The Explanation Podcast
Where the world is explained. Making sense of the big stories - looking behind the spin.
Where the world is explained. Making sense of the big stories - looking behind the spin. Exploring the important questions about long-running stories and the latest global news. An honest, unvarnished, explanation of the world.
Featuring new episodes of The President's Path, Unspun World with John Simpson, and The Media Show.
Episodes to download
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Unspun World: How might Gaza be governed in the future?
Fri 28 Mar 2025
John Simpson examines how Gaza could be governed in the future
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The Media Show: Are pirated books powering AI?
Thu 27 Mar 2025
Copyright row as authors say Meta trained its AI without their consent
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Unspun World: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin negotiate over a ceasefire in Ukraine
Fri 21 Mar 2025
John Simpson analyses the negotiations over a ceasefire in Ukraine
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The Media Show: Investigating Michael Jackson
Thu 20 Mar 2025
Dan Reed on Leaving Neverland 2 and the legal battle over Jackson’s legacy
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Can Germany's ailing economy get back on track?
Sat 15 Mar 2025
Ed Butler interviews Dr Joachim Nagel, president of the Deutsche Bundesbank
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Unspun World: How will Donald Trump’s tariffs affect global markets?
Fri 14 Mar 2025
John Simpson looks at whether an economic downturn is on the horizon
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The Media Show: Revealing Facebook
Thu 13 Mar 2025
A former Facebook executive describes life inside the company and its leadership culture
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Unspun World: Can Ukraine continue to rely on US support?
Fri 7 Mar 2025
John Simpson examines whether a European army could provide a bulwark against Russia
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The Media Show: Jeff Bezos' Washington Post shift
Thu 6 Mar 2025
How the Amazon founder has triggered resignations at the paper he owns
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Unspun World: Is Russia’s war in Ukraine nearing an endgame?
Fri 28 Feb 2025
John Simpson analyses whether Russia’s war in Ukraine is nearing an endgame
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The Media Show: Mehdi Hasan on journalism, opinion, and independence
Thu 27 Feb 2025
The former MSNBC star on why he’s now flying solo
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The Media Show: Diplomacy and the media and 100 years of The New Yorker
Thu 20 Feb 2025
The battle to report Ukraine, Russia, and government narratives
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Unspun World: Is Western support for Ukraine holding firm?
Fri 14 Feb 2025
John Simpson examines whether Western support for Ukraine is holding firm
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The Media Show: Understanding the attention economy
Thu 13 Feb 2025
How big tech is reshaping how we pay attention
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Unspun World: Donald Trump’s whirlwind start to his second term
Fri 7 Feb 2025
John Simpson examines Donald Trump’s first few weeks in office
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The Media Show: Bill Gates on tech and politics
Thu 6 Feb 2025
Microsoft co-founder discusses social media, Trump, and his concerns over misinformation
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Unspun World: How will Trump's second presidency affect the war in Ukraine?
Fri 31 Jan 2025
John Simpson reflects on how the collapse of the Soviet Union has shaped Putin’s Russia
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The Media Show: China’s AI rise
Thu 30 Jan 2025
DeepSeek shakes up tech, raising security and influence concerns in the West
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Mindu Hornick: Interview with an Auschwitz survivor
Mon 27 Jan 2025
Tim Franks speaks to Mindu Hornick, who survived the Nazis' largest concentration camp
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Unspun World: What's behind the growing tensions between China and Taiwan?
Fri 24 Jan 2025
In Taiwan, John Simpson reflects on the last 60 years of Chinese politics
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The Media Show: Prince Harry’s legal victory and TikTok’s future
Thu 23 Jan 2025
Prince Harry gets a formal apology from Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers and a payout
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The Media Show: Reporting the LA fires
Thu 16 Jan 2025
Challenge and dilemma for journalists reporting on the LA wildfires
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The Media Show: Meta drops fact-checkers and Grand Theft Auto 6 hype builds
Thu 9 Jan 2025
Why Mark Zuckerberg has changed tactics ahead of President Trump’s return
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The Global Jigsaw: The language of war: Ukraine
Sat 28 Dec 2024
Kyiv’s answer to the Kremlin’s warspeak
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The Media Show: Jeans, cars, deodorant
Boxing Day 2024
Advertising legend Sir John Hegarty on creating some of the world’s most famous ads
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The Media Show: CNN’s Syria report controversy
Thu 19 Dec 2024
CNN faces backlash over Syrian prisoner misidentification
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The Media Show: Reporting Syria and reaction to Luigi Mangione
Thu 12 Dec 2024
Syria enters a new era for journalists after the fall of the Assad regime
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The Media Show: Reddit's rise
Thu 5 Dec 2024
Why Reddit is one of the world’s fastest growing social networks
