The Superlinguists: Monolingual societies

The Indian-born crime fiction author, Ajay Chowdhury, is writing the fifth instalment of his Detective Kamil Rahman series, set between India and the UK. But Ajay is also a leading digital tech entrepreneur and this side of his life influences how he writes his fiction. Join fellow author Paul Waters as he watches Ajay completing the first draft of his latest book with the help of artificial intelligence tools. Some authors – including Paul - fear that AI is an existential threat to human creativity, so why and how does Ajay use it to make his books better?

7 Aug 202327min

DJ and writer Lynnée Denise marks hip-hop’s 50th year by speaking to leading names about the music, the art and the creativity of this global cultural movement. Legendary hip-hop producer Pete Rock reminisces over the last five decades, celebrating the artform, exploring its social impact and ask what lies ahead in hip-hop’s story. Artist and rapper Chali 2na from Jurassic 5 tells us how the social realism of Grand Master Flash and the Furious 5 inspired him to write rhymes.

6 Aug 202326min

Niger has been the focus of international and diplomatic attention over the past week after its democratically elected president was removed from power by the military. In recent days, we have seen hundreds of foreign nationals leave the West African country. For most people in Niger though it is about trying to get on with life – amid the uncertainty – in a country that consistently ranks as having the lowest standards of living anywhere in the world. Host James Reynolds hears from two friends in Niger, Sadissou and Sidien, who share their different perspectives on events.

5 Aug 202323min

A doctor in New York, Anjoli has been longing for a space to practise spirituality within a like-minded community, but she does not want to go to her parents’ Hindu temple. Whilst she likes the rituals and the sense of community, she feels torn over the teachings about race and caste. She's one of a flock of people signing up to an online community called The Nearness - a group brought together by people with Divinity School backgrounds who yearn for a community where they can explore big spiritual questions, but outside the confines of tradition religion. Research suggests that many millennials are hungry for spiritual communities but wary of mainstream religious ones, so they are trying to create their own. But is it possible to do this in a lasting way, without the history, traditions and rituals of an established faith?

4 Aug 202327min

Millions of people left Romania after it entered the EU in 2007. They were haemorrhaging doctors at such a rate they had to shut entire hospitals and losing so many builders they had to cancel major infrastructure projects. By 2015, nearly 20% of the population lived abroad. Now their government wants them to come home. They’ve doubled health care salaries, offered tax breaks to builders and dished out thousands of Euros in grants for returners who start up a business. And in 2023, with Romania projected to have one of the fastest growing economies in the EU, the migration tide could finally be turning.Dr Tessa Dunlop travels to Transylvania to meet Alina, who was persuaded to leave the UK by a grant that helped her start up a leather clothing business. Adrian, co-owner of an app design company, relishes the high tech salary he can earn and the relatively low living costs in Romania. Dan, a foetal medicine specialist left the UK after nearly a decade working for the NHS, hoping to improve Romania’s maternity wards. In some sectors, though, there are still shortages. Builder Ion can't find the Romanian talent he could easily recruit in Italy. Perhaps not enough has improved, yet, to tempt lower paid workers home.Presenter: Dr Tessa Dunlop Producer: Phoebe Keane Editor: Penny Murphy Production Coordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross Mixed by: James Beard(Image: Alina Morar returned to Romania to set up a leather clothing company with the help of a government grant. Credit: BBC)

3 Aug 202327min

Fourteen-year-old Sri Nihal Tammana is on a mission to prevent billions of batteries going to landfill. After watching devastating fires cause by discarded lithium-ion batteries, the kind of batteries found in most modern consumer electronics, he decided to set up a not--for-profit organisation called Recycle my Battery. They have set up recycle points in shops and local businesses, evangelised about the importance of recycling batteries in schools and local temples and have partnered with the largest non-profit battery recycling company in north America, Call2Recycle.

2 Aug 202323min

Science fiction flourished from the earliest days of the Soviet Union. A rare space to explore other realms and utopian dreams of progress. But with the Soviet Union's collapse different narratives bubbled up. Many of them reactionary, imperial, violent with one sub genre flourishing above all - Popadantsy: accidental time travel where protagonists return to World War Two or the Imperial past to set the path of Russian history on the 'right' course, Historian Catherine Merridale explores how the once visionary world of Russian science fiction shifted in the time of Vladimir Putin to become a reactionary playground.

1 Aug 202327min

The crime writer Agatha Christie remains the best-selling novelist of all time even though her death was almost 50 years ago. Her fictional detective Hercule Poirot has attained legendary status, so for a modern novelist to breathe new life into the character is a considerable challenge. However, the English psychological crime author Sophie Hannah has been doing just that. In 2014 she wrote her first novel using Poirot as the central character and we follow her in 2018 as she prepares her third Poirot novel for publication, entitled The Mystery of Three Quarters. Felicity Finch next catches up with Sophie as her fifth Poirot novel, Hercule Poirot’s Silent Night, is due to be published.

31 Jul 202327min