Beyond Today

Sudesh Amman had been released from prisons days before he stabbed two people in a Islamist-related terror incident in London on February 2. Within minutes of the attack armed police shot him dead. In 2018 Amman was charged with spreading extremist material but was released after serving half of his sentence. Since the attack took place the government has announced emergency legislation will be introduced to end the automatic early release from prison of terror offenders.

In this episode we speak to the BBC’s Daniel De Simone who was at the Old Bailey when Amman was charged in 2018. We also talk to Richard Walton, the Met Police’s former head of counter-terrorism, about how to prevent terror attacks.

Producer: Alicia Burrell

On January 13 a bag containing the dismembered limbs of teenager Keane Mulready-Woods was found on a housing estate in Dublin. Keane is believed to have worked for a drugs gang in the coastal town of Drogheda, just north of Dublin, and his murder is thought to be gang-related. Two rival gangs are feuding in Drogheda over turf and the booming cocaine market. These gangs use social media to taunt each other, often with devastating results.

In this episode we speak to Nicola Tallant, investigations editor of the Sunday World, who’s been following the story of Ireland’s gangs. We also talk to Joanne O’Dwyer who works in rehabilitation in Drogheda. She tells us about how the murder has affected the town.

Producers: Alicia Burrell and Duncan Barber

With more of us becoming more conscious of our health and the environment, vegans and vegetarians look set to make up a quarter of the British population in 2025.

But for those who haven’t completely committed to the cause there’s the national Veganuary campaign. Last year 250,000 people signed up, dedicating themselves to a month of no meat and dairy products for a mixture of health, environmental and ethical reasons. But does the food trend really have an impact on the way we live?

We spoke to Gala Bailey-Barker, a farmer in Sussex, who believes that knowing where your food comes from is more important than the diet you choose. Dale Vince explains why he decided to take over and transform Forest Green Rovers into the world’s first vegan football club. And the BBC’s environment correspondent Matt McGrath explains whether one month of no meat and no dairy can really help save the planet.

Presenter: Matthew Price

The country was shocked when 39 people were found suffocated in the back of a lorry on an industrial park in Essex last October. The discovery that the victims were economic migrants sparked a conversation about the scale of human trafficking in the UK. Vietnamese people are among the most trafficked people in Britain and many of those smuggled here end up in modern slavery; working on cannabis farms, in brothels and nail bars.

In this episode we speak to investigative reporter Cat McShane, who introduces us to Ba, a teenager captured, tortured and forced to work in a cannabis farm in the north of England. We also speak to the Guardian’s Amelia Gentleman, who tells us about her experience of going on a police raid of a suspected illegal nail bar.

Producers: Lucy Hancock and Duncan Barber

This week Huawei was given permission to build parts of the new 5G network in the UK. But, because Huawei is a Chinese company, there’s a lot of concern about it. What if China, which we know spies on its own people, uses Huawei to spy on us? The US has been urging us to reconsider, stressing that it needs to be sure that America’s allies have trusted information networks. Is it to do with the risk of espionage or is there something else going on?

We speak to Garrett Graff, a journalist and author who writes about national security for Wired Magazine. We also hear from Gordon Corera, the BBC’s Security Correspondent, about the company and whether it really poses a threat to our safety.

Presenter: Matthew Price

A brand-new virus which causes severe lung disease has been detected in China. More than 100 people are known to have died there, and experts believe the death toll will rise. Coronavirus appeared in the city of Wuhan in December and the 11 million-strong population are being advised to stay indoors at all times. A new virus arriving on the scene is always a worry and health officials around the world are on high alert.

In this episode we speak to Xinyan Yu, a journalist from Wuhan. She tells us how people in the city are coping, including her best friend’s mum who was taken ill after visiting the market. We also hear from Dr Josie Golding from the Wellcome Trust, one of the world’s major health research charities. Dr Golding tells us how viruses like the coronavirus spread and how we can prepare for them.

Presenter: Matthew Price

In her new Netflix series The Goop Lab, Gwyneth Paltrow skates the fine line between wellness, pseudoscience and medicine. From orgasms and mushrooms, to ice baths and mediums, Gwyneth and the team tackle wellness methods that sit just outside the mainstream. While some of the scientific claims in the TV show stand up to closer scrutiny, many scientists and journalists worry about the ones that don’t. But why does it matter how scientific they are, when people say the treatments help them? In this episode Matthew speaks to science producer and host of ‘The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread’ podcast Greg Foot about why, even when it’s working, it matters if Goop doesn’t check out.

Presenter: Matthew Price

“We must reject the perennial prophets of doom”. These were Donald Trump’s words at Davos earlier in the week, dismissing those who warn of the dangers of climate change. We know climate change is real, but Trump doesn’t seem to be listening to the experts who tell him this.

It’s a tendency the author Michael Lewis noticed in Trump the day after he was elected. Lewis wrote the Big Short, a book that was turned into an Oscar-winning film about the financial crisis, and now he’s written about how Trump operates. He came into the Beyond Today studio to talk about how Trump is changing the way government works in the US, what that’s doing to America and what parallels we’re seeing here.

Presenter: Matthew Price

The trial of Harvey Weinstein started in New York this week. Once upon a time he was a Hollywood giant, then in 2017 allegations he sexually harassed a number of women began to surface. Over 80 women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct, only a few of the complaints have led to criminal charges. For many people Weinstein facing justice symbolises the whole point of the #MeToo movement. But, what happens to #MeToo if Weinstein — who denies the charges — is found not guilty?

In this episode we speak to BBC journalist Nada Tawfik who’s covering the trial, and also to Marisa Carroll, the features editor of New York magazine, about whether #MeToo’s impact equals change.

Presenter: Matthew Price

The psychedelic powers of a traditional Amazonian plant medicine called ayahuasca are attracting more and more tourists. It’s becoming big business in countries such as Peru where backpackers and travellers, as well as rich Silicon Valley types are spending weeks and sometimes thousands of dollars to drink an indigenous cocktail. It makes them vomit and hallucinate, but is said to bring spiritual enlightenment and help with addiction, depression and trauma. But a string of allegations suggests there's a darker side to the ayahuasca scene. In this episode we speak to BBC journalists Simon Maybin and Josephine Casserly who travelled to the Amazon to investigate.

Listen to Simon Maybin and Josephine Casserly's documentary Ayahuasca: Fear and Healing in the Amazon on BBC Sounds.

Presenter: Matthew Price