Beyond Today

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Who are you Jonathan Van Ness? Oct 29, 2019

Show notes

Jonathan Van Ness is a podcaster, a hairdresser, and host of the Game of Thrones webseries Gay of Thrones. But he’s best known as one of the “Fab Five” on Queer Eye, the incredibly popular Netflix makeover show.

He came into talk to us because he’s just written a book. It’s called Over the Top and as well as the fun and bubbly “JVN” that people have come to love, it addresses some very serious, very difficult issues: abuse, addiction and the impact of HIV. In today’s episode we hear about both sides of Jonathan Van Ness.

Presenter: Matthew Price Producer: Harriet Noble Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields

Baghdadi: Trump’s movie moment? Oct 28, 2019

Show notes

Donald Trump announced over the weekend that the fugitive leader of the so-called Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, had been killed in a raid in Syria. During the press conference he described the ISIS leader “whimpering and crying and screaming all the way” to the back of a tunnel in his compound, where he detonated a suicide vest as he was surrounded by three of his children. The president also went on to say that “it was just like a movie”, and that this moment is bigger than the death of Osama Bin Laden. Mina al-Lami, Jihadi analyst for BBC monitoring, tells us Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s story. We also hear from BBC North America editor Jon Sopel about why this moment is so important to Donald Trump. Presenter: Matthew Price Producers: Philly Beaumont and Duncan Barber Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields

Esther Perel: does ‘the one’ exist? Oct 25, 2019

Show notes

“Love is not a permanent state of enthusiasm.” These are the words of one of the most famous therapists in the world: Esther Perel. She is internationally renowned for creating and presenting ‘Where Should We Begin’, the ground-breaking podcast about love, sex, intimacy and infidelity. She also has two best-selling books and videos of her TED talks have been viewed tens of millions of times online. This month she launched the third season of her podcast, which focuses on marriage by telling the stories of six couples.

Presenter: Tina Daheley Producers: Duncan Barber and Seren Jones Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields

What happened to the lost boys of Lanarkshire? Oct 24, 2019

Show notes

Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50 in the UK and Scotland has the highest suicide rate in Britain. Chris Clements and Calum Mckay have looked into the figures for BBC Scotland's Disclosure programme. They travelled to Lanarkshire, in south-central Scotland, where they both grew up and discovered Motherwell Thistle, an amateur football club scarred by suicide. Since 2017 four people connected to the club have killed themselves. Through the pain of their loss, the club has found a way to celebrate their lives.

You can watch BBC Disclosure's "The Lost Boys" on iPlayer.

If you are feeling emotionally distressed and would like details of organisations which offer advice and support, go online to bbc.co.uk/actionline or you can call for free, at any time to hear recorded information 0800 066 066.

Presenter: Tina Daheley Producer: Duncan Barber Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields

Why does Facebook want you to date? Oct 23, 2019

Show notes

Facebook helps connect people, but now it’s on a new mission to get people to fall in love. Facebook users in the US — it will be available in Europe next year — can create a dating profile and curate a list of secret crushes from among your friends.

The dating industry is massive — estimates say that it will be worth $12 billion a year by 2020 — but Facebook has said its feature will be free. So, why is the social network getting into the business of love? Could it be after even more data about us?

In this episode we speak to The Atlantic’s Kaitlyn Tiffany, who was at the official Facebook Dating launch party in New York. She talks about how it works and whether it could be a success. We also speak to developer Ben Berman, who’s created a game called Monster Match to show exactly how dating app algorithms work.

Presenter: Tina Daheley Producers: Alicia Burrell, Harriet Noble and Lucy Hancock Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields

How did dirty money fund The Wolf of Wall Street? Oct 22, 2019

Show notes

In a court case that is gripping Asia, a Malaysian wealth fund is accused of robbing the country of $3.5 billion US dollars. It is the world’s biggest white-collar heist involving government corruption at the highest level, an abuse of power and international money laundering. It's also a case that drags in one of the most successful Hollywood movies of all time: The Wolf of Wall Street, a Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio film about corruption and multimillion-dollar theft.

Investigators in Malaysia and the United States are still piecing together exactly what happened, and so far no one has been found guilty. We speak to Tom Wright from the Wall Street Journal who has spent years investigating the story and Alex Ritman of The Hollywood Reporter.

Brexit: nearly done? Oct 21, 2019

Show notes

Was this the worst Monday morning ever for MPs? They were forced into work over the weekend to vote on the Brexit deal, and they couldn’t even do that properly. Now they’re back trying to hammer it out again. They’ve been doing this for months, stuck because there’s no majority for any agreement on Brexit. That might now be changing, there might now actually be enough MPs who will vote for the deal Boris Johnson agreed with Brussels. Passing a deal to leave, however, is just the first phase of a long process. We speak to Tom McTague, a staff writer for The Atlantic.

Presenter: Matthew Price Producer: Harriet Noble Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields

Cambridge Analytica: could it happen again? Oct 18, 2019

Show notes

Christopher Wylie is a 30-year-old Canadian data specialist who moved to London a few years back, started working in political campaigns, and then became deeply involved in two of the biggest political events of his lifetime: the Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump. He worked for Cambridge Analytica, the company that was caught harvesting data from millions of Facebook accounts and using it for political advertising purposes. We’d been warned for years it could happen, and it was the first time we saw how data could be used and weaponised to win an election. This is that story. Presenter: Matthew Price Producer: Philly Beaumont Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields

Why would Nike sponsor a cheat? Oct 17, 2019

Show notes

Nike spends a lot of money sponsoring and marketing some of the best athletes in the world. It doesn’t just back global superstars like Serena Williams and Cristiano Ronaldo on the field, but off them too. It made the American football player Colin Kaepernick as the face of an advertising campaign after he protested against racial injustice by kneeling during the US national anthem.

The events of the last few days don’t fit Nike’s preferred narrative. The firm has shut down the Oregon Project, its elite training programme, after the main coach there, Alberto Salazar, was found guilty of cheating by the US anti-doping agency. Nike says it doesn’t accept Salazar was deliberately cheating and is supporting his appeal against the ban.

Matthew Price hears from two people who’ve followed this story from the start. The BBC’s Mark Daly first exposed Salazar in a Panorama investigation four years ago. And Matt Lawton, the chief sports writer for The Times, has been inside Nike’s controversial Oregon Project.

Producers: Philly Beaumont and Duncan Barber Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields

What actually happened in Ayia Napa? Oct 16, 2019

Show notes

A British woman is on trial in Cyprus, where she is accused of causing public mischief by allegedly falsely claiming to have been sexually assaulted at an Ayia Napa hotel in July. The woman has told the court she was raped, but then "forced" to retract her statement by the Cypriot police 10 days later.

12 young Israelis were arrested in connection with the allegations but were later released and returned home, where some of them celebrated with champagne at the airport. Tom Bateman and Anna Holligan have been following the story for the BBC.

Presenter: Matthew Price Producer: Duncan Barber Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields

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