The Real Story – Details, episodes & analysis

The Wall Street Journal reporter, who is the first US journalist charged with spying in Russia since the Cold War, has now been imprisoned for a year. His detention has been repeatedly extended and he is yet to face trial. His family, colleagues and the US government vehemently deny the accusations.

We talk with two BBC journalists who know Evan - Will Vernon and James Beardsworth. We hear what he’s like as a friend and journalist, and what his detention means for reporting on Russia.

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC experts around the world, with Katya Adler. We’re keen to hear from you, wherever you are in the world. #TheGlobalStory We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell The Global Story. Email us at theglobalstory@bbc.com You can also message us or leave a voice note on WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

Today’s podcast was made by Bethan Ashmead Latham, Alice Aylett Roberts and Richard Moran. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Sergi Forcada Freixas and the senior news editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.

Over the past year thousands of journalists have lost their jobs as mass media news organisations struggle to make ends meet. Ad revenue is down, many publishers are struggling to gain subscribers, and social media has resulted in plummeting traffic to homepages. More than a third of people worldwide say they sometimes or often actively avoid the news, many citing their mental health and concerns that they can’t do anything about the problems reported. Meanwhile advancements in artificial intelligence promise rapid changes to the way journalism is done. So, what’s the future of journalism?

Shaun Ley is joined by:

Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School

Benjamin Toff, assistant professor of journalism at the University of Minnesota, a research associate at the Reuters Institute and co-author of the book: ‘Avoiding the News: Reluctant Audiences for Journalism’

LaSharah S. Bunting, CEO and executive director of the Online News Association

Produced by Max Horberry and Paul Schuster

(Photo: Getty)

The population of the world has been rising for over 200 years but some time later this century it’s predicted to peak. Demographers don’t know exactly when that will happen but they do know that we are already experiencing a demographic transition. Fertility rates are falling world wide. Fertility in China and India is below replacement rate. In developed countries populations are ageing; since 2013, a quarter of Japan’s population has been over 65, and within the next five years Japan will be joined by Finland, Germany, Italy, and Portugal. It’s easy to see ageing as a problem. After all, how will working age people fund the pensions of so many old people? But could technology massively raise productivity? Could falling populations put less stress on the planet, and offer us a world with less competition and more leisure and space? And if an older population is a problem, how to solve it? Can we encourage people to have more children? Or should rich countries let in more people? Shaun Ley is joined by a panel of experts:

Jack Goldstone - Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University in Virginia, in the United States.

Elma Laguna - Associate Professor of Demography and Director of the Population Institute, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines, Diliman.

Frank Swiaczny - Senior Researcher at the Federal Institute for Population Research in Germany and Executive Director of the German Society for Demography.

Image: An elderly man holding a walking stick. Credit: Joe Giddens/PA Wire

Sweden has experienced days of violent protests against a far-right group. Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan’s anti-Islam party Hard Line says it will burn copies of the Quran as part of a tour of cities with large immigrant populations. Sweden has traditionally welcomed refugees, taking in Jews during WW2, Iranians fleeing the revolution, and a large number of people from the former Yugoslavia. But is that approach changing? Per capita Sweden accepted more refugees from the war in Syria than any other EU country. But after the arrival of more than 160,000 refugees in 2015 alone, government policy began to evolve – seeing the introduction of border checks, a reduction in access to permanent residency, and more stringent rules around family reunions. Voters increasingly complain that core government services like health and education are struggling to cope and many migrants still find it hard to secure jobs. The far-right party Sweden Democrats has seen a surge in support and is now the third most popular party nationally. So is Sweden changing?

Ritula Shah is joined by a panel of expert guests. Producers: Ellen Otzen and Paul Schuster.

This week the first round of the presidential election in France has shone a spotlight on the tectonic shifts taking place in the nation’s politics. President Emmanuel Macron, who shocked the world five years ago by winning the presidency as an outsider, has firmly established his party as the only centrist force - peeling off support from the traditional left and right. His main challenger, Marine Le Pen of National Rally, has proved the enduring appeal of the far-right by once again receiving the second highest number of votes. They will face each other in a run-off on 24th April. Analysts believe Ms Le Pen would have performed even better had she not faced stiff competition from another far-right figure, former TV personality Eric Zemmour. So what's behind the popularity of right-wing politics in France? Are policies that used to be confined to the more extreme ends of the political spectrum now becoming commonplace? And what might a far-right president mean for France’s place in Europe and the world?

Ritula Shah is joined by a panel of experts. Producers: Junaid Ahmed and Paul Schuster.

Workers at an Amazon warehouse in New York have successfully set up Amazon's first ever union in the country. Staff at dozens of other US locations are said to be interested in unionising as well. There are signs workers are now increasingly in the driving seat. The pandemic has galvanised American employees with a tightening labour market providing them with more leverage. An increasing number of workers around the world are drawn to new, more flexible ways of working. But campaigners argue that while gig workers enjoy greater control over the hours they put in, the conditions and benefits they receive make them second-class citizens. And while many high-skilled staff have used the pandemic to demand greater flexibility to work from home or work over fewer days, that’s a benefit many in lower-paid professions have been denied. So as the world emerges from the economic upheavals caused by Covid-19, are workers better off?

Ritula Shah is joined by a panel of expert guests. Producers: Natalia Rolleston and Paul Schuster.

History was made this week when, for the first time, the foreign ministers of the UAE, Morocco, Egypt and Bahrain travelled to Israel on an official visit. For decades Arab leaders have criticised Israel for its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, which appeared to rule out closer ties. But not anymore. After the meeting Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan told his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, “you are not only a partner, you are a friend,” adding that the countries have lost decades that could have been utilised, “knowing each other better, of working together, and of changing the narrative that many generations of Israelis and Arabs have been living.” The United States has spent recent years working to improve relations between its Israeli and Arab partners, an effort that burst into the public consciousness with the signing of the Abraham Accords under Donald Trump. The new allies share a distrust of Iran and a desire for greater economic ties across the region. But the Palestinian leadership has criticised the rapprochement, describing it as “a free reward for Israel”. So what’s been the benefit of the Abraham Accords? Will a new Iran nuclear deal push the parties even closer? What kind of support will these countries require from the United States at a time when US interest in the region is declining? And how many of the government-to-government ties are being translated into people-to-people contacts?

Julian Marshall is joined by a panel of experts. Producers Paul Schuster and Junaid Ahmed.

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine 141 of the UN’s 193 member states voted to condemn the action. But the Kremlin isn’t without its allies. Four nations voted with Russia against the resolution (Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Eritrea) and another 35 abstained. China is the most prominent of these, but India also sat out the vote. The world’s largest democracy has not only failed to criticise the invasion but has also shied away from introducing sanctions. That’s prompted President Biden to describe Delhi’s response to the war raging in Europe as “somewhat shaky”. But India isn’t alone. Israel too is hoping to stay neutral; it says so that it can facilitate talks between Moscow and Kyiv – with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid insisting “the way to stop the war is to negotiate”. So how much are current relationships based on ties dating back to the Cold War? How many countries still need Russia to maintain their own security and energy supplies? And can these partnerships survive in the face of harsh Western sanctions?

Ritula Shah is joined by a panel of experts. Producers: Junaid Ahmed and Paul Schuster.

Within days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Germany announced a number of significant changes to its economic and security policies. Chancellor Olaf Scholz described it as a Zeitenwende – or watershed – moment for Europe. The country would remove a self-imposed restraint on its armed forces - in place since the Second World War - and invest billions of dollars upgrading its military hardware. The government pledged to increase its defence spending to two percent of GDP making it the biggest military power in Europe. It also broke with tradition and began to supply arms to Ukraine and deploy troops on Nato's eastern flank. There is a shift in Germany's energy policy too. The country is heavily dependent on Russian oil, gas, and coal; but it has begun to cut these ties starting with the cancellation of Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Analysts say regardless of the outcome, the war in Ukraine will bring about profound and long-lasting changes to Germany and its place in Europe. So how significant is Germany's plan to re-arm its military?

Ritula Shah is joined by a panel of experts. Producers: Paul Schuster and Junaid Ahmed.

Just two weeks after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine the conflict has already begun reshaping the world. The bombardment of Ukrainian cities has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and forced millions to flee the country. But the war has also completely upended the global economy. Russia is paying the heaviest economic price, as it grapples with Western-led sanctions on its banks, major industries and individuals associated with President Vladimir Putin. There are growing fears in Moscow that basic supplies of essentials like food and medicines may be disrupted. But attempts to cut Russia off from the global economy are impacting nations and industries across the planet. Oil and gas prices are up, as are the cost of key commodities such as wheat. Global supply chains have already been disrupted by the pandemic and now the war in Ukraine - and the inflation it’s causing - is adding to the woes of some of the poorest people on Earth. So how long can the Kremlin hold out? As the threat of Russia defaulting on its debts increases, what does the future hold for the country’s economy and its workforce? And how high a price will we all pay as a result of the conflict now playing out in Eastern Europe?

Ritula Shah is joined by a panel of experts. Producers: Junaid Ahmed and Paul Schuster.