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

Jun 17, 2023 · 27 min
Unspun World: Who can challenge Trump?
The race for the 2024 Republican White House nomination is about to heat up
Jun 10, 2023 · 27 min
Unspun World: What's it like reporting on the war from inside Russia?
Steve Rosenberg on the challenges for journalists still in Russia
Jun 3, 2023 · 27 min
Unspun World: Can the US transform the world's economy?
President Biden puts America first. So will he succeed in reshaping the global economy?
May 27, 2023 · 27 min
Unspun World: Could AI outsmart humanity?
Reporting from Ukraine's battlefields. Plus, how worried should we be about AI?
May 20, 2023 · 27 min
Unspun World: Is Ukraine's counter-offensive a turning point?
Ukraine prepares a renewed offensive. Plus, what is a pangenome and how will it help us?
May 17, 2023 · 1 min
Introducing The Explanation
On a mission to make sense of the world
Mar 4, 2023 · 18 min
How the Good Friday Agreement helped bring peace to Northern Ireland
Denis Murray reflects on the legacy of the 1998 agreement
Feb 25, 2023 · 19 min
Ethiopia, Eritrea and border wars
Kalkidan Yibeltal explains the complex history between the two countries
Feb 18, 2023 · 19 min
Sudan’s journey from independence to revolution
Mohanad Hashim explains some of the complex history of the country he grew up in
Feb 11, 2023 · 18 min
How Yemen has been engulfed by civil war
Nawal Al-Maghafi explains how war has caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises
Feb 4, 2023 · 18 min
Who are the Uyghurs and why are they being persecuted?
John Sudworth tells the story behind China's treatment of its Uyghur minority
Jan 28, 2023 · 18 min
Cuba–United States relations
How a long, complex history between neighbours led to such an uneasy relationship
Jan 21, 2023 · 18 min
Roe v Wade and abortion in America
Katty Kay explains how abortion became central to American politics
Jan 14, 2023 · 18 min
How Syria's peaceful uprising became a civil war
Lina Sinjab tells Claire Graham about the conflict in her native country
Apr 16, 2022 · 18 min
Understanding the long history between Russia and Ukraine
What has bound Russia and Ukraine together, and what has pulled them apart?
Apr 9, 2022 · 18 min
Understanding South Africa’s continuing quest for equality
Why has the post-apartheid dream of a ‘Rainbow Nation’ not been easy to realise?
Apr 2, 2022 · 18 min
Understanding the power that Saudi Arabia wields
How has the Saudi royal family maintained strong worldwide influence in spite of critics?
Mar 26, 2022 · 18 min
Understanding relations between Taiwan and China
Why is Taiwanese reunification so important to China?
Mar 19, 2022 · 18 min
Understanding the rise of Boko Haram
How the militant Islamic group took hold in northern Nigeria
Mar 12, 2022 · 18 min
Understanding North Korea and the Kim dynasty
How the Kim family shaped one of the world’s most secretive countries