The Briefing Room – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Briefing Room

BBC Radio 4

News

Frequency: 1 episode/9d. Total Eps: 397

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news

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🇬🇧 Great Britain - newsCommentary
29/08/2026
#13
🇬🇧 Great Britain - newsCommentary
28/08/2026
#11
🇬🇧 Great Britain - newsCommentary
27/08/2026
#12
🇬🇧 Great Britain - newsCommentary
26/08/2026
#12
🇬🇧 Great Britain - newsCommentary
25/08/2026
#11
🇬🇧 Great Britain - newsCommentary
24/08/2026
#13
🇩🇪 Germany - newsCommentary
24/08/2026
#99
🇬🇧 Great Britain - newsCommentary
23/08/2026
#12
🇩🇪 Germany - newsCommentary
23/08/2026
#57
🇬🇧 Great Britain - newsCommentary
22/08/2026
#9

Spotify

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Score global : 38%

Publication history

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How much trouble is the UK economy in?

Thursday, September 5, 2024 • Duration 28:59

Last month the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, warned that "things would get worse before they got better". The Chancellor Rachel Reeves has already said that there's a £22 billion black hole in the government's finances left by the Conservatives. The budget at the end of October, we're told, will be "painful". But just how bad a state is the UK economy really in? And how constrained is the new government by manifesto promises it made not to raise the main taxes on working people?

Guests:

Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Mehreen Khan, Economics editor at The TImes Chris Giles, Economics Commentator at The Financial TImes

Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Ben Carter, Caroline Bayley and Kirsteen Knight Sound engineers: Sarah Hockley and Gareth Jones Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

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What we know (and don't know) about the new Mpox outbreak

Thursday, August 29, 2024 • Duration 28:17

The first human cases of MPox were detected in 1970. But a new strain detected in Congo in 2023 has got scientists confused. How worried should we be and are we prepared for it?

Dr Jonas Albarnaz, a Research Fellow specialising in pox viruses at The Pirbright Institute Dr Lilith Whittles, lecturer and Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow in the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis Dr Josie Golding, head of epidemiology at The Wellcome Trust Trudie Lang, Professor of Global Health Research at the University of Oxford

Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Ben Carter, Kirsteen Knight and Drew Hyndman Sound engineers: Jonathan Glover and James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

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What's happening in Sudan?

Thursday, June 27, 2024 • Duration 28:45

David Aaronovitch and guests dissect Sudan's ongoing civil war. This conflict is now one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters. How can it be brought to an end?

Guests:

James Copnall - presenter of Newsday on the BBC World Service and former BBC Sudan correspondent

Mohanad Hashim - Sudanese journalist working on Newshour on the BBC World Service

Dame Rosalind Marsden - associate fellow of the Africa programme at Chatham House and former UK ambassador to Sudan

Professor Alex De Waal - executive director of the World Peace Foundation

Produced by: Kirsteen Knight, Caroline Bayley and Ben Carter Edited by: Richard Vadon and Richard Fenton-Smith Sound engineers: Rod Farquhar and Andy Fell Production co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman

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Will the Rwanda plan work?

Thursday, April 21, 2022 • Duration 29:41

The Home Secretary, Priti Patel, has unveiled a plan to stop small boat crossings in the English Channel by sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. But will it work?

Joining David Aaronovitch in the briefing room are:

Mark Easton, BBC's Home Editor Alexander Betts, Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs at the Refugees Studies Centre Nicolas Rollason, partner and head of Business Immigration at Kingsley Napley Madeleine Sumption, Director of The Migration Observatory

Producers: Rosamund Jones, Ben Carter and Kirsteen Knight Production Co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed Studio Manager: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon

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Russia's invasion: what more can the west do to help Ukraine?

Thursday, March 24, 2022 • Duration 28:55

It's a month now since Russian forces invaded Ukraine. The west have sanctioned Russia and provided aid packages to Ukraine but what more can it do to help Ukraine win the war?

Joining David Aaronovitch in The Briefing Room are:

Gustav Gressel, senior policy fellow with the Wider Europe Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) Berlin office.

Dr Sarah Schiffling, International research fellow at the Humanitarian Logistics Institute in Helsinki, Finland and senior lecturer in supply chain management at Liverpool John Moores University.

Javier Blas, energy and commodities columnist at Bloomberg and co-author of the 'The World for Sale’.

Algirde Pipikaite, cybersecurity and digital transformation policy expert at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

Producers: Ben Carter, Kirsteen Knight, Octavia Woodward and Louise Clarke-Rowbotham Production Co-ordinators: Iona Hammond and Siobhan Reed Studio Manager: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon

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Russia's invasion: what could a peace deal look like?

Thursday, March 17, 2022 • Duration 28:44

Negotiations between Ukraine and Russia have been underway this week. At the same time Mariupol and other Ukrainian cities have come under savage bombardment. If some sort of peace is to be brokered what compromises might be possible and what will be required to get there?

David Aaronovitch is joined by:

Oleksiy Semeniy, former advisor to the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine

Aglaya Snetkov, author of “Russia's security policy under Putin” and a lecturer at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies in London.

Anatol Lieven, senior research fellow on Russia and Europe at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and a visiting professor at King’s College, London.

Dr Julie Norman, lecturer in politics and international relations at University College London and co-director of its US politics centre.

Producers: Rosamund Jones, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter Production Co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed Studio Manager: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon

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Russia's invasion: what level of support does Putin have at home?

Thursday, March 10, 2022 • Duration 29:11

What's the impact in Russia of painful sanctions and a war that's not going to plan?

How is President Putin controlling information and what's required for that to change?

David Aaronovitch is joined by:

Michael Clarke, Visiting Professor of War Studies at Exeter University and former director, Royal United Services Institute

Sergei Guriev, Professor of Economics at Sciences Po in Paris and former Chief Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Dr. Katerina Tertytchnaya, Assistant Professor in Comparative Politics, University College London

Izabella Tabarovsky, Senior Program Associate at the Kennan Institute, Wilson Center (US)

Dr Maxim Alyukov, fellow Kings College London

Producers: Rosamund Jones, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Henderson Production Co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed Studio Manager: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon

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Russia's invasion: what's the military strategy?

Thursday, March 3, 2022 • Duration 29:39

The war in Ukraine is a week old. What have we learned about the military strength - and tactics - on both sides?

And what might that tell us about how the conflict might play out?

David Aaronovitch is joined in The Briefing Room by:

Vitaliy Shevchenko, Russian editor at BBC Monitoring.

Colonel Liam Collins, founding director of the Modern War Institute in New York.

Ed Arnold, Research Fellow in European security at RUSI and an ex British Army officer who was posted to NATOs Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in 2014 during the Russian annexation of Crimea.

Kataryna Wolczuk, Professor of East European Politics at the University of Birmingham.

Bettina Renz, Professor of International Security at the University of Nottingham.

Producers: Rosamund Jones, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter Production co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed Studio manager: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon

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Russia's invasion: will sanctions work?

Thursday, February 24, 2022 • Duration 29:01

Russia is facing sanctions from around the world. Can they hit the country hard enough to make it change course and leave Ukraine in peace?

In a live episode David Aaronovitch considers how sanctions have worked in other crises, why they are so frequently used and what circumstances are required for them to be successful.

He is joined by:

Lee Jones, Professor of International Politics at Queen Mary, University of London and author of the book Societies Under Siege: Exploring How International Economic Sanctions (Do Not) Work

Tom Keatinge, Director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at RUSI

Dr Maria Shagina, Fellow at the Center for Eastern European Studies at the University of Zurich

Tyler Kustra, Assistant Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham

Producers: Rosamund Jones, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter Production co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Siobhan Reed Studio manager: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon

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What do drones mean for the future of warfare?

Thursday, February 17, 2022 • Duration 29:23

A few weeks ago a rebel group without an air-force managed to attack a foreign airport 1,000 miles away....from the air using drones. And theoretically what the Yemeni insurgents did in Abu Dhabi is repeatable the world over. Indeed is being repeated. Meanwhile drones are often the weapon of choice for major powers operating a long way from home. So are drones transforming the way conflicts are fought, to what extent is that a bad thing, and what can be done about it?

David Aaronovitch talks to:

Caroline Kennedy-Pipe, Professor of War Studies at Loughborough University Dr James Rogers, Assistant Professor at the Centre for War Studies in Odense, Denmark Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor at The Economist Dr Sarah Kreps, Director of the Tech Policy Lab at Cornell University

Producers: Rosamund Jones and Ben Carter Editor: Richard Vadon Production co-ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Sophie Hill Sound engineer: Graham Puddifoot

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The Briefing Room – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

The Briefing Room – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other2

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other2

Apple Podcasts

Spotify