The Explanation

Where the world is explained. Making sense of the big stories - looking behind the spin.

World Service,328 episodes

Episodes

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The Media Show: What teenage boys are watching online
How the Netflix drama Adolescence has started a conversation about online influence
03 Apr 2025,22 mins
Unspun World: How might Gaza be governed in the future?
John Simpson examines how Gaza could be governed in the future
28 Mar 2025,26 mins
The Media Show: Are pirated books powering AI?
Copyright row as authors say Meta trained its AI without their consent
27 Mar 2025,22 mins
Unspun World: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin negotiate over a ceasefire in Ukraine
John Simpson analyses the negotiations over a ceasefire in Ukraine
21 Mar 2025,26 mins
The Media Show: Investigating Michael Jackson
Dan Reed on Leaving Neverland 2 and the legal battle over Jackson’s legacy
20 Mar 2025,22 mins
Can Germany's ailing economy get back on track?
Ed Butler interviews Dr Joachim Nagel, president of the Deutsche Bundesbank
15 Mar 2025,18 mins
Unspun World: How will Donald Trump’s tariffs affect global markets?
John Simpson looks at whether an economic downturn is on the horizon
14 Mar 2025,26 mins
The Media Show: Revealing Facebook
A former Facebook executive describes life inside the company and its leadership culture
13 Mar 2025,22 mins
Unspun World: Can Ukraine continue to rely on US support?
John Simpson examines whether a European army could provide a bulwark against Russia
07 Mar 2025,26 mins
The Media Show: Jeff Bezos' Washington Post shift
How the Amazon founder has triggered resignations at the paper he owns
06 Mar 2025,22 mins
Unspun World: Is Russia’s war in Ukraine nearing an endgame?
John Simpson analyses whether Russia’s war in Ukraine is nearing an endgame
28 Feb 2025,26 mins
The Media Show: Mehdi Hasan on journalism, opinion, and independence
The former MSNBC star on why he’s now flying solo
27 Feb 2025,22 mins
The Media Show: Diplomacy and the media and 100 years of The New Yorker
The battle to report Ukraine, Russia, and government narratives
20 Feb 2025,22 mins
Unspun World: Is Western support for Ukraine holding firm?
John Simpson examines whether Western support for Ukraine is holding firm
14 Feb 2025,26 mins
The Media Show: Understanding the attention economy
How big tech is reshaping how we pay attention
13 Feb 2025,22 mins
Unspun World: Donald Trump’s whirlwind start to his second term
John Simpson examines Donald Trump’s first few weeks in office
07 Feb 2025,26 mins
The Media Show: Bill Gates on tech and politics
Microsoft co-founder discusses social media, Trump, and his concerns over misinformation
06 Feb 2025,22 mins
Unspun World: How will Trump's second presidency affect the war in Ukraine?
John Simpson reflects on how the collapse of the Soviet Union has shaped Putin’s Russia
31 Jan 2025,26 mins
The Media Show: China’s AI rise
DeepSeek shakes up tech, raising security and influence concerns in the West
30 Jan 2025,22 mins
Mindu Hornick: Interview with an Auschwitz survivor
Tim Franks speaks to Mindu Hornick, who survived the Nazis' largest concentration camp
27 Jan 2025,23 mins
Unspun World: What's behind the growing tensions between China and Taiwan?
In Taiwan, John Simpson reflects on the last 60 years of Chinese politics
24 Jan 2025,26 mins
The Media Show: Prince Harry’s legal victory and TikTok’s future
Prince Harry gets a formal apology from Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers and a payout
23 Jan 2025,22 mins
The Media Show: Reporting the LA fires
Challenge and dilemma for journalists reporting on the LA wildfires
16 Jan 2025,22 mins
The Media Show: Meta drops fact-checkers and Grand Theft Auto 6 hype builds
Why Mark Zuckerberg has changed tactics ahead of President Trump’s return
09 Jan 2025,22 mins
The Media Show: media trends in 2025
Media predictions: what we'll see in 2025
02 Jan 2025,22 mins
The Global Jigsaw: The language of war: Ukraine
Kyiv’s answer to the Kremlin’s warspeak
28 Dec 2024,36 mins
The Media Show: Jeans, cars, deodorant
Advertising legend Sir John Hegarty on creating some of the world’s most famous ads
26 Dec 2024,22 mins
The Global Jigsaw: The language of war: Russia
Decoding the Kremlin’s warspeak
21 Dec 2024,28 mins
The Media Show: CNN’s Syria report controversy
CNN faces backlash over Syrian prisoner misidentification
19 Dec 2024,22 mins
The Media Show: Reporting Syria and reaction to Luigi Mangione
Syria enters a new era for journalists after the fall of the Assad regime
12 Dec 2024,22 mins