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Professor Jim Al-Khalili talks to leading scientists about their life and work, finding out what inspires them and asking what their discoveries might do for us in the future.
Every week, we look at a different everyday English phrase or piece of slang in this fun three-minute programme. From BBC World Service
It’s good, bad, ugly - and very very funny. Changing the way we see heroes and villains in history.
Aleks Krotoski explores the digital world
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Surprising stories from unusual places. With ideas too big for a single episode, The Compass presents mini-series about the environment and politics, culture and society.
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Investigating every aspect of the food we eat
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Clare Balding joins notable and interesting people for a walk through the countryside
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In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspectiveBy BBC Radio 4
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BBC Music Introducing Mixtape


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The BBC Music Introducing Mixtape With Tom Robinson
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An hour of top tunes from Buffet Lunch, Introducing Sample Collective, ETAN, ELMZ XIX, Fable, Kimbo Nice, Pao Pestana, CreepJoint, Maya Law, Butterjunk, Eädyth, Dakar Audio Club, Anna McCluckie, The Micro Band, EMERGER, Trandoshan Hunters, Pushpin, and The Actions, handpicked by Tom Robinson from the BBC Introducing Uploader.…
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Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4


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The Now Show - 26th February - ft Jess Fostekew, Beardyman and Ken Cheng...
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Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis present the week via topical stand-up and sketches in front of a remote audience - and all from their own home!In the first show of the new series, they are joined by Jessica Fostekew who relays her time volunteering in a vaccination centre. Ken Cheng talks about his experiences as a Chinese Briton plus music from Beardym…
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World Business Report


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Update: We get the latest on the financial markets
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We hear about US job figures, the latest news on the US stimulus package and why the Nasdaq faltered.By BBC World Service
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Newshour


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ICC opens war crimes investigation in Palestinian territories
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The ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the probe would cover events in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip since June 2014. The ICC has the authority to prosecute those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes on the territory of states party to the Rome Statute, its founding treaty. Israel has nev…
In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspectiveBy BBC Radio 4
In the third of her curated series of essays about the way rain is experienced across the globe, Nandini Das introduces the Australian poet and environmentalist Mark O'Connor. Mark explores the uniquely Australian experiences of rain, which include the vivid smell of it. The word petrichor was coined by Australian scientists to try and capture the …
On the day the chancellor defends his budget plans, we are joined by Radio 4’s Evan Davis and Laura to help us pick through the detail. And we bring back Sarah Smith and Nick Eardley as Nicola Sturgeon gives evidence at the inquiry into her government's unlawful handling of harassment complaints against Alex Salmond. Producer: Georgia CoanEpisode E…
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Africa Today


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Tanzanian nuns and clerics dying 'with Covid symptoms'
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Sixty nuns and 25 priests have died in Tanzania in the last two months after showing symptoms of coronavirus, the Catholic Church in the East African nation says.Plus, as more Covid-19 vaccines are becoming available - why isn’t there one so far from an African country?And music guru Rita Ray takes us on a tour of the new talent and sounds around t…
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Six O'Clock News


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03/03/2021 The Chancellor has revealed how the government plans to start paying back the huge cost of the coronavirus crisis
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The Chancellor has used his second budget to reveal how the government plans to start paying back the huge cost of the coronavirus crisisBy BBC Radio 4
Paul Lewis is joined by a panel of experts to discuss how the Budget might affect your finances. Panelists:Anita Monteith – Tax manager at Institute of Chartered Accounts in England and WalesHeather Self - partner, Blick Rothenberg AccountantsTina Riches – volunteer, Tax AidGareth Morgan - chief executive, FerretYou can also e-mail moneybox@bbc.co.…
The British stage and screen star talks to Nihal about his starring role in Da 5 Bloods and his thoughts on being tipped for Oscar success.By BBC Radio 5 live
Amongst a range of spending measures the latest UK budget hikes tax on some businesses. The BBC's Sarah Corker gauges how the new measures have been received in the northwest of England, and Roger Bootle, chairman of Capital Economics looks at the UK's finance picture from a global perspective. Also in the programme, continuing a series this week e…
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Newshour


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Chinese study reveals Uighur 'assimilation' goal
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A high-level Chinese report, meant for senior officials but accidentally posted online, has revealed policies in the western region of Xinjiang that are designed to assimilate Muslim Uighurs and other minorities. The paper contains detailed research on a massive relocation scheme that China says will help reduce poverty.Also in the programme: we he…
Nissim Black grew up in the American city of Seattle, where he made his name rapping about drug dealing and drive-by shootings. These were all subjects that were familiar to him, and his music was doing well, but nevertheless Nissim became increasingly unhappy with the gangster image he portrayed. He started as a Christian looking for answers in th…
03 MAR 21By BBC Radio 4
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History Extra podcast


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Formidable dynasties of the Italian Renaissance
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Mary Hollingsworth discusses her new book, Princes of the Renaissance, which charts the wars and alliances between the powerful Italian families of the 15th and 16th centuries Mary Hollingsworth discusses her new book Princes of the Renaissance, which charts the wars and alliances between the powerful Italian families of the 15th and 16th centuries…
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Witness History


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When US police dropped explosives on a Philadelphia home
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On 13 May 1985 a police helicopter dropped explosives on a house in residential Philadelphia, in an attempt to end a stand-off with radical black activists from an organisaton called MOVE. Fire spread quickly through the surrounding buildings and 11 people died, including five children. All the victims belonged to MOVE. A total of sixty houses in t…
How has mental health in the South American country been affected during lockdown? According to the World Health Organisation Guyana has for years had one of the highest suicide rates anywhere in the world. So how has the country fared during the pandemic? Ed Butler speaks to Supriya Singh-Bodden, founder of a non-profit organisation The Guyana Fou…
Sean Farrington has the details on the extension of the furlough scheme, what else to expect in the Budget, plus cross-industry analysis.By BBC Radio 5 live
Writer Jessica J. Lee, sets out to describe the myriad ways that forests operate in our lives and the life of the planet. She outlines the exciting developments that have taken place in our understanding of the ways forests work over recent decades, with science offering radical new ways of recognising these places as communities of mutually suppor…
Writer Jessica J. Lee outlines the exciting developments that have taken place in our understanding of the ways forests work over recent decades, with science offering radical new ways of recognising these places as communities of mutually supportive trees rather than competitive spaces where individual trees fight one another for survival. She spe…
Jessica unpicks the profound role that forests play in our imaginative life. We know of course that they feature heavily in the fairy tales and myths we use to navigate life as children, and as we hear from writers like Max Porter, Richard Powers and Melissa Harrison, they also offer ways of understanding the complexities of desire, politics and hi…
The measures, which target Russia's top spy and six others, are being co-ordinated with similar moves by the European Union and we get details from the BBC's Barbara Plett-Usher, the BBC's State Department Correspondent. Plus, we hear Reddit’s chief executive Steve Huffman talk about recent controversies involving the social media network. And Joe …
When the rains of the fifth month, samidare, arrive in Japan it seems they'll never stop. In the second of Nandini Das's curated series of essays on rain and the way it's experienced across the globe, she invites art historian Timon Screech to introduce us to the rains of Japan where he now lives.The rains that flood country and city alike are also…
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Newshour


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Protesters in Myanmar press junta for Suu Kyi's release
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Some of Myanmar’s neighbours pressed its ruling junta on Tuesday to release ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and cease using lethal force against opponents of their Feb. 1 coup. Also on the programme: The US imposes sanctions on senior Russian officials over the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny; and three Afghan women journalist are shot…
We’re getting new details about Rishi Sunak’s Budget – and his personal habits. We ask how long before all cars are electric and speak to Eurovision’s executive supervisor about staging a contest during the pandemic.Studio Manager: Emma CroweProducers: Alix Pickles and Daniel WittenbergEpisode Editor: Rick KelseyAssistant Editor: Sam BonhamEditor: …
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Six O'Clock News


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02/03/2021 Furlough scheme to be extended as part of the Budget
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A Cabinet minister has let slip that the Chancellor will use tomorrow's Budget to extend the furlough scheme.By BBC Radio 4
Nearly 300 girls who were kidnapped from a boarding school in Nigeria’s north-western Zamfara state a few days ago, have been released.There is increasing concern about the safety of journalists detained by Ethiopia's military in the conflict-hit region of Tigray.And we meet a brave, young Kenyan diagnosed with a rare debilitating disorder that has…
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World Business Report


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Global CO2 emissions rising after 2020 fall
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The International Energy Agency says global CO2 levels are rising after a fall in 2020. Timothy Goodson is one of the report's lead authors and explains why we're seeing this trend, after reductions caused by the pandemic last year. Also in the programme, videoconferencing platform Zoom expects sales to rise by more than 40% this year, after a bump…
Hundreds of schoolgirls abducted by gunmen in Nigeria's north-western Zamfara state have been released. The girls were abducted last Friday and taken to a forest, according to police.Also in the programme: Singapore's Prime Minister calls for Myanmar's military junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi; and the environmental price of mining Bitcoin.Photo: …
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Outlook


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My son found his birth mother using Google Earth
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Sue Brierley adopted her son, Saroo, after he had been found wandering the streets of Kolkata as a five year old. He had got on a train that took him across India and away from his birth family, and couldn’t find his way back. Sue always believed that Saroo’s birth mother was alive, and would send comforting thoughts to her every night, sharing the…
Gordon Campbell reveals how the Vikings made epic voyages of discovery across the Atlantic a millennium ago The argument over whether Norse explorers settled in North America a millennium ago has raged for two centuries, pitting Protestants against Catholics, Native Americans against European colonists – and producing claims and counterclaims often…
02 MAR 21By BBC Radio 4
In 2001, boats carrying hundreds of, mainly Afghan, refugees arrived on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru. This marked the beginning of the “Pacific Solution” – a policy by the Australian government to establish offshore centres for processing asylum claims. The policy was intended to act as a deterrent, discouraging people from travelling to Austra…
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The Life Scientific


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Sarah Bridle on the carbon footprint of food
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What would happen to our carbon emissions if we all went vegan? Astrophysicist, Sarah Bridle tells Jim Al-Khalili why she switched her attention from galaxies to food. A rising star in the study of extra-galactic astronomy, Sarah was a driving force behind one of the most ambitious astronomy projects of recent times, the Dark Energy Survey of the u…
The Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the lives of billions of people around the world, and with many countries still in lockdown the impact will continue to be felt for many years. Not least for teenagers, whose education, family and social lives have been profoundly disrupted. Today we meet such teenagers: Ayushmaan in New Delhi, Emma in Hamburg…
Sean Farrington looks at the possibility of a corporate tax rise in tomorrow's budget, the head of Volvo Europe outlines the company's electric plans and do we have zoom fatigue?By BBC Radio 5 live
Learn an expression about having influence.By BBC Radio
The markets rallied, led by video conferencing business Zoom which reported profits a long way above expectations, as we hear from independent investment consultant Peter Jankovskis. Plus, the largest power cooperative in the state has filed for bankruptcy protection; we get analysis from Jeremy Hill who's been following the story for Bloomberg.…
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Newshour


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US asks Saudi Arabia to adopt institutional reforms
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The United States has urged Saudi Arabia to disband a rapid intervention force sanctioned over the murder of the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. The State Department spokesman, Ned Price, said it wanted Saudi Arabia to adopt institutional reforms so anti- dissident activities and operations stopped completely.Also, the former French president Nicolas …
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The World Tonight


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Nicholas Sarkozy found guilty of corruption and influence-peddling
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In depth reporting, intelligent analysis and breaking news from a global perspectiveBy BBC Radio 4
Nandini Das, Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture at Oxford, brings us stories and personal experiences of rain and the way it informs and combines with different cultures across the globe. Each of the five essays takes a particular sense and location as focus, beginning with Nandini's native India and the sound of rainfall. She recalls…
How strong is the force in the new coronavirus variants? Adam, Laura and Fergus unite to answer some of the biggest questions of the universe (like how worried should we be that Test and Trace can't seem to find a sixth person infected with the Brazilian strain of Covid-19)? And Paul Johnson, from the Institute of Fiscal Studies, tells us what we s…
There used to be a romantic notion of globalisation that all countries would simply have to get along as we were all so interconnected. Why fight when your interests are aligned? It’s an idea that has made direct military engagement less likely. But something very different has emerged in its place. We live in a new era of conflict, where states tr…
Professor Cath Noakes studies how air moves and the infection risk associated with different ventilation systems. Early in the pandemic, she was invited to join the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, SAGE and asked to study the transmission routes for Covid-19. In July, together with many other scientists, she urged governments…
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Africa Today


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Mass Covax vaccination rollouts begin in West Africa
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Ivory Coast launches the first widespread Covid vaccine drive under the internationally sponsored Covax scheme, while Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo leads by example by getting his Covax jab in public.Plus a Zambian banking executive describes how she defied the odds to reach the top of her profession.…