For the first time in his 20 years in power Erdogan is facing serious pressure - and the choice voters make in this months presidential election could define Turkeys destiny for decades. The impact of Februarys devastating earthquake in Turkey is one of the key factors determining how voters will decide on their next president. The Turkish economy is also under pressure with inflation running at 55%. Against that background, a coalition of opposition parties, The Table of Six, are supporting a s...
May 11, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last November Israel elected its most far right government in its 75 year history. Months of protests followed over its plans for reform of the judicial system. Benjamin Netanyahus new coalition government is proposing an agenda that goes beyond domestic reforms and not everyone is happy. As well as domestic protests, some of Israels allies are nervous as, with the governments attention taken up by internal challenges, new alliances are forming in the middle east. This episode of The Inquiry exp...
May 04, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Next year Americans will go to the polls to choose their next president. For many, the race has already begun. Digital electioneering in US elections has been steadily developing over the last 15 years, but this time around, advancements in artificial intelligence could be a game changer. There have been huge strides in generative AI in the past year. One of the most accessible AI tools now available to the general public is the software known as ChatGPT, which can scour the internet for informa...
Apr 27, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Recent protests in France oppose plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. The demonstrations stem from a government plan so people would work -and pay into the pension system - for longer. Theres also concern about what that change might mean for those who are many decades away from pension age. France isnt the only country facing economic efficiency challenges as populations age and leave the labour market. As more people leave Europes labour market, will young workers have to pay for t...
Apr 20, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Recent cloud storage outages have exposed just how the modern world is reliant on remote servers to hold data that runs everything from websites, to digital operating systems and businesses. When cloud storage emerged, it meant that information could be streamed, rather than held in a devices memory. Vast data centres were built where land was cheap and their owners soon realised that they could sell excess memory space on their servers. They became so-called hyperscalers providing cloud service...
Apr 13, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Saudi Arabia has entered into a new era of relations with its long time rival, Iran. Its a deal that has the potential to be very significant for the Middle East region. Its part of a vision of a new Saudi Arabia spearheaded by its Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman. Its a vision of futuristic cities, a new society, and a move away from an economy reliant on oil, not to mention new deals with ancient rivals in the region. How much of this new vision of Saudi Arabia is achievable and is the man at...
Apr 06, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast In 1981, the rock photographer Lynn Goldsmith did a photoshoot with an up-and-coming singer songwriter called Prince. A few years later, he became a superstar, and she licenced one of her photos to Vanity Fair to be used as a reference picture for an illustration. That portrait, known as Purple Prince was painted by Andy Warhol. But what Lynn Goldsmith didnt know, and nor did anyone else, was that Warhol made multiple portraits from her photograph. After Prince died in 2016, Vanity Fair licenced...
Mar 30, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. He is accused of forcibly deporting children from Ukraine to Russia after the invasion last year. The Kremlin does not recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC and denies war crimes. But is this a symbolic move and is it realistic that Putin will actually be arrested and stand trial? This week on The Inquiry were asking, will Putin be prosecuted for war crimes in Ukr...
Mar 23, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Deaths on American roads are at a 20 year high. More than 46,000 people lost their lives in vehicle collisions last year alone. Thats up a tenth on the year before and the numbers are on a par with those killed by gun violence. Or, the equivalent of a plane crash every day. Its a tragedy for everyone involved and theres an untold cost for families, but theres also a financial cost. Its estimated that the cost to the economy runs into billions of dollars. Why are Americas roads so dangerous? This...
Mar 16, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast On the 7th December 2022, President Pedro Castillo attempted to dissolve Peru's Congress. His attempted self-coup ended almost as quickly as it began, having been denounced by his own party, the military and the police. He was arrested as he tried to make his way to Mexico, and currently awaits trial. His running mate and vice president, Dina Boluarte, has assumed power in his stead. However, prior to Castillos attempt to gain complete control, Boluarte had already been expelled from the party, ...
Mar 09, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Just over 100 years ago the island of Ireland was partitioned. It created an independent catholic free state in the South and a majority protestant one in the northeast called Northern Ireland that remained a part of the United Kingdom. For many catholics and nationalists the goal of a united Ireland remains. For most protestants and unionists the division has been key to preserving their British identity. But the demographics are changing in Northern Ireland. The most recent census show catholi...
Mar 02, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Its a year since President Putin launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia currently holds areas in the South and East of Ukraine including Donetsk and Luhansk but the Ukrainian army, helped militarily by its allies, has regained control over key towns and large swathes of land. Russia is also thought to have lost 20,000 soldiers in the conflict. But it is reinforcing its ranks with hundreds of thousands of new conscripts, and experts suggest Russia may be positioning fighter jets and ga...
Feb 23, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast The owner of Facebook - Meta - is reinstating Donald Trumps account after a two-year suspension. The former US president was suspended from Facebook and Instagram after his posts were deemed to have encouraged the Capitol riots in 2021. In a statement Meta's president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said a review found Mr Trump's accounts were no longer a risk to public safety. Donald Trump pointed out that Facebook was in financial trouble and probably needed him back for the money it can raise....
Feb 16, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast On 25 February, Nigerians go to the ballot box to vote for their next president. For the first time in a long time, the Incumbent president will not be contesting the elections having already served the maximum allowed two terms. Since 2016, the country has spiralled down as inflation has hit over 20% and unemployment rides at around 30% overall, and 60% for the young. Banditry and kidnappings have become lucrative methods of making a living in the country and a pervading sense that this could b...
Feb 09, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Following the exit of US forces in 2021, the Taliban rolled back into power almost immediately. They promised that they had learnt from previous mistakes and did not want to minimalize the role of women. However, little over 18 months later and the Taliban have just announced that women were now banned from the universities and working for NGOs, just the latest in a succession of repressive policies aimed at women. Furthermore, Afghanistan still has an insurgency problem. The Islamic State of Kh...
Feb 02, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Since the start of the war, Ukraine has received more than 115 billion in military, financial and humanitarian aid from countries around the world. Now that the pendulum has swung, and the battlefield momentum is with Ukrainian forces, international allies have agreed to ramp up that support, with the US, UK and other major and minor military powers combining to pledge billions in weapons, ammunition and even modern tanks. But can that support go on indefinitely? As some countries run low on wea...
Jan 26, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast The world is becoming increasingly dependent on advanced microchips to power its high-end technology, However, they are made by just one company in Taiwan, TSMC, meaning the rest of the world is largely reliant on the country to produce its microchips. This is no accident and is in fact by Taiwanese design. Over three decades ago Taiwan decided to focus its resources on becoming the most advanced producer of microchips. Not only has this been of great profit for Taiwans economy its helped with s...
Jan 19, 2023•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast A campaign called ReBoot Food was launched at the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt, to ask world governments to support a technology called precision fermentation. They claim its possible to produce enough food to feed the whole world in an area the size of London. The process uses genetically-engineered microbes to make cheap, high quality fats and proteins, virtually identical to those produced by animal farming. Its proponents say it will free up huge tracts of farmland and could even...
Jan 12, 2023•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Canada is just one of a number of countries with an ageing population and shrinking workforce. The second largest in the world in terms of land mass, and with a population of just 36 million, Canada has announced a plan to invite 1.5 million people to migrate there over the next three years. The ambitious target is not without challenge politically, the most prominent is the housing crisis currently being felt in the country. Canada is not alone in needing more people of working age to bolster i...
Jan 05, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Misuzulu ka Zwelithini was officially crowned King of the Zulu Nation in October after the death of his father. King Zwelithini died of Covid complications after ruling for fifty years. It has set off a royal feud as members of the large Zulu royal family contest King Misuzulus right to the throne. Succession to the Zulu throne has been beset by violence for over a century. This time, the battle is in the courtroom. In this weeks Inquiry we ask, who is the true Zulu King? Presenter: Audrey Brown...
Dec 22, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Small island nations are facing an existential threat. Its predicted that by 2100, Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Maldives and many others will be underwater, because of rising sea levels and increasingly extreme weather events. At the recent COP27 conference in Egypt. The most polluting industrialised countries agreed in principle to set up a loss and damage fund, effectively recognising that low-lying islands are bearing the brunt of climate change. But is their loss inevitable? Could traditional sea w...
Dec 08, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast We use digital currency every day whenever we use a credit card, bank online or shop for goods on the internet. We can use our phones as money and transfer cash to family and friends simply by using numbers. Its not exactly cash we are using, but a digital representation of that cash. Some digital currencies, such as cryptocurrency, even exist outside of the traditional banking system. Recently the cryptocurrency trading exchange FTX collapsed leaving creditors owed billions of dollars. Theres n...
Dec 01, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Somalia is in a state of drought following four failed rainy seasons, and a fifth predicted, with aid agencies declaring the country is in a state of famine. Despite this, the government has yet to declare a famine, insisting that certain thresholds have yet to be met. Instead, Somalias government believes that they would be more than able to deal with the current crisis, as well as prevent future episodes, had they been properly compensated by industrious nations for the damage caused by climat...
Nov 24, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast The International Energy Agency says that the world is in the middle of the first global energy crisis. The price of natural gas has increased almost five-fold since the summer of 2020, and the main cause is Russias invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has cut supplies of gas to European countries that oppose the war, causing the wholesale price to shoot up everywhere. Many countries have turned to coal to fuel their power stations, also causing prices to triple in the last year. But as well as being exp...
Nov 17, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast When we shop online, we dont often think about what goes on behind the scenes. Clicking pay now, sets in motion a slick, computer-controlled chain of events, that ends with a parcel arriving at your home. These online shopping logistics are run by Artificial Intelligence, and there are plans for these systems to move from the warehouse to the wider workplace. Digital Management systems in development are able to autonomously hire people and oversee their work on a project from beginning to end. ...
Nov 10, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Xi Jinping has begun an unprecedented third term as Chinese president, after securing his position at the Communist Party Congress. But key economic data was delayed until after the congress ended. It was lower than government targets, causing Chinese markets to fall. The Chinese economy is floundering; unemployment is skyrocketing, and the housing market is collapsing. Theres also no sign of an end to COVID lockdowns which have hamstrung business and manufacturing since the start of the pandemi...
Nov 03, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast More than 200 years ago French soldiers uncovered a slab of granite in the Nile Delta which became the key to understanding the history of ancient Egypt. The Rosetta Stone is inscribed with ancient Egyptian and Greek text, and hieroglyphs. Before it was translated, no-one realised that hieroglyphs were a form of written language. After the French surrender of Egypt in 1801, the artifact was taken to the UK, and ever since, its been one of the main attractions at the British Museum in London. The...
Oct 27, 2022•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Women in Iran have been at the forefront of protests that have swept the country for weeks. More than 200 people have lost their lives, and hundreds of others have been detained after demonstrations following the death of 22 year old Mahsa Amini. She died after being arrested by the regime's morality police for not wearing her hijab correctly. Women have been fighting for their basic freedoms and demanding an end to the mandatory headscarf. Many have posted videos on social media, cutting their ...
Oct 20, 2022•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Kerch bridge, a vital supply route for Russian forces in Crimea, has been partially destroyed in a huge blast. It was a symbol of Russias annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, and the explosion was equally symbolic, coming just one day after President Putins 70th birthday. The Russian president described it as an act of terrorism, and he punished Ukraines cities with a day of missile strikes, targeting civilian areas. All this comes as Putins Special Military Operation is struggling. Ukraine ha...
Oct 13, 2022•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast In his first speech as King, Charles III said he would endeavour to serve his subjects, wherever they live in the UK, the realms and territories across the world. But following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, several realms countries other than the UK that have the British Monarch as head of state say they may become republics. Barbados became a republic in 2021. Antigua, Belize, Jamaica and Grenada may follow. King Charles III has also just become the elected head of the Commonweal...
Oct 06, 2022•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
