The Inquiry
Episodes
Why are so many ethnic minorities dying in the UK and US?
07 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In news reports and newspapers, pictures of British healthcare workers who have lost their lives to Covid-19 sit side by side.And if you look at those...
Why are people attacking 5G mobile phone masts?
30 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Tanya Beckett looks at 5G and examines why it’s become the centre of conspiracy theories linking it to the coronavirus and others. What is it about...
How do we come out of the lockdown?
23 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As some nations begin to tentatively lift their lockdowns, Tanya Beckett asks how best this can be done. What lessons, if any, can we learn from past ...
How do you help people stay rational in a pandemic?
16 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Last month, everyday supermarket items turned into valuable and vanishing commodities overnight – none more so than toilet paper. There are now bill...
Can Africa cope with coronavirus?
09 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How will Africa deal with Covid-19? It began in China then reached the Middle East, Europe and the United States, now Africa is bracing itself for a s...
Why is it taking so long to develop a Covid-19 vaccine?
02 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The race is on for the world’s scientists to develop a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine. The Inquiry examines quickly how this can be done and w...
Coronavirus: What can the world learn from South Korea?
26 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After China, South Korea was next in line to be struck by the Coronavirus outbreak. And in the early days the number of cases was going up fast – ma...
Why did the USA fail in its initial coronavirus response?
19 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
‘It’s a failing, let's admit it’ says top health official, Dr Anthony Fauci. He’s talking about the fact that it took a month for a working c...
How China turned the tide with coronavirus
12 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are now significantly more new cases of coronavirus outside China than inside. On the first day of this week there were only 44 new cases in the...
Have our climate models been wrong?
05 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Climate change models have been a key tool to project what could happen with global warming in the future. But there’s a debate in the scientific co...
Why don’t we care about facts?
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We have a great capacity to ignore facts and only believe what we want to believe – particularly if those facts clash with our convictions. Why is t...
Why are trade deals so hard to do?
20 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Britain is trying to make multiple trade deals since leaving the EU. Some negotiations between countries have lasted for years. The breakdown in the...
Will a pandemic ever kill millions again?
13 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Coronavirus outbreak in China has been declared a public health emergency of international concern. It is raising fears of a global disease pandem...
Could India’s Muslims become second class citizens?
06 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Could a new law in India be a step towards making Muslims second class citizens? The government says the Citizenship Amendment Act is a humanitarian l...
How did Trump get into trouble with Ukraine?
23 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How did Trump’s personality and way of dealing with people lead to a trial in the Senate? The answer involves Trump’s long standing belief in con...
Why does Ukraine have such a corruption problem?
16 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On 25 July 2019, the President of the United States made a phone call to the recently-elected President of Ukraine - congratulating him on his party’...
Why was Qasem Soleimani killed?
09 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
President Trump’s decision to assassinate Qasem Soleimani came as a shock to America’s foes and allies alike. He was Iran’s top general and has ...
Will humans become extinct by the end of the century?
02 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What is the chance of the human race surviving the 21st century? There are many dangers – climate change for example, or nuclear war, or a pandemic,...
Can we eradicate polio?
26 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Despite heroic efforts to vaccinate against this crippling disease, why does it persist? The fight to eradicate polio is an amazing story: It began...
Is Nato obsolete?
19 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump is threatening to withdraw the US from Nato while the French President Emmanuel Macron has called it “brain dead”. Charmaine Cozier a...
Should we ban billionaires?
12 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Excluding dictators and royalty, there are around 2,000 people in the world who are billionaires. Some inherit wealth while others might build fortune...
Can we protect our elections from social media manipulators?
05 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
An estimated 2.6 billion people use social media, but in the online world not everything is what it seems. Fake accounts and automatic programmes can ...
Why is there a backlash against climate policies?
28 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A year ago more than a quarter of a million people took to the streets across France, in what became known as the “gilets jaunes” protests. They b...
What can we do about the world’s mental health problem?
21 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
If there was a serious illness that we knew thirty percent of us would experience in our lives, wouldn’t we do everything in our power to address it...
Why are immigrants under attack in South Africa?
14 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In September 2019 violence broke out in the city of Johannesburg. Many people were beaten, at least 12 were killed, and shops were looted and burned d...
How soon can we go carbon zero?
07 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This month activists all over the world have taken over city centres, demanding urgent action to halt climate change. They say we need to eliminate al...
Why are the Kurds always in the firing line?
31 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Turkey’s push to clear the Kurds from its border with Syria has brought howls of betrayal. Many Kurds believed the Americans would protect them, aft...
Is vaping safe?
24 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After deaths in the US and bans around the world, how risky are e-cigarettes? In some countries, smokeless cigarettes are all the rage. In the UK, d...
Can we dismiss QAnon?
17 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The far right conspiracy theory featuring child molesters and baby eaters may sound far-fetched, but the FBI names Q Anon in a report warning conspira...
Are we heading for a global recession?
10 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The world’s two biggest economies are fighting a trade war, European growth is slowing and global manufacturing data looks grim. Financial markets a...
Is Africa facing another debt crisis?
03 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s been almost 15 years since a successful campaign to erase the crushing debts of Africa’s poorest countries. Now, debt levels are again creepi...
How can we save our forests?
26 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In the afternoon of August 20th this year, the sky over Brazil’s largest city, Sao Paulo turned dark. The cause of this premature night was the smok...
Is rock music doomed?
19 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Bruce Springsteen is turning 70; rock’s gods are getting on. It’s not clear who’s there with electric guitars to replace them. Younger acts are ...
Why the race to build a quantum computer?
12 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Quantum computers could transform our lives. Based on a branch of Physics that even Einstein found "spooky", the machines are still in their infancy. ...
Why does Donald Trump seem to have such a problem with the truth?
05 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Fact-checkers say the President of the United States has made more than 10,000 false or misleading statements since coming to office. Whether it’s ...
Why are we having less sex?
29 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Porn, smart phones and the ‘slutty transmitter’. Adults in the US have sex on average about 50 times a year, which has dropped by 20 per cent over...
Is Germany OK?
22 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It’s known for precision and punctuality but Europe’s engine is slowing down. Germany’s economy relies heavily on selling its products abroad. ...
Do children in two-parent families do better?
08 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 1965 a report from within the US government noted that the number of children born outside marriage, and the number of divorces, in the parts of th...
Can you reduce Central American migration?
01 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Families from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador now make up the majority of migrants arriving at the US southern ...
Will China crack down on Hong Kong?
25 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Last month Hong Kong witnessed its largest ever protests, the most violent in decades. A proposed law to allow extradition of criminals to mainland Ch...
What kind of Prime Minister would Boris Johnson make?
18 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
With his unruly blond hair and shambolic appearance, Boris Johnson is Britain’s best-known politician. He’s also favourite to become the UK’s ne...
How can Chennai’s water crisis be solved?
11 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
South India’s biggest city, Chennai, is currently in the grip of drought. With the four main reservoirs which supply the city dry, residents have to...
Is the deep ocean the answer to some of our biggest problems?
04 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Our species is facing a whole lot of problems. Antibiotic resistance is on the rise, land based minerals are depleting and there are serious concerns ...
Can a government make you happy?
27 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
New Zealand is the first western country to state it should be judged not by its economic prosperity but by its citizens’ wellbeing. Might these wel...
Can vaccines stop Ebola in the DRC?
20 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is in the midst of an Ebola epidemic, with over 2,000 cases now confirmed. In June the virus spread to neighbouri...
Why is it always Alabama?
13 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Alabama has long been the butt of jokes in America. The stereotype is that it is backward, racist and right wing. This month the state passed one of t...
Is time travel possible?
06 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wanted to meet your historical heroes or explore the inventions of the future? Travelling in time has long been a dream of writers and filmmakers...
Is the US heading for war with Iran?
30 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
On 8 May 2018, the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - a nuclear deal between Iran, the US and other countries. Since...
How do you move a capital city?
23 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Indonesia has announced it is thinking of building a new capital city, moving the government away from Jakarta which is overcrowded and suffering from...
How did K-Pop conquer the world?
16 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It's a multi-billion dollar industry, with bands selling out stadiums across the world. K-Pop, or Korean Pop has created some of the biggest global mu...
What’s next for Sudan?
09 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
After months of protests, the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir was removed from office on 11th April by a military coup. Initially there were celebr...
Can you make gangs good?
02 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In 2007, Ecuador decided to recognise some of its street gangs as cultural and social organisations. Since then its murder rate has fallen sharply. Ca...
How can we feed 11 billion people?
25 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The world’s population is set to grow from 7.7 to 11 billion by the end of this century. The challenge is to produce enough food to feed this number...
How scared should we be?
18 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Who benefits from our fear and is there more than just global reporting behind it? Has the world become more dangerous or has our perception of the wo...
Why has the Kashmir crisis lasted so long?
11 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In February a bomb blast killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police officers in Kashmir; the worst attack by Pakistani militants in years. Indian m...
How long can we live?
04 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Life expectancy is going up as we develop new cures for the diseases that kill us off. But can we beat the most fatal condition of all - old age? We t...
How is space changing Earth?
28 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Many nations have now entered the space race. China first sent a man into space in 2003 and in the last few months made a successful, unmanned, landin...
What is the Wagner Group?
21 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In recent years, in trouble spots and war zones around the world – places such as Syria, Eastern Ukraine and Central African Republic – The Wagner...
Will populism destroy the European Union?
14 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The European Union was formed in the years after the Second World War to secure peace and promote economic progress. It aimed to achieve that by ensur...
Are smart cities dumb?
07 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Driverless cars powered by renewable energy whisking their healthy and happy citizens between gleaming skyscrapers, criss-crossing efficient roads. Th...
Can radicalised kids recover?
28 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Tens of thousands of children have been forced to join militia or terror groups in recent years. The Inquiry looks at conflicts around the world to fi...
How do we stop young people killing themselves?
21 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-29 year olds globally. But innovative and unexpected ways to tackle this public health issue are...
Why don't we care about Yemen?
14 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Three million people in Yemen have been forced from their homes, and the dead are estimated to number many tens of thousands. But, compared to similar...
What’s so scary about Huawei?
07 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The tech giant has had a meteoric rise over the last ten years. It has overtaken Apple in the global smartphone market, and its equipment is in teleco...
Why Can’t So Many Children Read?
31 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
More children than ever before attend school – so why have reading rates been so slow to improve? In some countries teachers are absent from class ...
Should We Fear ‘Designer Babies’?
24 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In November 2018, a Chinese scientist stunned the world by announcing that he had successfully edited the genes of two embryos. These twins had their ...
What Would It Take to Impeach Trump?
17 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ever since Donald Trump took office in 2016 his critics have been focussed on getting rid of him. As the Mueller probe into Russian collusion in the p...
Can We Stop a Mass Extinction?
10 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Human activity is sending animals and plants extinct. But there is a fightback going on. Scientists all over the world are coming up with radical so...
Are We Heading for Another Mass Extinction?
03 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This week we’re looking at nothing less than the state of life on earth. The planet has seen mass extinctions before, periods of widespread and dram...
How Did We Get Hooked on Vitamins?
27 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Millions of us take a vitamin tablet every day - how did they become so popular? We follow the rise and rise of vitamins from their discovery just a c...
What did #MeToo Really Achieve?
20 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
#MeToo became viral following allegations of sexual harassment and violence at the hands of Harvey Weinstein. Now women and men in their millions arou...
Is this the Most Dangerous Time to be a Journalist?
13 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Journalists have been subject to more killings, and increasing levels of violence and intimidation in 2018, according to monitoring groups. This year ...
Why Is Brexit So Hard?
06 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The UK voted to leave the European Union in June 2016. More than two years on, it’s still not clear how that will happen, or what will come after. C...
Is the West at War with Russia?
29 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There’s talk of a new Cold War between Russia and the West. What responsibility does the West carry for the dismal state of relations?Russian leader...
Is Russia at War with the West?
22 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There are currently a number of serious allegations made in the West against Russia. They include the attempted murder of the former spy Sergei Skripa...
What Makes A Pariah State?
15 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
There are different routes to pariah status. North Korea, with its gross human rights abuses and illicit nuclear weapons programme tops the list and r...
How Did We Mess up Antibiotics?
08 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Warnings about the approaching post-antibiotics apocalypse have been sounding for years. There are now strains of deadly bacteria that are resistant t...
Is the China-Africa Love Affair Over?
01 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The burgeoning relationship between China and Africa has been one of the great economic stories of the 21st century. Billions of dollars of investment...
What Went Wrong in Indonesia?
18 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Thousands died when an earthquake and tsunami struck Palu, Indonesia – but could more lives have been saved? Accusations have been made of a host of...
Can Delhi Clean Up Its Air?
11 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Delhi is one of the worst polluted cities in the world. Radical ideas like skyscraper-sized air purifiers are being proposed to clean the smog – can...
Should We Rethink the Ban on Child Labour?
04 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Most countries in the world have signed up to the idea that no child should work at all under a certain age – but is this the best approach? This we...
Is Genetic Testing Overrated?
27 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
DNA testing is big business. Millions of people worldwide are finding out about their ancestry and genetic health traits by sending off a spit sample ...
The Inquiry Junior - Why are North and South Korea divided?
20 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The story of how a line on a map becomes a hard state border that no one can cross. Korea was ruled as one Kingdom for a thousand years. They valued...
The Inquiry Junior - What’s Killing Africa’s Elephants?
13 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special edition that younger listeners aged 10 to 14 can also enjoy. If you’re no longer in that bracket, don’t worry, The Inquiry as y...
Is Women’s Sport In Trouble?
06 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Ever since it began, women’s sport has been beset by a fundamental question: who gets to compete as a woman? It’s a debate which is more heated n...
How Do You Run A Hacking Operation?
30 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Thousands of cyberattacks occur every single day. Some hackers steal credit card details or pilfer money from online bank accounts. Others cripple b...
Who’s in the Driving Seat of the US – Saudi Relationship?
23 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It’s graduation day at the end of a religious summer school in Yemen’s Saada province. A class of young boys are off on a trip to a shrine. In a l...
Could We See Another Aids Pandemic?
16 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The year 2030 was set by the UN as the world's deadline for halting the spread of HIV, stopping Aids deaths, and having the first generation since 198...
Can We Control 3D Printing?
09 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It was May 2013 when Cody Wilson went public with his 3D-printed handgun. An online video showed the crude plastic object fixed on top of a tripod. Th...
Is WhatsApp Fuelling Vigilantism?
02 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In India, false rumours about child kidnappers, spread on WhatsApp, have prompted fearful mobs to kill innocent people. In May 2018 a video went viral...
Is Africa’s Longest War Really Over?
26 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
It’s a July morning in Ethiopia and Addisalem Hadigu, a journalist in his 50s, boards a flight to neighbouring Eritrea.But it’s no ordinary plane....
What does Iran think of the West?
19 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
As relations with Iran and the West reach a new low point with the collapse earlier this year of the nuclear deal and the reintroduction of strict eco...
Can We Ever Understand Animals?
12 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
By the time she died at the age of 46, Koko the gorilla was a global superstar. Not only could she apparently understand two thousand words of spoken ...
Can We Eat Our Way Out Of Climate Change?
05 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Food production accounts for as much global greenhouse gas emissions as all forms of transport combined. That’s why many scientists think we can’t...
Are We Heading for a Trade War?
28 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
The world’s two biggest economies are on the brink of a costly standoff. The US has announced tariffs of 25% on a swathe of Chinese goods, starting ...
Can You Train People To Be Less Prejudiced?
21 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Donte Robinson and Rashon Nelson were waiting to meet a business associate in Starbucks. After two minutes, the store manager called the police and t...
How Do You Make People Have Babies?
14 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
More than half the world’s countries are not producing enough babies to offset the number of deaths. Russia is the latest to experience a dip in the...
Is Raqqa Recovering After Islamic State?
07 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Last year, the world watched as Islamic State was driven from Raqqa, the city they claimed as their capital. The UN has estimated that around 80% of t...
Can Computers Predict Crimes That Haven’t Happened Yet?
31 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Chicago resident Robert McDaniel was surprised when a police commander showed up at his home to warn him that they were watching him. With only a mis...
Is North Korea Broke?
24 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
North Korea has been under sanctions for many years. But this isolated economy is showing signs of life that might surprise you. From hacking and coun...