With 14 months to go until the next US presidential election, former foreign correspondent Andrea Catherwood finds out how the American media is preparing for the forthcoming onslaught. In this programme, looking at current media issues in countries around the world, Andrea hears from key media insiders about how Donald Trump will control his message, what power remains with local media players and how Facebook will play its part in determining the next leader of the most powerful nation on eart...
Sep 18, 2019•27 min
Former International Correspondent for CNBC and ITN Andrea Catherwood hears from journalists on both sides of the information war in Ukraine. The war in Ukraine began in April 2014 after the country elected a pro-Western leadership and Moscow supported uprisings in Ukraine’s Russian-speaking eastern provinces which culminated in Donetsk and Luhansk declaring themselves as breakaway independent ‘republics’. From the beginning Russia’s powerful propaganda machine played a crucial role in the confl...
Sep 11, 2019•28 min
It has been three years since Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte won a landslide victory off the back of a promise to wipe out drug abuse. Since then thousands of people have been killed in his so called "war on drugs" and the president stands accused of personally spearheading an attack against critical voices in the media. Former international correspondent Andrea Catherwood takes us to the frontline of the battle for press freedom in the country. She goes behind the scenes at Rappler, one ...
Sep 04, 2019•27 min
India's ruling party the BJP won a landslide victory in the country's May general election. The party bypassed traditional media channels and exploited India's love of social media to deliver their message direct to voters. Andrea Catherwood is a former international correspondent for CNBC and ITN. In the age of the unmediated political leader she asks - what's the future for journalism in India? Prime Minister Narendra Modi has his own radio show, his own app and is among the most popular globa...
Aug 28, 2019•28 min
Anna Jones asks young farmers how they plan to feed the world while protecting the land they have inherited. Can we balance commercial food production with the needs of our increasingly fragile natural environment? In New Zealand, dairy farmer Richard Fowler talks about the epiphany which changed his whole approach to farming, and why he is willing to accept less milk for more grass and better soil. In Iowa, USA, Wade Dooley is planting cover crops and returning livestock to worn-out fields that...
Aug 21, 2019•27 min
From Big Ag and "factory farming" to urban micro farms, Anna Jones explores dramatic differences in the scale of modern agriculture. Looking out across the New York City skyline, Anna hears how food can be produced sustainably, affordably and even abundantly on a rooftop in the heart of one of the world’s biggest cities. Urban farmer Ben Flanner swapped an engineering career in Manhattan for growing vegetables on top of an 11th storey building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He believes Millennials a...
Aug 14, 2019•27 min
Anna Jones looks at how digital and mobile phone technology is changing farming and boosting prosperity in rural communities around the world. Anna goes on a road trip through Ghana with young entrepreneur Peter Awin, transporting animal vaccines from the capital Accra to the remote northern region. Peter has developed a mobile app called Cowtribe, which connects some of West Africa’s poorest smallholder farmers with vital animal health and veterinary services. For the first time ever they can p...
Aug 07, 2019•27 min
Anna Jones explores the challenges facing family farms in the American Midwest and the outback of Australia, and discovers how Millennial farmers are embracing change to ensure their survival. In Iowa, Anna meets two young corn and soybean growers - Brandon Pickard, 28, and Wade Dooley, 35. Both are struggling to make a living from poor grain prices but coming up with very different ways of earning extra income. Pork or popcorn anyone? In North West Queensland, Anna heads to a remote cattle stat...
Jul 31, 2019•27 min
The sky is hidden by smog in Lanzhou on the Yellow River; this transport and manufacturing hub is pumping Chinese goods out to the world. In this last programme, we find out how the Belt and Road Initiative has brought new people into this growing metropolis and how businesses are benefiting from the new infrastructure. Presenter: Peter Shevlin and Martin Yip
Jun 26, 2019•28 min
When it comes to South-East Asia, China’s presence is most felt in Sihanoukville. Cambodia’s once sleepy backpacker resort has been transformed by Chinese investment – the sheer speed of development has divided local opinion. Chatting to everyone from bus drivers to market stall holders about their experiences of a changing town, we ask, how has the Chinese influx affected the people of Sihanoukville? Presenter: Scarlett Sok and Peter Shevlin Producer: Peter Shevlin (Photo: Public square with bu...
Jun 19, 2019•28 min
Khorgas in Kazakhstan is going through an economic boom and Chinese trains stop here and their loads are shifted on to the Kazakh trains. This region was the gateway of the ancient Silk Road, a meeting place of cultures and languages. We meet nomads who have called this land home for centuries and pioneers developing a city for the future. Presenter: Rose Kudabayeva and Peter Shevlin Producer: Monica Whitlock (Photo: The KTZE-Khorgos Gateway dry port, a logistics hub on the Kazakh side of the Ka...
Jun 12, 2019•26 min
The new Chinese Mombasa–Nairobi railway has finally overturned over 100 years of history by replacing the British-built Uganda Railway - the most strategically important conduit in the scramble for Africa. Cutting the time between Mombasa and Nairobi from 10 hours to 4.5 hours. Chinese interests may be at the centre of these investments - but the impact is regional, how is the Kenyan population benefiting from this new service? Presenter: Larry Madowo and Peter Shevlin (Photo: The inaugural jour...
Jun 05, 2019•26 min
Dr Vybarr Cregan-Reid looks at how modern living is changing our faces. With the help of professor Saw Seang Mei in Singapore and the UK's top ophthalmologist, professor Chris Hammond, he tells the story of how baffled scientists sought to understand the rocketing rates of myopia in the Far East, where more than 80% of teenagers are short-sighted. Dr Cregan-Reid learns about the various theories put forward before Australian researchers cracked the mystery in 2004. Spoiler alert: It is not to do...
May 29, 2019•28 min
Dr Vybarr Cregan-Reid investigates what the last 250 years has done to our backs. What is it about modern life that has promoted back pain, especially lower back pain, from a rarity to the number one cause of pain and disability in the world? In the remote Kenyan Village of Pemja, Dr Cregan-Reid meets people with such excellent backs that they are the subject of international study. He hears from pain-wracked workers in Nairobi whose backs today are a pale version of those of their grandparents'...
May 22, 2019•28 min
For nearly two million years we evolved in close sync with our environment but 250 years ago the industrial revolution happened and changed everything. The innovation and technology it brought had many benefits but there was a physical cost as progress also designed out movement from our lives. From spending hours on our feet outdoors, our jobs have moved indoors and largely involve sitting down for most of the day in offices, factories or driver cabs. It has resulted in feet that are getting fl...
May 15, 2019•28 min
Medellin used to be one of the world's most dangerous cities, with a sprawling network of slums and a serious crime problem fueled by drug trafficking. During the 1990s, there was a dramatic transformation. By integrating the city's plumbing and transportation into the barrios, renovating the homes of tens of thousands of families and creating open public spaces, the city has been transformed. Fi Glover returns with Dr Ellie Cosgrave, director of UCL City Leadership Laboratory and urbanist profe...
May 08, 2019•27 min
It is said that by 2050 cities will be home to 6.4 billion people. They stand at the centre of the world’s most pressing challenges. Presenter Fi Glover is joined by Dr Ellie Cosgrave, director of UCL City Leadership Laboratory, and urbanist professor Greg Clark. They scour the world looking for the most inspirational cities, from those tackling environmental issues and urban violence, to encouraging political participation and transforming slums. This week they look at the city of Glasgow, whic...
May 01, 2019•27 min
Presenter Fi Glover, Dr Ellie Cosgrave, director of UCL City Leadership Laboratory and urbanist professor Greg Clark, analyse and critique the participatory budgeting of Paris, where citizens vote on how to spend part of the city’s budget. They also look at how Valletta in Malta regularly tops 90% voter turnout in political elections. Are they models other cities should follow? Image: Hotel de Ville, Paris (Credit: Getty Images)
Apr 24, 2019•27 min
As investment in the night-time economy rises, we look at how this is working in London. Is anywhere else doing a better job? Presenter Fi Glover returns with two new panellists to analyse and critique the best policies from global cities: Dr Ellie Cosgrave, Director of UCL City Leadership Laboratory; and urbanist Professor Greg Clark. The team scour the world looking for the most inspirational cities, from those tackling environmental issues and urban violence, to encouraging political particip...
Apr 17, 2019•27 min
How is data being used to help Seoul run smoothly? And how have 20,000 sensors transformed life in Santander, Spain? Both cities have implemented innovative policies that are solving pressing challenges to city life. Presenter Fi Glover returns with two new panellists to analyse and critique the best policies from global cities: Dr Ellie Cosgrave, Director of UCL City Leadership Laboratory; and urbanist Professor Greg Clark. The team scour the world looking for the most inspirational cities, fro...
Apr 10, 2019•26 min
San Francisco’s mandatory recycling scheme and sustainable public transport come under the spotlight. The panel also consider the town of Kamikatsu in Japan, which aims to be 100% zero-waste by 2020. Are they models other cities should follow? Presenter Fi Glover returns with two new panellists to analyse and critique the best policies from global cities: Dr Ellie Cosgrave, director of UCL City Leadership Laboratory; and urbanist professor Greg Clark. The team scour the world looking for the mos...
Apr 03, 2019•27 min
After exploring our wasteful past and the reality of today’s trash challenge, Australian journalist Alexandra Spring asks if we are on the tipping point of a rubbish free future. Alexandra joins blogger Kathryn Kellogg to find out more about San Francisco’s growing zero waste ambitions. Encased in one single mason jar, Kathryn describes the tiny amount of waste she created over two years and how living without a trace has changed her life. Then, Alexandra meets the inventor Veena Sahajwalla, who...
Jan 23, 2019•27 min
Alexandra Spring continues her exploration of how our relationship with rubbish has evolved through time at the foot of Monte Testaccio in Rome - a hill built of 53 million discarded olive oil amphorae, which were thrown away nearly 2000 years ago. She meets the architect Tom Rankin, who shares how this ‘dump’ is indicative of the Roman spirit to waste. Moving through the decades, the historian Agnes Sandras takes Alexandra back to France in 1883, when Parisian Prefect Eugene Poubelle sparked pu...
Jan 16, 2019•27 min
For three series, My Perfect Country has sought to build the perfect country. Inspired by positive thinking, it takes policies from around the world that actually work and have solved global problems. We ask why they work, and whether they could work anywhere. Out of this comes a forensic analysis of what good global policy should look like. In this one-off special, the My Perfect Country team travel to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where they join a group of bright, curious, switched...
Jan 09, 2019•28 min
Alexandra Spring explores how our relationship with rubbish has evolved over time, beginning on a boat, sailing across the Pacific, with Ocean Conservancy’s Chief Scientist George Leonard. Together, they discuss how trillions of micro plastic particles have created a sea-sized portion of plastic soup, and how poor waste management across the world has led to a garbage emergency. The conversation continues with author Gay Hawkins, who believes an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude is shaping ou...
Jan 09, 2019•27 min
The Sun’s light defines what we mean by day and night, how we tell time and how we apportion our time, both consciously and unconsciously. The turning of the Earth that wheels us in and out of the Sun every 24 hours seeps into every aspect of our biology. In the final programme, Dava Sobel recalls the 25 days she spent as a human subject in a study of circadian rhythm. The lab was housed at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, NY, but it could have been anywhere, sealed and self-contained as it was...
Jan 02, 2019•27 min
At any moment, the predictions of your local weather forecaster might be suddenly superseded by space weather, a special breed of storms fomented on the Sun and launched toward Earth with potentially devastating consequences. Most of the time, the solar wind billowing out from the Sun blows right past our planet without causing any ill effects whatsoever, but today, with our navigation and communications technology dependent on satellite based systems, a downdraft of space weather could disrupt ...
Dec 26, 2018•27 min
Inspired by the Chariot of the Sun, a beautiful artefact of sun worship, Dava Sobel island hops in Denmark to explore the cult of the Sun, before science, during the Nordic Bronze Age. Ancient people would not have needed an eclipse to make them see the Sun as an all-powerful force. The Sun’s life-giving light and heat inspired rituals and relics dating back to the earliest humans. Music composed by Chris O'Shaughnessy. Producer: Kate Bland and Kate Rea Audio for this programme was updated on 9 ...
Dec 19, 2018•28 min
The Sun, our star, produces its prodigious energy by a process of nuclear fusion at its core. We are unable to mimic that trick here on Earth: our nuclear reactors work by splitting atoms, not fusing them, and generate a lot of toxic waste. With a free standing solar mini grid in Kenya and the problems of the old grid system in California, Dava Sobel explores the progress being made in tapping the Sun for its inexhaustible supply of free, clean energy. Music composed by Chris O'Shaughnessy. Co-p...
Dec 12, 2018•27 min
The Sun, our star, the source and sustainer of all life on Earth, is also a death star in the making. To know the Sun is an age-old dream of humankind. For centuries, astronomers contented themselves with analysing small sips of sunlight collected through specialised instruments. They chased after eclipses that exposed otherwise hidden layers of the Sun’s substance, and they launched Earth and Sun-orbiting observatories to monitor our star from space. Today, several satellites ‘watch’ our star f...
Dec 05, 2018•27 min
