Fentanyl is killing at least seventy thousand Americans a year. It’s a synthetic drug, it’s up to 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It’s also the biggest cause of death for Americans aged between 18 and 45: more than gun crime, more than road accidents. But where is that supply of Fentanyl to America coming from? And why are people taking it, when it’s so dangerous? And are there any solutions to this deadliest of epidemics? In today’s episode we speak to o...
May 12, 2023•27 min
70 years on from the last Coronation, when Britain was still an empire and hardly anyone had a TV - what does Charles the Third’s crowning say about us today and the Britain of the future? We know that the British do this type of pomp and ceremony better than anyone else, it defines who we are. But is that true? You may be told this is all ancient, but many of the royal ceremonies we witness are actually made-up rituals from the Victorian era used to legitimise the monarchy in modern British lif...
May 05, 2023•26 min
The US Vice President Kamala Harris recently went on tour to Tanzania, Ghana and Zambia. But she was not the only US official to visit the African continent recently: First Lady Jill Biden, the Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen have all been in recent months. And they’re not alone either; Turkey and China’s Foreign Ministers made five-nation tours of Africa earlier this year. Russia’s Sergei Lavrov has also made several trips to the continent over the ...
Apr 14, 2023•26 min
Donald Trump has arguably done it all in his 76 years, and as president he’s secured a lot of firsts. But never has he been under arrest. The 45th president of the United States stands accused of falsifying business records in order to cover up payments he made to suppress news stories he believed would hinder his bid to become president in 2016. Trump pleaded not guilty and later left New York to fly back home to Mar-a-Lago in Florida, to deliver a defiant rally to his supporters. He was told b...
Apr 07, 2023•27 min
In Israel, a constitutional crisis has seen thousands take to the streets, fearing that their rights could be eroded, as the government plans to weaken the powers of the highest court in the land. Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu’s far-right coalition argues the Supreme Court is too powerful and they’re simply righting the wrongs of the system. Protesters say the overhaul would erode Israel’s proud democracy and lead them towards a dictatorship. After weeks of protests and pressure from all sid...
Apr 03, 2023•22 min
Rishi Sunak came into Downing Street back in October with a huge mess to clear up after the disaster of Liz Truss and her mini budget. After a week that has seen him secure his own Brexit Deal as, Boris Johnson struggled in front of a privileges committee over partygate, has he started to turn it around - can Rishi Sunak have what it takes to win the next election? In today's episode, Kiran Moodley speaks to our policy correspondent, Paul McNamara, about what Mr Sunak needs to do to win over the...
Mar 31, 2023•25 min
Three years ago this week, Boris Johnson announced a national lockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus. But three years on, Covid and the impact of lockdowns continue to dominate our headlines. This week, Boris Johnson faced a Commons inquiry on whether he misled parliament over the notorious lockdown parties, and just a few weeks ago, WhatsApp messages sent by Matt Hancock and others during the pandemic were leaked, with some claiming that they threw into question whether the government took ...
Mar 24, 2023•26 min
Gary Linker and the BBC have been dominating the headlines after the Match of the Day host was asked to step back from presenting after tweeting out criticism of the government’s language around refugees. But what does this whole row mean for the BBC, and what does it say about the state of our media and its relationship to impartiality? In today’s podcast, we speak with Adam Boulton, formerly editor-at-large of Sky News, whether he thinks the BBC has an issue over impartiality....
Mar 17, 2023•27 min
We were told to prepare for a “Winter of Discontent”, of strikes, rising prices, a coming recession with our economy set this year to shrink unlike all the rest. Even Russia was going to fare better than the UK. But it has not been as bad as once feared - so what is going on? In today’s episode, Business Reporter Neil Macdonald discusses the state of our economy ahead of next week’s budget and whether a slightly improved outlook means energy prices can remain low and strikes could even come to a...
Mar 10, 2023•27 min
China wants to be the superpower of the 21st century, but does it want to provoke war or play peacemaker? This week the country announced it was increasing military spending, and its newly installed foreign minister warned that if the US did not change course soon, there would be conflict. But China also recently published a 12-point plan for ending the conflict in Ukraine, despite not condemning Russia’s invasion. Ukrainian president Volodmyr Zelenskyy even said he would meet Chinese leader Xi ...
Mar 07, 2023•26 min
This week, Rishi Sunak agreed a new Brexit deal with the European Union: the Windsor framework. Seven years after Britain voted in the referendum, is this the end of protocol conversation, trade deals, backstops, and late night votes? Does this mean we can finally all stop talking about Brexit? What exactly does the Windsor framework do? How is it different from before? And is this really the end of the Conservatives’ decades-long battle over its relationship with Europe? In today's Fourcast, ou...
Mar 03, 2023•23 min
Today marks one year since Russia began its latest invasion of Ukraine: one year since tanks rolled across the border, one year since missiles struck the capital and beyond, one year since the post Cold War world changed forever. Now, the expected defeat of Ukraine is clearly a long way off, but any sense of how this war might end feels equally far from reality - with Joe Biden this week reaffirming the West’s commitment to Ukraine’s fight for as long as it takes - while Vladimir Putin used his ...
Feb 24, 2023•25 min
On Monday last week, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria. The WHO has called this the "worst natural disaster" in 100 years in its European region, and the death toll has now surpassed 35,000. But that first quake was followed by a 6.7 magnitude aftershock 11 minutes later, while a 7.5 magnitude quake hit after 1pm. Three devastating earthquakes in nine hours. There are countless tales of remarkable survival, but many, many more of terrible loss, families torn ap...
Feb 17, 2023•29 min
2022 was the deadliest year for the Israel-Palestine conflict in nearly two decades, and just a month after Israel’s most conservative, right-wing government was formed - fronted by Benjamin Netanyahu - violence between Palestinians and Israel has flared up once again. Prime Minister Netanyahu has set out a raft of measures to crack down on Palestinians who attack Israelis, including making it easier for Israeli citizens to carry guns. In today’s episode we're joined by foreign correspondent, Se...
Feb 10, 2023•26 min
Nearly a year after Putin invaded Ukraine, how might Western tanks change this war and should Nato countries go a step further and also supply Kyiv with fighter jets? Moscow’s aggression has been roundly condemned by the West, but words have been plenty and military aid less forthcoming. Having successfully fought back since the summer, now Ukraine wants to go on the offensive once more, and they need tanks to do it. In today’s Fourcast, our Europe editor Matt Frei discusses what western tanks m...
Feb 03, 2023•27 min
Last year, Iran was rocked by some of the biggest protests the country has seen since the foundation of the Islamic Republic - as people were calling not just for women’s rights, but ultimately for regime change. Yet how realistic is regime change in a nation where the crackdown against the protests has been brutal and where the leaders are unwilling to alter the theological and ideological basis of their power? In this week’s episode of the Fourcast, we speak to the head of middle eastern studi...
Jan 27, 2023•26 min
