Shows / The Briefing Room
The Briefing Room
David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news
Episodes
- The Briefing Room
What's Trump's tariff hokey cokey all about?
Rarely has it been so difficult to see the wood for the trees. The trees being Donald Trump’s new tariffs announced on what he called Liberation Day and which…
- The Briefing Room
What's happening in Turkey?
Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Turkey in the past two weeks in protest at the arrest and jailing of the mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem…
- The Briefing Room
What is Putin's bottom line?
Securing peace in Ukraine is proving harder than President Trump first thought. Separate talks between US officials and Ukrainian and Russian representatives…
- The Briefing Room
What's the government trying to do to the NHS?
The Government is reorganising the way the NHS is run in England by scrapping the body that’s been in charge and giving direct control to the Department of…
- The Briefing Room
Why is there a crisis in special educational needs?
There’s huge pressure on special educational needs and disabilities, known as SEND. The number of children and young people who need extra support has rocketed…
- The Briefing Room
Europe's defence dilemma
Donald Trump has only been US president for just over a month and yet the world order seems to be changing by the day. Ukraine has been cut adrift with the…
The Briefing RoomExplainer: A short history of conflict in Ukraine
A quick run down on how the conflict developed - from attempted coup to war of attrition. Guest: Michael Clarke, Visiting Professor in the Department of War…
- The Briefing Room
Explainer: How do weight-loss drugs work?
A number of studies have shown the amazing weight loss potential of a new group of drugs, known to many by their brand names as Ozempic (which is for…
The Briefing RoomExplainer: Who made the first electric car?
A short history of electric cars in the UK. The UK government wants to ban the sale of petrol cars by 2030. But how is the move to electric vehicles going?…
- The Briefing Room
Explainer: What is a Tariff?
President Trump wants more tariffs - what are they? And what happened last time he was in office? This is part of a new mini-series called The Briefing Room…
- The Briefing Room
Why does Trump love tariffs?
Donald Trump says he wants to introduce more tariffs on imports during his second presidency. He’s mentioned targeting imports from countries including Mexico…
- The Briefing Room
Is the push for the electric cars in trouble?
Encouraging everyone to make the change to electric vehicles has been a major part of government green and industrial policy for some time now. The government…
- The Briefing Room
Why we need to care about the Arctic
The Arctic is going through changes to its climate, economics and geo-politics. What does it mean for the region and the rest of the world? The fact that…
- The Briefing Room
Is chainsaw economics working in Argentina?
In his election campaign President Milei set out his chainsaw approach to cutting spending and inflation. A year on, how has his presidency turned out? David…
- The Briefing Room
Will new weight loss drugs save or bankrupt the NHS?
New weight loss drugs known commercially as Wegovy and Mounjaro have been demonstrated to have a big effect in helping people to lose weight, and have recently…
- The Briefing Room
What’s going on in Syria?
In under two weeks Syrian rebels have moved through the country and taken Damascus - bringing to an end 50 years of rule by the Assad family. The country…
- The Briefing Room
Ukraine - what’s next?
North Korean troops are fighting Ukrainians in Russia, while Ukraine has finally been permitted to use US missiles deep into Russian territory. It’s over 1000…
- The Briefing Room
Why do we have such overcrowded prisons?
Our prisons are overcrowded, the Government recently released a group of prisoners early to ease the pressure. Britain seems to incarcerate more people per…
- The Briefing Room
European defence in the new Trump era
All over Europe and in the corridors of Nato policy makers are discussing the implications for the continent of the Trump victory in the American presidential…
- The Briefing Room
What does the Budget mean for the UK’s economy?
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered the first Labour Budget in 14 years. Naturally there was a flurry of instant responses to individual tax measures, but…
- The Briefing Room
How do the Lebanon attacks alter the equation in the Middle East?
David Aaronovitch and guests discuss the recent events in Lebanon. Israel has been widely blamed for a series of pager and walkie-talkie attacks targeting…
- The Briefing Room
Is Germany in trouble?
David Aaronovitch and guests discuss the challenges facing Germany. Worries over the economy and immigration have seen the far right AfD party gain support in…
- The Briefing Room
How much trouble is the UK economy in?
Last month the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, warned that "things would get worse before they got better". The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has already said…
- The Briefing Room
What we know (and don't know) about the new Mpox outbreak
The first human cases of MPox were detected in 1970. But a new strain detected in Congo in 2023 has got scientists confused. How worried should we be and are…
The Briefing RoomGlobal Tensions 3: Russia and the West
David Aaronovitch and guests discuss the risk of escalation on Russian borders and further afield and explore what form that might take if it were to happen…
- The Briefing Room
Global Tensions 2: China, Taiwan and the South China Sea
David Aaronovitch and guests discuss China's desire for 'peaceful reunification' with Taiwan. Can it really be done peacefully and what happens if it can't?…
- The Briefing Room
Global Tensions 1: The Middle East
In the first of three programmes, David Aaronovitch explores the risk of escalation and wider conflict in the Middle East. What would all out war look like and…
- The Briefing Room
Can planning reform really boost economic growth?
David Aaronovitch and guests discuss Labour's plans for planning reform. This week the Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner announced a new National Planning…
- The Briefing Room
Health 3: How far could artificial intelligence transform medicine?
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…
- The Briefing Room
Health 2: Why is anxiety and depression increasing in the UK?
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…
- The Briefing Room
Health 1: Advances in cancer research and treatment
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…
- The Briefing Room
South African and Indian elections: the aftermath
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…
- The Briefing Room
What's happening in Sudan?
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…
- The Briefing Room
What's the Biden ceasefire plan and will it work?
David Aaronovitch and guests examine Joe Biden's ceasefire deal and ask whether - despite some positive noises from both sides - Israel and Hamas are…
- The Briefing Room
What does Macron's gamble mean for France?
David Aaronovitch and guests assess the fallout from France's EU elections and President Macron's subsequent decision to call parliamentary elections later…
- The Briefing Room
Are Trump's legal cases really a problem for him?
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…
- The Briefing Room
Ukraine: Who's winning the war?
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…
- The Briefing Room
How much trouble are UK universities in?
David Aaronovitch and guests discuss the current financial crisis facing UK universities and ask what can be done about it. Guests: Branwen Jeffreys, BBC…
- The Briefing Room
Avian flu is evolving but what risk does it pose to us?
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…
- The Briefing Room
Why is the water industry in so much trouble?
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 Briefing Room
How does America fix its border crisis?
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…
- The Briefing Room
Are Britain's missing workers really a problem?
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…
The Briefing RoomIndia: Is democracy under threat?
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…
- The Briefing Room
What does Iran want?
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…
- The Briefing Room
What's happened to Hamas?
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…
- The Briefing Room
What's the future of the state pension?
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…
The Briefing RoomElection special 2. Elections without democracy
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…
The Briefing RoomElection special 3. Uncertain times for the ANC in South Africa
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…
- The Briefing Room
How is technology changing warfare?
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…
- The Briefing Room
Russia: State of the Nation
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…
- The Briefing Room
The synthetic opioids claiming lives in the UK
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…
- The Briefing Room
The crisis in dentistry: why is it happening and what should we do about it?
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…
- The Briefing Room
What’s the point of Ofsted?
This week the Education Select Committee said that Ofsted and the Government must rebuild trust and make major changes to school inspections. This follows…
- The Briefing Room
Is the UK prepared for more floods?
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…
- The Briefing Room
Why is local government in such trouble?
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…
- The Briefing Room
Israel-Gaza: Is it turning into a regional conflict?
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…
- The Briefing Room
Brexit: Could we rejoin the EU even if we wanted to?
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…
- The Briefing Room
Aliens: Are we closer to finding intelligent life beyond Earth?
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…
- The Briefing Room
What’s behind the record homelessness figures?
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…