The Explanation
The Explanation is a snackable audio guide giving you the backstory behind the headlines. In each episode, presenter Claire Graham meets a BBC News correspondent who has lived and breathed these stories. She’ll hear clear analysis along with powerful archive. The Explanation will go back in time to unpack complex chains of events and will make the stories in question easier to understand.
- Update frequency
- every 3 days
- Average duration
- 24 minutes
- Episodes
- 222
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
The Global Jigsaw: Wagner after Prigozhin
What next for the notorious Wagner group after the plane crash that wiped out its leadership? The Russian private military group that’s left boot prints in Europe, the Middle East and Africa is facin…
Unspun World: What has changed for women in Iran, a year after Mahsa Amini's death?
Iranian women are still fighting for freedom, despite government crackdowns. World Service correspondent Faranak Amidi speaks to the BBC’s world affairs editor, John Simpson, about the fight for equa…
The Global Jigsaw: Grain deal special
Russia and Turkey failed to reach an agreement to bring Ukrainian grain to countries that desperately need it, at a meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. What are the obstacles - and the implicat…
Could Puerto Rico become America's 51st state?
As a US territory, Puerto Rico uses the dollar, its people are US citizens and they can move freely back and forth. However, it isn’t a US state, and its residents can’t vote in presidential election…
Kosovo–Serbia relations
After unilaterally declaring independence in 2008, Kosovo has been recognised by many countries, but not Serbia, which still claims it as one of its provinces. After the break-up of the former Yugosl…
What is Nato?
Nato members agree to support each other if they come under attack. That’s the fundamental purpose of Nato, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, formed in the wake of World War II. But how has …
Venezuela crisis
How has Venezuela, home to the world's largest oil reserves, become crippled with food and medicine shortages, hyper-inflation, violence and corruption? Hugo Chavez promised a socialist revolution …
The EU
With its foundations in the ashes of World War II, the European Union was initially formed to avoid further wars and remove trade barriers. It grew from a six-nation club as the ECC in 1957, to today…
Who are the Rohingyas?
In 2017, a deadly crackdown by Myanmar's army resulted in the mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims across the border into Bangladesh. Years later, many of those who fled are still in refugee camps.
But why…
What is a war crime?
What is the difference between a war crime, a crime against humanity and genocide? And who holds those responsible to account?
Anna Holligan, the BBC's correspondent in The Hague, gives an insight int…
Unspun World: Is it time to return looted art?
What should we done with stolen treasures? The BBC's culture editor, Katie Razzall, confronts colonialism's legacy with world affairs editor John Simpson. John also finds out if victory is finally in…
Haiti's gang crisis
Since Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010, the country has been in turmoil. Some 200 gangs have taken control in the absence of a functioning state, with murder, kidnapping and rape becoming commo…
Unspun World: Is Putin's time up?
President Putin's days might well be numbered, BBC Russian service editor Famil Ismailov tells world affairs editor John Simpson. John also hears from Ukrainian journalist Olga Malchevska about how u…
How Lebanon’s economy collapsed
Protests, power cuts and bank hold-ups – Lebanon was already struggling before the 2020 port explosion that devasted its capital, Beirut, but now it’s in a desperate economic collapse. The Lebanese p…
Unspun World: Xi Jinping: President or emperor?
Chinese service editor Howard Zhang speaks to world affairs editor John Simpson about Xi Jinping's growing ambition and what it means for China - and the rest of us. We also speak to Olga Ivshina, BB…
What is the Wagner Group?
The Wagner group has been linked to military conflicts around the world, but who are they?
The Russian mercenary organisation is believed to have been founded nearly 10 years ago, but ramped up recrui…
Unspun World: Who can challenge Trump?
The BBC's world affairs editor, John Simpson, asks defence correspondent Jonny Beale where the war in Ukraine is heading and what victory might look like; finds out from North America correspondent A…
Unspun World: What's it like reporting on the war from inside Russia?
The BBC's world affairs editor, John Simpson, asks Russia editor Steve Rosenberg what the mood is like in Russia as the war gets closer to home; finds out from South Asia editor Rebecca Henschke why …
Unspun World: Can the US transform the world's economy?
Can the US transform the world's economy? We get the detail - and why it matters for the rest of us - from economics editor Faisal Islam. And our host, the BBC’s world affairs editor John Simpson, as…
Unspun World: Could AI outsmart humanity?
Unspun World provides an unvarnished version of the week's major global news stories with the BBC's world affairs editor John Simpson and the BBC's unparalleled range of experts.
This week, John finds…