PODCAST

The Inquiry

BBC World Service

The Inquiry gets beyond the headlines to explore the trends, forces and ideas shaping the world.

news news commentary

All Episodes

22:58

Is the Knowledge Factory Broken?

The Inquiry ·

2017/11/09

Academic research stands accused of turning a blind eye to dodgy data, failing to reconcile contradictory findings and valuing money over knowledge. We examine the criticisms, which go the very heart of our pursuit of knowledge.(Photo: Scientist working in a research laboratory. Credit: Shutterstock)

23:51

How Powerful is Iran’s Revolutionary Guard?

The Inquiry ·

2017/11/02

The growth and reach of a group labelled a ‘terror force’ by President Trump. On 13 October President Trump announced new sanctions against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp for supporting terrorism. But what is the Revolutionary Guard and what is its role in Iran and the Middle East? The group started as an army to protect the values of the Iranian revolution of 1979, but their role in fighting a long and brutal war with Iraq strengthened their military clout considerably. Today their forces

23:50

How Do You End A Civil War?

The Inquiry ·

2017/10/26

Why internal conflicts end and what it might mean for Syria. The war in Syria is in its seventh year and there are few signs that an end is in sight. Yet over the years, other seemingly intractable civil conflicts have, eventually, been resolved. So, how did they do it and what lessons are there that might help Syria?(A Kurdish Syrian woman walks with her child past the ruins of the town of Kobane in northern Syria. Credit: Yasin Akgul/Getty Images)

22:58

Is the Pope Catholic?

The Inquiry ·

2017/10/19

The head of the Roman Catholic Church has been accused of aiding the spread of heresy. A petition criticising the ambiguity of Pope Francis' statements on the treatment of people who have divorced and remarried is the latest twist in a fierce debate which is dividing Roman Catholics. The argument centres on whether divorcees on their second marriages should be able to receive Holy Communion, a ceremony that is central to the Christian faith. However, the dispute goes much deeper than that. At its

23:04

Can We Teach Robots Ethics?

The Inquiry ·

2017/10/12

From driverless cars to "carebots", machines are entering the realm of right and wrong. Should an autonomous vehicle prioritise the lives of its passengers over pedestrians? Should a robot caring for an elderly woman respect her right to life ahead of her right to make her own decisions? And who gets to decide? The challenges facing artificial intelligence are not just technical, but moral - and raise hard questions about what it means to be human.(image: PaPeRo communication robot at the Robodex

22:57

Is Privacy Dead?

The Inquiry ·

2017/10/05

We all do it: ask a search engine things we wouldn’t dare ask a friend, post our lives on social media, hit the ‘agree’ button on privacy conditions we never read. This is life in our online age. To get our favourite apps and services for free, we provide companies with the intimate details of our lives. Businesses we’ve heard of, and many we haven’t, make money off this data in ways we may not fully realise. And almost every week it seems there’s another data breech – Equifax, Sonic, and Deloitte

24:25

Could We Ban the Sale of Petrol and Diesel Cars Now?

The Inquiry ·

2017/09/28

The list of nations legislating to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars is growing. But these restrictions won’t come into effect for decades. Air pollution contributes to thousands of early deaths each year and the scandal known as Dieselgate, when vehicle manufacturers admitted tampering with emissions tests, made us more aware of the polluting power of the diesel engine. Automotive technology is advancing quickly, but will greener vehicles really replace the combustion engine? Hybrid and

23:15

Can China solve the North Korea problem?

The Inquiry ·

2017/09/21

North Korea continues to rattle the world with its rapidly advancing weapons programme. Diplomacy with this Hermit Kingdom is broken and UN sanctions have little effect curtailing the nuclear ambitions of the country’s enigmatic leader Kim Jong–Un. As its closest neighbour and biggest ally, can China solve the growing threat - with whatever options remain?(image: Chinese/N.Korean sign beside the Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge connecting the Chinese border city of Dandong to North Korea over the Yalu

22:58

How Do We Stop People Dying in Floods?

The Inquiry ·

2017/09/15

Do we have the power to avoid the natural forces of intense rainfall? With rising sea levels and the threat of climate change, the risk of death due to floods seems an insurmountable challenge. But there are some surprising facts in the figures on flood deaths. In developed countries like the US, more men die in floods than women and it is 30% of white men who are of particular concern. We hear from four expert witnesses from across the globe, who share different options for change. Their ideas

23:48

What Can We Do With Our Dead?

The Inquiry ·

2017/09/07

Cemeteries around the world are fast running out of space. As more and more people choose to live in cities, some can't even cope with the ashes left after cremation. Deep questions about our communities, cultures and mortality emerge as The Inquiry asks: what can we do with our dead?The programme script says that "only the very wealthiest can afford to rest in the ground in Hong Kong and Singapore". This is true for Hong Kong but Singapore's National Environment Agency has been in touch to say

22:58

How Has The Ku Klux Klan Lasted So Long?

The Inquiry ·

2017/08/31

North America’s most notorious racist group, the Ku Klux Klan fought the end of slavery in the 19th century, opposed civil rights in the 20th century and now forms part of a new extreme-right wing movement protesting openly, on America’s streets. Presented by James Fletcher and produced by Kate Lamble, The Inquiry asks four expert witnesses to answer this pressing question; how has the KKK managed to last so long? The answer can be found by looking at the origins of the KKK and the power of the

24:30

Are Video Games a Waste of Time?

The Inquiry ·

2017/08/24

Video games are a huge industry, bigger than Hollywood, and billions of people around the world play them for fun. But new economic research in the US suggests that young men are dropping out of work to play games more. This is both because some jobs are becoming harder to find and less rewarding, and because video games are becoming more and more attractive. The gamers say they are happy, but the research has sharpened long-standing concerns about video games. Will there be a 'lost generation' of

23:30

How Do You Fix Someone Else's Election?

The Inquiry ·

2017/08/17

Smears, bots and bags of cash - we reveal some of the tricks used for fiddling elections around the world. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's security chiefs say Russian intelligence is actively trying to influence next month's German elections. Meanwhile, from the US to the Netherlands, countries are becoming increasingly wary of election interference. So how do you fix someone else’s election? Hear answers from people who've studied it and even been involved.Presenter: Neal Razzell Producers:

23:13

Are South Africa's Police Failing?

The Inquiry ·

2017/08/10

A story of crime and often no punishment. South Africa's notoriously violent record has been getting worse. The number of murders and violent crimes is rising as public confidence in the police falls. Officers themselves have been linked to a series of high-profile cases, including spectacular heists at the country's main international airport. South Africa's police minister has called for "a firmer, disciplined force". So, are South Africa's police failing?(image: A riot police officer gets ready

23:33

Who Gets to Have Their Own Country?

The Inquiry ·

2017/08/03

You might think simple rules decide the creation of nation states. You'd be wrong.There are plenty of people out there who want their own state - like in Iraqi Kurdistan and Catalonia, which both have independence referendums coming up. Yet the national governments in Baghdad and Madrid say the votes - whatever their outcome - won't result in new countries. So how do you start a new country? Making sense of an atlas dotted with exceptions, special cases and lands in limbo, we ask: who gets to have

23:19

What would war with North Korea look like?

The Inquiry ·

2017/07/27

Alarm about North Korea has spiked. Earlier this month, the North claimed to have successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that could hit Alaska. Some experts estimate that North Korea is now 18 to 36 months away from launching a missile able to reach Los Angeles. President Trump has warned that a "major, major conflict" with North Korea is possible. His closest advisers have said that "the era of strategic patience is over".So, in this week's Inquiry, we take a look at the

23:35

Is it Time to Ban the Plastic Bottle?

The Inquiry ·

2017/07/20

Every single second, 20,000 single-use drinking bottles are sold around the world. That is more than a million pieces of non-biodegradable rubbish produced every minute. And as demand grows in developing economies, so will the mountains of waste, with much of it ending up in the ocean. We learn how the invention of the plastic bottle spawned an industry that has quickly got us hooked. We hear the consequences of our addiction from the man who has dedicated his life to The Great Pacific Garbage

23:15

Is Gene Editing Out of Control?

The Inquiry ·

2017/07/13

"This structure has novel features, which are of considerable biological interest." It was perhaps the greatest understatement of all time - the announcement more than six decades ago of the discovery of the shape of a single human DNA. The double-helix structure is now one of the world's most recognisable icons. Knowledge of it has transformed the fight against everything from disease to crime.That revolution was brought to us by an elite. It took the world's most eminent scientists, backed by the

23:17

What's So Special About Qatar?

The Inquiry ·

2017/07/06

The tiny state behind a global diplomatic feud.Qatar's landmass is so small it could fit into the UK 20 times over. Its citizen population is just a few hundred thousand. Yet this desert country finds itself at the centre of a geopolitical dispute, with its powerful neighbour Saudi Arabia leading a blockade against it and President Donald Trump firing off critical Tweets.So how did this bantam-weight state end up slogging it out with the world's heavyweights? In other words, what's so special about

23:27

Have We Always Felt This Tired?

The Inquiry ·

2017/06/29

“Humans are the only species that willingly deprive themselves from sleep”. Ever since fire was discovered, we have traded off sleep time for other activities - from creating stone tools to partying. As our technology progressed, the list of things to do rather than sleep just got longer. But with sleep deprivation now a growing health problem, could we be reaching our limits? Or is tiredness part of our condition? In this week’s programme, an evolutionary biologist, a historian and a

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