Given the continuing high cost to societies of the coronavirus pandemic in lost lives and economic hardship, dozens of potential vaccines are being developed and tested at record pace. The top US infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, says it’s unlikely but "not impossible" that a Covid-19 vaccine could win approval in October - an aim championed by President Trump. But there are growing concerns that the speed at which this is taking place may undercut public confidence in any vaccine pr...
Sep 11, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week President Donald Trump retweeted a false claim posted by a follower of the ‘QAnon’ conspiracy theory, stating that the real Covid-19 death toll is just 6 percent of official figures. Twitter took down the tweet saying it breached their terms and conditions. It’s not the first time the president has promoted messages from supporters of the debunked conspiracy theory that claims - in part - that Mr Trump is leading a top-secret campaign to dismantle a global network of Satan worshipping ...
Sep 04, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alexei Navalny is Russia's best-known anti-corruption campaigner and opposition activist. Today he lies gravely ill in a Berlin hospital. The German doctors treating him say he appears to have been poisoned. Navalny has been a longstanding critic of President Vladimir Putin, and his anti-corruption activities have highlighted the huge asset holdings of Russia’s political elites. His online activism draws tens of thousands of people to the streets across the country in protest against a range of ...
Aug 28, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast India has entered a dangerous new phase of the pandemic. The country’s infection rate is the third-highest in the world. It also has the fourth-highest death toll. Testing is a shambles, and infections are moving into rural areas where healthcare is sorely lacking. Late in March, all of India's 1.3 billion people were told to stay at home while the government bought itself time to prepare for the pandemic. But instead of confining people where they were, the lockdown resulted in one of the bigge...
Aug 21, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast The US presidential election campaign is gathering steam, with the Democratic Party convention beginning next week. November's election in the United States will be taking place at a time when the country is going through unprecedented social and economic upheavals. The incumbent Donald Trump is pitted against the former vice president Joe Biden. It is not just the presidency that's at stake, voters will be electing a third of the senate, an entirely new house of representatives, and thirteen go...
Aug 14, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast The coronavirus pandemic is having a growing impact on life in the Brazilian Amazon. Half a million indigenous people still live in often remote rainforest communities, yet many are still contracting Covid-19 and dying. The Munduruku people have already lost ten of their elders to the virus, a situation observers describe as akin to the destruction of a library or museum - so important are the ‘sábios’ - or sages - in passing on the community’s cultural heritage. The virus is also thought to hav...
Aug 07, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Experts have warned that being obese or overweight puts you at greater risk of serious illness or death from Covid-19. One study suggests the chances of dying from the coronavirus are 90% higher in those who are severely obese. This week British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced sweeping plans to shrink waistlines, saying the virus had been a “wake-up call” on an issue that threatened public health even before the pandemic. According to the World Health Organisation obesity has nearly tripl...
Jul 31, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast While the coronavirus pandemic is raging around the world, discussions over rebuilding the global economy are already underway. Globally, the recovery will cost trillions of dollars. Governments and finance ministries are working around the clock to design financial packages at a time when income from tax has hit rock bottom. There's concern that many governments will have to raise taxes to cope with the shortfall in revenue. But what if they could tap a different source of funding? According to...
Jul 24, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast More than six months after the outbreak of the coronavirus, a team from the World Health Organization will - for the first time - be given access to physical samples of the virus inside China. It’s an important moment for the WHO, which has been accused of providing patchy scientific advice and reacting too slowly to the threats posed by the virus. There has been an especially critical reaction from the agency’s biggest donor, the United States. Donald Trump has begun the process of withdrawing ...
Jul 17, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast The financial crisis in Lebanon seems to have accelerated rapidly ever since the government defaulted on a ninety-billion-dollar loan in March.The currency has lost nearly eighty percent of its value pushing a large group of its population below the poverty line. A shortage of cash has led many to barter household goods for food on Facebook. Even the Lebanese army has stopped serving meat to its soldiers. And many of its citizen are seeking refuge abroad. At the heart of the crisis is the countr...
Jul 10, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Young people may not be the most exposed to the health risks during the global coronavirus pandemic, but right around the world they will pay a high price in lost wages, opportunities and greater public debt - much of which they’ll have to service. Generations are forged through common experiences, and the bigger the shock of Covid-19 to the global economy, the greater the likelihood that it will become a defining event for Millennials, Generation Z and the next generation of young children. How...
Jul 03, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast So far, people in cities have borne the brunt of Covid-19. Coronavirus thrives when humans interact in shared spaces where infections are easily transmitted. Because of this, many column inches have been dedicated to predicting the demise of urban living and a revival of suburbs, towns and villages. But the fact remains the majority of us live in urban settings and people will need to keep seeking out the economic and social opportunities that cities provide. So, if cities are here to stay, how ...
Jun 26, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast The internet has proven invaluable during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing us to continue to work and learn from home, disseminating information to concerned citizens and providing desperately needed social contact for those cut off from family and friends. Before the pandemic, it seemed the internet was increasingly becoming an angry and cold place, providing a platform for selfish pursuits and amplifying extreme views and behaviour. That still goes on, of course, but is the pivot to more alt...
Jun 19, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Black protesters across the United States and the world have been joined by white people calling for lasting change in the way societies deal with systemic racism. But this isn’t the first time a cross-section of society has voiced its desire for radical action on race. In most instances calls for revolution die down and the moment brings only incremental change. So what else can history teach us? South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up after the fall of apartheid in the 19...
Jun 12, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast The death of the African-American man, George Floyd, in police custody - and the subsequent protests and riots - will look familiar to anyone who’s followed American history. This week also marked the 99th anniversary of an incident known as the ‘Tulsa Race Massacre’, in which a white mob killed hundreds of black people in a part of the Oklahoma city referred to as the ‘Black Wall Street’. Decades later, Congress passed civil rights legislation, and in 2008 the United States elected its first bl...
Jun 05, 2020•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Saturday a private company will attempt to deliver astronauts into orbit for the first time - with the launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station. Other big space projects planned by private companies include tourism, commercial space stations, a return to the Moon, habitats on Mars and even the mining of asteroids. National space agencies may partner with the private sector to reduce short-term costs and spread risks, but what will be the long-term impact of ...
May 29, 2020•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Many governments are beginning to ease restrictions placed on us aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus. Until a vaccine is widely available, the fear of contracting Covid-19 and becoming seriously ill as a result, will remain a very real one. And as more schools, shops and workplaces begin to re-open, we’re all increasingly going to have to make decisions about the amount of risk we’re willing to take. Our fear of threats and the unknown is part of being human. But so too is our desi...
May 22, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast The normal functioning of societies has been strained by the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing curbs on our freedom of movement, commerce, trade and employment. So what impact has Covid-19 had on organised crime? In some communities, gangs have stepped in to provide food, medication and other emergency assistance to families struggling to make ends meet. Money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force, says the pandemic has resulted in an increase in “fraud,...
May 15, 2020•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Most industries around the world have been shaken by the coronavirus, but few have been quite as devastated as the airline industry. IATA, which represents about 290 airlines around the world, says the airline industry could lose $314bn due to the outbreak, as planes are grounded and entire routes abandoned. Aviation employs millions of people and underpins the livelihoods of tens of millions more. So can it recover? Past crises like the 9/11 terror attacks transformed the flying experience and ...
May 08, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Governments everywhere are increasing mass surveillance as part of efforts to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Whether it’s a smartphone app that traces who you’ve been in contact with, public sensors that can tell if you’re running a temperature, or cameras equipped with facial recognition technology capable of instantaneously identifying you while walking down the street. In China, drones are being deployed to help police public spaces, while colour codes are used to determine who’s allow...
May 01, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast China was first country to suffer the effects of Coronavirus, but a few months on, it has contained the worst of the outbreak in a way the United States and most European countries have not. The Chinese economy is bracing for the first year on year economic decline for more than forty years, but western countries are projected to fare even worse. Before the pandemic, the US-China trade war had already amplified rivalries between the world’s two biggest economies, so will Covid-19 accelerate the ...
Apr 24, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Billions of people across the globe are currently under some form of government-mandated lockdown. The aim is to curb the spread of the coronavirus and prevent health systems from being overrun. But forcing people to stay at home for weeks or months on end is resulting in unprecedented economic shocks to societies around the world. With unemployment figures accelerating, so too is the debate about how and when to end the lockdowns. Several reports have concluded that social distancing measures c...
Apr 17, 2020•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Coronavirus pandemic has not yet impacted Africa as much as other parts of the world. But the situation might be hitting a dangerous turning point. Infection rates in some West African countries are rising quickly and this week the number of Covid-19 cases on the continent surpassed 10 thousand. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister has described Coronavirus as an 'existential threat' and senior UN official this week warned of the 'complete collapse of economies and livelihoods' across Africa if the spr...
Apr 10, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Panic buying of food has become a feature of the Covid-19 outbreak around the world, stripping supermarket shelves of some items and prompting limits on the number of products customers are allowed to buy. The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation says there could be global food shortages within weeks due to lockdowns and disruptions in areas like shipping and logistics. Governments across the planet have been keen to stress there is enough food to go around and they say supply chains are robust...
Apr 03, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast The number of people ill and dying from Covid-19 is increasing globally, and whole national economies are grinding to a halt. We are living through a time of great insecurity and uncertainty in which many people will experience suffering and loss. But could the coronavirus outbreak provide humanity with new perspectives? Our politicians are being held accountable in real time in a way that hasn’t happened in decades - their decisions measured in days, not years and not easily spun. As daily life...
Mar 27, 2020•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast People around the world are facing severe economic problems because of the coronavirus.. The global shutdown has sent stock prices plunging as workers and customers stay at home. The world’s governments are having to mount an economic response unimaginable just weeks ago. The US has promised close to a trillion dollars of stimulus money. In Europe - the French government is adding a fifty billion dollar economic aid package to the three hundred and thirty billion dollars of loan guarantees for b...
Mar 20, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Across the globe, authorities are taking unprecedented steps to curb the spread of coronavirus - as well as the increased levels of public fear and anxiety that accompany it. But do our views on the place of individual freedom and the role of the government in society help dictate how effective those measures will be? As rationing, quarantines and travel restrictions become more common place, there’s growing concern that some countries will struggle to control the actions of their citizens. With...
Mar 13, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast After the results of the Super Tuesday primaries in the United States, two candidates have emerged as front-runners in the battle for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination - Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. But which vision for the future of the party will be the one more likely to deliver electoral success across the nation? One that aims to reach out to swing voters and Republicans, or one that energises the base of the party and attempts to bring new people to the polls? Is history a go...
Mar 06, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 2011, a Nato-led coalition intervened with lethal air power to aide forces taking part in an uprising against Libya’s brutal military leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Shortly after, Col Gaddafi was caught and killed by rebels and there were high hopes the country would become a safer and more open place. But since then, fighting between militias has destroyed much of Libya and two rival governments now vie for full control of the country. As talks take place at the UN in Geneva this week aimed...
Feb 28, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Ethiopia, just months before the planned partial opening of a controversial new dam project that Egypt says will harm tens-of-millions living along the River Nile. Construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia began in 2011 and is expected to start generating electricity within months. But Ethiopia has yet to agree with nearby Egypt how quickly the dam’s reservoir should be filled (the faster the process happens, the less water will fl...
Feb 21, 2020•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
