How are Donald Trump’s ambitions in Venezuela and Greenland changing America’s place in the world? President Trump’s key adviser Stephen Miller has said that we are living in a world “that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power” - so where has that philosophy come from?

All this week, we are teaming up with our sister podcasts to explore how power and influence around the world is shifting. We exploring who is in a sphere of influence and who is being controlled by one.

Today, we speak to Anthony Zurcher, co-host of Americast and the BBC’s North America correspondent, about what US history tells us about this moment.

Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Xandra Ellin

Executive producer: Bridget Harney

Sound engineer: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

(Photo: President Donald Trump in front of the US flag. Credit: Shawn Thew/EPA/Shutterstock)

Throughout 2025, a massive youth protest movement took shape across the world. From Bangladesh, to Nepal, to Morocco, to Kenya, to the Maldives, young people were taking to the streets to demand, among other things, job security, improved standards of living, and the toppling of corrupt regimes. And in a number of cases their ambitious demands were met.

Today we speak to the BBC's social media investigations correspondent, Marianna Spring, about how social media helped spark a movement that transcended borders, and where the so-called, 'Gen Z Revolution' goes from here.

Producers: Xandra Ellin and Cat Farnsworth

Sound engineer: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

(Photo: A protester carries a banner featuring a Malagasy version of the logo of the popular Japanese manga One Piece, during a nationwide youth-led demonstration over frequent power outages and water shortages, in Antananarivo, Madagascar, October 13, 2025. Credit: Siphiwe Sibeko/ Reuters)

After his major military operation in Venezuela, President Trump has escalated his rhetoric about taking control of Greenland. Trump has repeatedly suggested that the Arctic island – which is a semi-autonomous Danish territory - should be part of the US. "We need Greenland from a national security situation”, Trump told reporters recently, “It's so strategic”. In capitals around Europe, leaders are now wondering if Trump might just follow through on his threats.

We speak to journalist Adrienne Murray in Copenhagen to find out how Greenlanders and Danes feel about Trump’s comments, and what any US action on Greenland could mean for the future of Nato and Europe.

When the US government captured Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, on Saturday, most of the world was shocked. But US officials had for years been gaming out different scenarios, including predicting what would happen if Maduro was ousted. According to one man who took part, each ended in disaster.

On today’s episode, we speak to the former Washington Post journalist Douglas Farah, who participated in war games on Venezuela during Donald Trump’s first term, as well as during the Obama and Biden administrations.

Producers: Hannah Moore and Lucy Pawle

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Who might have the power and influence to change the world in 2026? World leaders aside, we choose four people and discuss why they could intersect with some of the big stories and themes of the next year.

Producers: Xandra Ellin and Sam Chantarasak

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Image: FC Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates scoring a goal. Credit: Pablo Morano/Reuters.

The Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are due to appear in a federal Manhattan court on Monday, after the United States captured them in a military operation in Venezuela.

President Trump says the US will run Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”. But Maduro’s allies – including its new interim president – remain in charge.

We speak to Ione Wells, the BBC’s South America correspondent, about what might happen in the coming weeks and months.

Producers: Sam Chantarasak and Aron Keller

Executive producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Nicolás Maduro in an image distributed by President Trump which he said was taken on board the USS Iwo Jima.

We are away for Christmas, so this is a repeat of a previous episode.

Mistrust in science has never been higher. Fewer people are getting vaccinated, a known vaccine skeptic is leading the most powerful health agency in America and an outbreak of measels in Texas this year led to the first fatalities in almost a decade. Then, in August, a gunman opened fire on the headquarters of the Centre for Disease Control with many speculating he was fuelled by misinformation about health.

Increasingly this misinformation is being exported around the world.

Marianna Spring is the BBC’s Social Media Investigations Correspondent and tells the story of how suspicion of science in America helped radicalise a British mom with devastating consequences.

Producers: Cat Farnsworth and Lucy Pawle

Executive producer: Annie Brown

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Kate Shemirani. Martin Pope / Getty

We are away for Christmas, so this is a repeat of a previous episode.

Are we living through the slow death of reading - replaced by an addictive screen culture that fragments our attention and floods us with trivial or unreliable information? Writer and voracious reader James Marriott believes we are entering a post-literate age with profoundly negative consequences for education, culture and democracy itself. In today's episode, James traces how an 18th century ‘reading revolution’ shaped the modern-world - and what might follow its sudden decline.

Producers: Aron Keller and Sam Chantarasak

Editor: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: The al-Nahda al-Arabiya library (Arab Renaissance Library) in central Baghdad. AHMED JALIL/EPA.

We are away for Christmas, so this is a repeat of a previous episode.

Donald Trump has spent this year trying to negotiate a deal to end the war in Ukraine. So far, Vladimir Putin doesn’t seem interested in the US’ proposals.

One man who has experience successfully negotiating with Russia – and many other American adversaries – is Roger Carstens, former Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. From 2020 to 2025 he worked to free dozens of US citizens taken hostage and wrongfully detained around the world, including Russia. Securing their release often required complex deals that took years to put together.

What does it take to successfully negotiate with Vladimir Putin’s Russia?

Producer: Lucy Pawle

Executive producer: James Shield

Senior news editor: China Collins

Mix: Travis Evans

Photo: Roger Carstens. Credit: BBC

We are away for Christmas, so this is a repeat of a previous episode.

AI companies are seeing a monumental surge in investment – but some experts are now warning of the risks of an economic bubble.

Could AI be the biggest market bubble since the dot-com crash? Or is it a genuinely transformative technology that’s simply taking time to deliver? We speak to the BBC’s Evan Davis.

Producers: Aron Keller and Xandra Ellin

Executive Producer: James Shield

Mix: Travis Evans

Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: Artificial Intelligence mobile apps. Hannibal Hanschke/EPA/Shutterstock