Tanya Beckett and BBC World Service guests unpack one global question each week.
The Inquiry examines international politics, economics, culture and climate through one focused question at a time. Its episodes move patiently from background to consequence, using expert witnesses and precise reporting to make complex public issues easier to follow.
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The Inquiry is a weekly BBC World Service explainer show built around a single question posed in each episode's title, such as 'Is it time to scrap the Commonwealth Games?' or 'Is nuclear disarmament set to self-destruct?'. Rather than a single long-form interview, most episodes function as a panel of short expert segments, typically featuring three to four guests drawn from universities, think tanks, and policy institutes, such as the Hudson Institute, Johns Hopkins SAIS, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Episodes run close to 24 minutes and follow a consistent structure: establishing a current news trigger, tracing the historical background, and then laying out competing forces or forecasts. Tanya Beckett is the most frequently credited host in the sample, with Charmaine Cozier also presenting episodes, suggesting hosting duties rotate among BBC World Service presenters. Guests are almost always academic or institutional specialists tied to the episode's topic rather than recurring personalities, giving the show a rotating cast of subject experts rather than a fixed ensemble. Recurring subject areas include international security and arms control, African politics and conflict, economic policy, technology regulation, and the politics of major sporting and cultural events. The tone is measured and explanatory, coded across the sample as news, educational, and investigative rather than opinionated commentary. Episode descriptions and takeaways emphasize competing pressures and open questions rather than firm conclusions. Listeners get concise, sourced context on a live global story rather than long-form narrative or opinion. Production is BBC World Service standard: scripted narration by the host interwoven with expert soundbites, credited producers and editors, and a consistent runtime of roughly 24 minutes per episode.
Made for: Listeners who want concise, expert-sourced explainers on live international news stories, from security and economic policy to tech regulation and global sport.
What sets it apart: Each episode is organized around one explicit question and a short panel of academic or think-tank experts rather than a single guest interview, within a tight roughly 24-minute format.
The Inquiry gets beyond the headlines to explore the trends, forces and ideas shaping the world.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Four expert witnesses turn one timely question into a clear account of the history, incentives, and consequences behind it.
The Inquiry builds each episode around one consequential question, then brings in four expert witnesses to test it from different directions. Daniel Rosny and Charmaine Kosia guide examinations of social media regulation, rewilding and climate change, basic income, and the…
One question, four expert witnesses, and enough context to stop your hot take arriving underdressed.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A clear look at Eurovision as soft power, political stage and strained symbol of European unity.
The Inquiry frames the threatened Eurovision boycott as a test of what the contest can still hold together when music, national image and war politics collide.
A sharp current-affairs look at why the Commonwealth Games now have to justify their cost, identity, and political legitimacy.
The Inquiry treats the Commonwealth Games as a political institution under pressure, not just a sporting fixture with a budget problem. Tanya Beckett opens with Glasgow 2026 and the awkward fact that Victoria, Australia, walked away after rapidly escalating costs, leaving the…
A clear primer on why basic income keeps resurfacing in welfare debates, tech circles, and arguments over automation.
Basic income is treated as a live policy fight, not a slogan. The episode starts with Ireland's decision to keep cash payments for 2,000 artists, then widens into the question of why governments, researchers, and tech figures keep circling back to no-strings income support.
A sober account of how Cuba's crisis became economic, political and deeply human.
Cuba's crisis is framed as a set of pressures that have piled up over time: fuel shortages, blackouts, a long dependence on Venezuelan oil, and the United States' de facto blockade on fuel shipments.
A grounded climate listen on rewilding's promise, sharpened by the harder economics of land use and leakage.
The Inquiry treats rewilding as climate politics with dirt under its nails. It opens on Floriana, where giant tortoises return more than 180 years after the native species disappeared, then broadens into a sharper question about damaged ecosystems, land use and global demand.
A sober, useful guide to why the next nuclear arms-control deadline matters.
The Inquiry uses the February 2026 expiry of New START as its starting point, then widens the lens to a nuclear order under strain. Charmaine Cozier moves from the wartime origins of atomic weapons to today's uneven pressure on non-proliferation: North Korea's estimated arsenal…
A sober BBC briefing on Nigeria's kidnapping crisis, strongest when it connects insecurity to rural neglect, poverty, and weak state reach.
The Inquiry treats Nigeria's kidnapping crisis as both an immediate security emergency and a symptom of deeper state failure. Tanya Beckett opens with the abduction of more than 300 pupils and 12 teachers from a Catholic school in northern Nigeria, noting that 100 children were…
A clear BBC primer on why wine's crisis is economic, cultural, and bigger than France.
The Inquiry frames the wine industry's trouble as both an economic squeeze and a cultural reckoning. Charmaine Kosia starts in Beziers, where winemakers protest falling sales, rising costs, and a crisis that has spread beyond France.
Ben Rhodes and Tommy Vietor track the US-Iran war and Trump's foreign policy moves.
Muslim politics with no soft edges.
National security through consequences, not noise.
Connecticut talk with sharp civic instincts.
Books, media, memory, and public evidence.
December 2025 puts Eurovision in a tight spot.
A baton leaves Buckingham Palace, and Tanya Beckett turns that ceremonial sendoff for the 2026 Commonwealth Games into a harder question: does this event still make sense after Victoria state walked away as host?
Ireland has made one pilot permanent.
Cuba is running short.
February 2026 opens on Floriana.
This episode explores why Poland's economy has been booming, highlighting its recent milestone of surpassing Spain in income per capita and reaching a trillion-dollar economy.
This episode examines Spain's newly announced amnesty program that aims to legalize the status of approximately 500,000 undocumented migrants already living and working in the country.
This episode examines China's dominance in rare earth minerals and the global competition for these critical resources essential for modern technology and green energy.
This episode examines whether the 2026 World Cup's expansion to 48 teams across three North American countries and rising ticket prices represents a positive development or a misstep for the tournament.
This episode of The Inquiry investigates the global water crisis, focusing on Chennai's water shortage and the broader issue of groundwater depletion.
This episode examines the upcoming democratic elections in Bangladesh and their significance for the country's future after the fall of Sheikha Sina.
This episode of The Inquiry investigates the global rise in shoplifting, featuring expert analysis and statistics from multiple countries.
This episode examines whether Iran's current economic crisis and widespread protests represent a historical repetition of the 1979 revolution that overthrew the monarchy.
February 2026 matters.
The episode examines the wave of protests in Kenya sparked by the death of a teacher in police custody, exploring underlying grievances about corruption, police misconduct, and economic opportunities.
This episode of The Inquiry discusses the conclusion of Taylor Swift's record-breaking Eras Tour in Vancouver.
This episode examines the idea of a universal language as a solution to social fragmentation, using the story of a teenager in Poland who dreamed of creating one.
Nigeria's kidnap crisis is being treated as a national emergency.
November 2025: southern France is out in the streets.
September 2025 gives Europe its clearest signal that Australia is being treated as a test case.
This episode examines whether Cyprus is moving closer to reunification, featuring expert analysis on the island's long-standing division.
This episode investigates whether the new Pope Leo is continuing or reversing the progressive 'woke' agenda of his predecessor Pope Francis.
This episode examines whether the world is prepared for increasing climate migration, featuring expert testimony and historical context from COP conferences.
This episode examines how climate change, labor shortages, and US tariffs threaten the global tea industry, featuring expert interviews.
This episode examines whether the UN Security Council remains relevant in today's world, focusing on Nigeria's bid for a permanent seat.
The episode explores the possibility of bringing extinct species back to life through genetic engineering, using the recent de-extinction of dire wolf puppies as a case study.
The episode analyzes President Trump's announcement of radical new tariffs on foreign imports, exploring the economic and political implications.
This episode examines the status of the Ukraine war during the first 100 days of Donald Trump's second presidency, including peace negotiations and US-Russia talks.
This episode of The Inquiry covers the March 2025 test flight of SpaceX's Starship, the world's most powerful rocket, which experienced a malfunction after launch.
This episode examines the aftermath of Romania's annulled presidential election and the rise of far-right candidate Cailin Georgescu.
This episode examines whether NATO remains relevant in the face of US disengagement and European efforts to achieve strategic autonomy.
This episode examines whether South Africa can solve its land inequality problem through a new expropriation law.