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PODCAST

The Briefing Room

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news

news news commentary

All Episodes

28:44

Can planning reform really boost economic growth?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/08/01

David Aaronovitch and guests discuss Labour's plans for planning reform. This week the Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner announced a new National Planning Policy Framework. Will it boost economic growth?Sir John Armitt, Chairman of the UK's National Infrastructure CommissionCatriona Riddell is an independent planning consultant and commentator who advises on planning policy Anthony Breach, Associate Director at Centre for Cities Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Ben Carter and Kirsteen

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36:41

Health special 3: How far could Artificial...

The Briefing Room ·

2024/07/11

Machine learning has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years. Bigger, more powerful computers can crunch ever more amounts of data, analysing complex information just as accurately, it’s claimed, as the best specialists and at speeds humans can never achieve. With the potential to make a significant difference to healthcare - helping to diagnose disease, summarise patients’ medical notes, even predict health conditions years before any symptoms appear. But how long before the potential

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27:38

Health special 2. Why is anxiety and depression...

The Briefing Room ·

2024/07/11

Surveys suggest that at least one in four of us will suffer from anxiety and depression during our lifetimes. The prevalence of these conditions is one of the reasons given for poor school attendance. And it's estimated that these mental health disorders account for 12.5% of all sickness leave in the UK. So what’s caused such an explosion in mental distress and what, if anything, can be done to bring down the numbers? Join David Aaronovitch and a panel of guests to find out.Guests:Professor

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36:27

Health special 1: Advances in cancer research and...

The Briefing Room ·

2024/07/11

Half the UK population will get cancer during their lifetime - and rates are rising. Each year, around 385,000 people in the UK are diagnosed and around 167,00 lives are lost to the disease. But scientists are developing new therapies, including personalised vaccines and targeted drugs, that attack cancer cells directly and more effectively. It's hoped this pioneering work could lead to better survival rates. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss promising developments in cancer care - to

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28:52

South African and Indian elections: the aftermath

The Briefing Room ·

2024/07/04

2024 is the year of elections and already hundreds of millions of people around the world have been to the polls. A few months ago The Briefing Room looked ahead to elections in South Africa and India. Both have since delivered shocks to their ruling parties which failed to win parliamentary majorities. So why did the main parties in both countries do worse than expected? And what does this mean for the governments they’ve formed and the immediate future of both South Africa and India

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28:45

What's happening in Sudan?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/06/27

David Aaronovitch and guests dissect Sudan's ongoing civil war. This conflict is now one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters. How can it be brought to an end?Guests:James Copnall - presenter of Newsday on the BBC World Service and former BBC Sudan correspondent.Mohanad Hashim - Sudanese journalist working on Newshour on the BBC World ServiceDame Rosalind Marsden - associate fellow of the Africa programme at Chatham House and former UK ambassador to Sudan.Professor Alex De Waal - executive

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28:39

What's the Biden ceasefire plan and will it work?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/06/20

David Aaronovitch and guests examine Joe Biden's ceasefire deal and ask whether - despite some positive noises from both sides - Israel and Hamas are interested in making it work. Guests: David Makovsky, Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Koret Project on Arab-Israel RelationsAnshel Pfeffer, columnist and Israel correspondent at The Economist Lina Khatib, Director of the Middle East Institute at SOAS University of London Hussein Ibish, senior resident

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28:48

What does Macron's gamble mean for France?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/06/13

David Aaronovitch and guests assess the fallout from France's EU elections and President Macron's subsequent decision to call parliamentary elections later this month.Guests: Hugh Schofield, BBC Paris CorrespondentSophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief at The Economist Mujtaba Rahman, Managing Director for Europe at Eurasia Group who advise investors on political risk Dr Françoise Boucek, Visiting Research Fellow, Centre for European Research in the School of Politics and International Relations at

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29:28

Are Trump's legal cases really a problem for him?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/06/06

David Aaronovitch and guests discuss Donald Trump's conviction in the hush money case, examine the cases yet to be heard and ask whether any of this hurts his election chances?Guests:Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America correspondentJack Chin, Professor of Criminal Law at the University of California, Davis Wendy Schiller, Professor of Political Science at Brown UniversityProduction team: Caroline Bayley, Miriam Quayyum, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator:

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28:41

Ukraine: Who's winning the war?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/05/30

David Aaronovitch and guests assess the latest developments in Ukraine. In 2022, Russia was expected to win the war easily. That didn't happen. But is Russia gaining the upper hand now? Guests:James Waterhouse, BBC’s Ukraine CorrespondentPolina Ivanova, FT correspondent covering Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia Michael Clarke, Professor of Defence Studies at Kings College London and Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy Ann Marie Dailey, Senior Fellow at the

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29:08

How much trouble are UK universities in?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/05/23

David Aaronovitch and guests discuss the current financial crisis facing UK universities and ask what can be done about it.Guests:Branwen Jeffreys, BBC Education EditorNick Hillman, Director of The Higher Education Policy Institute Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford and member of the Migration Advisory Committee Alan Manning, Professor of Economics at the London School of EconomicsProduction team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight, Miriam Quayyum and

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28:34

Avian flu is evolving but what risk does it pose to us?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/05/16

The H5N1 strain of avian flu isn't new. It was discovered in China in 1996. But in recent years it's started passing from mammal to mammal and it's now rife on cattle farms in the United States. How much should humans worry?David Aaronovitch speaks to:Professor Wendy Barclay, action medical research chair in virology at Imperial College London Kai Kupferschmidt, science journalist and molecular biologist Dr Caitlin Rivers, epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Professor Ian

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28:50

Why is the water industry in so much trouble?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/05/09

David Aaronovitch and guests explore the troubled state of the water industry in the UK. How do companies solve the sewage problem, fix the leaks and reduce the debt mountain?Guests: Kate Bayliss, research associate in the Department of Economics at SOAS, University of London David Hall, visiting professor in the Public Services International Research Unit at the University of Greenwich Sir Dieter Helm, Professor of Energy at the University of Oxford Julie Bygraves, public policy analyst and expert

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28:49

How does America fix its border crisis?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/05/02

Democrats and Republicans have promised to solve the border crisis in recent times but they've failed and it remains a huge election issue. How does the problem get resolved?David Aaronovitch talks to:Gustavo Solis, investigative border reporter at KPBS television station in San DiegoDoris Meissner is Senior Fellow and Director, U.S. Immigration Policy Program Edward Alden, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of When the World Closed Its Doors: The Covid-19 Tragedy and

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29:16

Are Britain's missing workers really a problem?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/04/25

David Aaronovitch and guests discuss the reasons why millions of people in the UK aged between 16 and 64 are neither working nor looking for work and what we can do about it. Tony Wilson, Director of the Institute for Employment Studies Sam Avanzo Windett, Deputy Director at the Learning and Work Institute Torsten Bell, Chief Executive at the Resolution FoundationProduction team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Sound

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27:43

What does Iran want?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/04/18

David Aaronovitch and guests explore the thinking behind Iran's decision to attack Israel and ask what the short and long term aims of the Iranian regime are. Guests: Shashank Joshi, Defence editor at The EconomistAli Vaez, Iran Project Director at International Crisis Group Dr Roxane Farmanfarmaian, lecturer specialising in the politics of Iran and the Middle East at Cambridge UniversityProduction team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator:

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28:45

What's happened to Hamas?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/04/11

Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to “eliminate” Hamas but after six months of death and destruction in Gaza what do we know about their status?David Aaronovitch talks to: Jennifer Jefferis, Teaching Professor at Georgetown University's Security Studies program and author of Hamas: Terrorism, Governance, and its Future in Middle East Politics.Michael Clarke, Professor of Defence studies and Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.Khalil Shikaki,

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28:33

What's the future of the state pension?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/04/04

The state pension system relies on the workers of today paying the pensions of current retirees. But does an aging population and rising costs threaten that model continuing?David Aaronovitch talks to:Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal StudiesPaul Lewis, financial journalist and presenter of Radio 4’s Money Box programme Claer Barrett, consumer editor at the Financial Times and presenter of the FT's Money Clinic podcast Sir Steve Webb, formerly Minister for Pensions and current

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29:06

Election special 1. Is democracy in India under threat?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/03/05

2024 is the year of elections. According to one estimate just under 50% of all the people on earth live in countries where by December 31st there will have been a national vote. To mark this phenomenon we are broadcasting three special programmes. The first – this one - focuses on the world’s biggest democracy - India - where prime minister Narendra Modi is hoping – perhaps expecting – to win a third term. The party first came to power in 2014 and since then fears about “democratic backsliding”

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27:49

Election special 3. Uncertain times for the ANC in...

The Briefing Room ·

2024/03/05

2024 is the year of elections. According to one estimate just under 50% of all the people on earth live in countries where by December 31st there will have been a national vote. To mark this phenomenon we are broadcasting three special programmes. In the third and final programme in this special series we’re focusing on South Africa. It is 30 years since the African National Congress - led back then by Nelson Mandela - first won power. It has had a majority in parliament ever since. But this year it

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