How DeepSeek stunned the AI industry
Why is the US technology industry worried about Chinese company DeepSeek? Robert Booth reports. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Episodes
Today in Focus
Hosted by Michael Safi and Helen Pidd, Today in Focus brings you closer to Guardian journalism. Combining storytelling with insightful analysis and personal testimonies, the podcast takes you behind the headlines for a deeper understanding of the news, every weekday. Today in Focus is unmatched in both scope and depth, delivering analysis and storytelling from right across the planet. With a global network of over 900 journalists and five dedicated editions covering news in the US, UK, Australia, Europe, and beyond, the Guardian offers comprehensive reporting across every continent. Most recently we have introduced new correspondents in the Caribbean, South America and Africa.
Episodes
A journey to Greenland: Trump’s 51st state?
What do Greenlanders make of Donald Trump’s interest in their island? Miranda Bryant reports. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Rachel Reeves’ plans for the UK: all growth, no green?
The chancellor is keen to strike a more business-friendly note, but will it come at a cost to the environment? Heather Stewart reports. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
The Omagh bombing inquiry: one father’s 26-year fight for the truth
Journalist Shane Harrison and campaigner Michael Gallagher chart the long legal struggle for a public inquiry into the 1998 atrocity, which begins by hearing from survivors and bereaved families. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Revisited: Life after Auschwitz
Revisited: Ivor Perl and Susan Pollack were 12 and 13 when they were transported to Auschwitz. On the 80th anniversary of the concentration camp’s liberation, we revisit a podcast we published marking the 75th anniversary. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Digital demons: the radical new treatment helping people with psychosis
Jenny Kleeman reports on a new therapy where patients who suffer from psychosis create a digital avatar of the voices they hear. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Southport attacks: the failures that allowed Axel Rudakubana to kill
The murders of three little girls in the seaside town led to horror – and then racist riots. Now the teenaged killer has been sentenced to 52 years. Josh Halliday reports. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Why is AI so thirsty?
Keir Starmer plans to rapidly increase the amount of artificial intelligence used in the public sector. But what is the environmental cost? Helena Horton reports. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
The first days of Trump and the migrant raids to come
Senior political reporter Joan E Greve talks through the string of radical executive orders on immigration enacted by Donald Trump on his first day in office. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
The financial time bomb facing special educational needs
Richard Adams reports on the Send funding cliff edge affecting children and their development. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Trump 2.0
As Donald Trump returns to the White House, Hugo Lowell and David Smith discuss what to expect from his first few weeks. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Finally, a ceasefire in Gaza
The Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent Bethan McKernan explains the pact reached between Israel and Hamas to halt fighting. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
A golden age of cancer treatment?
The Guardian’s health editor Andrew Gregory explores the promises and challenges of revolutionary technology in the fight against cancer. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
The resignation of Tulip Siddiq
Political correspondent Kiran Stacey traces the allegations of corruption against Labour MP Tulip Siddiq that caused her to resign from her ministerial role in Keir Starmer’s government. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
‘The entire community is just gone’: inside the Los Angeles wildfires
Gabrielle Canon reports from Los Angeles on the wildfires destroying homes and communities. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
A new Facebook for the era of President Trump
Factchecker Jesse Stiller and technology journalist Chris Stokel-Walker explore why Mark Zuckerberg has announced dramatic changes to Meta’s social platforms, and what they will mean for their 3.3 billion users. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Culture 2025: what to watch, read and listen to this year
Culture critics Lanre Bakare, Ben Beaumont-Thomas and Catherine Shoard look ahead to the best of the year in film, TV, books and music. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
It was a wildlife conservation triumph, then came the corpses
Biodiversity writer Phoebe Weston hears from farmers on the west coast of Scotland who claim they are losing hundreds of lambs a year in a case of rewilding gone wrong. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Elon Musk’s political evolution
Why is Elon Musk increasingly trying to influence UK politics?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Are private schools losing their grip on the British elite?
Professor of sociology Sam Friedman charts the enduring influence of private schools in the making of the British elite and asks whether the Labour government is looking finally to curtail it. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
The month that changed South Korea for ever
Raphael Rashid and Haeryun Kang chart the turmoil that has engulfed the country over the past month, from a declaration of martial law to two impeachments and the worst domestic aviation disaster in its history. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Friendship across the parenting divide
Helen Pidd and Alexandra Topping have been close friends for almost 20 years. But struggles with fertility and new motherhood tested their bond to the limit. • Listen to our Embracing a childfree life episode, from April 2023, on Helen’s experience of IVF treatment and meeting other childfree people, and read Helen and Lexy’s account of their friendship here .. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus...
How Britain fell in love with darts
Helen Pidd attends the PDC World Darts Championship to find out why the sport has grown in popularity in recent years. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
How to have a perfectly imperfect 2025
Instead of making grand new year’s resolutions, the smallest steps could lead to a more joyful life, says Oliver Burkeman . Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Revisited: Ten years of equal marriage – what has it changed?
It’s a decade since the first same-sex marriages were performed in England and Wales. What have they meant for LGBTQ+ people?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Revisited: From child refugee to Guardian reporter: one journalist’s extraordinary story
How does it feel to report on the refugee crisis when it’s also the story of your own family? Aamna Mohdin explains. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Revisited: The mother who forgave her daughters’ killer – but not the police
Mina Smallman’s world fell apart after the murder of her two daughters. Then came a shocking revelation about the police’s behaviour. She explains how she found the strength to fight back. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Revisited: The man who fell to Earth
Twenty-three years after Mohammed Ayaz fell from the wheel bay of a plane coming in to land at Heathrow, his brother visits the car park where the body was found. Esther Addley reports. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Revisited: The birdwatcher fighting racism in public spaces
A Central Park birdwatching incident went viral after Christian Cooper filmed a white woman threatening him. Now he is using his platform to share his passion for nature. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus
Revisited: Creating The Spark: the kids behind 2024’s surprise summer hit
Rory Carroll and Helen Pidd meet the Kabin Crew and the Lisdoonvarna Crew – creators of a song that has notched up more than a billion plays on TikTok – as they perform at the Electric Picnic music festival. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/infocus