Nexus

At the tender age of 42, and after just seven years in politics, Rishi Sunak has achieved his goal of becoming prime minister.

Some have called him Britain’s Barack Obama because he’s the first non-white person to lead the country.

But others have said he’s just another rich, conservative elitist who doesn’t stand a chance of winning the next election.

So which is it? To discuss this and more, we’re joined by Ella Whelan, a columnist at Spiked, and Patrick Boyle, a professor of finance at King’s College London. Also on the show is Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, to analyse how Britain's first Hindu PM is being seen on the subcontinent.

Elon Musk is getting himself involved in geopolitics with pronouncements on Russia and Ukraine, China and Taiwan and even the protests in Iran. Thanks to his Starlink satellites and enormous wealth - he’s not just ranting into the ether- world leaders are actually responding to what he’s saying. This week Nexus discusses whether Musk is helping or harming the chances of world peace with Andrij Dobriansky from the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, Dmitry Alperovitch, a cyber security expert, former Pentagon advisor and Chairman of the Silverado Policy think tank, Marko Gasic, an international affairs analyst, and Cameron Khansarinia policy director for the National Union for Democracy in Iran.

After 23 years in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Adnan Syed was released and all the charges against him were dropped. There were serious errors in the way police investigated the killing of Hae Min Lee, and how prosecutors tried Syed, however it took true crime podcast Serial to shine light on what appears to be a huge miscarriage of justice. Is 350 million podcast downloads what it takes to set an innocent man free? And how many Adnan Syeds are still behind bars? Nexus talks to defence lawyer and New York attorney Vinoo Varghese, the host of the ‘Wrongful Conviction’ podcast Jason Flom, law professor and editor of the National Registry of Exonerations Barbara O’Brien and Herman Lindsey - who spent three years on death row before having his murder conviction overturned.

Giorgia Meloni wins! Italy has elected their first female Prime Minister. Some are calling her 'far right' and dangerous, but is she? And Italy isn't the only country voting for a right-wing government this month; in Sweden, Jimmie Akesson has become the face of change.

So what will their policies mean for their countries and Europe?

Nexus speaks to Ylenja Lucaselli, a member of the Brothers of Italy Party who says the international community has labelled them 'far right' which is not accurate. Nadia Urbinati, an Italian political theorist at Columbia University says Meloni is not dangerous because the laws of democracy protect the country against far right ideologies. Jim Stenman is a Swedish journalist who feels that Sweden has failed to integrate migrants causing the problems facing the country, and Pieter Cleppe, Editor of The Brussels Report says Meloni is building bridges in the EU.

The end of an era! The Queen's funeral was grand and flawless, watched by an estimated four billion people around the world, and one of the biggest gatherings of dignitaries in history. However, no event like this passes without a few diplomatic ups and downs.

Nexus speaks to Andre Walker, a political commentator who says certain countries were not invited for practical matters. Dasha Chernyshova, a Moscow correspondent believes Putin's condolence message to the UK was sincere and that Russians respected the Queen. Andy Mok Senior Researcher at the Centre for China and Globalization says President Xi could not make the funeral due to other geopolitical priorities but China was represented despite some tensions. And Stockwell Day, the former leader of Canada's official opposition says Justin Trudeau made an error in judgment and was not fully representative of the sombre mood in Canada.

The Queen's sudden death has come as a shock despite her age, and has echoed across the world. Many nations remembering a time Her Majesty visited their country, or one of their Presidents were hosted by the Queen in London. But not all reaction was of condolence, in some of the former colonies, the pain of the past was once again brought to light and the question now remains, what will King Charles's role be in addressing the past and what role will the constitutional monarchy continue to play in our modern society?

Nexus speaks to Bob Morris, an honorary member of the Constitution Unit at the University College London who says the Queen remained an impartial leader and was excellent at adapting to an ever chaining society. And Sello Hatang, the Chief Executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation in South Africa - a Commonwealth nation - tells us about the fond relationship between the freedom icon Madiba and 'Elizabeth' or 'Motlalepula' as he nicknamed her.

Liz Truss is the UK's New Prime Minister, and she's already picked a fresh cabinet of MP's to help lead the way. And while she's no Boris Johnson, she did beat the better known Rishi Sunak. The decision was up to Conservative MPs only. If you're a sceptic, you'll have to wait until the 2024 election to vote in someone else!

Nexus speaks to Lord Robert Hayward, a Conservative peer in the House of Lords who says we need to give Truss time, Ekansh Sharma, a former Conservative Party Candidate for Hounslow South and a Sunak supporter says we all need to put our trust in the new PM for the good of the UK, Ella Whelan, a political commentator thinks that all politicians could be more authentic and are obsessed with identity politics and Rab Hashem, a member of the successful Liz Truss leadership, believes the new cabinet is a fresh start.

Exclusive leaks show that the UK’s top energy firms are set to make almost $200 billion in excess profits over the next two years. Meanwhile, energy bills are set to rise to their highest levels in 40 years creating a cost of living emergency. Energy bills could climb to nearly $9,000 annually, well above the previous $2, 280 price cap.

Are energy companies and the UK government prioritising profit over people, and profiting off misery?

Nexus speaks to Patrick Boyle, a Professor of Finance at King's College London who thinks that a botched transition to clean energy has left Europe at the mercy of a historic energy crisis. Johnbosco Nwogbo is the Lead Campaigner at ‘We Own it’, a pressure group that favours the nationalisation of energy companies to curb corporate greed. Adam Scorer is the Chief Executive at National Energy Action, one of the UK’s leading charities tackling fuel poverty, who believes that the government has no choice but to address the cost of living emergency and Andy Mayer, Energy Analyst at the Institute of Economic Affairs who says nationalisation of energy firms is a terrible idea.

Take a break! Caught up in the web of social media? Maybe it's time to snap back to reality to improve your mental health, just like Tom Holland. But are the clever designs of big tech the problem or do we have ourselves to blame? And when are online social habits an addiction versus just a terrible distraction?

Is this the 'Big Tobacco' of our time...

Nexus speaks to Anna Lembke, Professor of Psychiatry and Social Behaviour at Stanford University who featured in the 2020 Netflix documentary ‘The Social Dilemma’ who says social media addiction is a reality for many people but abstaining completely is unrealistic for our times. Brian Primack is the Dean of Public Health and Human Sciences at Oregon State University who says we need to be very selective in the content we consume in order for it to be beneficial, and Nir Eyal, a behavioural design consultant believes we cannot wait for big tech to change, we need to be in control of our own behaviour.

Trump's home was raided! The FBI retrieved up to 20 boxes believed to contain classified information that he took from the White House, breaching the Espionage Act. What's in these documents? We will have to wait and see... But Trump's supporters say he’s the victim of a political witch hunt aimed at stopping him from running in the 2024 election, while critics say no one is above the law.

We spoke with Richard Painter the former chief ethics lawyer for President George W Bush who thinks the raid was justified. Matt Tito is a Republican political strategist who believes this whole sage is going to damage the Democrats more. And Aaron Good, author of ‘American Exception: Empire and the Deep State’ says the FBI's involvement in politics is not new.