though, been some progress on things Lyra felt passionate about – same sex marriage is likely to be made legal and abortion laws liberalised. We went to Londonderry to speak to Lyra’s partner Sara Canning, who took us on a tour and ...
Jul 17, 2019•23 min
Today marks exactly 50 years since the launch of the Apollo 11 mission to put the first man on the Moon. Ever since that day in 1969 conspiracy theories have sprung up alleging that the whole thing is a hoax, and now there is a growing community of people who don’t even believe the earth is round. In this episode, Marco Silva, a reporter for BBC Trending introduces us to Dave from Sheffield, a man who is convinced that the earth is flat. He is part of a group whose false ideas have spread with t...
Jul 16, 2019•20 min
The nation’s favourite documentary maker is back. This week Tina speaks to filmmaker Louis Theroux, who came in to tell us about his new documentary Surviving America’s Most Hated Family and why, 13 years on, he’s still interested in the Westboro Baptist Church. We also talk to him about nudity, why he’s not into hallucinogenic drug rituals, the problem with no-platforming and how he became the most widely meme-d journalist in Britain. You can also listen to ‘What happens to Shamima Begum now?’ ...
Jul 15, 2019•29 min
“Not every day, all day. But there's always a point that I think about it, and what would have been different.” Claire gets an audience with the Ministry of Defence to ask: who is responsible for soldiers suffering from PTSD, and why doesn’t the military keep track of veterans when they know that PTSD can crop up years later? What happens when it does? If you’re affected by the issues raised in this episode, help is out there. If you’re a veteran or you know a veteran, the starting point for hel...
Jul 08, 2019•28 min
“They gave everything. And they deserved so much more.” Kevin Holt died nine years after his Afghan tour. He was fighting his demons right to the end. But was it the war that killed him? And Kevin wasn’t the first from his platoon to die after getting home safely. This episode discusses suicide. If you need to talk, help is out there. If you’re a veteran or you know a veteran, the starting point for help is the Ministry of Defence’s Veteran’s Gateway and these charities: Combat Stress Help for H...
Jul 08, 2019•35 min
“I don’t think I could honestly say I’ve spoken to anyone about all the stuff that’s happened.” Claire is invited to the pub with three of the guys who were there on 10 July, 2009. They say talking to people who went through it helps them, but it turns out that looks very different to how you might expect. If you’re affected by the issues raised in this episode, help is out there. If you’re a veteran or you know a veteran, the starting point for help is the Ministry of Defence’s Veteran’s Gatewa...
Jul 08, 2019•23 min
“He went out a boy and he came back a broken man” After that day, the platoon pick themselves up and carry on fighting the Taliban in Helmand. But when they get home a new battle begins for them and their families. If you’re affected by the issues raised in this episode, help is out there. If you’re a veteran or you know a veteran, the starting point for help is the Ministry of Defence’s Veteran’s Gateway and these charities: Combat Stress Help for Heroes Samaritans Producer: Heidi Pett Sound de...
Jul 08, 2019•25 min
“I remember hearing that bang, and thinking: this is it.” On 10 July, 2009, the soldiers of 9 platoon were out on a dawn patrol when an IED blast ripped through their ranks. Talking about it now, the survivors refer to it only as "that day". They all know what they mean. This episode contains descriptions of violence and death. If you need to talk to somebody, help is out there. If you’re a veteran or you know a veteran, the starting point for help is the Ministry of Defence’s Veteran’s Gateway ...
Jul 08, 2019•27 min
“It’s the best part of your life and the worst part of your life all rolled into one.” It’s ten years since the British Army’s deadliest month in Afghanistan. The platoon that was worst hit has lost two more men since then, including Kevin Holt who died of a morphine overdose. BBC defence producer Claire Read asks: Was it the war that killed him, almost a decade on? If you’re affected by the issues raised in this episode, help is out there. If you’re a veteran or you know a veteran, the starting...
Jul 08, 2019•25 min
Vampire Weekend have won a Grammy, topped the charts and become one of the most important bands of their generation. Their singer, songwriter and creative force Ezra Koenig sat down with Beyond Today at Glastonbury a few hours before the band went on stage. Here he discusses the anxiety of life as a professional musician, how the internet shaped his songwriting, and whether rock bands should be more political. Producer: Harriet Noble Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields
Jul 05, 2019•22 min
It feels like Pride is more visible than ever before, with rainbows everywhere and even LGBT sandwiches on the shelves. But while it’s a measure of progress that communities are able to publicly celebrate their identity, is a party enough? Certainly not for gay women in one area of Chile, where three butch lesbians, known locally as “camionas”, have been murdered in the past decade. Megha Mohan, the BBC’s Gender and Identity Correspondent, shares the story of one of them - Nicole Saavedra. And T...
Jul 04, 2019•21 min
Last December, the people of Sudan took to the streets to protest against high food prices and decades of hardship under the rule of Omar al-Bashir. Four months later momentum of the protests spread across the country, and led to the ousting of the president. But then things took a turn for the worse. On 3rd June, military forces opened fire on protesters in the capital, Khartoum. When Sudanese people shared news of the massacre on social media, the government shut down internet access across th...
Jul 03, 2019•17 min
In 2018 Anna Campbell’s father Dirk received the news that his 26 year-old daughter had died fighting in Syria. Up until that moment he didn’t know what she was involved with. Depending on who you speak to she was idealistic, brave, naive, or foolish. In this episode we speak to Dirk Campbell and the BBC’s Marina Parker who have been piecing together her journey from defending bees in the playground to fighting on the front line. We explore why a young British woman would be prepared to die for ...
Jul 02, 2019•20 min
They have two of the most distinctive hairdos in the world and they used to trade insults. But now it appears that Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have become friends. Trump made an impromptu visit to the North Korean border at the weekend and became the first serving US president to set foot in the country. They are technically still at war. The BBC’s correspondent in Seoul Stephen McDonell watched it all happen and Jean Lee opened the first western news bureau in North Korea. ...
Jul 01, 2019•18 min
There are loads of music festivals these days. But the one that still stands out, that is special somehow, is Glastonbury. What started as a party on a farm for 1500 revellers nearly half a century ago has become the most iconic festival in the world, attended by 200 thousand people. How did that happen? And can the spirit of community and environmentalism the festival espouses teach us lessons for the modern world? BBC Entertainment Correspondent Colin Paterson and a host of voices from the fes...
Jun 28, 2019•21 min
The Saharan Bubble is blasting hot air across the European continent, breaking temperature records all over the place. But scientists are reluctant to link specific weather events to climate change, saying we can only be certain about long term trends. So when can we say for sure? We hear from Clare Nasir, a meteorologist with the Met Office, and Nick Cox, who's been measuring the Arctic climate since 1978.
Jun 27, 2019•18 min
