Beyond Today

First there was going to be a meaningful vote, and then there wasn’t. Then Theresa May was facing a leadership challenge, and then she wasn’t. And now Europe’s leaders are in Brussels, trying again to make the Brexit deal work. It’s been one of the most eventful weeks in British politics since… the week before. The BBC’s Political Editor managed to find time in her incredibly busy schedule to talk to us about Brexit, journalism, and why she’s looking forward to Christmas.

Next week Tumblr will start blocking pornographic posts. Next year a new law will force porn sites to verify that people watching in the UK are over 18. It’s the first attempt to restrict access to porn online. It’s not yet clear how age verification will work and the social media platforms’ own rules about what is and is not allowed seem to change all the time. US porn star Bonnie Rotten and the UK’s Zara DuRose discuss the issues they face publicising their work, while the BBC’s Thomas Fabbri and Kim Gittleson explain what lies behind the bans.

Mental health services for children and adults are, understandably, separate entities. When you turn 18 you move from one system to the other, but serious gaps are appearing in support for people during this transition. Huge numbers of young adults are being failed, and today Beyond Today hears from a campaign trying to change that.

If any of the issues in this episode affect you, you can get all the information you need here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1NGvFrTqWChr03LrYlw2Hkk/information-and-support-mental-health

Mixed by Nicolas Raufast

Raheem Sterling spoke out this week against the tabloid press for ‘fuelling racism’ with their coverage of his wealth. He sparked a much wider conversation about how much we really support minority success stories on and off the pitch. Tina Daheley speaks to two people either side of the story, Juventus and former England footballer Eniola Aluko and BBC Sport broadcaster Hugh Woozencroft, about the role of the media and how we frame the conversation around black people who make it.

We started the day recording a podcast about the vote set to take place in Parliament tomorrow, where MPs were to decide on whether or not to accept Theresa May’s Brexit deal. And then the vote got postponed, so we had to record another one. Leila Nathoo and Daniel Kraemer from the BBC Westminster newsroom explain why the process has got so chaotic and go through the options MPs need to decide on as the date set for leaving the EU of March 29th next year looms. Unless that gets postponed too.

Mixed by Nicolas Raufast

In February this year, Princess Latifah the 32 year-old daughter of the ruler of Dubai boarded a boat and set sail for India with a plan to start a new life in America. But within days her boat was stormed by Indian commandos - she was captured and presumably returned to Dubai. No one has heard from her since. Matthew Price speaks to her best friend Tiina Jauhiainen, who helped her escape.

As peace talks aimed at ending nearly four years of civil war in Yemen take place, we speak to the BBC’s Orla Guerin about the conflict that started in 2015 and the humanitarian crisis that’s crippling the country. We hear why she’s passionate about the country and believes that we all have responsibility not to forget the war or the people who are suffering there.

Brexit is in a state of confusion. But one thing the government says it’s sure about is that leaving the EU would allow us to have more of a say over how many people come here and why. Theresa May has promised to reduce net migration, the difference between the number of people coming and going, to the tens of thousands. But how easy will it be to get from a high to a low-migration economy? Colin Campbell and Mark Easton tell us about the many different types of migrants who come to the UK.

Producers: Harriet Noble and Callum May

Over the past year the issue of colourism and prejudice against people with a darker skin tone have become a global talking point. A beauty trend that has emerged on social media has supercharged the debate. Blackfishing is when white girls make themselves look like women of colour or racially ambiguous. Tina Daheley speaks to an Instagram Influencer, Alicja, who has been accused of blackfishing, while social historian, Emma Dabiri, explains that the trend may not be that new at all.

Producers: Seren Jones, Philly Beaumont, and Jaja Muhammad.

World leaders are meeting in Poland for the latest round of United Nations-sponsored climate talks. The meeting is the most critical on climate change since the 2015 Paris agreement. Since the US pulled out of that deal the scale of the problem can seem overwhelming – as we hear in this episode the Swedes call it “climate angst” and have some radical solutions to address it. But there are plenty of more practical solutions to tackling climate change much closer to home. We travel to Manchester, which plans to go carbon neutral in the next twenty years.

Mixed by Nicolas Raufast