World Questions

World Questions discusses the future of Turkey with young people from across the country.

Jonny Dymond chairs a debate featuring a youthful panel of academics, lawyers and campaigners.

The questioners come from across the country to debate the big issues of the day – unemployment and insecurity, student unrest on university campuses, the rights of women and the LGBT community, foreign policy and freedom of speech.

Producers: Helen Towner and Charlie Taylor

(Photo: Three young women wear their protective face masks while shopping in Ankara, Credit: Adem Altan/AFP via Getty Images)

Life has changed in many ways in the year since the pandemic hit. Countless millions have been forced to work from home, offices have closed, livelihoods have disappeared and videoconferencing and online shopping have made huge inroads into everyday life. What will be the long term impact on the world of work?

Katya Adler explores the future of work with a high level panel facing questions from the public around the world. What will stay changed, what will happen next and what will we miss from the way things were?

The panel:

Producers: Charlie Taylor and Helen Towner

BBC World Questions is a series of international events created in partnership with the British Council.

(Photo: Commuters rushing to work across Reuters Square, Canary Wharf, Credit: Doug Armand/Getty Images)

World Questions tackles the global issue of Covid-19: not just the disease itself but the information surrounding the pandemic. What should we have known and what questions should have been asked? Sharing information - and understanding the basis of the decisions of the scientists and the politicians - has never been more important or more difficult. So, do we always get the best information? How do we interpret the science and the policies that goes with it? And how does the world’s media respond to a pandemic? How have any of us - politicians, health experts and journalists - communicated with the public?

As we try and get to grips with the best way to share information about what is really happening, what’s the best way to deal with “fake news” – is it a major force or a distraction from the crisis? And what’s the best counter to it? Attack it, understand it, or ignore it? In our digital world, can it ever be eradicated or regulated?

The BBC’s Media Editor, Amol Rajan, is joined by four leading experts from around the world and members of the public with their questions.

The panel:

Nick Pickles: Senior Director, Public Policy Strategy and Development, Twitter.

Producers: Helen Towner and Charlie Taylor

BBC World Questions is a series of international events created in partnership with the British Council.

(Photo: A protester holds a placard that says Fake News Is The Real Virus. Credit: Stanton Sharpe/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)

What works - and at what cost - in the fight against Covid? Jonny Dymond brings together top flight decision-makers with the public feeling the brunt of those decisions around the world. How some countries get ahead with vaccines, what the world has learned about preventing the next pandemic and whether vaccine passports are an assault on human rights - a few of the political questions on which a global panel from Singapore, USA, Kenya, South Korea and the United Kingdom, compare notes.

On the panel:

Producers: Charlie Taylor and Helen Towner

(Photo: Lucy Powderly receives a Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine from sergeant Julia Benson of the Illinois Army National Guard, Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

Europe Editor, Katya Adler, presents a debate focusing on the European Union post Brexit. Politicians from across the region and the political spectrum discuss tough questions put to them by the public on issues such as the EU's environmental record, migration, Brexit, bailouts, the handling of the pandemic and the future of the Union.

The panel:

Producers: Helen Towner and Charlie Taylor

BBC World Questions is a series of international events created in partnership with the British Council.

(Photo: European Union flags, Credit: Getty Images)

Rivalry between Trump’s United States and Xi’s China is rampant: from disagreements on trade tariffs, on Hong Kong and the Uighurs and, of course, the source of Covid-19. But underlying it all is the growing tech war between these two economic superpowers, with giants like Huawei on the battlefield. For its part, China denies access to Google, Facebook, Twitter and many other American firms. Central to this growing tech war are semiconductors - the cornerstone technology of the information age and key to the US-China tech war. Semiconductors are crucial for microchips which in turn are needed for making everything from smart phones to satellite weapons systems. Zeinab Badawi and a panel of experts answer question from listeners around the world.

As Coronavirus figures rise sharply in Africa, World Questions hears from the public across the continent and tackles some of the big social and political questions raised by the pandemic: The terrible choice between hunger and infection, police imposing lockdowns with brutality and the unexpected positives to come out of the pandemic.

On the panel:

Producer: Charlie Taylor

BBC World Questions is a series of international events created in partnership with the British Council.

(Photo: Students wear face masks following resumption of classes in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Credit: Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images)

World Questions examines the impact of Coronavirus on Latin America. How has it dealt with the pandemic?

The lockdown, the needs of the economy, cash pay-outs to the poor, culture, tradition and safety in a time of crisis are all discussed with an expert panel and questions from the public across the region.

The programme is presented by Jonny Dymond and the panel of experts includes

Dr Denise Dresser - political scientist, Mexico.

Producer: Helen Towner

BBC World Questions is a series of international events created in partnership with the British Council.

Photo: A medical professional stands by a disinfection tunnel at a Brazilian hospital, Credit: Luis Alvarenga/Getty Images

World Questions explores the impact of Covid-19 on Asia with a panel of leading public health experts, politicians and analysts from across the region.

Manish Sisodia: Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, India

Producer: Helen Towner

BBC World Questions is a series of international events created in partnership with the British Council.

(Photo: A representative of the Tokyo metropolitan government wearing a face mask holds a sign saying Stay Home, Credit: Tomohiro Ohsumi / Getty Images)

World Questions responds to the global Coronavirus crisis with a special programme focusing on the pandemic in Europe.

Dunja Mijatovic: Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe

Producer: Helen Towner

(Photo: worker in PPE, Credit: Getty Images)