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

April 17 · 24 min
The President's Path: Trump's legacy
Will the war in Iran be President Trump's legacy?
April 16 · 22 min
The Media Show: Artemis II and Nasa’s media machine
How Houston shaped coverage of the landmark Artemis II mission to t he moon and back
April 10 · 24 min
The President’s Path: The political consequences of war and peace for Trump
How Americans view the Iran conflict, how they see Israel and President Trump's conduct
April 9 · 22 min
The Media Show: Investigating Sam Altman
The world’s most famous investigative journalist on his report into the OpenAI boss
April 3 · 22 min
The President's Path: Trump’s address over the Iran war
What the president said and didn’t say in his address over the Iran war
April 2 · 22 min
The Media Show: How far should reporters go with AI?
The journalist using AI to produce over 600 stories a year
March 27 · 24 min
The President's Path: Is the US fighting two wars against Iran?
How the US-Israel war on Iran has developed into a second conflict
March 27 · 26 min
Unspun World: US pauses strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure
John Simpson analyses Donald Trump’s decision to halt attacks against Iran’s power plants
March 26 · 22 min
The Media Show: Cold-calling Trump
The journalists with the President’s personal number - and how they use it.
March 20 · 25 min
The President's Path: Trump slams allies over Iran war help
The US-Israel war on Iran has put strain on some of Washington's closest global alliances
March 20 · 26 min
Unspun World: How is the Iran war impacting the global economy?
John Simpson analyses the economic effects of the war in the Middle East
March 19 · 22 min
The Media Show: Reporting from Inside Iran
How CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen was one of the first journalists to gain access to the war
March 13 · 25 min
The President's Path: Trump’s mixed messages over war on Iran
Mixed messages leave more questions than answers over the US-Israel war with Iran
March 13 · 26 min
Unspun World: What do people in Iran think about the war?
Caroline Hawley explores what life in Iran is like as the war intensifies
March 12 · 22 min
The Media Show: Who’s shaping American media?
Ros Atkins speaks to Mehdi Hasan, Jeffrey Goldberg, Sarah Smith and Johnny Harris
March 6 · 8 min
The Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz — the narrow waterway that carries 20% of the world’s oil.
March 6 · 26 min
Unspun World: Can Iran hold out against US-Israeli strikes?
John Simpson analyses whether the Iranian regime will survive
March 5 · 22 min
The Media Show: Iran and the bigger story
Have journalists overlooked global power changes behind events in Iran?
February 27 · 25 min
Trump’s Texas showdown
Which Republican will Trump endorse and can the Democrats flip the the Texas primaries?
February 27 · 26 min
Unspun World: Russia-Ukraine war enters its fifth year
John Simpson explores the mood in Ukraine after four years of war