The Explanation Podcast
Where the world is explained. Making sense of the big stories - looking behind the spin.
Where the world is explained. Making sense of the big stories - looking behind the spin. Exploring the important questions about long-running stories and the latest global news. An honest, unvarnished, explanation of the world.
Featuring new episodes of The President's Path, Unspun World with John Simpson, and The Media Show.
Episodes to download
-
![]()
Unspun World: What's next for President Putin after winning re-election?
Sat 23 Mar 2024
Plus, as Biden and Trump compete for the presidency, is the US close to civil unrest?
-
![]()
The Global Jigsaw - Contested waters: Crimea
Sun 17 Mar 2024
How water is used as a weapon of war following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
-
![]()
Unspun World: Has Russia turned the tide in its war in Ukraine?
Sat 16 Mar 2024
Plus, gang violence in Haiti, and the possibility of unmanned ships on the oceans
-
![]()
The Global Jigsaw: What hope for Haiti?
Sun 10 Mar 2024
Gang violence has turned the small Caribbean nation into a “living nightmare”
-
![]()
Unspun World: What's life like on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank?
Sat 9 Mar 2024
What will it take to bring peace to both Gaza and Ukraine?
-
![]()
Unspun World: Is a ceasefire in Gaza within reach?
Sat 2 Mar 2024
Plus, Donald Trump's legal problems, and European farmers protest
-
![]()
Unspun World: What Alexei Navalny's death means for Vladimir Putin's grip on Russia
Sat 24 Feb 2024
Two years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, can Putin keep control?
-
![]()
Unspun World: Can Israel win its war in Gaza?
Sat 17 Feb 2024
John Simpson analyses Israel offensive in Gaza, China's economy and Indonesia's election
-
![]()
Unspun World: How Russia's economy has survived despite sanctions
Sat 10 Feb 2024
Plus, examining the US military's role in the Middle East
-
![]()
Unspun World: Is Ukraine losing Western support?
Sat 3 Feb 2024
Plus, how might the International Court of Justice’s ruling affect the war in Gaza?
-
![]()
Unspun World: Is the war in Gaza slipping away from Israel?
Sat 27 Jan 2024
Plus, the implications of Iran’s missile strike on Pakistan
-
![]()
Unspun World: What's the West's strategy for the Houthis?
Sat 20 Jan 2024
Have US and UK-led attacks on the Houthis in Yemen backfired?
-
![]()
What does the World Bank do?
Sat 6 Jan 2024
Michelle Fleury on the origins and purpose of the global financial institution
-
![]()
What is sportswashing?
Sat 30 Dec 2023
Dan Roan on why oil-rich nations are investing huge amounts of money in global sport
-
![]()
What is BRICS?
Sat 23 Dec 2023
Can a group of emerging economies change the existing global economic hierarchy?
-
![]()
How does the World Health Organization work?
Sat 16 Dec 2023
Tulip Mazumdar looks at the successes and failures of the WHO
-
![]()
-
![]()
Unspun World: Can anything break the stalemate in the Ukraine war?
Sat 9 Dec 2023
Stories from the frontline as tensions rise from Ukraine correspondent, James Waterhouse
-
![]()
Unspun World: How migration is changing European politics
Sat 2 Dec 2023
Migration is topping Europe's political agenda. Europe editor, Katya Adler, explains why
-
![]()
Unspun World: A pause in fighting in Gaza
Sat 25 Nov 2023
A pause in fighting in Gaza but what’s it like for those living there?
-
![]()
The Global Jigsaw: Global perspectives on the Israel Gaza war
Sun 19 Nov 2023
How the big players spin the conflict into narratives of their own
-
![]()
Unspun World: Can the US and China get along?
Sat 18 Nov 2023
Biden and Xi's meeting builds bridges with deals on the military and fentanyl trafficking
-
![]()
The Global Jigsaw: Israel and Gaza special
Sun 12 Nov 2023
The war of narratives reflecting power tilts in the Middle East
-
![]()
Unspun World: What's Israel's endgame in Gaza?
Sat 11 Nov 2023
What's Israel's endgame in Gaza? Security correspondent, Frank Gardener, gives his take
-
![]()
Unspun World: Tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border
Sat 4 Nov 2023
What are the chances that Lebanon will get involved in the Israel-Gaza conflict?
-
![]()
Unspun World: Will Israel invade Gaza?
Sat 28 Oct 2023
Will Israel launch a ground assault in Gaza and, if they do, what's at stake?
-
![]()
The Global Jigsaw: Who’ll be Argentina’s next president?
Fri 20 Oct 2023
After a shock primary win, a far-right libertarian economist is in pole position
-
![]()
Unspun World: Israel declares war on Hamas after deadly attack
Sat 14 Oct 2023
Israel starts 'a prolonged and powerful campaign' in Gaza. What will be the consequences?
-
![]()
Unspun World: Are democracies hindering the fight against climate change?
Sat 7 Oct 2023
Short-term politics gets in the way of dealing with an ever-warming planet
-
![]()
Unspun World: Can anyone in Russia challenge Putin now?
Sat 30 Sep 2023
Now Yevgeny Prigozhin is dead, can anyone in Russia challenge the president’s power?
