Understand

Economic growth is something every UK government, up to and including the current one, claims to want above all else. But for almost 20 years, not a single one has been able to deliver sustained national economic expansion. BBC Verify's Policy and Analysis correspondent, Ben Chu asks why generating growth seems to be such a puzzle for us. In the first of a three part series he looks at what growth actually is, how it’s made human civilisation and the profound damage two decades of feeble growth have done to our living standards. Ben talks to businesses on the ground in the UK about what they think is holding them back and what’s stopping them - and the country - from growing. Presenter: Ben Chu, Policy and Analysis correspondent, BBC Verify Producer: Caroline Bayley Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinators: Janet Staples and Katie Morrison Sound Engineer: Neil Churchill

Every UK government, up to and including the current one, claims to want to achieve economic growth. But for almost 20 years not a single one has delivered sustained economic expansion. BBC Verify's Policy and Analysis Correspondent, Ben Chu asks why generating growth seems to be such a puzzle for us. In this three part series he looks at what growth actually is, what's holding it back, as well as what we can learn from other fast growing economies and where the UK's future growth potential lies.

In the final episode of Michael Rosen’s series on masculinity and manhood, can comedian and podcaster Vittorio Angelone, following his tumultuous 20s, find his way to being a man that he actually likes. At the start of his 20s, Vittorio found himself adrift in London, unsure of who he was or who he wanted to be. He felt paralysed by the many conflicting models of maleness competing for his attention online – all of them just different costumes he was trying on. How will he find his own path? Presenter: Michael Rosen Producer: Rich Power Executive Producer: Dave Anderson Sound Mixer: Dan King Editor: Kirsten Lass Production Manager: Emily Duffy Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Loftus Media Production for BBC Radio 4

What’s it like to be a man in your 30s? In Episode 6 of Michael Rosen’s series about masculinity and manhood, filmmaker and former Premier League footballer Marvin Sordell puts darkness behind him to write a new chapter in his life. By the time he was in his 20s, Marvin had clawed his way to the top level of football, playing in the Premier League and representing his country. But behind the scenes, he was battling a severe mental health crisis brought on by the pressure of the game and the hypermasculine culture that prevented him from sharing his struggles. After taking the brave decision to leave his lucrative career behind, Marvin is rebuilding himself as a man in his 30s. Presenter: Michael Rosen Producer: Rich Power Executive Producer: Dave Anderson Sound Mixer: Dan King Editor: Kirsten Lass Production Manager: Emily Duffy Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Loftus Media Production for BBC Radio 4

What’s it like to be a man in your 40s? In Episode 5 of Michael Rosen’s series about masculinity and manhood, singer and author Lias Saoudi reflects on his transition from chaos to fatherhood. As the lead singer of the notoriously hedonistic band Fat White Family, Lias made a career out of chaos. But after a revelation during the covid lockdown, he makes a handbrake turn, cleaning up his life and having a baby with his best friend. But as the realities of life as a new father bite, the old instincts bubble up. How will Lias respond to his new responsibilities? Presenter: Michael Rosen Producer: Rich Power Executive Producer: Dave Anderson Sound Mixer: Dan King Editor: Kirsten Lass Production Manager: Emily Duffy Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Loftus Media Production for BBC Radio 4

What’s it like to be a man in your 50s? In Episode 4 of Michael Rosen’s series about manhood and masculinity, journalist, activist and writer Matthew Todd talks about his experience. Matthew grew up feeling completely alienated from traditional masculinity. As a young gay man growing up during the HIV crisis of the 1980s, he felt the homophobia of mainstream culture deeply and developed a fear of straight men. But after decades of mental health problems and alcohol addiction, he finally was able to address his trauma. And now has found a new sense of himself as a man. Presenter: Michael Rosen Producer: Rich Power Executive Producer: Dave Anderson Sound Mixer: Dan King Editor: Kirsten Lass Production Manager: Emily Duffy Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Loftus Media Production for BBC Radio 4

What’s it like being a man in your 60s? In Episode 3 of Michael Rosen’s series about manhood and masculinity, comedian and writer David Baddiel shares his experience. Like all of us, David has always ‘known’ he was going to die, but it’s only now that he truly believes it. As he considers what sort of man he wants to be in his old age and what mark he’ll leave on the world, he realises it’s family that comes above everything else. But what does being a ‘father’ really mean? Presenter: Michael Rosen Producer: Rich Power Executive Producer: Dave Anderson Sound Mixer: Dan King Editor: Kirsten Lass Production Manager: Emily Duffy Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Loftus Media Production for BBC Radio 4

What is it like being a man in your 70s? In Episode 2 of Michael Rosen’s series about manhood and masculinity, celebrated author and poet Colm Tóibín shares how he feels less and less sexual energy as he ages, especially after surviving testicular cancer. But he’s far from depressed about it. In fact, he’s busy putting that energy to other uses. In this episode, Colm speaks to the visceral realities of aging, but also the new opportunities for physical and creative self-discovery. Presenter: Michael Rosen Producer: Rich Power Executive Producer: Dave Anderson Sound Mixer: Dan King Editor: Kirsten Lass Production Manager: Emily Duffy Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Loftus Media Production for BBC Radio 4

Michael Palin doesn’t feel like a ‘man’ anymore in his 80s. But what does that mean and does it bring a new freedom? In conversation with Michael Rosen – who has recently turned 80 himself – Palin reflects on the fading of those competitive instincts that motivated him as a young star of Monty Python. And how he has learned to embrace an entirely ‘unmale’ worldview in his later years. The two Michaels discuss how, as we age, the things that feel so important to many young men are put into stark perspective by grief. Just as he entered his 80s, Palin lost Helen, his wife of 60 years. Together they consider how to hold onto the sense of who we are in the face of such world-shaking blows. Presenter: Michael Rosen Producer: Rich Power Executive Producer: Dave Anderson Sound Mixer: Dan King Editor: Kirsten Lass Production Manager: Emily Duffy Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke A Loftus Media Production for BBC Radio 4

What does being a ‘man’ really mean? From Michael Palin in his 80s to comedian Vittorio Angelone, just turned 30, seven men share their deeply personal experiences of manhood. After almost dying of covid-19, our host and guide Michael Rosen has just reached the ripe old age of 80. It’s got him thinking about what kind of man he’s been so far across his long life, and what that label even means to him anyway. Because today we’re surrounded by many conflicting ideals of manhood. Men should be strong and silent, but also in touch with their emotions. They should be aggressive and competitive, while shielding those weaker than them from harm. They should be radiating sex appeal, while setting an example as a family man. The older Michael gets, the more confusing he finds it. So in this series he’s putting aside all the notions of what a man ‘should’ be, to look at the real thing. The awkward thing. The funny thing. The tender thing we don’t quite know how to talk about. Michael speaks to seven men, each in a different decade of life, from wise elders Michael Palin and author Colm Tóibín, to sprightly middle-aged youngsters comedian David Baddiel and journalist Matthew Todd, right down to veritable toddlers - singer Lias Saoudi, former footballer Marvin Sordell, and comedian Vittorio Angelone. Presenter: Michael Rosen Producer: Rich Power Executive Producer: Dave Anderson Sound Mixer: Dan King Editor: Kirsten Lass Production Manager: Emily Duffy Commissioning Editor for BBC Radio 4: Dan Clarke A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4

In this episode, Ros Atkins asks whether AI is solving our ‘value crisis’, or making it worse. He takes the optimistic case seriously - that AI could deepen our relationship with the world around us, unlock new forms of creativity, strengthen human intimacy, and help us solve big problems. Then he tests each claim. If AI brings us closer to each other, what happens when that closeness is manufactured rather than real? If it can make us more creative, what happens when it's built on other people's work, taken without payment or consent? If it can solve our biggest problems, who benefits when the technology itself is owned by a handful of companies? And if it does our thinking for us, what becomes of the expertise we spent years building? Featuring economist Daniel Susskind, futurist Amy Webb, businesswoman Alex Mahon, New Yorker writer Kyle Chayka, writer John Lanchester, research adviser Roberta Pierfederici, musician Holly Herndon, Baroness Beeban Kidron, digital anthropologist Caia Hegel and sociologist Sherry Turkle. A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4

Technology is transforming what we value at breakneck speed. But is this really new? In this episode, Ros Atkins looks to four moments when earlier technologies forced a reckoning with value: the printing press, which flooded the world with words and upended who got to claim knowledge and authority; the Luddite rebellion, a skilled workforce fighting not technology itself but their own devaluation by it; the scandalous arrival of photography in Victorian England, when images could suddenly be captured, copied and faked; and the dot-com boom and bust of the 1990s, when a generation learned how quickly value can be invented, and lost. Featuring historian Ada Palmer, technology reporter Brian Merchant, cultural historian Tiffany Jenkins and New Yorker journalist John Cassidy. A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4

Ros Atkins thinks technology is dramatically shifting what we value in the worlds of friendship, culture, finance and work. In this episode, he sets out to test whether that shift amounts to a crisis - or something else. He examines how technology has made our relationships more frictionless, and perhaps thinner as a result; whether an algorithm can tell the difference between what's good and what merely holds our attention; how in the world of finance, price has come loose from worth altogether; and how in the world of work, some of us are wondering how long our value will hold. Featuring contributions from philosopher C. Thi Nguyen, sociologist Sherry Turkle, journalist and broadcaster Zing Tsjeng, the New Yorker's Kyle Chayka, writer John Lanchester, Financial Times columnist Jemima Kelly, translator Ruth Martin, software engineer Andrew Hamilton and economist Daniel Susskind. A Tempo & Talker production for BBC Radio 4

Technology is changing our lives at breakneck speed. But what is it doing to what we value? From friendship and culture to finance and work, Ros Atkins explores how technology is reshaping our ideas of worth. Has making our relationships more frictionless also made them thinner? Can an algorithm tell the difference between what's good and what simply holds our attention? What happens when price comes unstuck from value, or when the technology that makes us more productive also makes our own skills redundant? Ros looks to previous technological revolutions for clues, from the arrival of the printing press and the Luddite rebellion to the invention of photography and the dot-com crash. And as AI promises to transform everything from creativity and intimacy to science and work, he asks whether this really amounts to a crisis, and whether AI will resolve it, or make it worse. Producer: Nadia Mehdi A Tempo+Talker production for BBC Radio 4

Across three episodes, author and mental health academic Nathan Filer explores neurodivergence: what it means, how children live with it, and how adults navigate its impact in work, relationships and everyday life. Episode three turns to adulthood, asking what it means to receive a diagnosis of autism or ADHD later in life, and why increasing numbers of people are now seeking assessment. Nathan hears from clinicians managing huge waiting lists, alongside adults reflecting on how a diagnosis has shaped their understanding of themselves and their lives. Through lived experience and expert insight, the programme asks what it would take for more neurodivergent adults to be better understood, better supported and better able to flourish. Featuring contributions from Pete Wharmby, occuptional therapist Charlie Hobbs, Ian Ensum and Sarah Zohadi from the Bristol Autism Spectrum Service, peer mentor Ben, neurodiversity coach Emma Wee, Matthew Punter; founder of Eden, and Annie and Patricia from Project Art Works in Hastings. Writer and presenter: Nathan Filer Producer: Eliza Lomas Assistant Producer: Robbie Wojciechowski Editor: Chris Ledgard Series Development: Nathan Filer, Eliza Lomas, Robbie Wojciechowski

Across three episodes, author and mental health academic Nathan Filer explores neurodivergence: what it means, how children live with it, and how adults navigate its impact in work, relationships and everyday life. Episode two asks what it means to grow up neurodivergent in a school system under strain. For some children, school can be a place of learning, friendship and support. For others, it can become overwhelming: a world of sensory overload, social confusion, anxiety, burnout and absence. Through the experiences of children, parents, educators and clinicians, the programme considers what happens when a child is labelled difficult, disruptive or unable to cope – and what changes when adults begin to see distress differently. From autism and ADHD to school avoidance, SEND provision, sensory integration and the pressure on families and teachers, it asks how education might better meet children where they are. Featuring contributions from Matthew Punter, Labeebah Islaam, SENDcos Georgina Smith and Stewart Dudgeon, clinical psychologist Naomi Fisher and Occupational Therapist Charlie Hobbs. Writer and presenter: Nathan Filer Producer: Eliza Lomas Assistant Producer: Robbie Wojciechowski Editor: Chris Ledgard Series Development: Nathan Filer, Eliza Lomas, Robbie Wojciechowski

Author and mental health academic Nathan Filer explores neurodivergence: what it means, how children live with it, and how adults navigate its impact in work, relationships and everyday life. Episode one begins with the language of difference: as terms like neurodivergent and neurotypical have moved from activist and specialist spaces into everyday life, they have brought comfort, identity and community, but also confusion. Through lived experience and expert insight, the programme travels from autism and ADHD to self-diagnosis, TikTok, rejection sensitivity and the limits of labels. It asks not only what we call one another, but how we listen, understand and care. Featuring contributions from Labeebah Islaam, academic psychologist Lucy Foulkes, clinical psychologist Naomi Fisher and Alex Partridge, author of Why Does Everybody Hate Me? Living and Loving with Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria. Writer and presenter: Nathan Filer Producer: Eliza Lomas Assistant Producer: Robbie Wojciechowski Editor: Chris Ledgard Series Development: Nathan Filer, Eliza Lomas, Robbie Wojciechowski

Nathan Filer explores the complex and shifting terrain of neurodiversity, and what it means to be different. From neurodivergence in childhood, to navigating adulthood.

Facing climate fatigue and denial, a backlash against green policy, and increasingly urgent warnings from scientists, the green movement is shifting into a new era. Two environmentally-minded politicians spell out their opposing visions for where the movement should go next. Zack Polanski is the leader of the Green Party, preaching a message of ‘eco-populism’. John Gummer is a Conservative Lord and former head of the Climate Change Committee; he thinks the most powerful tool to make change is the free market. What is the future of the green movement? Presenter: Justin Rowlatt Series Producer: Ellie House Editor: Matt Willis Sound Design and Mix: James Beard Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele, Brenda Brown, Sabine Schereck Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke Archive: Doechii at Glastonbury, Glastonbury and Doechii filmed by BBC, 28/6/2025 Green Party Hustings at Glastonbury Speakers Forum, The Green Gathering, filmed by Zoe Broughton, 8/7/2025 Margaret Thatcher speech to the United Nations General Assembly, C-SPAN, 8/11/1989

Just Stop Oil is “hanging up the hi vis” after three years of throwing soup at paintings, interrupting theatre performances, and blocking roads. It’s 2025. They’ve been racking up arrests - and opponents - and now, the UK government has passed a string of new laws cracking down on disruptive protest. They say they’ve achieved their aims - a ban on new oil and gas licenses - but were they policed to extinction? With their hardcore campaigning for the climate, did these activists prompt a change in law that made all green activism harder? Presenter: Justin Rowlatt Producer: Alix Pickles Series Producer: Ellie House Editor: Matt Willis Sound Design and Mix: James Beard Production Coordinators: Maria Ogundele, Brenda Brown, Sabine Schereck Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke Archive: ‘Just Stop Oil is Hanging up the Hi Vis’, Just Stop Oil, 27/3/2025 Just Stop Oil Louise M25 protest, Just Stop Oil, 7/11/2022 Lord Deben on Just Stop Oil, ITV Robert Peston, 5/7/2023 Rupert Read talking about The Climate Majority Project, Some Dare Call It Conspiracy podcast, 24/4/2024