Beyond Today

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Are Extinction Rebellion the new Suffragettes? Apr 12, 2019

Show notes

The climate protest group Extinction Rebellion has been causing quite a stir. Its members recently stripped almost naked in the House of Commons. They have also shut bridges, poured buckets of fake blood on the ground outside Downing Street and blockaded the BBC. For this episode we invited Extinction Rebellion’s Clare Farrell into the Beyond Today studio to find out why they think breaking the law is key to saving the planet.

We also spoke to Phil Jones, who edits the Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2. Phil told us about the climate change phone-in that angered the nation and a mix-up that ended with Extinction Rebellion members being hauled from the Radio 2 studio by police.

Produced and mixed by Duncan Barber Additional mixing by Weidong Lin Editor: Lucy Hancock

Why is Korean spy cam porn everyone’s problem? Apr 11, 2019

Show notes

South Korea is thought to be one of the more progressive countries in Asia, with its technological advancements and dominance in pop music. But the recent introduction of 5G has led to a rise in secret recordings in public areas, including women’s changing rooms and toilets. The BBC’s Seoul correspondent Laura Bicker takes us through the rise of spy cams and how it’s fuelling the global porn industry.

Producers: Seren Jones and Lucy Hancock Editor: Harriet Noble Mixed by Andrew Mills

Would we have Brexit without the Tories? Apr 10, 2019

Show notes

If it feels like politicians have been talking about Brexit forever, it’s because in a way they have. From Thatcher campaigning to stay in Europe in 1975, to her ideological successors pinning their careers to getting us out in 2016, the Conservative Party has been at odds over Europe for decades. We speak to the Today programme presenter Nick Robinson, who for years as the BBC’s political editor watched the fray.

Producers: Heidi Pett and Alva White Mixed by Andy Mills Editor: Harriet Noble

How did a teenager become the UK’s biggest cyber criminal? Apr 09, 2019

Show notes

This is the story of Zain Qaiser. A student who made hundreds of thousands of pounds blackmailing porn users with cyber attacks from his parents’ house in East London. He spent almost £5,000 on a Rolex watch, £2,000 on a stay in a Chelsea hotel and £70,000 in a shopping centre casino. Today he was jailed for more than six years.

But for every Zain there’s a Fabian. Fabian Wosar destroys the kind of ransomware that Zain Qaiser used to extort money. Fabian is so successful that cyber gangs leave threatening messages for him in their code to try and scare him off. The BBC’s Dominic Casciani and Joe Tidy take us into the murky world of cyber criminals and the hero hackers trying to stop them.

Producer: Duncan Barber Mixed by Weidong Lin Editor: Harriet Noble

Did the financial crisis change banking? Apr 08, 2019

Show notes

There’s a story you won’t hear much about today — because it’s a story that didn’t really happen. The former chief executive of Barclays John Varley and three other former senior bankers were on trial accused of fraud, the first time criminal charges were brought against the head of a global bank for activities during the financial crisis. And this morning the jury was discharged. The BBC’s business editor Simon Jack has been covering the crisis and its aftermath since the beginning. He spoke to us about whether lessons have been learnt in the past decade.

Producers: Lucy Hancock and Seren Jones Mixed by Weidong Lin Editor: Harriet Noble

Marc Maron: how did podcasts become mainstream? Apr 05, 2019

Show notes

There are a few moments when the podcast phenomenon really took off - and one of them is in 2009 when a comedian began interviewing people he knew in his garage. “WTF with Marc Maron” has grown to be a podcast juggernaut - each month it’s downloaded 6 million times and it’s just celebrated its 1000th episode. Some of the most famous people in the world have talked to Marc - rockstars, A-List actors, and a former president of the United States. Marc Maron sat down with Beyond Today to talk about how podcasts made the jump from the underground to the mainstream, and what it’s like when Barack Obama comes to visit.

Producer: Harriet Noble Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields

What’s Chelsea doing about racism? Apr 04, 2019

Show notes

Chelsea has come under the spotlight this season after Manchester City's Raheem Sterling was alleged to have been racially abused by some supporters during a Premier League game at Stamford Bridge last December. The incident led to four fans being suspended by the club. This was followed just a few days later by alleged anti-Semitic chanting by Chelsea fans at a match in Hungary.

The Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck responded by greeting supporters at the turnstiles before a Premier League win at Brighton on 16 December and writing an open letter condemning the actions of "a few mindless individuals". We went to speak to him at Stamford Bridge to hear about how the club is using education to clamp down on discrimination.

Producer: Duncan Barber. Editor: John Shields. Mixed by Nicolas Raufast.

How dangerous are far right hipsters? Apr 03, 2019

Show notes

Last week a story surfaced that seemed, on the face of it, a little bit odd. A far right youtuber in Austria, Martin Sellner, had his house raided by the authorities after revealing he’d received a $1500 donation to his movement Generation Identity. The money was from the suspect in the Christchurch shooting in New Zealand. This story takes us from the world of YouTubers back to the Crusades and tells us how extreme ideas spread around the world.

Would celebrities make better politicians? Apr 02, 2019

Show notes

Donald Trump, Imran Khan, George Weah… all over the world voters have shown their dissatisfaction with politicians by voting in anti-establishment candidates, sometimes former celebrities. The next in line might be Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian who plays a president on Ukrainian TV and won the first round of the country’s presidential elections in real life. Could electing popular celebrities overcome our distrust of unpopular politicians? Olga Robinson from BBC Monitoring and Senior Elections and Political Analyst Peter Barnes weigh in.

Producers: Harriet Noble and Seren Jones Mixed by Nicolas Raufast Editor: John Shields

True Crime: how ethical is it? Apr 01, 2019

Show notes

It’s a big moment for true crime fans with another documentary out this week. ‘The Case Against Adnan Syed’ is being released in four parts by HBO and Sky. He’s the man who arguably started our addiction for true crime. 340 million people downloaded the original telling of this story on the Serial podcast. Now, his case is being seen on TV. It’s just one of many true crime documentaries being pumped out this year, along with The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann and The Ted Bundy Tapes. Kelly-Leigh Cooper writes for the BBC news website and is a big true crime fan. She visited some of the communities burdened by notorious murders.

Credit to Cassidy Rainforest Gard for use of audio.

Producers: Philly Beaumont, Seren Jones Mixed by: Nicolaus Raufast Editor: John Shields

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