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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

28:40

Election special 2. Elections without democracy

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. David Aaronovitch and guests discuss why do some countries bother holding elections if the outcomes are pre-determined and they also ask why the public bother voting in them?Guests:Naomi Hossain, Professor of Development Studies at SOASKaterina

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41:32

How is technology changing warfare?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/02/28

In 1964, pre-historic remains were discovered at Jabal Aṣ-Ṣaḥābah - or Mountain of the Companions - in the Nile Valley near what is now the border of northern Sudan and Egypt. That site contained evidence of the earliest known warfare believed to have taken place around 13,500 years ago. It’s thought that climate change led to that conflict; as crop yields became smaller, more groups had to compete with each other for what food sources were available. Spears and possibly arrows were the high-tech

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28:13

Russia: State of the Nation

The Briefing Room ·

2024/02/22

It is two years since Russia began its costly conflict against Ukraine. How does it fund its war effort, how do sanctions impact that and how tight is Putin's grip on power?Guests:Sarah Rainsford, BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent Maria Shagina, Research Fellow for Economic Sanctions, Standards and Strategy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies Isaac Levi, Europe-Russia Policy & Energy Analysis Team Lead at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air Mark Galeotti, Writer on

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28:21

The synthetic opioids claiming lives in the UK

The Briefing Room ·

2024/02/15

Deaths from synthetic opioids such as nitazenes and fentanyl are low in the UK but there are fears the problem could escalate and that figures don't show the true picture of the situation. David Aaronovitch explores how dangerous these drugs are, why the opioid crisis is so bad in the US, where they come from and why a shortage of heroin in the UK could mean drug cartels switch to supplying these often fatal alternatives.Guests: Rick Treble, Forensic chemist, and advisor to the Government’s

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29:01

The crisis in dentistry: why is it happening and what...

The Briefing Room ·

2024/02/08

This week a great queue of dentistless Bristolians appeared outside a new practice offering NHS treatment. That followed a report on children’s health which specifically referenced the poor and worsening state of their teeth. This week the government announced a package to try and improve things in England. But did it go anything like far enough to solve the problems of too few dentists being willing or able to treat NHS patients? David Aaronovitch is joined by the following experts:Beccy Baird,

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28:27

What’s the point of Ofsted?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/02/01

This week the Education Select Committee said that Ofsted and the Government must rebuild trust and make major changes to school inspections.This follows months of news coverage of the death of Ruth Perry, the headteacher who killed herself following an Ofsted inspection at her primary school. The coroner ruled that it contributed to her death.This week we ask - what’s the point of Ofsted?David is joined by the following experts: Sam Freedman, senior fellow at the Institute for Government John

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28:02

Is the UK prepared for more floods?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/01/25

The UK is experiencing more rain and more floods than previously, and because of climate change this is set to get worse. More than 6 million homes are at risk of flooding in the UK. What is the state of the country’s flood defences? Can people get insurance? What can we do to prepare for a wetter future?David Aaronovitch is joined by the following experts: Louise Slater, Professor of Hydroclimatology at the University of Oxford Edmund Penning-Rowsell, Research Associate at Oxford University Centre

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28:09

Why is local government in such trouble?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/01/18

It’s been another difficult week for local government. Birmingham City Council announced it needs to make up to 600 redundancies to help balance its books and Middlesbrough Council decided to apply to the Government for £15m of emergency funding to avoid effective bankruptcy. Also this week new figures have been released showing just how much debt some local authorities hold. And it’s a lot. Since 2021 there have been six councils which have declared themselves effectively bankrupt. Given the

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28:47

Israel-Gaza: Is it turning into a regional conflict?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/01/11

As if the conflict in Gaza wasn’t bad enough, the fighting has ignited old and new tensions elsewhere across the region. Since the surprise attack by Hamas on 7th October, clashes on the Lebanon-Israel border have restarted, attacks on US troops stationed in Syria and Iraq have escalated and a group of Houthi armed rebels from Yemen has started firing rockets at cargo ships trying to access the Suez Canal from the Red Sea. So in this week’s programme David Aaronovitch asks how close the war in Gaza

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29:01

Brexit: Could we rejoin the EU even if we wanted to?

The Briefing Room ·

2024/01/04

It’s almost 4 years since the UK left the European Union. Recent polls show a majority of people want to re-join the EU. But is this a realistic option?So in this week’s programme David Aaronovitch asks could we re-join the EU if we wanted? If we did, would it be of any benefit to the UK? And under what terms would the EU have us back?David is joined by the following experts: Peter Foster, Public Policy Editor at Financial Times Mujtaba Rahman, Managing Director for Europe at Eurasia Group who

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28:38

Aliens: Are we closer to finding intelligent life...

The Briefing Room ·

2023/12/28

Aliens are back on the radar after a US Congressional hearing in the summer that featured former intelligence officer, David Grusch. The US Air Force veteran was once part of a task force created to look into what used to be called UFOs. Mr Grusch gave evidence that caused a sensation in America, claiming that the US military had, for decades, been in possession of crashed UFOs and 'non-human biologics'. His shocking claims were evidence that, whatever their accuracy, both created and

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28:38

What’s behind the record homelessness figures?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/12/21

Housing charity Shelter’s latest figures show that homelessness has risen rapidly in the last year. In England, 279,400 people are living in temporary accommodation - an increase of 14% - most of whom are families. And the government’s own figures reveal that almost half (47%) of families who are homeless in temporary accommodation have been there for more than two years. Councils have a legal duty to house families and people who are vulnerable if they lose their homes, but the acute shortage of

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28:44

What can the UK learn from other countries about...

The Briefing Room ·

2023/12/14

Euthanasia is illegal in the UK. All attempts to change the law have failed. Other countries have legalised Assisted Dying and/or Euthanasia. In this week’s Briefing Room with David Aaronovitch we find out what their experience has been and what, if anything, the UK could learn from that.Joining David on the programme are:- Imogen Goold Professor of Medical Law at University of Oxford - Agnes van der Heide: Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam - Thaddeus Pope: Professor, Health Law

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28:39

Ukraine: what's the counter-offensive latest?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/12/07

The start of Ukraine’s counter-offensive against occupying Russian forces was hailed as the breakthrough moment of the war so far. Now six months on, we ask what happened?The Secretary General of NATO has said we should be ‘prepared for bad news’ and the White House has warned that the US is running out of time and money to fund the war. In this week's Briefing Room with David Aaronovitch we find out why things haven’t progressed as hoped and how much Ukraine’s key backers still support the

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28:22

Net migration: What’s happening in the UK?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/11/30

UK net migration hit a record 745,000 in 2022 according to recently revised figures from the Office for National Statistics.That means the numbers coming to live in the UK were almost three quarters of a million more than those leaving.Reducing the numbers of people entering the country has long been a government priority with famous promises to reduce it to “tens of thousands”. In a post-Brexit era it had been assumed that the figures would naturally decline, but that hasn’t been the case. David

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28:38

Israel-Gaza war: What's going on in the West Bank?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/11/23

In recent weeks, and for obvious reasons, all eyes have been on Gaza. But more Palestinians live in the West Bank, the other Palestinian territory, and the area is critical forany chances of durable peace. Or to an expansion of the violence. So what is happening there right now? What is likely to happen? And does it entail more disaster or hold out the prospect of a settlement? David Aaronovitch talks to Dr Anne Irfan, historian of the modern Middle East at University College London, Dalia Hatuqa,

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28:17

Israel/Gaza: What happens next?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/10/19

Israel and Hamas are at war and there are no signs of a quick resolution. But what would a resolution actually look like and who's actually going to try and negotiate one?David Aaronovitch talks to: Shashank Joshi, Defence editor at The Economist Steven Erlanger, Chief Diplomatic correspondent in Europe for The New York Times Professor Lina Khatib, Director of the Middle East Institute at SOAS University of LondonProduction: Ben Carter, Sally Abrahams and Kirsteen Knight Production co-ordinator:

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38:25

What was Hamas thinking?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/10/12

David Aaronovitch and guests talk through the thinking behind Hamas's deadly attack on Israel, discuss what might happen next and ask what all this means politically.Guests: Jennifer Jefferis, Director of Curriculum at the Security Studies Program, in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown Shashank Joshi, Defence editor at The Economist David Makovsky, Ziegler Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Koret Project on Arab-Israel RelationsProduction: Ben Carter,

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28:39

If Trump gets re-elected what does the world do?

The Briefing Room ·

2023/10/05

David Aaronovitch and guests talk about what a second Trump presidency might mean for America's relationship with the world and discuss what countries are doing to prepare. Guests:Anthony Zurcher, BBC North America correspondent Inu Manak, fellow for trade policy at the Council on Foreign Relations Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King's College London Elizabeth Saunders, Professor and Director of the Mortara Center for International StudiesProduction: Ben Carter, Claire

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28:16

What a murder in Canada tells us about India's place...

The Briefing Room ·

2023/09/28

When a Canadian Sikh was murdereed in British Colombia in June few predicted the diplomatic bust up that ensued. What does this say about India's relationship with the West?David Aaronovitch speaks to:Professor Gurharpal Singh, Emeritus Professor of Sikh and Punjab Studies at SOAS Nadine Yousif, BBC Canada Correspondent, based in Toronto Shruti Kapila, Professor of History & Politics at the University of Cambridge James Crabtree, Executive Director of The International Institute for Strategic

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373 results

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