Episodes

France and Germany are the pillars of the EU, the strongest economies and most stable democracies - except they’re not: Paris and Berlin are caught in crisis, with their political systems failing to produce effective leadership, and their economic models generating debt and recession. Can the E...

Labour’s first six months in office has been something of a disappointment, with rows about pensioners’ energy payments, farmers’ inheritance tax and a budget that satisfied nobody. So is it unreasonable expectations from a party in government for the first time in 14 years, or a weakness of leaders...

Alien invasion? AI takeover? A new pandemic? Nuclear war? The list of dangers to mankind is long, so what could ACTUALLY bring the curtain down on planet Earth this year, and what is the likelihood? Are we more at risk from our own folly, or from natural disasters about which we can do little? Haydn...

More people living on their own, fewer social connections - is the UK facing an epidemic of loneliness? And not just among the elderly. Young people are reporting higher levels of social isolation, too. And there’s evidence loneliness can damage your health. So is it down to social media replacing f...

A sudden change in Syria. The men with beards and guns, labelled terrorists by the West, have seized power from a murderous dictator. Is this a recipe for peace in a war-blighted land? Can the US and Europe do business with the new rulers in Damascus? Will Russia have to withdraw? And could the redr...

Rape, sexual assault, bullying - the list of allegations of abuse by powerful men in some of Britain’s most important institutions keeps growing. Many of the claims go back decades, with victims scared to bring complaints because they could lose their jobs. And many allegations were ignored or buri...

40 years since Band Aid - the lyrics and attitudes have dated badly, but the problem is still there. Africa remains desperate and underdeveloped and the only part of the world regularly threatened by famine, civil war and military coups d’etat. Why is this continent not thriving despite its vast nat...

Who’d be a farmer? You have tiny profit margins. You’re held to high environmental and welfare standards against cheaper less-scrupulous foreign imports, and now you’re facing unaffordable inheritance taxes….. Is it worth working the soil in modern Britain? Is the job more custodianship of the land ...

Should we be allowed to take our own lives? Should doctors or friends be allowed to help us? For the first time in a decade, MPs have a bill to consider on assisted dying. Parliament and the cabinet is split, and there are vigorous campaigns on both sides. Will it open the door to euthanasia for con...