Currently

Episódios

• 
  The Return of the Youth Club 08.09.2026 28min

  More than a thousand youth clubs have closed their doors since 2010. Local government spending on youth services was slashed by around three-quarters during the age of austerity leaving a generation of young people without places to play. The former youth worker turned journalist Neil Maggs considers the impact of these cuts and examines new government plans to spend £500m to revitalise the youth sector.Neil hears from young people at the youth club where he started his career in Barton Hill in Bristol. Emma Warren who has written a social history of youth clubs in Britain in her book "Up The Youth Club" talks about their role as engines of creativity. Youth clubs gave rise to Two Tone music in Coventry as well as Banksy and the graffiti scene in Bristol She reveals that the origins of youth clubs began with the charitable activities of private schools and discusses how a Conservative government in the 1960s gave youth clubs a major boost after the intervention of the aristocrat and social reformer Lady Albermarle. Dr Tania de St Croix from King's College London and Dr Carmen Villa from the Institute for Fiscal Studies give context on the effects of closing youth clubs.In Manchester, Neil looks at the hub-and-spoke model the government is piloting as the future of youth clubs. Smaller clubs form spokes that feed into integrated youth hubs where broader services are offered. He tours a new youth club in the Crumpsall area as well as a revitalised hub in Moss Side and asks whether youth clubs are back for good.Produced by Robin Markwell for BBC Audio in Bristol
• 
  The Dictators' Survival Guide 30.08.2026 28min

  Xi Jinping is known to be a ruthless leader. In the last five years alone, China’s richest man, Jack Ma, China’s defence minister and the country’s foreign minister have all abruptly disappeared - some never to be seen in public again. Millions of Communist officials have been purged since Xi came to power. But one man was thought to be untouchable: the head of China’s military forces, Zhang Youxia. A childhood friend of Xi’s, Zhang was allowed to stay in his post, even as other military officials were disappearing. That is — until he, too, was suddenly gone. Almost a year after he was last seen in public, and with 'strong man' politics on the increase, Celia Hatton investigates why Zhang was purged and looks inside and outside China for answers. She discovers there's a kind of pattern that dictators and autocratic rulers use to hold on to power. And this, she argues, can be a useful tool in predicting global military aggression. Presenter: Celia Hatton Producer: Adele Armstrong Production coordinator: Katie Morrison Editor: Penny Murphy.
• 
  The WhatsApp Underground 23.08.2026 28min

  In June 2026, racist violence erupted across Northern Ireland. Masked groups circulated lists of homes where people of colour were believed to be living, forcing more than a hundred people to flee.As houses burned around her, Maria barricaded herself inside with her two teenage daughters, filling buckets, mugs and the bath with water in case their home was attacked.Then across Belfast, other networks formed. When community workers, like Clare and Ciara, recognised the addresses of food bank users on the target lists, they got into their cars and began moving families to safety. It was organised via an improvised WhatsApp group, which brought together drivers, spare rooms, food and emergency support.For Ciara, the rescue carried a painful echo - she found herself driving along the same street where her own family had been burned out during the Troubles decades earlier.Tara Mills tells the story of the ordinary people who mobilised against the violence using WhatsApp groups and hears from the communities still living with its consequences.A Walk On Air Films production for BBC Radio 4
• 
  Pride Before the Fall 16.08.2026 27min

  Across the country love for Pride events is waning. Councils are pulling funding saying that cash is better spent on potholes and emptying the bins and big companies, once eager to be associated with the Pride are withdrawing their support - and money. Last year the company that ran Manchester Pride went out of business owing millions of pounds, the bars of the city's world famous gay village on Canal Street are funding a a new grass roots celebration. Across the country Prides are smaller, less corporate and in some cases just cancelled altogether Darren Milby asks why it is that our allyship with LBTBQ+ rights seems to be weaker and investigates what the trans debate has got to do with it?Producer and Presenter: Darren Milby Technical Producer: Nat Stokes Executive Producer: Richard McIlroy
• 
  Decency Politics 13.07.2026 28min

  As a journalist, historian, constitutional scholar and member of the House of Lords, Peter Hennessy has been observing British public and political life for more than 50 years. But now he's retiring from the House of Lords, and as he does he's struck by the rancour that is corroding our politics. What, he has been asking himself, can we do to restore decency to the heart of political conversation?In this programme Peter has been putting that question to people who have thought about decency and how we might encourage it. And he's invited them to do it at his house over a cup of tea. From former Prime Minister John Major to Whitehall Fixer Louise Casey, Reform MP Danny Kruger to National Education Union leader Daniel Kebede, the doorbell has rung with its jaunty tune and Peter has sat down to hear what has gone wrong, how a decency economy has emerged on YouTube, and how we might encourage what he calls a 'decency bias' in public life.Producer: Giles Edwards.
• 
  Lebanon's Abandoned Lives 15.06.2026 29min

  People who've had to abandon their homes because of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, explain what life is like in Lebanon, a country which has been repeatedly hit by war. A social worker describes how she thinks most Lebanese citizens now keep a bag of important belongings packed and ready to go by their front door in case they need to leave home at a moment's notice. A mother is close to tears talking about having to rearrange her daughter's fourth birthday party because of the imminent threat of missile strikes. Israel's military forces are currently occupying southern parts of Lebanon. They say they're there for the purposes of self-defence and to destroy Hezbollah's military capabilities. It's estimated a million people have had to move out of their homes as a result. It's not clear when or if those people will get to return or whether they will still have homes to go back to. Presenter: Carine Torbey Producers: Dany Abi Khalil & Nick Holland Sound: Rod Farquhar Production Coordinator: Janet Staples Editor Penny Murphy
• 
  England’s Identity Crisis 04.06.2026 28min

  England’s men's football team is once again preparing to shoulder the hopes of millions across the nation. A World Cup is traditionally a time to come together, but this tournament takes place in a tense political moment, when the question of who is – and isn’t - English is being contested. Should Englishness be linked to ancestry and ethnicity, to living in the country for generations, as some senior political figures claim? Is Englishness conditional? If so, on what? Should anyone living in England be able to claim national identity? Why is Englishness so hard to define?Newsnight's Political Editor Nick Watt reports from the frontlines of the battle for Englishness, speaking to senior figures in politics and cultural commentators. He visits Castle Point in Essex, the area where the most people chose English as their national identity in the 2021 census. He hears from the Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, Labour's Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and the writer and GB News presenter Matt Goodwin. The interviews took place before Vickrum Digwa was jailed for the murder of Henry Nowak.Credit: The TRIGGERnometry podcast and YouTube show, produced and presented by Konstantin Kisin and Francis FosterProducer: Leela Padmanabhan
• 
  When Shiraz Calls 24.05.2026 28min

  A personal account of day-to-day life in Iran told through the calls of two Iranian sisters – one in the UK, the other in the Iranian city of Shiraz. Since the outbreak of war at the end of February, a near total internet blackout and a shutdown of international phone lines by the Iranian authorities has meant limited information has got out of the country. Despite the risks involved, the sisters have made recordings of their conversations which have been shared with the BBC. They discuss when the bombs land, the destruction of places they love and the realities of an economy that’s being brought to its knees. They struggle to sleep at night. Salaries don’t come through. It’s a roller coaster of emotions. But there are also moments of calm and comfort…a spot of dark humour and the scent of hyacinths.Actors: Leila played by Lisa Zahra Gita played by Zahra AhmadiPresenter: Caroline Hawley Producers: Adele Armstrong and Soroush Pakzad Sound design: Peregrine Andrews Editor: Clare Fordham
• 
  Under Fire in the Strait of Hormuz 23.05.2026 28min

  Sunil was 26 when he went to work on a ship for the first time. He travelled from Rajasthan, India to a port in Dubai for a job on an oil tanker. When he boarded the ship, he met Dalip, who was from a neighbouring village. They helped support each other when they felt homesick, working on a ship so far from home for the first time. But then a few weeks into their contract, Sunil heard a loud bang and felt the ship shake. He ran to the deck and saw oil spreading across the floor and smoke rising from the engine room. Someone told him an Iranian missile had hit their ship. As the oil spread, Sunil feared for his life and jumped into the ocean. He stayed calm until he realised Dalip wasn’t there... Kayleen Devlin tells the story of three men who were working on ships as the US-Israel war with Iran unfolded. Their stories reveal a system where workers can be recruited through unlawful practices, sent onto ships with little protection, and sometimes left to fend for themselves. Most seafarers come from India and are often offered wages far below international guidelines to work on the cargo ships and oil tankers that keep our day to day lives moving and our economies afloat.Presenter: Kayleen Devlin Producer: Phoebe Keane Translation: Kinjal Pandya Sound design: Neil Churchil Editor: Richard Vadon(Image: Smoke billows from the Sky Light. Credit: Sunil Puniya)
• 
  Who’s Winning Muslim Voters? 18.05.2026 28min

  Following last week’s local elections, it's clear there’s a huge shift happening when it comes to the voting habits of British Muslims across the country.Why are so many British Muslims moving away from the Labour Party? And are they really all going to the Greens?Presenter Rima Ahmed returned to her hometown of Harehills in Leeds, once a Labour stronghold, just before the local elections to speak to ordinary Muslim voters about what's important to them.This episode of Currently... was made by Keiligh Baker. The technical editor was James Beard and the editor was Justine Lang.
• 
  Betting on Disaster 10.05.2026 28min

  Huge sums are being wagered on current events, from the weather to world wars, with fortunes being made - and lost. Mike Wendling investigates the rise of prediction markets.While gambling is a long-standing, if somewhat morally dubious, British pastime, there's a new crop of American companies which are supercharging the industry. They're called prediction markets.Who will win the World Cup? Will a celebrity show up on the red carpet? What words will a crypto CEO mention in their quarterly earnings call? Will the leader of Venezuela be toppled, and will famine be declared in Gaza? Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket allow users to bet on almost any question imaginable. Prediction market entrepreneurs say their platforms are information discovery engines where users put their money where their mouth is, providing valuable information and clues to the future that they say are more accurate than experts, media or polls.But the industry has been rocked by insider trading scandals and manipulative behaviour by some traders, and critics worry that as demand for these platforms rise, so too does the risk that they could end up shaping reality, rather than merely reflecting it.For Currently, Mike Wendling speaks to industry insiders, traders, and experts to glean the future of the prediction market industry. Producer: Mhairi MacKenzie Audio engineer: James Beard Editor: Richard Fenton-SmithCredits: Kalshi advert (Kalshi) Shayne Coplan speaking at 2026 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference (MIT Sloan). The Odds: Predictions for the 2028 White House (CNN) @Locksy/X Coinbase Q3 2025 Quarterly Earnings Call (Coinbase) Bet The House Podcast (Bet the House)
• 
  About the Girls: The Puberty Puzzle 20.04.2026 28min

  This week, as BBC Radio 4 explores what it means to grow up as a girl in 2026, health presenter Laura Foster is examining a striking scientific reality: that girls today are hitting puberty earlier than their parents and grandparents did. Question is why is this happening — and what does it mean for the adults they will become?With the trend showing no sign of slowing down, Laura speaks to leading researchers to decode the forces behind this shift. With girls hitting puberty earlier than ever - we pay a visit to one primary school which has moved puberty lessons forward to keep pace. From genetics and childhood obesity to screens, stress and the Covid pandemic, we examine the complex mix shaping the bodies and minds of today’s girls.What does earlier puberty mean for their physical, emotional and social development? Can the downward trend be stopped? And what support do young people need from families, schools and policymakers right now? Join us for About The Girls: The Puberty Puzzle as we explore why growing up is starting earlier than we expect.Presenter: Laura FosterProducer: Kate White Editor: Martin Smith
• 
  Licence to Hate - Racism on the Front Line 05.04.2026 28min

  New data from the 2025 NHS Staff Survey, one of the largest workforce surveys in the world, shows that 1 in 5 minority ethnic staff report facing discrimination from patients or the public, compared with 1 in 20 of their white colleagues. The Royal College of Nursing reports that calls to their advice line about racism at work have increased by 55% in three years. This documentary listens closely to the experiences of nurses, GPs and care workers to try and understand if the current climate is different.Presenter: Farhana Haider Producers: Farhana Haider and Emma Close Editor: Clare Fordham Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound mix: James Beard
• 
  Power to The People: Rewiring Britain 30.03.2026 28min

  Britain is turning electric, but the shift to renewable energy will require a major rewire. Business and Economy editor Douglas Fraser follows the journey of power generated on the north coast of Scotland to the socket in your living room, to discover the scale and the challenges of re-hauling the near century-old national grid. From windfarms in Caithness, pylons in the Highlands and huge undersea cables transporting power from Aberdeenshire to North Yorkshire, Douglas looks at the environmental and financial impact of the planned changes to the country's energy infrastructure. He also asks if Britain can meet a future surge in demand for electricity to power electric cars, heat pumps and AI data centres, while achieving its ambitious net zero targets.Presenter: Douglas Fraser Producer: Hayley Jarvis Executive Producer: Peter McManus
• 
  How Not to Kill a Politician 29.03.2026 30min

  What is it that drives ordinary people to condone political violence, and some to commit it? As democracies increasingly exist in conditions where violence can flourish, Stanford University polarisation expert Alison Goldsworthy will scrutinise the latest research showing it is dogmatism, not just authoritarian tendencies that enable it. This means we are all susceptible - including, uncomfortably for ‘liberals’ who hold strongly to being open minded (like the ones who mused about the bullet going ‘just a few inches to the right’ after Trump's attempted assassination).Leveraging insights from political, behavioural and neuro sciences Alison will track the journey of the biology, instincts, emotions and actions to explain how and why a social media feed can trigger the rewiring of a brain to chuckle at, then endorse violence. She'll explain why this creating this climate increases the likelihood that some people will commit violence. And she'll examine what we can do to prevent ourselves sliding into this vice-like grip.Producer: Giles Edwards.
• 
  Britain by Bodycam 25.03.2026 28min

  Every month brings a new headline about shoplifting, confrontations with retail staff and disorder on our high streets. As a result, more and more security guards have taken to wearing bodyworn cameras, now visible in every part of our lives, from supermarkets to coffee shops, railway stations to hospitals. For some they are a welcome deterrent and bring peace of mind. For others, they are a sign of a country that has lost its way. But what is the world behind these bodycams? Miles away from the high street, dotted around the country on trading estates, in business parks on the edges of cities, even in disused military bunkers, staff work round the clock to monitor live footage that feeds through from bodyworn cameras. Aidan Tulloch has been allowed through the bombproof doors and secure airlocks to see what it is like to work in one of these alarm receiving centres. How does it feel to spend 12-hour shifts in one of these windowless rooms watching all corners of Britain? What is the psychological impact of seeing violence unfold in real time?Talking to employees from a number of security companies as they sit at banks of computer screens and watch notifications ping in from across the country, he finds out how the alarm receiving centres can often be peaceful places, full of the usual office chatter...until an alarm goes off. And as our social media feeds are filled with videos of altercations - often caught on bodycam - alongside people claiming the country is in decline, what does it say about society that we consume this content for pleasure? Presenter: Aidan Tulloch Producer: Tim Bano
• 
  Sophia v AI Slop 08.03.2026 28min

  While browsing online, the journalist and author Sophia Smith Galer was surprised to find a biography of herself on Amazon. She discovered that it was full of inaccuracies - and most likely written using generative AI. It's part of a new phenomenon in publishing and flooding all parts of our information landscape: AI slop, low quality content made quickly using artificial intelligence.While we might be used to slop on social media, what happens when it infiltrates areas where we expect fact rather than fiction? On her quest to get answers about her biography, Sophia looks at how far AI slop has polluted places we previously thought safe - from investigative journalism to academia - and asks if we can ever escape the onslaught of slop.Based on an idea from presenter Sophia Smith Galer Producer Lucy Wai
• 
  A Place in Politics for British Muslims 03.03.2026 28min

  Alongside rising levels of hate faced by British Muslims, are renewed questions about how well Muslims have integrated in British society.The BBC's Religion Editor Aleem Maqbool hears stories of anti-Muslim hatred, including that of London entrepreneur Usman Shah, pictured as part of the Heathrow Welcome campaign. Mr Shah describes how he made a bold decision to forgive and reach out to his abusers, a decision inspired by his Islamic values and faith.Aleem also hears from those urging British Muslims to take a more proactive approach in resolving problems within their communities. He explores whether politics could play in bringing greater cohesion, or whether politics has been a hindrance to progress.And he examines who is working with whom to help resolve matters and bring cohesion at this crucial juncture. Producer: Leela Padmanabhan Assistant Producers: Imaan Asim and Catherine Wyatt
• 
  Someone Else's Problem: Exporting the Housing Crisis 22.02.2026 28min

  In cities across the country, councils are grappling with unprecedented numbers of people presenting as homeless. In London, mounting pressure on temporary accommodation has led some boroughs to place families far beyond the capital — in some cases more than 250 miles away, in County Durham.Charlotte McDonald travels to the North East to uncover why these long‑distance relocations are happening, and what impact they are having on the communities receiving them.She speaks to people about lives uprooted, often with little notice, and explores the realities they face as they try to rebuild their lives in unfamiliar towns and villages.The picture on the ground is complex. Local services, charities, churches and schools have rallied to support the newcomers, despite already operating in areas marked by deprivation and limited opportunities. Yet many relocated families encounter fresh challenges: anti‑social behaviour, culture shock, and the struggle to settle into communities facing their own hardships.County Durham had a Labour council for nearly a century, but it is now controlled by Reform. Many residents feel the area has been overlooked for years: traditional industries have faded, and little new investment has taken their place. Unemployment is high in parts of the county, as well as rates of long-term sick.With low‑cost housing and pockets of empty properties, the region has become increasingly attractive to councils which are struggling to find accommodation. But is it the right thing for old and new residents?Presenter: Charlotte McDonald Producers: Charlotte McDonald and Tom Burgess Studio manager: James Beard Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Richard Vadon
• 
  Trump and Greenland: How MAGA went Arctic 08.02.2026 27min

  Why does President Trump really want to takeover Greenland?The Arctic territory is rich in vital minerals and oil, and it hosts an important American military base as the race for dominance in the wider Arctic heats up between China, Russia and the USA.While the issue has become suddenly urgent, it's a proposal that has been years in the making - and drill down beneath Trump's recent stated reason of 'security' and the reasons why he wants it as the 51st state are less clear. A financier-turned-MAGA operative, the small print of the right-wing wish list Project 2025, and a penchant for big places on maps might better explain the recent diplomatic crisis, as the Make America Great Again project evolves into an idea to Make America Bigger. The Coming Storm's Lucy Proctor delves into the backstory to Trump's insistence on acquiring Greenland. Produced and presented by Lucy Proctor Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Sound engineer: Andy Fell