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Did Emily ruin Paris? Aug 28, 2026

Show notes

The Netflix show Emily in Paris has been lauded by French President Emmanuel Macron, who presented its creator, Darren Star, with the prestigious Légion d’Honneur last year. “You make France shine across the world,” Macron said.

Many critics disagree. The programme, about a hapless American marketing executive living a glamorous and romantic fantasy in the French capital, is due to return for its sixth and final season later this year. Some Parisians have complained that the series is full of cliches. And they worry that the tourism boost created by the show is changing the city they live in.

How do blockbuster TV series and iconic films reshape our cities, for better or worse? Host Tristan Redman heads to the fifth arrondissement, while producers Hannah Moore and Xandra Ellin get the picture in London and New York.

Producer: Hannah Moore

Executive Producer: James Shield

Mix: David Crackles

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Lily Collins at the ‘Emily in Paris’ Season 4, Part 1 Premiere held at The Egyptian Theatre Hollywood on August 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images.

Trump 'tightens the noose' on Iran. Will it backfire? Aug 27, 2026

Show notes

There have been a lot of sanctions programmes against Iran. But this week US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Operation Economic Outcast, which promises to go further than ever before. It will punish not just Iran but any country helping Iran - including China.

It is the Trump administration’s latest attempt to end the war. Will it work?

We speak to Vali Nasr, professor of international affairs and Middle East studies at Johns Hopkins University, and ask whether in trying to end one war, President Trump risks starting a global trade conflict.

(Photo: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference to outline further sanctions against Iran, at the Treasury Department in Washington, DC, 24 August, 2026. He has short, mousy-grey hair and is wearing glasses, with the American flag behind him. Credit: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

Producers: Mhairi MacKenzie and Lucy Pawle

Sound engineer: Travis Evans

Editor: James Shield

Senior news editor: China Collins

Canada’s Mark Carney fights back Aug 26, 2026

Show notes

What are the costs of standing up to your biggest trading partner?

Canada recently walked away from trade talks with the US hours before Trump's deadline to impose major tariffs on Canadian goods. Prime Minister Mark Carney struck a defiant tone, acknowledging that Canada was now locked in a trade war with the US. "You're at war when you're attacked,” Carney told reporters, “we got attacked". He also announced retaliatory tariffs, pledging to match US tariffs, "dollar for dollar". Carney's tough stance is popular at home, but will it come at a price?

We speak to Jayme Poisson, host of the CBC podcast Front Burner, about whether Carney is taking a big political gamble by standing up to Trump’s tariffs – and why many Canadians feel confident they can withstand a trade war with their southern neighbour.

(Photo: Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks holds press conference after suspending trade negotiations with the US, in Ottawa, Canada August 22, 2026. Credit: Chris Tanouye/Reuters)

Listen to Front Burner: link.mgln.ai/jvyxQW

Producers: Aron Keller and Xandra Ellin

Executive producer: Martine Powers

Sound engineer: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Will the new cancer vaccine survive RFK Jr’s America? Aug 25, 2026

Show notes

A new personalised vaccine given in combination with a drug has stopped skin cancer returning in patients during a trial, representing a potentially watershed moment in cancer treatment. Scientists used mRNA technology, which was used for some Covid-19 vaccines.

But that technology - and vaccines more generally - have become increasingly controversial in the United States since the Covid-19 pandemic. The Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, is a vaccine sceptic.

In August 2025 cancelled $500m (£376m) in funding for mRNA vaccine research. The move impacted 22 projects being led by major pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer and Moderna, for vaccines against bird flu and other viruses, according to Kennedy’s department.

We speak to Tom Whipple, host of the BBC’s Inside Science programme, about the science of this new vaccine. And we ask how funding cuts for vaccine research could impact health outcomes not just for Americans, but for the world.

Producers: Lucy Pawle and Sam Chantarasak

Digital producer: Sam Gruet

Mix: Travis Evans

Editor: James Shield

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies during the Senate Finance Committee's hearing on The President's Health Care Agenda on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, USA, 04 September 2025. Credit: Shawn Thew/EPA/Shutterstock

The campaign to replace Zelensky Aug 24, 2026

Show notes

Last week Ukraine's popular ex-defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov called for wartime elections, in what is widely seen as the biggest challenge to Volodymyr Zelensky's presidency since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Zelensky, whose five-year presidential term ended in May 2024, has been under pressure from both Washington and Moscow to hold new elections, but they have been suspended until after the war is over. Fedorov says that corruption is depriving the military of weapons and making it harder for Kyiv to win the war, and that, "democracy cannot be held hostage by Russia”, although he tells the BBC that he had not himself seen the president engage in any corrupt activity.

We speak to Vitaly Shevchenko from BBC Monitoring about where all this could lead.

Producers: Mhairi Mackenzie, Xandra Ellin and Lucy Pawle

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Digital producer: Tom Bage

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Ukrainians protest against dismissal of Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Kyiv, Ukraine,24 July, 2026. EPA/Sergey Dolzhenko

The end of Harry and Meghan’s American dream Aug 21, 2026

Show notes

The Duke of Sussex told the BBC last year that he, “can't see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back.” So what’s changed?

Prince Harry and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, plan to move back to the UK later this month. Their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, are due to start at a British school in September. They are not expected to resume their roles as working Royals.

Prince Harry and Meghan left the UK in 2020, and in the years since have had various achievements and controversies, including high-profile legal battles with the UK press and the government.

We ask the journalist and royal commentator Sarah Hewson about the successes and failures of brand Sussex in the US, Prince Harry’s ongoing concerns about security, and whether he can repair relationships with his family.

Producers: Xandra Ellin and Sam Chantarasak

Executive producers: Martine Powers and James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Digital producer: Matt Pintus

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attend a World Health Organisation roundtable in Amman, Jordan, February 25, 2026. Credit: Aaron Chown/PA Wire

Jason Arday, DEI, and the dilemma facing black academics Aug 20, 2026

Show notes

How did a prominent Cambridge professor come to embody the fault lines around DEI in higher education?

Three years ago, Jason Arday was celebrated as the youngest black professor ever appointed at the University of Cambridge. But recent questions about his academic work and his life story became the subject of fierce media scrutiny — scrutiny that only intensified after Arday was found dead at his South London home last week. Police have said his death was unexpected, but not believed to be suspicious.

Now, Arday’s personal narrative is raising broader questions about the responsibility of universities to vet high-profile hires, the media’s role in amplifying a firestorm of controversy, and the deepening cultural divide over diversity and inclusion in liberal institutions.

Asma Khalid of The Global Story speaks with BBC Education Editor Branwen Jeffreys and Tyler Austin Harper of The Atlantic about Arday’s story — and what it reveals about the limits of inclusion in higher education.

Producers: Lucy Pawle and Hannah Moore

Digital producer: Matt Pintus

Mix: Travis Evans

Editor: Martine Powers

Senior News Editor: China Collins

Photo: Jason Arday - a guest on the panel of BBC show Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg in 2025. Credit: Jeff Overs/BBC

Is Kim Jong Un the real winner of the Iran war? Aug 19, 2026

Show notes

President Trump took to Truth Social last weekend to announce that the US will "substantially reduce" joint military exercises with South Korea. He cited his "very good relationship" with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, but he also accused South Korea of failing to help the US in its war with Iran – comments that suggest major new cracks in the US’s relationship with a key ally.

To understand the reaction from South Korea, we speak to the BBC’s Seoul Correspondent Jake Kwon about whether Trump’s sidelining of South Korea is a major foreign policy shift for the US.

Producers: Aron Keller and Mhairi MacKenzie

Executive producer: Martine Powers

Mix: Travis Evans

Digital producer: Sam Gruet

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: A South Korean soldier stands next to a TV broadcasting a news report on a possible summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, October 22, 2025. Credit: Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji

The West Bank settler siege Aug 18, 2026

Show notes

Two Palestinian families in the village of Qusra in the West Bank have been under siege by Israeli settlers for over a week. The Palestinian-American owner of one of the homes traveled to the West Bank from Ohio on Monday, after asking for protection from the US embassy.

His visit comes after the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called those involved “Israeli terrorists”, amid mounting international pressure on Israel’s government to deal with the situation.

We speak to the BBC’s Jon Donnison, who has been reporting from Qusra, and ask whether the West Bank is at a tipping point. Producer: Sam Chantarasak

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Digital producer: Matt Pintus

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Palestinian-American Loui Ridi, whose home in the occupied West Bank has been encircled by militant settlers for more than a week, hangs a U.S. flag after gaining access to his besieged home in Qusra. August 17, 2026. Credit: Ammar Awad TPX/Reuters.

The challenger to Netanyahu, with New Yorker editor David Remnick Aug 17, 2026

Show notes

Benjamin Netanyahu has been a major figure in Israeli politics for a long time. You could have just turned 30 years old and never known a time when he wasn’t either prime minister or somewhere near the top of Israeli politics. But could that be about to change?

With less than three months until the Israeli general election, Netanyahu is struggling in some polls. His rival is a man who is little known outside of Israel – former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot. In some international media, Eisenkot is being dubbed the ‘anti-Netanyahu’. But is that accurate?

We speak to David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, who has spent time with Eisenkot for a major profile piece.

Producer: Xandra Ellin Executive producer: James Shield Mix: Travis Evans Digital producer: Tom Bage Senior news editor: China Collins

Image: Israeli opposition leader and former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot speaks on a phone outside a conference for his campaign ahead of Israeli elections, in Dimona, Israel, July 6, 2026. Reuters/Amir Cohen

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