Diving With a Purpose

Two years after the first cases of a mysterious new virus were reported from China, host Nuala McGovern brings together experts in Switzerland, India and Israel who have been tracking the spread and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and providing advice to governments and health officials. What have they learnt about the effects of the pandemic? What happens next and what are the lessons for the future?Nuala talks to Dr Emma Hodcroft, a molecular epidemiologist at the University of Bern in Switzerland, Dr Swapneil Parikh in Mumbai, India, and Professor Manfred Green, an epidemiologist based at the University of Haifa in Israel.

1 Jan 202224min

The pandemic has meant stopping so many of the everyday things we used to do, including not hugging and kissing others. For Susanna from Italy, not being able to connect with people socially in the way she is used to has led to a deep disorientation. Gary Zukav gives his perspective that it is not the pandemic that has led to her feeling more isolated from others, but rather it is fear of what is different.

1 Jan 202218min

Peru has been battered by Covid-19. It has the highest known death toll in the world per capita. But behind the figures there’s another hidden pandemic. By the end of April 2021 around 93,000 children had lost a father, mother, grand-parent, or other primary caregiver to the virus - that’s one in every hundred children. For Assignment, Jane Chambers travels to Lima to meet the families struggling to cope. The immediate urgency of the health crisis is masking a much deeper malaise; that of a generation of children mentally and physically scarred by loss and poverty. Reported and produced by Jane Chambers Editor: Bridget Harney (Image: Jhoana Olinda Antón Silva and her children in their home at the shrine they built for their father who died of Covid-19. Credit: Paola Ugaz)

30 Des 202128min

Reflecting on the life of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the South African priest who became a prominent figure in the fight against apartheid, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

26 Des 202126min

A chance to hear once again from the BBC's acclaimed series examining the seismic events shaping Afghanistan before and after this year's return to power of the Taliban. The BBC's chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, hears from two key players who have shaped the country's recent history: Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, a former Afghan diplomat and co-founder of the Taliban movement; and Hamid Karzai, the country's first elected president. Both talk in detail about the events that shaped their lives, their thinking and what they make of the collapse of the US-backed government in the country.Hear the whole series at bbcworldservice.com/afghanistan

26 Des 202150min

Justin Rowlatt looks at the bonanza provided by coal, oil and gas in just the last two centuries. Our modern comfortable way of life is only made possible by burning through a finite stock of fossilised chemical energy. Today we are a fossil fuel society, according to the noted energy historian Vaclav Smil. Fossil fuels underpin everything we take for granted – our long leisurely lives, our material goods, even the crops needed to feed our gigantic populations. Justin takes a tour through the history of the engine with Prof Paul Warde at London’s Science Museum. He explores the dark library of hydrocarbon fuels with chemist Andrea Sella. And he discovers how coal and natural gas created the materials that built our modern urban worlds.

25 Des 202124min

In the early '80s the idea of a television channel showing nothing but music videos 24 hours a day was completely revolutionary. It posed the first real threat to the dominance of Top 40 Radio across America and went on to completely redefine how artists marketed themselves and the way popular music was consumed by the fans. The arrival of MTV in 1981 quickly led to an explosion in the production of music videos in both Europe and the US, many of which went on to define the decade. From Thriller to Live Aid, Britney to Beyonce; MTV has been the soundtrack to some of the biggest moments in popular culture for the last 40 years.

25 Des 202150min

Vaccines, vaccine hesitancy, Delta and Omicron – what is it like reporting on the pandemic? Host Nuala McGovern links up with journalists in Brazil, the United States and Germany to hear how they have been covering the coronavirus pandemic over the past year. How have things changed, and what are their predictions for 2022? Barbara Carvalho, from Globo News in Brazil, explains why vaccine take-up is high in a country where the national leadership has been sceptical of vaccination. We are also joined by Kathrin Wesolowski, a reporter and fact-checker in Germany, who warns of the dangers of misinformation around the pandemic. And Apoorva Mandavilli, Global Health and Science Reporter for the New York Times, tells us how her feelings go from despair to optimism.

25 Des 202124min