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This week, as BBC Radio 4 explores what it means to grow up as a girl in 2026, health presenter Laura Foster is examining a striking scientific reality: that girls today are hitting puberty earlier than their parents and grandparents did. Question is why is this happening — and what does it mean for the adults they will become?With the trend showing no sign of slowing down, Laura speaks to leading researchers to decode the forces behind this shift. With girls hitting puberty earlier than ever - we pay a visit to one primary school which has moved puberty lessons forward to keep pace. From genetics and childhood obesity to screens, stress and the Covid pandemic, we examine the complex mix shaping the bodies and minds of today’s girls.What does earlier puberty mean for their physical, emotional and social development? Can the downward trend be stopped? And what support do young people need from families, schools and policymakers right now? Join us for About The Girls: The Puberty Puzzle as we explore why growing up is starting earlier than we expect.Presenter: Laura FosterProducer: Kate White Editor: Martin Smith

New data from the 2025 NHS Staff Survey, one of the largest workforce surveys in the world, shows that 1 in 5 minority ethnic staff report facing discrimination from patients or the public, compared with 1 in 20 of their white colleagues. The Royal College of Nursing reports that calls to their advice line about racism at work have increased by 55% in three years. This documentary listens closely to the experiences of nurses, GPs and care workers to try and understand if the current climate is different.Presenter: Farhana Haider Producers: Farhana Haider and Emma Close Editor: Clare Fordham Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound mix: James Beard

Britain is turning electric, but the shift to renewable energy will require a major rewire. Business and Economy editor Douglas Fraser follows the journey of power generated on the north coast of Scotland to the socket in your living room, to discover the scale and the challenges of re-hauling the near century-old national grid. From windfarms in Caithness, pylons in the Highlands and huge undersea cables transporting power from Aberdeenshire to North Yorkshire, Douglas looks at the environmental and financial impact of the planned changes to the country's energy infrastructure. He also asks if Britain can meet a future surge in demand for electricity to power electric cars, heat pumps and AI data centres, while achieving its ambitious net zero targets.Presenter: Douglas Fraser Producer: Hayley Jarvis Executive Producer: Peter McManus

What is it that drives ordinary people to condone political violence, and some to commit it? As democracies increasingly exist in conditions where violence can flourish, Stanford University polarisation expert Alison Goldsworthy will scrutinise the latest research showing it is dogmatism, not just authoritarian tendencies that enable it. This means we are all susceptible - including, uncomfortably for ‘liberals’ who hold strongly to being open minded (like the ones who mused about the bullet going ‘just a few inches to the right’ after Trump's attempted assassination).Leveraging insights from political, behavioural and neuro sciences Alison will track the journey of the biology, instincts, emotions and actions to explain how and why a social media feed can trigger the rewiring of a brain to chuckle at, then endorse violence. She'll explain why this creating this climate increases the likelihood that some people will commit violence. And she'll examine what we can do to prevent ourselves sliding into this vice-like grip.Producer: Giles Edwards.

Every month brings a new headline about shoplifting, confrontations with retail staff and disorder on our high streets. As a result, more and more security guards have taken to wearing bodyworn cameras, now visible in every part of our lives, from supermarkets to coffee shops, railway stations to hospitals. For some they are a welcome deterrent and bring peace of mind. For others, they are a sign of a country that has lost its way. But what is the world behind these bodycams? Miles away from the high street, dotted around the country on trading estates, in business parks on the edges of cities, even in disused military bunkers, staff work round the clock to monitor live footage that feeds through from bodyworn cameras. Aidan Tulloch has been allowed through the bombproof doors and secure airlocks to see what it is like to work in one of these alarm receiving centres. How does it feel to spend 12-hour shifts in one of these windowless rooms watching all corners of Britain? What is the psychological impact of seeing violence unfold in real time?Talking to employees from a number of security companies as they sit at banks of computer screens and watch notifications ping in from across the country, he finds out how the alarm receiving centres can often be peaceful places, full of the usual office chatter...until an alarm goes off. And as our social media feeds are filled with videos of altercations - often caught on bodycam - alongside people claiming the country is in decline, what does it say about society that we consume this content for pleasure? Presenter: Aidan Tulloch Producer: Tim Bano

While browsing online, the journalist and author Sophia Smith Galer was surprised to find a biography of herself on Amazon. She discovered that it was full of inaccuracies - and most likely written using generative AI. It's part of a new phenomenon in publishing and flooding all parts of our information landscape: AI slop, low quality content made quickly using artificial intelligence.While we might be used to slop on social media, what happens when it infiltrates areas where we expect fact rather than fiction? On her quest to get answers about her biography, Sophia looks at how far AI slop has polluted places we previously thought safe - from investigative journalism to academia - and asks if we can ever escape the onslaught of slop.Based on an idea from presenter Sophia Smith Galer Producer Lucy Wai

Alongside rising levels of hate faced by British Muslims, are renewed questions about how well Muslims have integrated in British society.The BBC's Religion Editor Aleem Maqbool hears stories of anti-Muslim hatred, including that of London entrepreneur Usman Shah, pictured as part of the Heathrow Welcome campaign. Mr Shah describes how he made a bold decision to forgive and reach out to his abusers, a decision inspired by his Islamic values and faith.Aleem also hears from those urging British Muslims to take a more proactive approach in resolving problems within their communities. He explores whether politics could play in bringing greater cohesion, or whether politics has been a hindrance to progress.And he examines who is working with whom to help resolve matters and bring cohesion at this crucial juncture. Producer: Leela Padmanabhan Assistant Producers: Imaan Asim and Catherine Wyatt

In cities across the country, councils are grappling with unprecedented numbers of people presenting as homeless. In London, mounting pressure on temporary accommodation has led some boroughs to place families far beyond the capital — in some cases more than 250 miles away, in County Durham.Charlotte McDonald travels to the North East to uncover why these long‑distance relocations are happening, and what impact they are having on the communities receiving them.She speaks to people about lives uprooted, often with little notice, and explores the realities they face as they try to rebuild their lives in unfamiliar towns and villages.The picture on the ground is complex. Local services, charities, churches and schools have rallied to support the newcomers, despite already operating in areas marked by deprivation and limited opportunities. Yet many relocated families encounter fresh challenges: anti‑social behaviour, culture shock, and the struggle to settle into communities facing their own hardships.County Durham had a Labour council for nearly a century, but it is now controlled by Reform. Many residents feel the area has been overlooked for years: traditional industries have faded, and little new investment has taken their place. Unemployment is high in parts of the county, as well as rates of long-term sick.With low‑cost housing and pockets of empty properties, the region has become increasingly attractive to councils which are struggling to find accommodation. But is it the right thing for old and new residents?Presenter: Charlotte McDonald Producers: Charlotte McDonald and Tom Burgess Studio manager: James Beard Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Richard Vadon

Why does President Trump really want to takeover Greenland?The Arctic territory is rich in vital minerals and oil, and it hosts an important American military base as the race for dominance in the wider Arctic heats up between China, Russia and the USA.While the issue has become suddenly urgent, it's a proposal that has been years in the making - and drill down beneath Trump's recent stated reason of 'security' and the reasons why he wants it as the 51st state are less clear. A financier-turned-MAGA operative, the small print of the right-wing wish list Project 2025, and a penchant for big places on maps might better explain the recent diplomatic crisis, as the Make America Great Again project evolves into an idea to Make America Bigger. The Coming Storm's Lucy Proctor delves into the backstory to Trump's insistence on acquiring Greenland. Produced and presented by Lucy Proctor Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Sound engineer: Andy Fell

Between the 1950s and 1990s the material known as RAAC, Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete, was used mostly in flat roofing, but also in floors and walls. It offered a cheaper alternative to standard concrete, but the discovery of its short lifespan has meant serious problems. It made the headlines when it was found in schools and hospitals, but it has been used in housing as well.A political storm is brewing in Scotland after thousands of homeowners have been told their properties are no longer safe because of RAAC. Some are living on ghost estates under threat of demolition. Others have even been forcibly removed. Local authorities are offering a percentage of the market value before the faults were identified, but homeowners say this will leave them homeless and in debt, paying mortgages on rubble. Karin Goodwin investigates the human cost of a flawed building material.Presenter: Karin Goodwin Producers: Liza Greig and Halina Rifai Executive Producer: Mark RickardsA Whistledown Scotland production for BBC Radio 4

Buy a pack of beef in the supermarket and you’ll find it’s increased in price by 52% in five years. Try and trade down to some chicken and you’ll find it’s nearly doubled in just two years. Make a product unaffordable- whether that’s cigarettes, brandy or steak- and you inevitably open up the door to smugglers. Evidence isn’t hard to find with Dover Port Authority offering up just one snapshot. In September 2025 they seized 20 tonnes of illegal meat, compared with just 1.3 tonnes in September 2022. Extrapolate the numbers with unchecked cargoes and the UK’s other ports and it’s clear that hundreds of tonnes of illegal meat are reaching our shores every month. This isn’t just a tax issue with cheeky smugglers making a few quid as they sell a roasting joint in a local pub. It’s a major risk to the UK economy. Some of the meat is coming from areas suffering from African Swine Fever or Foot and Mouth disease. There’s no way that this meat could enter Britain legally because of the fear of these diseases reaching the UK. The last major Foot and Mouth disease outbreak in the UK in 2001 led to the slaughter of 6 million cattle and sheep and nauseating pyres of animals burning beside the M6.Charlotte Smith travels to Romania to trace some of the many routes that meat can take to enter the UK and talks to customs and food standards officials in search of a solution to this significant risk to public health and to the UK's food and farming economy.Producer: Beatrice Fenton

ARIA is the UK government’s bold new bet on science and technology. Its mission? To chase breakthroughs so radical they could spawn trillion-pound industries and reshape everyday life.The Advanced Research and Invention Agency was created to be fast-moving - exempt from the usual public sector bureaucracy. No slow funding rounds. No rigid procurement rules. Just speed, agility, and a mandate to take risks. It's backed by MPs across the political spectrum - but is it a smart use of public money?The idea came from Dominic Cummings, inspired by America’s 'DARPA' - the agency behind the internet, GPS, and personal computing. ARIA launched in 2022 and has already sunk millions into 12 audacious programmes: from designing crops with massively synthetic genomes to building robots on entirely new principles, and developing cutting edge neurotechnologies for psychiatric illness.Evan Davis goes inside ARIA to meet the people steering this high-stakes experiment and explore the frontier science they’ve chosen to back. Can ARIA deliver world-changing innovation - or will it prove an expensive gamble?Presented by Evan Davis Produced by Ilan Goodman and Sophie Ormiston Research by Tabitha Taylor Buck

Alex Forsyth emerges from traffic jam Britain to ask why roadworks take so long and cause so much disruption to our daily lives. Are there better ways to manage the necessary maintenance of our roads and associated infrastructure? And why do Britons spend so many hours stuck in jams or creeping along the highways every year? Presenter: Alex Forsyth Producer: Jonathan Brunert

At the 2024 general election, something remarkable happened: young voters broke away from the political mainstream, but in opposite directions. Young men moved to the right, while young women swung just as strongly (if not, more) to the left.While the shift among young men dominated headlines and airwaves, sparking endless commentary and think pieces, the shift among young women was largely ignored, reduced to vague notions of idealism or climate anxiety. No analysis. No research funding. No curiosity.Presented by Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff, Left Out asks what we’ve missed by overlooking this political awakening and what it reveals about gender, power and a media landscape that still treats young men as serious voters, and young women as a footnote. It explores whether this quiet revolution signals a deeper cultural realignment. We hear directly from women aged 17-24 about what matters to them, why their political views are shifting, how conversations with their male peers often unfold and what they need to hear and see from politicians. Backed by the latest polling data, and with insights from academics, MPs and leading pollsters, Left Out investigates how social media is shaping the political consciousness of Britain’s youth, as well as the many other forces behind a growing polarisation between genders. It asks what happens when young men and women enter adulthood holding such opposing worldviews - in their careers, relationships and family lives.And we question how our politics might change if mainstream parties and media organisations fail to respond to this growing chorus of young women who have found their voice - and their power. A 2 Degrees West Production for BBC Radio 4

We face an increasing range of threats as a nation – from climate change to pandemics and artificial intelligence – and yet, emergency preparedness is seen as a thing of the past that belonged to an era of civil defence and nuclear war. But as the frequency and severity of extreme events begins to test the ability of emergency services and the government, what is the role of individuals in responding to and recovering from disasters? Emergency planner and disaster recovery expert Lucy Easthope assesses the state of national resilience today, and by exploring the history of preparedness – from the Second World War to the modern prepper movement – she asks what lessons can be learned. She finds out how we can break down the mental and practical barriers to resilience, as well as the challenges of creating a culture of preparedness when the threads that connect us as a society are frayed, but she discovers how vital it is that we start regaining these tools, skills and knowledge before the next disaster. Presenter: Lucy Easthope Producer: Patrick Bernard Executive Producer: Robert NicholsonA Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

A raw and intimate perspective on the terror, anger, and hope of living through war.As bombs hit ever closer to her home in central Gaza, Hanya Aljamal spots her elderly neighbour tending to his garden. “He's been raking the earth,” she says, “prepping the soil for new seeds. Given everything that's already happening, it's quite interesting seeing him do that right now. I mean, if grandpa thinks it's a good time to put seeds in, then I don't know, maybe there's hope.”In audio diaries sent from her balcony over four months, Hanya sees impromptu volleyball matches, flying shrapnel, and a hastily constructed tent village as Israel expands its military action. But after she questions whether she will live to see the end of the conflict, a fragile peace is finally agreed and Hanya’s personal situation changes dramatically.Producer/presenter: Simon Maybin Editor: Clare Fordham Sound mix: Gareth Jones Production co-ordinator: Katie Morrison

The words "spy ring" conjure up images straight from the enigmatic literary worlds of John le Carre and Graham Greene. But the recent prosecutions of a group of Bulgarians and the arsonists who set fire to a warehouse containing communications equipment for Ukraine, suggest a new, less glamorous front in the hidden world of espionage. Necessity is the mother of invention and the expulsion of Russian spies combined with sanctions on the technology of modern warfare have seen a move away from traditional "foreign agents". Communication platforms like Telegram are enabling the remote commissioning of low-level criminality - acts of sabotage and information gathering. Often, these outsourced agents are not even aware of who they're working for. They are, as the Director General of MI5, Sir Ken McCallum would have it "Playing Spies" and they are entirely disposable. Author and journalist Gordon Corera considers this new ecosystem of state interference and the dangerous players who are more Slow Horses than shaken not stirred. He hears from investigative journalist Roman Dobrokhotov, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Dominic Murphy, Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute Matthew Redhead and Daniela Richterova, Senior Lecturer in Intelligence at the Department of War Studies at King's College London. Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk Tim Passmore gives us his take on fears that Russia's drone war is having a direct impact on farmers in the UK. Presented by Gordon Corera Produced by Kev Core

A lot has happened since the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.The Conservatives have been deposed at Westminster. Labour — the political force that once dominated Scottish politics — is back in power. Reform is eating into both parties' votes. The SNP has been in government in Scotland for 18 years and is expected to win next year’s Holyrood election. But the last decade has been a trying one for the party. How has Scotland's appetite for independence changed over the years? And if nothing's changed significantly in the polls why then is independence central to the SNP's electoral campaign strategy for the 2026 Holyrood election?

Its thought over 2000 Brits have fought in the Ukraine war. May of them are seasoned soldiers, veterans of Afghanistan, Syria and Northern Ireland who are just taking on another call of duty. There are others who have never picked up a gun before but gave up their day jobs to join the fight against RussiaNick Garnett meets the soldiers to find out why they have given up jobs, said a goodbye to families to go and fight for a country they don't belong to.Nick will find out about the changing face of war in Ukraine how the trained soldiers have encountered a whole new way of combat such as drones

In the summer of 2020, Radio 4 producer Polly Weston found herself at Nathan Gill’s house. She’d been sent by a random postcode generator, for an episode of The Patch. What followed was a wide-ranging interview about his life and career, how he became involved in UKIP, his involvement in campaigning for Brexit, and his subsequent responsibilities in the Brexit party after they stormed to victory in the 2019 European elections. But the interview also happens to cover the period he was taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia. One year after this interview, Counter Terrorism detectives entered this same house, and they found evidence which contributed to his recent conviction for eight counts of bribery. “Officers found evidence on his devices that showed how Gill was in contact another individual in Ukraine and that Gill had agreed that, in exchange for money, he would make certain statements that were supportive of pro-Russia media being present in Ukraine. Detectives identified eight such instances between January 2018 and February 2020.”Gill pleaded guilty to eight counts of bribery in September, and faces sentencing on the 21st November – he is expected to receive a prison sentence. This is his story, up to the time of the events which led to his conviction, as told by the man himself.Produced and Presented in Bristol by Polly Weston Editor Chris Ledgard

Could the solution to Britain’s immigration problems lie in the Danish model? A model based on harsh restrictions on who can enter the country and strict rules for immigrants requiring not just integration but assimilation – and all promoted by a centre-left government.In this documentary BBC Political Correspondent Iain Watson explains why some prominent Labour MPs now think it’s the answer they’re searching for, and why the Government might soon follow suit.Travelling to Denmark he discovers what happened when the country introduced its radical new system, what the appeal is for British Labour MPs, and whether their system could work here. He reveals why the Danish model is attracting such interest to manage immigration and for its potential to solve Labour’s political problems. But can this Labour government navigate the extremely hazardous path of adopting policies associated with the populist right whilst retaining their own support on the left? Iain Watson reveals how all this may now play out.Presenter: Iain Watson Producer: Patrick Cowling Executive Producer: Jonathan Brunert

Kent is the Garden of England - if you view it from the air, it’s covered in square miles of plastic, where the millions of tonnes of soft fruit are grown that feed the nation. Aidan Tulloch takes us inside the world of the summer fruit pickers recruited to work for a season on a blueberry farm in Kent. In early summer thousands of people arrive in UK airports, hired on short-term visas to help pick the annual crop of soft fruit. Picking is an international effort, with jobs advertised in Russian, Bulgarian, Polish and many other languages, and pickers are increasingly being recruited from Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. They are joined each day by local pickers, often students or young people working summers between other lives elsewhere. Many pickers live in on-site caravans that become their homes for several months. The farm becomes a fascinating, temporary global community.From spring showers through a heatwave and a late September chill, this is the story of a summer in a pickers' village, from the early starts to the final goodbyes and the return home, where different people from vastly different backgrounds come together over the course of several months. It's the story of 5am alarms, temperamental weather, unexpected friendships and ad-hoc games of football, families left behind in home countries, new lives made in the UK - human stories behind the punnets of blueberries in your local supermarket. Translations: Irena Taranyuk and Elizaveta Fokht Voices: Hannah Bristow and Olivia RailtonPresenter: Aidan Tulloch Producer: Tim Bano

David Baker’s Jewish identity and faith have always been central to who he is - and so is his affiliation with Israel. But he has been re-evaluating that relationship since Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the war in Gaza.For many decades after the founding of Israel, most British Jews were unequivocal in their support. And that is still the case for many Jews in Britain. But there is evidence that those ties are weakening for a younger generation and some older Jews, too, are criticising the actions of Israel’s current right-wing government and the devastation of Gaza.In a search for answers, David talks to other British Jews who are responding in different ways. Some are taking political action, some are deepening their bonds with Israel and others are re-examining their connection with the Jewish state.Presenter: David Baker Producer: Jo Glanville Executive Producer: Robert Nicholson A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4

In towns and cities across Britain, flags are appearing in ever greater numbers. On rooftops, down terraced streets, outside pubs and community centres, they flutter as both a statement of pride and a challenge to what many feel the country is becoming. In York, the group known as the Flag Force see their work as part of a wider national campaign. For them, raising the Union Flag or the Cross of St George is about honouring history, heritage and a sense of belonging they believe is slowly being stripped away by government neglect, the cost of living crisis and, above all, immigration.The Flaggers insist their cause is not rooted in racism or exclusion, but in the preservation of British culture. Yet for others, the message is harder to separate. To some, the same symbols that inspire pride in one street can read like a warning in another. Not a call for unity, but a signal that certain people do not belong.At the heart of this story is a clash of meanings. Supporters describe the flags as an antidote to division, a way to bring fractured communities together under a shared identity. Opponents counter with flags of their own, from Switzerland to Bermuda to the rainbow Pride flag, aiming to show that being British can mean welcoming different cultures rather than resisting them.The result is a patchwork of banners across the country, each one loaded with history, politics and personal belief. What was once a simple piece of fabric is now a frontline in a debate about who we are and who we want to be. The very symbols meant to unite us are instead exposing how deeply divided we remain.Presented and Produced by Jonny I'Anson Edited by Clare Fordham

Nick Eardley explores the Scottish dimension to one of the most contentious issues facing the UK – immigration. With lower birthrates and a population that’s aging faster, Scotland desperately needs people to come here and take up jobs in critical sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and hospitality. And now with Reform biting at their heels Labour plan to adopt a much tighter immigration policy. So does this ‘one size fits all’ immigration policy risk making Scotland’s problems worse?Nick’s investigation probes into another central question: are higher immigration levels something that the average Scot is ready to accept? On the surface, Scotland presents itself as a hospitable, inclusive country, known for its strong values of egalitarianism. It avoided last year’s wave of immigration riots which hit parts of England and marred Labour’s first few weeks in power but recent protests outside asylum hotels in places like Perth and Falkirk suggest public opinion is shifting.The recent rise in support for Reform UK reveal a complex picture. While there’s much enthusiasm for Scotland from immigrant communities, there are surprising undercurrents of resentment surfacing.Nick will explore the often contradictory narratives and perspectives surrounding immigration in Scotland. His journey will uncover whether Scotland’s reputation for openness aligns with current attitudes, or if this image masks deeper ambivalences - does the old Scottish adage, about inclusivity - “We’re all Jock Tamson’s bairns,” still reflect the country today?Presenter: Nick Eardley Producer: Peter McManus Sound: Gav Murchie

Amid the crowds and bustle of the 2025 Iowa State Fair, Anna Jones takes the temperature of rural Iowans almost a year into Trump's second term. Anna finds out how the farming constituency - largely Trump supporting in 2024 - are feeling about global trade tariffs and promises to Make America Great Again. She explores their perceptions of America's position in the world - and how they feel the rest of the world views the rural Midwest. Produced and presented by Anna Jones for BBC Audio Bristol

A programme marking the 35th anniversary of the Treaty of Unification that brought East and West Germany together after 40 years of separation. Historian Katja Hoyer was born in East Germany in the 1980s. Then, her home town of Guben was a bustling hub of the GDR's chemical industry, shrouded in smog and crowded with people. Today, it is clean and beautifully rebuilt, but also rather desolate and depopulated as residents debate how best to revitalise the region. 40% of people in Guben now vote for the right wing AfD party and express disappointment with life 35 years after reunification. Why? Katja reports from Guben and discovers that people in the east feel hugely underrepresented in every sphere of German life. They believe that the united Germany is run on western terms and resent government intrusion from Berlin – especially the imposition of ‘green’ infrastructure. The AfD wins approval with its policies on this and migration, as well as a more pro-Russian stance on the war in Ukraine. Katja talks to the city mayor, librarian, AfD politician, journalists, a rapper, pub owner and people who grew up in the GDR. . Presenter: Katja Hoyer Producer : Susan Marling A Just Radio production for BBC Radio 4

What is going on with US science? Science Journalist Roland Pease asks whether the rounds of cuts, reorganisations and political strong-arming can be weathered, and how they will likely affect us all.80 years after Vannevar Bush proposed what became the pact between government and universities that led to decades of global scientific dominance, is the edifice being toppled?Bush’s report “Science, The Endless Frontier” led to the unwritten pact between university scientists and government funding that underpinned US leadership until now. “Trust us with the money, we’ll give you the global scientific advantage”.Today, US scientists fear the Trump administration is ripping up that agreement. Mandating what and what can’t be studied, who can study it, and re-defining expertise, government funded science in the US is being withered. The specialist agencies are either being closed down or defunded to the extent that many tens of thousands of government scientists are already unemployed. Multi-year experiments are being closed down uncompleted. Top universities are besieged by mandates on who and how they hire, tied to their future funding. Data streams that benefit researchers around the globe are being switched off. Even definitions of what counts as evidence are being re-drafted.Science is a complex, interwoven and international activity. The administration's declared aim is "Restoring Gold Standard Science", but scientific bodies fear its actions will cede global leadership to China, and that the whole world may be poorer.Can the coming storm be weathered, even if we can no longer predict it?Produced by Alex Mansfield Written and Presented by Roland Pease

In early June this year Nigel Farage held a press conference in the South Wales steel town of Port Talbot. He announced Reform UK’s commitment to the re-industrialisation of Wales, including the re-opening of Port Talbot’s blast furnaces and a return to coal mining in the South Wales Valleys. His controversial announcement was the opening shot in Reform UK’s campaign for the Welsh Senedd elections in May next year. Those elections could be a watershed moment for British politics. In a startling and far-reaching “perfect storm” of circumstances, Reform UK may become the largest party in Wales and could even, conceivably, end up forming the government. Whatever the outcome, a substantial Reform presence in the Senedd would be a major step forward for a party which didn’t even exist just a few years ago. It could also be a significant indication of what could happen across the UK as we look ahead to the next general election in 2029.Political journalist Will Hayward has been watching and reporting on Reform’s rise in Wales. Now he explores how Wales could become the setting for their biggest breakthrough yet. Current polls show Reform neck-and-neck with the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru and the Labour party currently in a distant third place. This is potentially a seismic shift in Welsh politics. Labour have dominated Wales not just in the last 26 years since devolution began, but for over a century. From the general election of 1922 onwards, Wales has always returned a majority of Labour MPs, making it the most successful democratic party in history. Yet this run of success could be about to come to a crashing halt. To understand how next year’s elections might play out, Will speaks to politicians from across the spectrum in Wales, including current and former Welsh party leaders, and to Reform’s man in Wales, Llŷr Powell. Will explores Reform's ambitions and policies for Wales; he considers whether this is really a right-turn politically for a nation that’s famously left-leaning; and he asks what a Reform victory in the Senedd elections could mean for the rest of the UK. Presenter: Will Hayward Producer: Jeremy Grange Executive Producer: Michael Surcombe An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4Photo credit: Rob Norman

Is a radical political philosophy guiding the actions of the Trump administration?Curtis Yarvin is suddenly all over American media. A computer engineer turned political blogger, he's known for writing long screeds that advocate for a radical reform of governance - dismissing America's democratic values and instead calling for the return of an absolute monarchy. For years, these ideas were buried in the blogosphere, but they began to gain traction after Donald Trump was first elected to the White House. With Mr Trump back in the oval office, some observers think this once niche school of thought is what's inspiring some of the president's more controversial policies - from Elon Musk's DOGE to attacks on elite institutions like Harvard University to the widespread dismantling of DEI programmes. How did Curtis Yarvin's ideas become so influential - and how important is he, really?ARCHIVE:Triggernometry podcast, The Case Against Democracy, Youtube, July 23 2023. Hermitix Podcast, Gray Mirror of the Nihilist Prince with Curtis Yarvin, Youtube, June 19 2020 Marc Andreessen on his Techno-Optimist Manifesto / YouTube, Start Up Archive / Jan 20 2025Presenter: Mike Wendling Producer: Lucy Proctor Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Mix: James Beard

When a parcel delivery goes awry, Polly Weston does what every angry person in 2025 does... she searches the internet for similarly angry people to bask in the shared experience of being annoyed. Naturally, she finds countless groups on social media devoted to people complaining. There are posts from people furious about the delivery which never turned up at the designated time; or the parcel strewn on a doorstep, or with a photo in a mysterious unknown location; or, most annoying of all, the message to say "sorry we missed you" when they were absolutely, undeniably, incontrovertibly in the house and poised by the door waiting for the parcel at the time... But hidden in amongst the social media fist waving, she notices surprising posts from another group of people - delivery drivers themselves. On these groups, the delivery drivers explain the reasons why customers have the experiences they do, and the reasons why things go wrong. A single phone call to one delivery driver who she tracks down is more enlightening than any AI customer service chatbot could hope to be, and it sparks weeks of recordings with many people who have worked across all the different courier companies over the past ten years. As the proposed merger between EVRi and DHL hits the headlines, this is the story of the multi-drop parcel courier industry and its recent history, as told by the drivers.In 2013, 1.7 billion parcels were processed annually in the UK, in 2023, it was 4 billion, and it's projected to climb to 5.6 billion by 2028. How does an industry deliver that kind of growth? What does it mean for the people doing the work? And how exactly do you deliver to 270 locations in a single shift?Produced and presented by Polly Weston in Bristol Editor: Chris Ledgard

In the years since Brexit, British businesses have had to constantly adapt to ever changing rules and regulations about trading with the EU. The current government is making moves to make some of that process easier. To find out more about the consequences of (almost) a decade of Brexit, we catch up with three very different businesses to find out if they've been thriving, surviving, or downsizing.Presenter: Adam Fleming Producer Ivana Davidovic Editor: Max Deveson Sound editor: Sarah Hockley

Louise Lancaster - approaching 60 - received one of Britain's longest ever jail terms for peaceful protest, in July 2024.She served part of her sentence in HMP Bronzefield, the UK's highest security women's prison, alongside some of Britain's most notorious killers.Louise was one of five Just Stop Oil activists involved in bringing much of the M25 to a standstill in November 2022, and has taken part in several other high profile acts of direct action climate protest.The judge, in sentencing Louise and a number of co-defendents, told them:"Each of you has some time ago crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic."You have appointed yourselves as the sole arbiters of what should be done about climate change, bound neither by the principles of democracy nor the rule of law."Journalist and producer Patrick Steel has been following Louise's story for several years, and has intimately recorded access to Louise, and her family and friends. In this documentary, Patrick explores Louise's transition from law-abiding Middle England mum and special educational needs teacher, to law-breaking direct action eco-activist, and criminal.Has Louise indeed 'crossed the line'? Are her actions a heroic self-sacrifice for the greater good of tackling climate change, or are they damaging and reckless fanaticism?Presenter: Patrick Steel Producers: Patrick Steel and Carys Wall Sound Design: Tom Drew A Bespoken Media / Fat Toad Films production, from an idea by Terry Macalister

The daily realities and private thoughts of a young woman living through war.Every morning, Hanya Aljamal sees the same man from her balcony. “He has this tiny garden in the middle of all this concrete stuff,” she says. “Just across the road, there’s a blown-up building. Yet he’s cultivating these little herbs and plants. And I look at that and it just looks like the purest form of resistance.”Hanya has been living in a war zone for 20 months. In daily audio diaries, she describes what she sees and hears from her balcony and in her work for an aid organisation, from drones and kites to funeral marches and sun rises. Her insights and reflections offer a window into life in a place devastated by conflict.Producer/presenter: Simon Maybin Editor: China Collins Sound mix: Eloise Whitmore Production coordinators: Hattie Valentine & Gemma Ashman

As the UK Treasury grapples with a massive financial ‘black hole’, its once impoverished neighbour, the Irish Republic, is grappling with the dilemma of how to spend a bounty of €14bn.It’s a 'pot of gold' which the Irish government didn’t expect – and surprisingly didn't want - but was eventually forced to accept by a European Court ruling that the mighty US corporation, Apple, had underpaid taxes on its extensive Irish-based operations. Added to a mighty windfall from other companies, taking advantage of its low corporate tax policies, Ireland is now one of the richest countries in the European Union. Dublin's River Liffey waterfront, once a depressed, neglected area, has been transformed into 'Silicon Docks’, a gleaming hub of high rise offices, housing American tech giants including Google, Meta, Airbnb and Docusign. While other western economies haved struggled and stagnated Ireland has attracted new, dynamic American firms. It's estimated that 700 multinational tech and pharmaceutical companies have bases across Ireland, employing more than 150,000 people. Politically, the country may be tied to Europe but economically it straddles both sides of the Atlantic.Despite these riches, Ireland has a severe housing crisis, a crumbling health system, weak transport and energy infrastructures and a myriad of other demands on the public purse. While the politicians argue over how the money should best be spent there are growing concerns that Donald Trump's arrival in The White House, could bring these lucrative tax benefits to an end.For a country so dependent on global trade and the American multi-nationals in particular, it's a moment of serious economic jeopardy, as the BBC's Ireland correspondent, Chris Page, reports.Presenter: Chris Page, BBC Ireland Correspondent Producers: Kathleen Carragher and John Deering Sound Engineer: Kris McConnachie

Permanent exclusions from schools in England have risen over the last decade. Neil Maggs explores why this might be happening - and what happens to the children who are excluded from the classroom. He visits a pupil referral unit where children are sent if they are excluded from a mainstream school; a school in the North East of England that excluded just one pupil last year to see what it's doing differently, and speaks to experts to see what factors lie behind school exclusions. Presenter: Neil Maggs. Producer: Fergus Hewison. Technical producer: Richard Hannaford. Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith.

The beautiful Atlantic island of Madeira has a chronic problem with a cheap synthetic drug imported through the post. The drug - nicknamed Bloom - is so easy to get hold of, so cheap and so addictive that authorities are struggling to cope. Helen Clifton has spent time with police and frontline services to get an idea of how big a problem Bloom now is across Madeiran society. She comes face to face with addicts, and hears about the desperate social impact of a drug more addictive than heroin.With authorities trying - but failing - to stop the supply, Bloom addicts are in full sight on the streets amongst locals and tourists.So how can Madeira get a grip on its Bloom problem, before it grows out of control? Presenter/Producer: Helen Clifton Additional reporting: Erica Franco Research: Liliana Jardim

On a cold night in January 2024 a dog walker finds a baby in a bag - a foundling. She's named Elsa, after the Frozen character.Reporter Sanchia Berg begins to follow the case, gaining rare access to the Family Court and to the police investigation. DNA tests reveal Elsa is the sibling of two other babies found abandoned in the same area over recent years. What has happened to the mother?Produced by Lucy Proctor Mixed by James Beard Edited by Matt Willis

The latest figures on NHS finances don't make pretty reading. NHS England alone faces a projected deficit of £6.6 billion for this financial year and the situation looks as bleak right across the NHS in Wales, Scotland and Northern IrelandThe NHS has always had to make tough choices about what to prioritise but this deficit is prompting health bosses to make decisions that were previously unthinkable to balance the books.New research shared exclusively with the BBC by the independent think tank The Kings Fund, surveyed Chief Executive and financial leaders across the NHS in England about the kind of difficult decisions they are having to make because of the huge deficitsBut faced with having to make efficiency savings, cutting staff numbers and rolling back on patient services, BBC Health correspondent Dominic Hughes learns how painful these decisions really are, from the people having to make them.Presenter: Dominic Hughes Producer: Jay Unger Editor: Richard McIlroy Executive Editor: Pete Wilson

Vicky Spratt investigates how people have remained trapped in high interest mortgages since the financial crash of 2008.Some of these so-called ‘mortgage prisoners’ are homeowners who were formerly customers of Northern Rock, a bank which was famously nationalised by the UK Government.Since then, these customers have not been able to move out of their high interest mortgages and many are now living in poverty, and often suffering from poor mental and physical health.There are tens of thousands of ‘mortgage prisoners’ in the UK, and housing journalist Vicky travels to Hartlepool and Blackpool to speak with two of them. She wants to find out how the issue arose and what the Government can do to help.Presenter: Vicky Spratt Producer: Emily Uchida Finch Executive Producer: Rosamund Jones Assistant Producer: Sam Stone A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

After Brexit, we left the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, the CAP. For many people - whatever they made of Brexit - this was a golden opportunity to come up with something better. A NEW farming policy, which would encourage efficient food production while rewarding farmers for environmental work.Nearly a decade later, where have we got to? This is a programme about agricultural policy, so if you're not a farmer you may not think it's for you. But farm policy is also environmental policy and food policy...so the seismic shift that farmers are going though right now will have an impact not just on their lives and businesses, but on the landscapes we see, the food on our plate and price we pay for both.Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced by Heather Simons

Russians who sign up to fight in Ukraine earn big money in salaries and bonuses – and the Kremlin is even more generous to families of those killed in battle. Average compensation packages for a dead son or husband are worth about £97,000. In less-wealthy Russian provinces, where most recruits are from, that’s enough to turn your life around. Reporter Arsenii Sokolov finds out how the relatives of the tens of thousands of men Russia has lost in the war are spending the money – and asks whether the pay-outs will help create a new “patriotic” middle class that supports Vladimir Putin.Besides the cash, there are many privileges offered to soldiers and their families, and to bereaved relatives of the fallen. Their children can go to university whatever their grades. And the Kremlin has started a programme called “Time of Heroes” that claims it will fast-track selected returning servicemen into elite positions in local politics and business. But can Putin’s attempt at social engineering really work? And will “deathonomics” – as one economist calls it – really boost the economy of the provinces that have suffered most from the huge death toll?Presenter: Arsenii Sokolov Producer: Tim Whewell Sound engineer: Neil Churchill Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Editor: Penny Murphy

California is one of ten US states where assisted dying is lawful and in some respects it’s a model for how the practice might work in Britain.Introduced in 2016, it’s available to those who are terminally ill and are expected to die within six months. Patients must self administer the lethal medication - the same as what’s proposed in England and Wales. BBC Medical editor Fergus Walsh travels to San Diego to meet 80 year old Wayne who’s planning to end his life. He’s terminally ill with heart failure and in excruciating pain from a severely damaged spine.“I just don't see any merit to dying slow and painfully and hooked up with intubation and feeding tubes. I want none of it,” he said. The programme hears from doctors and patients on both sides of the argument. Opponents warn assisted dying is putting the vulnerable at risk such as people with disabilities or mental illness. Michelle Carter is 72 and has advanced cancer. She believes people should have a choice but has completely ruled out having an assisted death“Suicide dying is not for me..I choose palliative care. I have God and I have good medicine,” she said. There are important differences between the law in California and what is proposed here. Patients can get access to lethal medication in 48 hours in California. If assisted dying is legalised in England and Wales, it will take about a month for terminally ill patients to be approved.Across California, around 1 in every 300 deaths is now medically aided. But in Canada assisted dying accounts for around 1 in 20 deaths - that’s 15 times the rate in California - and one of the highest in the world. The law was introduced in 2016 - the same as California - and is open to those with an incurable medical condition which causes intolerable suffering. Initially it was just for the terminally ill, but that requirement has been dropped. In Canada, nearly all medically assisted deaths are carried out by doctors who inject the lethal dose. Fergus meets one doctor who has helped hundreds of people to die. She says she sees it as a “ sacred duty.” But another tells him that Canada has “fallen off a cliff” when it comes to assisted dying and that it is being used as an alternative to social or medical support. Finally Fergus returns to California to witness Wayne end his life surrounded by his wife and children. “I’m all in. I’ve never had any question about it,” Wayne tells himReporter: Fergus Walsh Producers: Paul Grant and Camilla Horrox Technical Producer: David Crackles Production Management Assistant: Katie Morrison Editor: Clare Fordham

Thousands of female council workers across Britain have lost out on pay and benefits worth billions because of unequal pay over decades. Now claims for compensation and demands to reform pay and grading threaten to capsize council finances, upset male council workers and cause massive cuts to local services. Anushka Asthana investigates why such pay discrimination is still happening despite being illegal for the last fifty years. And she discovers what the price of equality might actually be, for the women seeking it and the millions of us living in places where our local council has ignored the problem for years. Presenter: Anushka Asthana Producers: Jonathan Brunert and Leela Padmanabhan

Ash Bhardwaj finds out why the British Army is shrinking at a crucial juncture for the future of UK defence. He speaks to new recruits to understand what drove them to a career in the army – and visits secondary schools across the country to ask whether it’s really true that young people don't want to fight for their country. We hear from insiders who’ve been at coalface of recruitment over the last ten years, who tell us where we’ve been going wrong, and how we might start to get it right. Presented by Ash Bhardwaj Produced by Artemis Irvine A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Reactive features from Radio 4, exploring what's really happening behind the headlines and unearthing untold stories, both at home and abroad.