Beyond Today

A mother was convicted last week of mutilating her 3 year old daughter’s genitals. It’s been illegal for more than 30 years, but the women, who can’t be named, is the first person to be convicted of FGM. She’ll be sentenced next month. Anna Collinson and Jessica Furst work for the Victoria Derbyshire programme, they tell us how they got caught up in the story when they received an email about the case. We also hear from Nimco Ali, who is a leading campaigner against FGM. She tells us about her experience and why she believes this case is so important.

In the past few years what we think of as normal has changed completely. Ideas and personalities once considered fringe have become mainstream and extreme attitudes seem more acceptable. So who defines the new normal and what will the consequences be? We speak to Peter Pomerantsev from the London School of Economics, who has made a documentary for Radio 4 on the subject. He’s also the author of "Nothing is True and Everything is Possible". He tells us why politicians and the media need to change and why Russia was ahead of the game.

Producer: Philly Beaumont

Once a futuristic symbol of all that Venezuela could become, a building called El Helicoide in the country’s capital is now the headquarters of the intelligence services and a prison for political prisoners. We speak to Karenina Velandia, who has been investigating the prison, about the dramatic collapse of the once-wealthy country she grew up in.

You can read her report here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-46864864

Producer: Heidi Pett

Apple reported falling sales of the iPhone this week. A category-defining product since its launch in 2007, other smartphone makers have largely been playing catch up. The company is blaming a slowdown in China for the fall in revenues, but it also faces serious competition on price and design from China and beyond. Jen Copestake from BBC Click assesses Apple’s dwindling dominance and what that could mean for the company and its customers.

Producers: Duncan Barber and Philly Beaumont.

We’ve been hearing a lot about R. Kelly since a documentary came out in the US earlier this month detailing allegations of abuse and sex with underage girls, spanning several decades. These are allegations he denies. We spoke to veteran music reporter Jasmine Dotiwala, documentary maker Joyce Trozzo, and Hollywood music lawyer Dina LaPolt to explore whether things are really going to change in the music industry.

When 15 year old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died after eating a baguette from Pret containing sesame seeds, a campaign to get better food labelling was launched. Now the Government has started a consultation into strengthening current labelling laws to protect allergy sufferers. But are we getting more allergic to food and what scientific research is being done to find out why some people have more extreme reactions than others? The BBC’s health and science correspondent James Gallagher takes us through the biology.

Mixed by Weidong Lin, additional mixing by Nicolas Raufast.

Korean culture is increasingly playing a bigger role in our lives: We eat Korean BBQ, watch Korean dramas, and buy Korean cosmetics. But the big drive behind the Korean wave is Korean Pop, better known as K-pop. The country’s music industry is taking the world by storm, penetrating the top music charts in Europe and North America. With the help of journalists, Tamar Herman and Jenna Gibson, and K-pop industry expert Bernie Cho, we ask who made Korea cool?

Producers: Georgia Coan and Seren Jones

Izzy Posen looks and seems like a normal student. But his life before university was far from the norm. He grew up in an ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish community in North London, speaking no English and attending an illegal school. This is the story of a man who chose to leave everything he knew behind, and the freedom and anguish that came with that decision.

Reporter: Alice Porter

When toddler James Bulger was abducted from a shopping centre in Merseyside in 1993 and murdered by two ten-year-old boys the country was appalled. Now a new short film has been made and nominated for an Oscar. ‘Detainment’ uses the original police interviews with the boys as a basis for the drama. It’s causing a lot of controversy as the family weren’t consulted and now want people to boycott it. We hear about the original trial from Winfred Robinson, who covered the story for the BBC, and Entertainment Correspondent Colin Paterson, who has seen the Oscar-nominated film.

Producers: Duncan Barber and Philly Beaumont

Politics on both sides of the Atlantic feels a bit stuck. The government in the US has been shut down for the longest period in its history and politicians here can’t agree on how to make Brexit work. But there are people challenging existing power structures. Last week we heard from Gina Martin, the 27 year old who has got a law banning upskirting through Parliament. And today we’re talking about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She’s only been in office for a few weeks, but she’s already using her social media superstardom to shape political conversation in the US. WNYC political reporter Brigid Bergin and Jon Ossoff, who ran for Congress in 2017, consider whether AOC is an anomaly or part of a wider movement of change.

Producer: Harriet Noble