Understand
NEW in Understand - The Growth ConundrumEvery UK government says it wants strong and sustained economic growth. But for almost 20 years none have managed it. Ben Chu asks why generating growth seems so difficult?
The Growth Conundrum: 3. Growing Up
In Episode 3 of The Growth Conundrum Ben Chu assesses the UK's underlying economic strengths and the size and nature of the opportunities to be found in sectors such as Artificial Intelligence and life sciences - and asks whether a big part of the solution is to be found in enabling our regional cities to fulfil their untapped potential. He also asks whether, in this era of political instability, which has seen seven different prime ministers in Number 10 in the last ten years, politicians have the space and courage to do what’s necesary to deliver strong growth. He turns a...
The Growth Conundrum: 2. Growth Potential
In recent decades the UK's growth has been deeply disappointing by its own historical standards. But some countries are booming. In the second episode of The Growth Conundrum BBC Verify's Policy and Analysis Correspondent, Ben Chu travels to Poland to find out how the once impoverished communist country is now achieving formidable economic growth rates and fast rising living standards. He talks to Polish businesses - big and small - about the opportunities growth creates and the entrepreneurial spirit behind their success. He speaks to Polish economic migrants, who left to work in the UK several years ago, but...
The Growth Conundrum: 1. Growing Pains
Economic growth is something every UK government, up to and including the current one, claims to want above all else. But for almost 20 years, not a single one has been able to deliver sustained national economic expansion. BBC Verify's Policy and Analysis correspondent, Ben Chu asks why generating growth seems to be such a puzzle for us. In the first of a three part series he looks at what growth actually is, how it’s made human civilisation and the profound damage two decades of feeble growth have done to our living standards. Ben talks to businesses on the gr...
The Growth Conundrum: Trailer
Every UK government, up to and including the current one, claims to want to achieve economic growth. But for almost 20 years not a single one has delivered sustained economic expansion. BBC Verify's Policy and Analysis Correspondent, Ben Chu asks why generating growth seems to be such a puzzle for us. In this three part series he looks at what growth actually is, what's holding it back, as well as what we can learn from other fast growing economies and where the UK's future growth potential lies.
Seven Ages of Man, with Michael Rosen: 7. Vittorio Angelone's in his 20s
In the final episode of Michael Rosen’s series on masculinity and manhood, can comedian and podcaster Vittorio Angelone, following his tumultuous 20s, find his way to being a man that he actually likes. At the start of his 20s, Vittorio found himself adrift in London, unsure of who he was or who he wanted to be. He felt paralysed by the many conflicting models of maleness competing for his attention online – all of them just different costumes he was trying on. How will he find his own path?
Presenter: Michael Rosen Producer: Rich Power Executive Producer: Dave...
Seven Ages of Man, with Michael Rosen: 6. Marvin Sordell's in his 30s
What’s it like to be a man in your 30s? In Episode 6 of Michael Rosen’s series about masculinity and manhood, filmmaker and former Premier League footballer Marvin Sordell puts darkness behind him to write a new chapter in his life. By the time he was in his 20s, Marvin had clawed his way to the top level of football, playing in the Premier League and representing his country. But behind the scenes, he was battling a severe mental health crisis brought on by the pressure of the game and the hypermasculine culture that prevented him from sharing his...
Seven Ages of Man, with Michael Rosen: 5. Lias Saoudi's in his 40s
What’s it like to be a man in your 40s? In Episode 5 of Michael Rosen’s series about masculinity and manhood, singer and author Lias Saoudi reflects on his transition from chaos to fatherhood. As the lead singer of the notoriously hedonistic band Fat White Family, Lias made a career out of chaos. But after a revelation during the covid lockdown, he makes a handbrake turn, cleaning up his life and having a baby with his best friend. But as the realities of life as a new father bite, the old instincts bubble up. How will Lias respond to h...
Seven Ages of Man, with Michael Rosen: 4. Matthew Todd's in his 50s
What’s it like to be a man in your 50s? In Episode 4 of Michael Rosen’s series about manhood and masculinity, journalist, activist and writer Matthew Todd talks about his experience. Matthew grew up feeling completely alienated from traditional masculinity. As a young gay man growing up during the HIV crisis of the 1980s, he felt the homophobia of mainstream culture deeply and developed a fear of straight men. But after decades of mental health problems and alcohol addiction, he finally was able to address his trauma. And now has found a new sense of himself as a man...
Seven Ages of Man, with Michael Rosen: 3. David Baddiel's in his 60s
What’s it like being a man in your 60s? In Episode 3 of Michael Rosen’s series about manhood and masculinity, comedian and writer David Baddiel shares his experience. Like all of us, David has always ‘known’ he was going to die, but it’s only now that he truly believes it. As he considers what sort of man he wants to be in his old age and what mark he’ll leave on the world, he realises it’s family that comes above everything else. But what does being a ‘father’ really mean?
Presenter: Michael Rosen Producer: Rich Pow...
Seven Ages of Man, with Michael Rosen: 2. Colm Tóibín's in his 70s
What is it like being a man in your 70s? In Episode 2 of Michael Rosen’s series about manhood and masculinity, celebrated author and poet Colm Tóibín shares how he feels less and less sexual energy as he ages, especially after surviving testicular cancer. But he’s far from depressed about it. In fact, he’s busy putting that energy to other uses. In this episode, Colm speaks to the visceral realities of aging, but also the new opportunities for physical and creative self-discovery.
Presenter: Michael Rosen Producer: Rich Power Executive Producer: Dave Anderson Sound Mixer: D...
Seven Ages of Man, with Michael Rosen: 1. Michael Palin's in his 80s
Michael Palin doesn’t feel like a ‘man’ anymore in his 80s. But what does that mean and does it bring a new freedom? In conversation with Michael Rosen – who has recently turned 80 himself – Palin reflects on the fading of those competitive instincts that motivated him as a young star of Monty Python. And how he has learned to embrace an entirely ‘unmale’ worldview in his later years. The two Michaels discuss how, as we age, the things that feel so important to many young men are put into stark perspective by grief. Just as he entered his 80s, Palin lost Hel...
Seven Ages of Man, with Michael Rosen: Trailer
What does being a ‘man’ really mean? From Michael Palin in his 80s to comedian Vittorio Angelone, just turned 30, seven men share their deeply personal experiences of manhood.
After almost dying of covid-19, our host and guide Michael Rosen has just reached the ripe old age of 80. It’s got him thinking about what kind of man he’s been so far across his long life, and what that label even means to him anyway.
Because today we’re surrounded by many conflicting ideals of manhood. Men should be strong and silent, but also in touch with...
The Value Crisis: 3. Prompting a Crisis?
In this episode, Ros Atkins asks whether AI is solving our ‘value crisis’, or making it worse.
He takes the optimistic case seriously - that AI could deepen our relationship with the world around us, unlock new forms of creativity, strengthen human intimacy, and help us solve big problems.
Then he tests each claim. If AI brings us closer to each other, what happens when that closeness is manufactured rather than real? If it can make us more creative, what happens when it's built on other people's work, taken without payment or consent? If it can...
The Value Crisis: 2. We've Been Here Before
Technology is transforming what we value at breakneck speed. But is this really new?
In this episode, Ros Atkins looks to four moments when earlier technologies forced a reckoning with value: the printing press, which flooded the world with words and upended who got to claim knowledge and authority; the Luddite rebellion, a skilled workforce fighting not technology itself but their own devaluation by it; the scandalous arrival of photography in Victorian England, when images could suddenly be captured, copied and faked; and the dot-com boom and bust of the 1990s, when a generation learned how quickly...
The Value Crisis: 1. Crisis, What Crisis?
Ros Atkins thinks technology is dramatically shifting what we value in the worlds of friendship, culture, finance and work.
In this episode, he sets out to test whether that shift amounts to a crisis - or something else.
He examines how technology has made our relationships more frictionless, and perhaps thinner as a result; whether an algorithm can tell the difference between what's good and what merely holds our attention; how in the world of finance, price has come loose from worth altogether; and how in the world of work, some of us are wondering...
The Value Crisis: Trailer
Technology is changing our lives at breakneck speed. But what is it doing to what we value?
From friendship and culture to finance and work, Ros Atkins explores how technology is reshaping our ideas of worth. Has making our relationships more frictionless also made them thinner? Can an algorithm tell the difference between what's good and what simply holds our attention? What happens when price comes unstuck from value, or when the technology that makes us more productive also makes our own skills redundant?
Ros looks to previous technological revolutions for clues, from the arrival...
All Kinds of Minds: 3. Neurodivergence and Adulthood
Across three episodes, author and mental health academic Nathan Filer explores neurodivergence: what it means, how children live with it, and how adults navigate its impact in work, relationships and everyday life.
Episode three turns to adulthood, asking what it means to receive a diagnosis of autism or ADHD later in life, and why increasing numbers of people are now seeking assessment. Nathan hears from clinicians managing huge waiting lists, alongside adults reflecting on how a diagnosis has shaped their understanding of themselves and their lives.
Through lived experience and expert insight, the programme asks...
All Kinds of Minds: 2. Growing Up Neurodivergent
Across three episodes, author and mental health academic Nathan Filer explores neurodivergence: what it means, how children live with it, and how adults navigate its impact in work, relationships and everyday life.
Episode two asks what it means to grow up neurodivergent in a school system under strain. For some children, school can be a place of learning, friendship and support. For others, it can become overwhelming: a world of sensory overload, social confusion, anxiety, burnout and absence.
Through the experiences of children, parents, educators and clinicians, the programme considers what happens when a child...
All Kinds of Minds: 1. The Language of Neurodiversity
Author and mental health academic Nathan Filer explores neurodivergence: what it means, how children live with it, and how adults navigate its impact in work, relationships and everyday life.
Episode one begins with the language of difference: as terms like neurodivergent and neurotypical have moved from activist and specialist spaces into everyday life, they have brought comfort, identity and community, but also confusion.
Through lived experience and expert insight, the programme travels from autism and ADHD to self-diagnosis, TikTok, rejection sensitivity and the limits of labels.
It asks not only what we call...
All Kinds of Minds: Trailer
Nathan Filer explores the complex and shifting terrain of neurodiversity, and what it means to be different. From neurodivergence in childhood, to navigating adulthood.
Ten Fights That Made the Green Movement: 10. Rival Visions
Facing climate fatigue and denial, a backlash against green policy, and increasingly urgent warnings from scientists, the green movement is shifting into a new era.
Two environmentally-minded politicians spell out their opposing visions for where the movement should go next.
Zack Polanski is the leader of the Green Party, preaching a message of ‘eco-populism’. John Gummer is a Conservative Lord and former head of the Climate Change Committee; he thinks the most powerful tool to make change is the free market.
What is the future of the green movement?
Presenter: Justin Rowl...
Ten Fights That Made the Green Movement: 9. Crackdown
Just Stop Oil is “hanging up the hi vis” after three years of throwing soup at paintings, interrupting theatre performances, and blocking roads. It’s 2025. They’ve been racking up arrests - and opponents - and now, the UK government has passed a string of new laws cracking down on disruptive protest.
They say they’ve achieved their aims - a ban on new oil and gas licenses - but were they policed to extinction? With their hardcore campaigning for the climate, did these activists prompt a change in law that made all green activism harder?
Presente...
Ten Fights That Made the Green Movement: 8. Shutdown
There are competing protests on either side of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. It’s 2023, on the eve of the final shutdown of the country's last three remaining nuclear power plants.
On one side, anti-nuclear campaigners and politicians celebrate their victory. This is a new, clean, dawn for the German power grid, they say.
On the other side of the gate, a small but vocal group of pro-nuclear greens condemn what they believe is a grave mistake. And as other countries pledge to increase their nuclear energy capacities, this group is playing the long ga...
Ten Fights That Made the Green Movement: 7. Impenetrable
Mountain gorillas are thriving in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The formerly ‘critically endangered’ population has blossomed, hailed around the world as a conservation success story.
But to save the gorillas, humans were shut out of the forest. An indigenous community who for centuries called this area their ancestral homeland was evicted - they say, illegally. And now they are fighting to go back.
This struggle over land, resources, and who has a voice in conservation will go all the way to Uganda's highest court.
Presenter: Justin Rowlatt Series Producer: Ellie House Editor: Matt Wil...
Ten Fights That Made the Green Movement: 6. Arctic 30
“Helicopter” - an activist yells. Then gun-wielding agents in balaclavas abseil down, onto the Greenpeace ship, to tow it to Russia.
This is the story of a campaign against oil drilling in the arctic that takes a dangerous turn. And the debate it sparks within the movement - should the organisers have better anticipated the risks of their campaign? Who is responsible for activists’ safety?
Presenter: Justin Rowlatt Producer: Alix Pickles Series Producer: Ellie House Editor: Matt Willis Sound Design and Mix: James Beard Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele, Brenda Brown, Sabine Schereck Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke...
Ten Fights That Made the Green Movement: 5. Brokenhagen
Hundreds of world leaders are gathered in Copenhagen, 2009, with high hopes of securing a historic climate deal. And the Chinese premier has gone missing. US President Obama rushes through the corridors of the conference centre - on a mission to gatecrash China’s secret rendez-vous with its allies.
This is just the final day of a two-week conference that has felt more like a thriller movie than an exercise in diplomacy.
How did one global conference expose the faultlines in international climate collaboration that are still seen today?
Presenter: Justin Rowlatt Producer: Rachel Na...
Ten Fights That Made the Green Movement: 4. Terror
A pair of radical activists drives east, from the West Coast of the US to a quaint skiing town in Colorado. They’ve watched as local environmental groups tried - and failed - to prevent the expansion of a ski resort into pristine forest land. And they’ve had enough. Their plan? To burn the resort down.
This group will go on be named the number one domestic terror threat in the United States. And the green movement is split about whether their actions went too far.
Presenter: Justin Rowlatt Series Producer: Ellie House Editor: Matt...
Ten Fights That Made the Green Movement: 3. The Ecologist
It’s the 1990s - and in a tiny office in Charing Cross, a group of big thinkers is publishing some radical ideas…and about to have a very public falling out.
This is the story of an influential green magazine and the man who created it: Teddy Goldsmith. He believed the cause was so grave it stood outside of left-right politics. Not everyone agreed.
Presenter: Justin Rowlatt Producer: Rachel Naylor Series Producer: Ellie House Editor: Matt Willis Sound Design and Mix: James Beard Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele, Brenda Brown, Sabine Schereck Commissioning Editor: Dan Clar...
Ten Fights That Made the Green Movement: 2. The Greenpeace
Somewhere in the North Pacific, 1971. A ragbag crew of environmentalist hippies sets sail on a rickety fishing boat in a last ditch effort to stop a nuclear weapons test. Their tumultuous voyage would birth the modern green movement. The men on board wanted to save the world, but spent much of their time at each other’s throats.
Presenter: Justin Rowlatt Producer: Rachel Naylor Series Producer: Ellie House Editor: Matt Willis Sound Design and Mix: James Beard Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele, Brenda Brown, Sabine Schereck Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Archive: Irving Stowe announcing Greenpeace concert, pr...
Ten Fights That Made the Green Movement: 1. Rebellion
We follow Extinction Rebellion on one of its first ever actions. Before the rebels shut down London, before they became a household name, they occupied an office building in Islington. Their target? Not a fossil fuel company or government, but Greenpeace - perhaps the world’s most high profile environmental campaign group.
Presenter: Justin Rowlatt Series Producer: Ellie House Editor: Matt Willis Sound Design and Mix: James Beard Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele, Brenda Brown, Sabine Schereck Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Archive: ‘Extinction Rebellion occupy Greenpeace HQ’, Real Media, 18/10/2018 ‘LONDON Walk TOUR - Extinction REBELLION Protest PINK BOA...
Ten Fights That Made the Green Movement: Trailer
The modern green movement has been shaped not only by protest, but by conflict within the ranks.
Shared ideas are forged through friction - battles over tactics, solutions, or who gets a voice.
Justin Rowlatt goes to the heart of these battles - to learn about these dramatic moments from the people who were there. Friends, or sometimes enemies, hashing out big ideas that help define what it means to be green.
Rinsed: 10. New Tricks
Could the water industry be nationalised? Should the water industry be nationalised? And who will bear the ultimate costs for cleaning up our rivers?
Reported and presented by Kate Lamble Series Producer: Elle Scott Sound Design: Andy Fell Researchers: Isaac Fisher and Amy Woods Production Coordinator: Juliette Harvey Production Manager: Debbie Waddell Executive Producer: Joe Kent Head of Audio of Audio (BBC Studios): Richard Knight Assistant Commissioner: Chris Walsh-Heron Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4
Rinsed: 9. Vultures
As Thames Water’s finances deteriorate, “vultures” circle.
Reported and presented by Kate Lamble Producer: Elle Scott Sound Design: Andy Fell Executive Producer: Joe Kent Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4
Rinsed: 8. Sorry?
New legislation promises to slash the sewage released into rivers, but will it become law?
Reported and presented by Kate Lamble Producer: Elle Scott Sound Design: Andy Fell Executive Producer: Joe Kent Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4
Rinsed: 7. The Eureka Moment
The data scientist, the ex-detective and the politician trying to clean up our rivers.
Reported and presented by Kate Lamble Producer: Elle Scott Sound Design: Andy Fell Executive Producer: Joe Kent Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4
Rinsed: 6. The Lion's Cage
The view from inside the Environment Agency, the body which enforces environmental standards for water companies in England.
Reported and presented by Kate Lamble Producer: Elle Scott Sound Design: Andy Fell Executive Producer: Joe Kent Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4
Rinsed: 5. The Camel's Humps
Rivers work when everything is in balance, but what happens when things are thrown off course?
Peter Hammond draws on his past as an academic specialising in machine learning to spot a problem everyone else has missed and expose what he believes is a national scandal.
Rinsed: 4. Inkblot
We can all look the same picture, but what you make of it depends on who you are. Kate Lamble attempts to untangle the financial engineering that underpins parts of the water industry.
Reported and presented by Kate Lamble Producer: Elle Scott Sound Design: Andy Fell Executive Producer: Joe Kent Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4
Rinsed: 3. Turd Nerds
The 'Dossier of Despair' that reveals what's happening to some of Britain’s rivers.
A retired police detective, a former machine learning academic, an ex-water industry insider and their neighbours join forces to dig for data. But will anyone listen to the campaigners calls for change?
Reported and presented by Kate Lamble Producer: Elle Scott Sound Design: Andy Fell Executive Producer: Joe Kent Commissioning Executive: Tracy Willimas Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4
Rinsed: 2. Water Works
The centuries old battle between public good and private profit that’s still being fought today.
Kate Lamble holds her nose and plunges into the long history of the water industry and some of the many conflicts that have shaped it.
Reported and presented by Kate Lamble Producer: Elle Scott Sound Design: Andy Fell Executive Producer: Joe Kent Commissioning Executive: Tracy Williams Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Rinsed is a BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4
