Currently

Following last week’s local elections, it's clear there’s a huge shift happening when it comes to the voting habits of British Muslims across the country.

Why are so many British Muslims moving away from the Labour Party? And are they really all going to the Greens?

Presenter Rima Ahmed returned to her hometown of Harehills in Leeds, once a Labour stronghold, just before the local elections to speak to ordinary Muslim voters about what's important to them.

This episode of Currently... was made by Keiligh Baker. The technical editor was James Beard and the editor was Justine Lang.

Huge sums are being wagered on current events, from the weather to world wars, with fortunes being made - and lost. Mike Wendling investigates the rise of prediction markets.

While gambling is a long-standing, if somewhat morally dubious, British pastime, there's a new crop of American companies which are supercharging the industry.

They're called prediction markets.

Who will win the World Cup? Will a celebrity show up on the red carpet? What words will a crypto CEO mention in their quarterly earnings call? Will the leader of Venezuela be toppled, and will famine be declared in Gaza? Platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket allow users to bet on almost any question imaginable.

Prediction market entrepreneurs say their platforms are information discovery engines where users put their money where their mouth is, providing valuable information and clues to the future that they say are more accurate than experts, media or polls.

But the industry has been rocked by insider trading scandals and manipulative behaviour by some traders, and critics worry that as demand for these platforms rise, so too does the risk that they could end up shaping reality, rather than merely reflecting it.

For Currently, Mike Wendling speaks to industry insiders, traders, and experts to glean the future of the prediction market industry.

Producer: Mhairi MacKenzie

Credits:

This week, as BBC Radio 4 explores what it means to grow up as a girl in 2026, health presenter Laura Foster is examining a striking scientific reality: that girls today are hitting puberty earlier than their parents and grandparents did. Question is why is this happening — and what does it mean for the adults they will become?

With the trend showing no sign of slowing down, Laura speaks to leading researchers to decode the forces behind this shift. With girls hitting puberty earlier than ever - we pay a visit to one primary school which has moved puberty lessons forward to keep pace. From genetics and childhood obesity to screens, stress and the Covid pandemic, we examine the complex mix shaping the bodies and minds of today’s girls.

What does earlier puberty mean for their physical, emotional and social development? Can the downward trend be stopped? And what support do young people need from families, schools and policymakers right now? Join us for About The Girls: The Puberty Puzzle as we explore why growing up is starting earlier than we expect.

Presenter: Laura Foster

Producer: Kate White

New data from the 2025 NHS Staff Survey, one of the largest workforce surveys in the world, shows that 1 in 5 minority ethnic staff report facing discrimination from patients or the public, compared with 1 in 20 of their white colleagues. The Royal College of Nursing reports that calls to their advice line about racism at work have increased by 55% in three years. This documentary listens closely to the experiences of nurses, GPs and care workers to try and understand if the current climate is different.

Presenter: Farhana Haider

Britain is turning electric, but the shift to renewable energy will require a major rewire. Business and Economy editor Douglas Fraser follows the journey of power generated on the north coast of Scotland to the socket in your living room, to discover the scale and the challenges of re-hauling the near century-old national grid.

Presenter: Douglas Fraser

What is it that drives ordinary people to condone political violence, and some to commit it? As democracies increasingly exist in conditions where violence can flourish, Stanford University polarisation expert Alison Goldsworthy will scrutinise the latest research showing it is dogmatism, not just authoritarian tendencies that enable it. This means we are all susceptible - including, uncomfortably for ‘liberals’ who hold strongly to being open minded (like the ones who mused about the bullet going ‘just a few inches to the right’ after Trump's attempted assassination).

Leveraging insights from political, behavioural and neuro sciences Alison will track the journey of the biology, instincts, emotions and actions to explain how and why a social media feed can trigger the rewiring of a brain to chuckle at, then endorse violence. She'll explain why this creating this climate increases the likelihood that some people will commit violence. And she'll examine what we can do to prevent ourselves sliding into this vice-like grip.

Producer: Giles Edwards.

Every month brings a new headline about shoplifting, confrontations with retail staff and disorder on our high streets.

As a result, more and more security guards have taken to wearing bodyworn cameras, now visible in every part of our lives, from supermarkets to coffee shops, railway stations to hospitals. For some they are a welcome deterrent and bring peace of mind. For others, they are a sign of a country that has lost its way.

But what is the world behind these bodycams? Miles away from the high street, dotted around the country on trading estates, in business parks on the edges of cities, even in disused military bunkers, staff work round the clock to monitor live footage that feeds through from bodyworn cameras.

Aidan Tulloch has been allowed through the bombproof doors and secure airlocks to see what it is like to work in one of these alarm receiving centres. How does it feel to spend 12-hour shifts in one of these windowless rooms watching all corners of Britain? What is the psychological impact of seeing violence unfold in real time?

Talking to employees from a number of security companies as they sit at banks of computer screens and watch notifications ping in from across the country, he finds out how the alarm receiving centres can often be peaceful places, full of the usual office chatter...until an alarm goes off.

And as our social media feeds are filled with videos of altercations - often caught on bodycam - alongside people claiming the country is in decline, what does it say about society that we consume this content for pleasure?

Presenter: Aidan Tulloch

While browsing online, the journalist and author Sophia Smith Galer was surprised to find a biography of herself on Amazon. She discovered that it was full of inaccuracies - and most likely written using generative AI. It's part of a new phenomenon in publishing and flooding all parts of our information landscape: AI slop, low quality content made quickly using artificial intelligence.

While we might be used to slop on social media, what happens when it infiltrates areas where we expect fact rather than fiction? On her quest to get answers about her biography, Sophia looks at how far AI slop has polluted places we previously thought safe - from investigative journalism to academia - and asks if we can ever escape the onslaught of slop.

Based on an idea from presenter Sophia Smith Galer

Alongside rising levels of hate faced by British Muslims, are renewed questions about how well Muslims have integrated in British society.

The BBC's Religion Editor Aleem Maqbool hears stories of anti-Muslim hatred, including that of London entrepreneur Usman Shah, pictured as part of the Heathrow Welcome campaign. Mr Shah describes how he made a bold decision to forgive and reach out to his abusers, a decision inspired by his Islamic values and faith.

Aleem also hears from those urging British Muslims to take a more proactive approach in resolving problems within their communities.

He explores whether politics could play in bringing greater cohesion, or whether politics has been a hindrance to progress.

And he examines who is working with whom to help resolve matters and bring cohesion at this crucial juncture.

In cities across the country, councils are grappling with unprecedented numbers of people presenting as homeless. In London, mounting pressure on temporary accommodation has led some boroughs to place families far beyond the capital — in some cases more than 250 miles away, in County Durham.

Charlotte McDonald travels to the North East to uncover why these long‑distance relocations are happening, and what impact they are having on the communities receiving them.

She speaks to people about lives uprooted, often with little notice, and explores the realities they face as they try to rebuild their lives in unfamiliar towns and villages.

The picture on the ground is complex. Local services, charities, churches and schools have rallied to support the newcomers, despite already operating in areas marked by deprivation and limited opportunities.

Yet many relocated families encounter fresh challenges: anti‑social behaviour, culture shock, and the struggle to settle into communities facing their own hardships.

County Durham had a Labour council for nearly a century, but it is now controlled by Reform. Many residents feel the area has been overlooked for years: traditional industries have faded, and little new investment has taken their place. Unemployment is high in parts of the county, as well as rates of long-term sick.

With low‑cost housing and pockets of empty properties, the region has become increasingly attractive to councils which are struggling to find accommodation. But is it the right thing for old and new residents?

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald