The Global Story

Latest Episodes:

Will Gen Z protests around the world continue in 2026? Jan 09, 2026

Show notes

Throughout 2025, a massive youth protest movement took shape across the world. From Bangladesh, to Nepal, to Morocco, to Kenya, to the Maldives, young people were taking to the streets to demand, among other things, job security, improved standards of living, and the toppling of corrupt regimes. And in a number of cases their ambitious demands were met.

Today we speak to the BBC's social media investigations correspondent, Marianna Spring, about how social media helped spark a movement that transcended borders, and where the so-called, 'Gen Z Revolution' goes from here.

Producers: Xandra Ellin and Cat Farnsworth

Sound engineer: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

(Photo: A protester carries a banner featuring a Malagasy version of the logo of the popular Japanese manga One Piece, during a nationwide youth-led demonstration over frequent power outages and water shortages, in Antananarivo, Madagascar, October 13, 2025. Credit: Siphiwe Sibeko/ Reuters)

Will Trump take control of Greenland? Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

After his major military operation in Venezuela, President Trump has escalated his rhetoric about taking control of Greenland. Trump has repeatedly suggested that the Arctic island – which is a semi-autonomous Danish territory - should be part of the US. "We need Greenland from a national security situation”, Trump told reporters recently, “It's so strategic”. In capitals around Europe, leaders are now wondering if Trump might just follow through on his threats.

We speak to journalist Adrienne Murray in Copenhagen to find out how Greenlanders and Danes feel about Trump’s comments, and what any US action on Greenland could mean for the future of Nato and Europe. Producers: Viv Jones, Aron Keller and Xandra Ellin Executive producer: Bridget Harney Mix: Travis Evans Senior news editor: China Collins Photo: Danish troops take part in military drills in Greenland. Credit: Guglielmo Mangiapane/ Reuters

The US ran a war game on the aftermath of Maduro’s fall – it predicted chaos Jan 07, 2026

Show notes

When the US government captured Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, on Saturday, most of the world was shocked. But US officials had for years been gaming out different scenarios, including predicting what would happen if Maduro was ousted. According to one man who took part, each ended in disaster.

On today’s episode, we speak to the former Washington Post journalist Douglas Farah, who participated in war games on Venezuela during Donald Trump’s first term, as well as during the Obama and Biden administrations.

Producers: Hannah Moore and Lucy Pawle

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: A protest against US strikes on Venezuela and the capture of President Maduro, in Brazil. Tuane Fernandes/Reuters

People who could change the world in 2026 Jan 06, 2026

Show notes

Who might have the power and influence to change the world in 2026? World leaders aside, we choose four people and discuss why they could intersect with some of the big stories and themes of the next year.

Producers: Xandra Ellin and Sam Chantarasak

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Image: FC Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates scoring a goal. Credit: Pablo Morano/Reuters.

What’s next for Venezuela? Jan 05, 2026

Show notes

The Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are due to appear in a federal Manhattan court on Monday, after the United States captured them in a military operation in Venezuela.

President Trump says the US will run Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”. But Maduro’s allies – including its new interim president – remain in charge.

We speak to Ione Wells, the BBC’s South America correspondent, about what might happen in the coming weeks and months.

Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Aron Keller

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Nicolás Maduro in an image distributed by President Trump which he said was taken on board the USS Iwo Jima.

Are conspiracy theories America’s biggest export? Jan 02, 2026

Show notes

We are away for Christmas, so this is a repeat of a previous episode.

Mistrust in science has never been higher. Fewer people are getting vaccinated, a known vaccine skeptic is leading the most powerful health agency in America and an outbreak of measels in Texas this year led to the first fatalities in almost a decade. Then, in August, a gunman opened fire on the headquarters of the Centre for Disease Control with many speculating he was fuelled by misinformation about health.

Increasingly this misinformation is being exported around the world.

Marianna Spring is the BBC’s Social Media Investigations Correspondent and tells the story of how suspicion of science in America helped radicalise a British mom with devastating consequences.

Producers: Cat Farnsworth and Lucy Pawle

Executive producer: Annie Brown

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Kate Shemirani. Martin Pope / Getty

The death of reading Jan 01, 2026

Show notes

We are away for Christmas, so this is a repeat of a previous episode.

Are we living through the slow death of reading - replaced by an addictive screen culture that fragments our attention and floods us with trivial or unreliable information? Writer and voracious reader James Marriott believes we are entering a post-literate age with profoundly negative consequences for education, culture and democracy itself. In today's episode, James traces how an 18th century ‘reading revolution’ shaped the modern-world - and what might follow its sudden decline.

Producers: Aron Keller and Sam Chantarasak

Editor: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: The al-Nahda al-Arabiya library (Arab Renaissance Library) in central Baghdad. AHMED JALIL/EPA.

The hostage negotiator’s guide to making deals with Putin’s Russia Dec 31, 2025

Show notes

We are away for Christmas, so this is a repeat of a previous episode.

Donald Trump has spent this year trying to negotiate a deal to end the war in Ukraine. So far, Vladimir Putin doesn’t seem interested in the US’ proposals.

One man who has experience successfully negotiating with Russia – and many other American adversaries – is Roger Carstens, former Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. From 2020 to 2025 he worked to free dozens of US citizens taken hostage and wrongfully detained around the world, including Russia. Securing their release often required complex deals that took years to put together.

What does it take to successfully negotiate with Vladimir Putin’s Russia?

Producer: Lucy Pawle

Executive producer: James Shield

Senior news editor: China Collins

Mix: Travis Evans

Photo: Roger Carstens. Credit: BBC

Is the AI boom actually a bubble? Dec 30, 2025

Show notes

We are away for Christmas, so this is a repeat of a previous episode.

AI companies are seeing a monumental surge in investment – but some experts are now warning of the risks of an economic bubble.

Could AI be the biggest market bubble since the dot-com crash? Or is it a genuinely transformative technology that’s simply taking time to deliver? We speak to the BBC’s Evan Davis.

Producers: Aron Keller and Xandra Ellin

Executive Producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Artificial Intelligence mobile apps. Hannibal Hanschke/EPA/Shutterstock

Nukes for nothing: The deal that broke Ukraine's trust Dec 29, 2025

Show notes

We are away for Christmas, so this is a repeat of a previous episode.

In 1994, Ukraine surrendered the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal, inherited from the collapsed Soviet Union, in exchange for security assurances from the US, Russia, and the UK.

Ukraine’s denuclearisation is often considered a huge success story in nuclear non-proliferation, but in retrospect, it may have paved the way for Putin's 2022 invasion.

As talk of US-European security guarantees for Ukraine resurfaces in the context of tentative Russia-Ukraine peace talks, we speak with BBC Paris correspondent Andrew Harding about the history of the 1994 agreement, and consider whether Ukraine would ever again believe promises made to protect it.

Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Xandra Ellin

Executive producer: Annie Brown

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: France's President Emmanuel Macron and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ludovic Marin/ Getty

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected