Oliver Conway

Davina Gupta in Himachal Pradesh. Philip Pullman is one of Britain's most popular novelists thanks to his fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials and now the follow-up series The Book of Dust. Well, the story of heroine Lyra reaches its conclusion this week with the publication of the third part of the second trilogy, The Rose Field. Philip Pullman has been talking to our culture editor Katie Razzle about his much-loved protagonist, how AI algorithms are using his work and about truth in today's world.

It's a truth meter and it works by means of the three hands which are moved by these knobs like that. Philip Pullman in his tiny study is showing me his alethiometer. And then once you've got your questions set up... A model of the truth-telling device he invented for his fictional heroine Lyra. It's made of gold which is heavy.

Lyra, with her demon pan, a kind of companion spirit in animal form, first appeared 30 years ago.

Travelling across worlds in northern lights. It was the start of Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which the BBC dramatised for TV.

Nyt, kun hän on saanut 3 000 kertaa kokemuksesta ja 49 miljoonaa kopioita maailmalla, hänen viimeisimmänsä tehtävänsä, Rosefield, täyttää Pullmanin toisen Lyra-trilogin, jossa hän on vahvistunut imaginatiivisesta. Kuka ja mitä näet todellisessa elämässäni imaginatiivisesta?

The education policy of the government, which insists on learning things off by heart and sitting in rows and walking silently down corridors. Is imagination more than make-believe? We know that children have it and we often lose it as adults.

A lot of people think that it's just the power of making things up. I think imagination is a form of perception. What I call the rose field is a sort of field in which things exist that you can only see with your imagination. They're there, but you can't see them if you don't imagine them. Such as love, such as fear. That's what Lyra has discovered in the course of this book.

Some authors, other creators have been fighting back against artificial intelligence, scraping of copyright. Has your work been scraped by AI? As far as I know, yes. Everybody's work has. Yes, scooping up everything that exists and then passing it off as something else. Or rather just using it, just mashing it all down into a sort of manure that can fertilize the roots of whatever money-making scheme is hatching itself in your head. That's immoral, but unfortunately it's not illegal.

And when I asked him about the different ways that children and adults read his stories, he dropped a little hint. When you're a parent yourself, of course, another perspective comes into view. Lyra hasn't had a child yet, as I thought. Author Philip Pullman. Finally, do the numbers 6-7 mean anything to you? Well, for those who are not or do not have children, 6-7 is the Gen Alpha phrase of the moment, a social media phenomenon. Marian Strawn has the details.

The craze of blurting out 6-7, accompanied by a juggling of hands, has gone global. In truth, it doesn't really mean anything, but it's such a thing that it's even hit the American TV series South Park. Hey fellas, fellas! You wanna know what time I woke up this morning? What time? Around 6-7! 6-7!

Bobby Siegel is a UK math teacher and host of the Maths Appeal podcast. He says the craze isn't all bad news. If you play along with it, occasionally allowing them to have fun, I think these sort of memes and viral moments can actually, in a strange way, increase the bond between the teacher, usually maths, and the student. Maths teacher Bobby Siegel, ending that report by Marion Strawn.

And that is all from us for now, but there'll be a new edition of the Global News Podcast very soon. This one was mixed by Mark Pickett and produced by Niki Verrico. Our editors Karen Martin, I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye. Ikeässä on nyt talviaale.

Ikean talvialle enää 11. tammikuuta asti. Ikea. Kotona käy kaikki.

You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. This edition is published in the early hours of Tuesday 8th April. President Trump has ruled out any pause in his new trade policy, despite another day of turmoil on the markets. At the same time, he threatened to escalate the trade war with China.

You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. This edition is published in the early hours of Tuesday 8th April. President Trump has ruled out any pause in his new trade policy, despite another day of turmoil on the markets. At the same time, he threatened to escalate the trade war with China.

And at a news conference with the Israeli Prime Minister, he said the US is holding direct talks with Iran.

And at a news conference with the Israeli Prime Minister, he said the US is holding direct talks with Iran.

Researchers say moving to a new country can lead to unhealthy changes in diet. Are the US tariffs permanent or could countries negotiate to get them lifted? President Trump said both outcomes could be equally true without specifying how. He was speaking at the White House alongside the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first world leader to visit since the tariffs were announced.

Researchers say moving to a new country can lead to unhealthy changes in diet. Are the US tariffs permanent or could countries negotiate to get them lifted? President Trump said both outcomes could be equally true without specifying how. He was speaking at the White House alongside the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first world leader to visit since the tariffs were announced.

Stock markets around the world have continued to struggle with big falls in Asia and Europe. In the US itself, the S&P 500 dropped sharply on opening. But for briefly rising a massive 8% on reports that tariffs might be paused. President Trump later dismissed those rumours.