When Katty Met Carlos

America has been involved in plenty of wars in recent decades and is proud of its military and veterans. But are veterans getting the support they need?

How are Generation Z shaping your world? They are the generation born from 1996 to the present day. As the oldest members are turning 24, they’re already shaking things up in the workplace and at the ballot box. Social justice is the most important issue for them and their demands that companies take a stand on political issues is causing a debate in the workplace.

America was built on immigration, but is it still a good place for immigrants? Katty Kay and Carlos Watson discuss immigration, acceptance and assimilation with a top chef and a hip hop music manager.

Marcus Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia but brought up in Sweden by his Swedish adoptive parents, before moving to America in the 1990s. He now has a chain of restaurants across the US, including the famous Red Rooster in Harlem.

Sophia Chang was born in Canada to Korean immigrant parents. She moved to the US in her twenties and has been living in New York for more than three decades. She is known as “the first Asian woman in hip hop.” Amongst others, she has managed three members of Wu Tang Clan.

Both discuss their journeys and reasons for coming to America, their experiences of trying to fit into American society, and what they feel about America’s attitudes to immigrants. They also talk about America’s cultural mosaic, opportunities, what immigrants bring to the US, and racism.

This is a co-production between BBC World Service and Ozy Media.

Even before Covid, four out of every 10 American adults admitted to feeling anxiety and depression, and up to 70% of young Americans said they were lonely. Now amid growing concerns of an emerging mental health crisis because of the coronavirus pandemic, Carlos Watson and Ritula Shah (standing in for Katty Kay) tackle the subject with the help of two leading health experts - Dr Altha Stewart, former head of the American Psychiatric Association and Dr Deepak Chopra, a prominent alternative medicine advocate. Together they explore how loneliness affects people of a different age, race and gender, and offer some solutions and advice as to how Americans can learn to cope, even after the pandemic has passed.

It’s all change at the White House, with the new president promising a fresh start on a host of key issues: from vaccines and the economy, to race and climate change. But is President Biden offering too much, too soon, and can he live up to his pledge to unite a divided America? At the end of inauguration week, Katty Kay and Carlos Watson are joined by Valerie Jarrett, long-term adviser to Barack Obama, and by John McLaughlin, a former deputy director of the CIA. Together they discuss some of the major challenges facing the incoming Biden administration, from relations with the Republican party, to dealing with Iran and China.

Katty Kay and Carlos Watson ask how Americans of differing views can restart their conversations. Partisan politics has broken up friendships, love affairs and even families. But is it up to the politicians to take the lead on restoring trust and respect, or should everyone play a part in reaching out across the aisle? Katty and Carlos are joined in the discussion by community organiser Maureen Hetherington, who led a unique project to heal the wounds left by decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, and by Francesca Polletta, professor of sociology at University of California, Irvine, who argues that making people like each other isn’t fundamental to bringing Americans together.

Katty Kay and Carlos Watson look back on a tumultuous week in US politics, and ask: where now for American democracy and America’s democratic institutions? Republicans are divided over support for Donald Trump, so what does that mean for the GOP? What should President-elect Biden do to heal the divisions of the past four years in the political establishment and the country? Katty and Carlos are joined by veteran political strategists Ron Christie and Doug Sosnik, a Republican and Democrat respectively, to seek answers from the week’s events, and to look at America beyond the Trump presidency.

Over the past year the Black Lives Matter movement went global, with protests against racial injustice taking place in over 60 countries.

Katty and Carlos speak to co-founder of the movement, Opal Tometi, about the roots of the organisation, its goals, and what its priorities are for 2021.

We hear some of the criticisms levelled at the movement, asking what has been achieved by the high-profile protests which have taken place across America, and reflect on its influence on civil rights activism around the world, exploring the movement's role in tackling issues beyond police brutality.

In the week that the Electoral College confirmed Joe Biden as the next US President, Katty Kay and Carlos Watson take a look at the future of the Republican party. The Trump presidency might be over, but there is no sign that Republican leaders are ready to jettison Trumpism, especially after securing more than 72 million votes in November’s elections. Katty and Carlos are joined by Brian Lanza, who was part of President Trump’s 2016 transitional team, and by Michael Steele, the first African-American to hold the post of chairperson of the Republican National Committee, to discuss what role Donald Trump will play in the party’s path ahead; and, if not a Trump, then who else will seek to steer the GOP into the 2024 presidential run-off?

Multiple conspiracy theories are circulating about Covid-19 - but how widely are they believed and what influence do they have?

From QAnon to the death of Jeffrey Epstein, conspiratorial thinking seems to be everywhere right now - is this the era when fringe ideas have gone mainstream?

Katty Kay and Carlos Watson speak to political scientist and conspiracy theory expert Prof Joseph Uscinski to explore why people believe in them, and what the potential consequences for wider society might be.

They hear directly from those who believe in them, as well as people who have been subjected to personal attacks from conspiracy theory extremists.