Beyond Today

Drill music has a reputation for inciting violence and crime. The Metropolitan Police believes the genre is linked to the rise of stabbings and murders across London, and the Met chief Cressida Dick has said social media platforms should be more vigilant of drill content being uploaded online.

At first coronavirus was just a health story, but now it’s pretty clear employment and the economy are taking a massive hit.

In this episode we ask what will happen to workers. It’s a global problem so we speak to Harriet and Ray, a freelance couple in New York, as well as documentary director Emily in London.

Presenter: Matthew Price

Kiley Reid’s debut novel shot into the bestsellers list and has been lauded by critics here and in the US. Such A Fun Age follows the lives of babysitter Emira Tucker, a young black woman, and her wealthy, white employer Alix Chamberlin in post-Obama America. Kiley’s book explores race, class and wealth, and how well-meaning wokeness can actually exacerbate those issues.

Presenter: Tina Daheley

The world is in the midst of a pandemic. For most people, symptoms of the virus are mild, they might develop a cough and a fever before getting better. This has led many people to compare the new coronavirus to seasonal influenza. But, for a minority of those affected, particularly older people and those with underlying heart or lung conditions, the new coronavirus can cause severe difficulty breathing, and in about 1% of cases, death.

Infectious diseases expert, Dr Nathalie MacDermott tells Matthew Price how seasonal flu compares to pandemics past and present, why Trump’s travel ban won’t work and the lessons she’s learned from the front line of Ebola. We also speak to a British man in isolation in Wuhan, China about his experience of the virus.

Presenter: Matthew Price

Most people who transition to another gender do not have second thoughts. In fact de-transitioning is thought to be relatively rare. There are no accurate figures revealing how many people reverse or change their gender, as academic researchers have never studied a large group of transitioning people over a long period of time – but some studies suggest that fewer than 0.5 per cent of trans people choose to return to the gender they were assigned at birth.

Whatever the numbers, we know that more people are telling their stories. Around the world there are trans men and trans women who have decided to de-transition, and it’s often not an easy choice. Others have chosen to re-identify as non-binary or gender-fluid.

We speak two BBC journalists, Linda Pressly and Lucy Proctor, who’ve made a documentary for the World Service called The Detransitioners. They’ve spent the last year talking to people who had transitioned, but then returned to their birth gender.

Middlesbrough has the highest number of teenage pregnancies in England and Wales. Even though national figures show rates have dropped by nearly 60 percent over the past 10 years, the number of pregnant teens in the north-eastern town rose by 20 percent from 2015 to 2017.

When the average age of a mum in England and Wales is 30 years old, why are there so many teens having babies in Middlesbrough?

We speak to Charley and Robyn, two teenagers who tell us what it’s like to have been fast-tracked to motherhood. And the BBC’s Philippa Goymer tries to makes sense of the growing trend in the area.

Presenter: Tina Daheley

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the 70-year-old billionaire ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates, has been found by the High Court in London to have abducted and forcibly returned two of his daughters to Dubai, and to have conducted a campaign of intimidation against his former wife, Princess Haya.

Princess Haya used to speak of a perfect family life in interviews, but cracks began to appear in 2018 when Sheikha Latifa, one of Sheikh Mohammed's adult daughters with another wife, tried to flee the UAE with the help of a former French spy and a Finnish fitness instructor. A boat carrying them was intercepted at sea off the coast of India and Sheikha Latifa was returned to Dubai. Journalists Vanessa Grigoriadis from Vanity Fair and Haroon Siddique from the Guardian have been following the story.

Presenter: Matthew Price

It was just before 10 o’clock in the morning on 27th October 2018 when a man armed with a semi-automatic rifle and three pistols opened fire on worshippers at a synagogue in the US state of Pennslyvania. 11 people died that morning at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. It was the deadliest attack on American Jews in US history, and it sent shock waves around the world.

For the writer and New York Times columnist, Bari Weiss it felt personal. She grew up in Pittsburgh and used to go to the Tree of Life. In response to this attack she’s written a book on how to fight anti-Semitism. She argues that such hatred was, until recently, relatively taboo but is now migrating toward the mainstream; amplified by social media and a culture of conspiracy. Anti-Semitism is on the rise across Europe, the US and the Middle East.

We speak to Bari Weiss about where anti-Semitism comes from and how to fight it. The episode includes some offensive language.

Presenter: Matthew Price

There have been mounting allegations over the past few weeks that home secretary Priti Patel has bullied her staff. Last weekend the top civil servant in the Home Office, Sir Philip Rutnam, resigned. He’s heavily criticised Patel, and is suing the government for constructive dismissal. Priti Patel has denied any wrongdoing.

In today’s episode we look into the multiple allegations against the home secretary. Our home affairs correspondent, Danny Shaw, talks about her path to one of the four Great Offices of State, and reporter Rianna Croxford tells the story of a young woman who has accused Priti Patel of bullying. Finally, political correspondent Leila Nathoo explains how these allegations are linked to the wider culture of bullying in politics.

Presenter: Matthew Price

Nearly 50 people have died in India following violence around a controversial citizenship law which critics say is anti-Muslim. Photographs, videos and accounts on social media paint a chilling image of what appears to be mostly Hindu mobs beating unarmed Muslim men.

In this episode we speak to BBC journalists Yogita Limaye and Sachin Gogoi to find out what’s fuelling the violence.

Presenter: Matthew Price