Podcast Episodes

What Kind of Person Becomes a Violent Jihadi?

For decades researchers, academics and psychologists have wanted to know what kind of person becomes a terrorist. If there are pre-existing traits which make someone more likely to kill for their bel…

Published on 9 years, 8 months ago

Do We Have Enough Genders?

Gender identity is considered more fluid than ever because of the success of the trans movement. But most trans people, just like everyone else, still identify as either a man or a women. For those w…

Published on 9 years, 8 months ago

What Happened To Al-Qaeda?

A deadly al-Qaeda attack on an Ivory Coast resort town in March reminded the world that the terror network once led by Osama bin Laden has not gone away. But in recent years it has been eclipsed and …

Published on 9 years, 8 months ago

Why Do Mexicans Drink So Much Soda?

Most research places Mexico at the top of the chart when it comes to the consumption of sugary drinks – by some estimates, they get through half a litre per person every day. Mexico also has some of …

Published on 9 years, 9 months ago

Can we Quake-Proof a City?

They are at once the most predictable and unpredictable killers. We know continent-sized slabs of earth are moving beneath our feet. We know they move at a speed that is often harmless - the same rat…

Published on 9 years, 9 months ago

Why Are Wages So Low?

Pay packets in developed economies have hardly grown in decades.

Economic output and the number of people in jobs have both improved since the global downturn. But with income levels failing to rise,…

Published on 9 years, 9 months ago

How Did Governments Lose Control of Encryption?

The clash between Apple and the FBI is the latest battle in a century-long conflict over the power to keep secrets. The FBI wants Apple to build a “backdoor to the iPhone” so that it can read encrypt…

Published on 9 years, 9 months ago

Has President Assad Won?

Bashar al-Assad and his Syrian National Army appear to have the upper hand. The president has the momentum in a civil war that has raged for five years. It is a very different picture from that of 20…

Published on 9 years, 10 months ago

Why Don’t We Eradicate Mosquitoes?

Mosquitoes are the most dangerous animals on the planet. They spread diseases - malaria, dengue and zika – that kill huge numbers of people and cause suffering to many more.

So why not eradicate them?…

Published on 9 years, 10 months ago

How Did Iceland Clean Up its Banks (And Why Can't We)?

At 4pm on 6 October 2008, as the global financial crisis ravaged Iceland’s economy, its prime minister addressed the nation. "There is a danger, fellow citizens," he said, "that Iceland could be suck…

Published on 9 years, 10 months ago