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Sensemaker

The Observer

The Sensemaker from The Observer - one story every day to make sense of the world.


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  • 1,388 episodes
  • Updated June 19

Episodes1388

Newest first
  • Sep 14, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 428: Is Ukraine winning?

    Since the start of September Ukraine has made sweeping gains in the east of the country. How significant is it?

  • Sep 12, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 426: The rule of King Charles

    It is thought that Britain's new monarch will favour a slimmed down royal family. What will this look like?

  • Sep 9, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 425: Operation London Bridge

    Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday afternoon. For 70 years she was a constant figurehead. So what happens now?

  • Sep 8, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 424: Tackling period poverty

    In August, Jason Grant became the Period Dignity Officer for Tayside. After an outcry over the job being given to a man he resigned and the role was abolished. But that doesn’t mean the issue has gone away.

  • Sep 6, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 423: Troubles for Truss

    As prime minister, Liz Truss faces a raft of problems: energy price rises fuelled by the war in Ukraine, a struggling economy and the NHS under pressure. How might she deal with them?

  • Sep 6, 2022 · 5 min

    Ep 422: Kim's sister

    Since her father's death in 2011, Kim Yo Jong has risen through the ranks of North Korea's ruling Workers Party. How influential is she in the secretive state?

  • Sep 4, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 421: Life on hold

    Faiz Seddeqi was a security guard at the British embassy in Kabul. He and his family were evacuated to the UK when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, but more than a year later they are still living in a hotel.

  • Sep 2, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 420: Who chooses?

    The next prime minister will be decided by Conservative Party members, but we know very little about them. So Tortoise has asked the Conservative Party to tell us and threatened legal action if it doesn’t

  • Sep 1, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 419: Man of the Hole

    The last member of one of Brazil’s uncontacted indigenous tribes has died. What does his story tell us about Brazil’s indigenous people?

  • Aug 31, 2022 · 7 min

    Ep 418: Vaccine wars

    A truce between rival pharmaceutical companies is over. Moderna is suing Pfizer/BioNTech over claims it used patented technology to make its Covid vaccine.

  • Aug 30, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 417: Justice for justice

    Last week, criminal barristers voted in favour of an indefinite strike over pay and conditions. What's happening in our criminal justice system?

  • Aug 26, 2022 · 8 min

    Ep 416: Invaded: The war at six months

    Since February we have been telling the story of Halyna, a Ukrainian woman who woke up one morning to find her country at war. We catch up with her, six months on

  • Aug 25, 2022 · 7 min

    Ep 415: The sprinter twice stopped

    A Black sprinter was twice stopped by the police while driving. What does his story reveal about institutional racism in the Met?

  • Aug 23, 2022 · 5 min

    Ep 413: Supersonic travel returns

    More than two decades after Concorde retired, airline companies are placing orders for a new supersonic passenger jet. What’s different this time?

  • Aug 22, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 412: Adam Neumann’s comeback

    The founder of WeWork left the company in disgrace in 2019. But Adam Neumann is back in business with a real estate startup. Who is betting on his latest venture and why?

  • Aug 19, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 411: The attack on Salman Rushdie

    The British-Indian writer has been seriously injured after being stabbed at a literary event in the US. What does Iran have to do with it?

  • Aug 18, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 410: The women taking on the Taliban

    One year on from the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban, a group of women took to the streets to protest. What's life like for them?

  • Aug 17, 2022 · 6 min

    Ep 409: Meta moves

    Top executives are leaving the company or relocating away from its headquarters. TikTok is beating Instagram and the “meta-verse” is in danger. What’s going on at Facebook’s parent company, Meta?