Shows / This Is Why
This Is Why
The world’s a pretty confusing place right now – so how do you make sense of it all? This Is Why takes one story every day, explains how we got here and why it matters to you. Sky News’ Niall Paterson speaks to experts and correspondents from around the world, getting simple answers to some complex questions. Available every weekday afternoon. This Is Why is a Sky News podcast – if you have a question, contact us: why@sky.uk
Episodes
This Is WhyCost of living: Why are more women turning to gambling?
Pandemic lockdowns and the cost-of-living crisis have driven more people to gambling to help ease financial struggles - with support helplines this year…
This Is WhyThe real cost of childcare
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has expanded free childcare for working parents in England to cover all children under five. The move could allow 60,000 more parents of…
This Is WhyBudget: Sky's Beth Rigby and Ed Conway on what it means
The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has delivered his spring budget, telling MPs his priority is to get people back to work. Free childcare for working parents in…
This Is WhyA new Cold War? Rising tensions between the US and China
The UK, USA, and Australia announced a joint programme to build more nuclear submarines, and declared that China poses the biggest threat to the world economy…
This Is WhyGary Lineker row: How does the BBC get impartiality right?
Gary Lineker will return to BBC screens after reaching a deal with the corporation over an impartiality row. The Match of the Day host was removed from the…
This Is WhySturgeon's successor: Meet the SNP leadership candidates
Three candidates are vying to become the next leader of the SNP and Scotland's first minister after Nicola Sturgeon's resignation in February. Humza Yousaf…
This Is WhySupersonic missiles and the town on the frontline of the Ukraine war
A wave of Russian missile attacks across Ukraine has left at least five people dead and many buildings destroyed. The seven-hour barrage, described as 'Russian…
This Is WhyTurkey-Syria earthquake: The child survivors
A month on from the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria millions of people are struggling to come to terms with their new reality. More than…
This Is WhyWill Illegal Migration Bill stop the small boats?
Home Secretary Suella Braverman insists migrants arriving in the UK illegally on small boats will be "removed swiftly" under the government's plan to tackle…
This Is WhyPartygate's over, but not for Boris Johnson...
Sir Keir Starmer has appointed partygate investigator Sue Gray as his chief of staff, prompting some Tory MPs to say her inquiry was a "Labour stitch-up". But…
This Is WhyWhat’s going on with Kim Jong Un and his daughter?
We think she’s ten years old and we think we know her name, but those details are only known because of the former basketball player Dennis Rodman after he…
This Is WhyThe Salisbury poisonings five years on
Tracy Daszkiewicz was Wiltshire Council's director of public health when ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were targeted in March 2018 with…
This Is WhyWhat do Matt Hancock's COVID messages actually tell us?
The ex-health secretary faces fresh scrutiny after leaked WhatsApp messages alleged he rejected testing advice on care homes during the pandemic. With…
This Is WhyNeglect and abuse: Inside the US ‘troubled teen’ industry
The ‘troubled teen’ industry in America is worth billions of dollars every year – but it is plagued by allegations of neglect and abuse. This industry was…
This Is WhyThe Windsor Framework: What it means for Northern Ireland
Four months of negotiations appear to have paid off – for now – as Rishi Sunak's plan for post-Brexit trade rules has been signed off by the EU. The prime…
This Is WhyThe Scottish man who went to fight for Ukraine
One year ago, 25-year-old Douglas, who lived on his parents' farm in southwest Scotland and fixed tractors for a living, packed his bags and went to war. He…
This Is WhyEP46: Ukraine War Diaries - One year, three lives & our stories of war (Feb 25)
In an extended episode to mark one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ilyas, Oksana and Seva come together for the first time as a group, to share…
This Is WhyUkraine war: The survivors of sexual violence and the women helping them
Stories of sexual violence against Ukrainians in Russian-occupied areas have been slowly emerging since the start of the full-scale invasion last February. At…
This Is WhyShamima Begum: Still banned from the UK
Shamima Begum, the British schoolgirl who left London when she was 15 to travel to Syria and join Islamic State, has lost an appeal to return to the UK. The…
This Is WhyJim v Jassim: The battle for Manchester United
Manchester United is known around the world but the club has faced tough times in recent years with fans deeply unhappy with its owners. But could that be…
This Is WhyA year of war: Has Putin's 'special operation' in Ukraine failed?
On 24 February 2022, Vladimir Putin sent up to 200,000 soldiers into Ukraine, sparking Europe's biggest movement of refugees since World War Two. The Russian…
This Is WhyADHD: Why teenagers are using TikTok to self-diagnose
Teenagers and young adults are increasingly turning to TikTok and Instagram to self-diagnose autism and ADHD. That's according to the British Psychological…
This Is WhyUkraine War Diaries: EP45 – Zelenskyy the great, loving power and ‘the smell of Spring’ (Feb 13-17)
Ilyas praises Ukraine’s leader after Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s UK visit and is grateful his wife and children, in Poland, don’t have to experience life in the…
This Is WhyThe new drug plaguing US cities
A tranquiliser used by vets is infiltrating street drugs and deepening addiction across cities in the US. The drug called xylazine is causing wounds so severe…
This Is WhyNicola Sturgeon: What's her legacy and what's the future for Scottish independence?
Nicola Sturgeon has resigned as Scotland's first minister after more than eight years in the role. The leader of the Scottish National Party told a news…
This Is WhyEarthquake disaster: Has aid to Syria come too late?
The first UN convoy passed through a newly opened crossing into rebel-held Syria from Turkey on Tuesday, over a week after two earthquakes hit both countries…
This Is WhyUFOs over the US: Espionage or aliens?
Four flying objects have been shot down over North America in the space of a week as the US military fails to rule out extra-terrestrial involvement. On the…
This Is WhyNicola Bulley: Are armchair detectives hindering the case?
Police investigating the disappearance of Nicola Bulley have issued a dispersal order around St Michael's on Wyre after reports of amateur investigators…
This Is WhyUkraine War Diaries: EP44 - Barbarity in Bakhmut, bedding parcels & Kharkiv buyer’s guide (Feb 6-10)
Military volunteer Seva learns about comrades who suffered horrific deaths when he returns to Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. In Kyiv, answering a displaced…
This Is WhySearch engine wars: Battle of the chatbots
Microsoft is taking on Google by relaunching its search engine Bing, powered by artificial intelligence and using tech company OpenAI's ChatGPT, a system that…
This Is Why'Where are you my love? We're looking for you': The aftermath of the Turkey-Syria earthquakes
Thousands of people have died after two devastating earthquakes caused widespread destruction in Turkey and Syria. As the World Health Organization warns…
This Is WhyWhat's Rishi Sunak trying to achieve with his rejigged cabinet?
Rishi Sunak has completed his first cabinet reshuffle - a little over 100 days after he became prime minister. After sacking Nadhim Zahawi, he's given Greg…
This Is WhyHow a 'spy' balloon inflated US-China tensions
The Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed anger and said the balloon was "an unmanned civilian airship" launched to collect weather data and blew off course…
This Is WhyHow do TV crime dramas get it right?
From The Wire to Line of Duty, how police go about catching bad guys has always made compelling TV, but does it matter if the drama reflects reality. As the…
This Is WhyUkraine War Diaries: EP43 - Strollers, sacrifice & the Spring offensive (Jan 30-3 Feb)
Now more than half-way through the winter, and more than 11 months since his family fled the country, Ilyas makes peace with the realisation that his eldest…
This Is WhyWho really is George Santos?
A US congressman has found himself at the centre of a web of revelations and accusations. But what do we know about the real George Santos? On the Sky News…
This Is WhyWhy is childcare so expensive?
Childcare in the UK is among the most expensive in the world, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Underfunded and…
This Is WhyHow do you end the strikes?
The first of February will go down as the biggest day of industrial action in a decade, as half-a-million workers strike in bitter disputes over pay, jobs and…
This Is WhyThe death of Tyre Nichols
Tyre Nichols was brutally assaulted by five police officers during a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee. He died from his injuries three days later on 10…
This Is WhyZahawi's sacked: What does it mean for Sunak?
After facing weeks of scrutiny, Conservative party chairman Nadhim Zahawi was sacked on Sunday, following an ethics inquiry into the handling of his tax…
This Is WhyUkraine War Diaries: EP42 - Tanks, transfers & the threat of doing nothing (Jan 23-27)
Returning from assignment, Seva speaks with comrades in the eastern city of Bakhmut who are in desperate need of more advanced weaponry but happy to be alive…
This Is WhyShould you pay to see a GP?
Charging for GP appointments and A&E visits is "crucial" to the survival of the NHS, according to former health secretary Sajid Javid. But is asking patients…
This Is WhyNHS in crisis: A day in the life of a GP surgery
The NHS is in crisis. Ambulance response times are the worst on record and most departments are struggling to cope with a surge in demand this winter. That…
This Is WhyInside Myanmar: How life has changed since the junta came to power
A Sky News team has spent 12 days inside Myanmar travelling around the country to see how life has changed for ordinary citizens since the junta came to power…
This Is WhyHow will Sunak handle the latest Tory troubles?
The prime minister has asked his independent ethics adviser to investigate Nadhim Zahawi, the Conservative Party chairman. Sir Laurie Magnus will look at…
This Is WhyThe Nazi hunter: Remembering victims of the Holocaust
Every year on 27 January, people remember and reflect on the genocide carried out by the Nazis during the Second World War. On the Sky News Daily Niall…
This Is WhyUkraine War Diaries: EP41 - Dnipro, despair & waiting for deliverance (Jan 16-20)
Seva has a difficult conversation with his sister after a Russian ballistic missile targets her Dnipro neighbourhood, killing 45 people and injuring dozens…
This Is WhyHow to catch a Mafia boss - by a woman who does it
After 30 years on the run, infamous mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro has been arrested. A suspected leader of Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia, convicted in absentia…
This Is WhyHow Scotland's trans rights law became a constitutional row
For the first time since Scottish devolution nearly 25 years ago, Westminster has blocked a bill, which concerns transgender rights, from getting royal assent…
This Is WhyDavid Carrick: The Met Police's challenge to "root out rapists"
Over an 18-year period, former Metropolitan Police firearms officer David Carrick sexually assaulted and raped at least 12 women. The force has apologised to…
This Is Why‘No light at the end of the tunnel’: What a week in the NHS looks like
The NHS is facing a crisis. Three years of a pandemic and even more of underfunding have seen waiting lists and ambulance delays hit record highs, while some…
This Is WhyIt's not just the NHS - Europe's healthcare crisis
Services stretched to breaking point, routine operations cancelled and medical workers striking – it's not the UK's health service we're talking about here but…
This Is WhyUkraine War Diaries: EP40 - Comedy nights, corroding childhoods, & checking out at the gym (Jan 9-13)
As fighting rages in the east of the country and against the backdrop of mounting casualties in the mining town of Soledar, Oksana finds some unexpected…
This Is WhyCan the UK still be a space superpower?
It was supposed to be Britain's first small step towards space exploration but no amount of awe and excitement on the ground at Spaceport Cornwall could will…
This Is WhyWhat's happening in Brazil?
Thousands of demonstrators in support of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro stormed and ransacked the country’s Congress, Supreme court, and…
This Is WhyWestminster Accounts: Lobbying and the All-Party Parliamentary Groups
For decades, if you wanted to find out how businesses and foreign governments lobby MPs, and how much they give them, you'd need to study dozens of entries in…
This Is WhyWestminster Accounts: Who’s behind the money?
For decades, if you wanted to find out how much a wealthy donor, a big company, or a union has pumped into our political system, you'd need to study dozens of…
This Is WhyWestminster Accounts: The MPs earning millions
For decades, if you wanted to find out how much an MP was earning on top of their £84,000 basic salary, you'd need to study dozens of entries in several…
This Is WhyUkraine War Diaries: EP39 - Birthday at the pictures, pizza nights & polish pick-ups (Jan 2-6)
In Kyiv, making use of one of the cities bomb-proofed theatres, Oksana books a comedy night for military volunteer husband Seva.In one of the capital’s…
This Is WhyThree Wishes for 2023: Singer-songwriter Róisín Murphy
If you had three wishes, what would they be? For the start of 2023, Sky News Daily podcast host Niall Paterson is asking people from across politics…