The Explanation

BBC World Service

Where the world is explained. Making sense of the big stories - looking behind the spin. Exploring the important questions about long-running stories and the latest global news. An honest, unvarnished, explanation of the world.

Featuring new episodes of The President's Path, Unspun World with John Simpson, and The Media Show.

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346 episodes
Updated Friday

Episodes346

Newest first

Nov 22, 2024 · 26 min
Unspun World: Could Russia's war with Ukraine escalate?
John Simpson examines the risk of nuclear escalation in Russia’s war with Ukraine
Nov 21, 2024 · 22 min
The Media Show: Jake Paul v Mike Tyson
What the Jake Paul v Mike Tyson boxing bout on Netflix tells us about the future of media
Nov 15, 2024 · 26 min
Unspun World: What can the world expect from a second Trump term?
John Simpson explores the implications of a second Trump term for US foreign policy
Nov 14, 2024 · 22 min
The Media Show: US Election and its impact on media
Why Trump’s victory poses a credibility challenge for journalism
Nov 8, 2024 · 26 min
Unspun World: What does the US election tell us about America?
How the US presidential campaign highlighted the deep divisions in the country
Nov 7, 2024 · 22 min
The Media Show: Trump's winning media strategy
The pundits and pollsters who got the election wrong
Nov 2, 2024 · 39 min
The Global Jigsaw: Russia’s “special demographic operation”
Why is the Kremlin worried about population decline?
Nov 1, 2024 · 26 min
Unspun World: What will Iran do now?
How the Iranian regime might respond to Israel’s attack
Oct 30, 2024 · 22 min
The Media Show: Ballots, bias and big tech
Ros Atkins is in Washington DC and asks what role the media is playing in the election
Oct 26, 2024 · 30 min
The Global Jigsaw: Turkey’s anti-LGBT drive
What’s behind the evolution of the Turkish president's anti-LGBT narrative?
Oct 25, 2024 · 26 min
Unspun World: The Middle East: The regional perspective
Analysing attitudes of other regional powers towards Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon
Oct 24, 2024 · 22 min
The Media Show: The king of reality TV
How Andy Cohen created the Real Housewives phenomenon
Oct 17, 2024 · 26 min
Unspun World: Israel's Middle East strategy
John Simpson analyses Israel’s long-term strategy in the Middle East
Oct 17, 2024 · 22 min
The Media Show: ISIS Prisons Museum
The journalists documenting the atrocities of the so-called Islamic State
Oct 12, 2024 · 39 min
The Global Jigsaw: Yemen: A frozen conflict
Ten years on, where do the warring parties in Yemen stand?
Oct 11, 2024 · 26 min
Unspun World: The Middle East, a year on from the October 7th attacks
Analysing the prospects for the Middle East after a year of fighting
Oct 10, 2024 · 22 min
The Media Show: Reporting from inside Gaza
The BBC’s Rushdi Abualouf on life for journalists in a warzone
Oct 4, 2024 · 26 min
Unspun World: What will Iran's strategy be?
We look at the debate inside Iran in the wake of Israel’s assault on Hezbollah
Oct 3, 2024 · 22 min
The Media Show: Secrets of The Sidemen
The manager of Europe’s biggest YouTube creators reveals their strategy
Oct 1, 2024 · 30 min
The Global Jigsaw: Yemen: A tale of three cities
Sanaa, Aden and Taiz - stuck in a “no war, no peace” limbo