

The Inquiry
BBC World Service
The Inquiry gets beyond the headlines to explore the trends, forces and ideas shaping the world.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 3, 2020 • 23min
Why is Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize winner bombing his own country?
In Ethiopia, a political battle has sparked a bloody conflict.Federal Forces have engaged in combat with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front - or TPLF.Hundreds have reportedly been killed and tens of thousands displaced.Just last year, Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, won a Nobel Prize for his part in brokering peace with neighbouring Eritrea.So, Charmaine Cozier asks why Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize winner is bombing his own country?

Nov 26, 2020 • 23min
Do we have a vaccine to end the pandemic?
Test results from coronavirus vaccines are fast emerging, fuelling hopes that the end of the pandemic is in sight. But are countries ready to share the vaccine fairly? Global efforts to coordinate are already gaining ground - but some are concerned the battle for who gets what will mean some lower income countries could get left behind.

Nov 12, 2020 • 23min
Will the EndSARS protest change Nigeria?
For nearly two weeks last month, angry young Nigerians took to the streets in their tens of thousands, blocking major roads in cities across Africa's most populous nation. What began as a protest against the hated police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, soon became a conduit for a wider anger with the people who have been in charge of Nigeria for decades. in this week's Inquiry, Kavita Puri asks: will the EndSARS movement change Nigeria?

Nov 5, 2020 • 23min
Why are Thai students risking jail to call for reform of the monarchy?
Pro-democracy protests have happened before in Thailand, but there’s something new about the latest one - the king is being publicly criticised. It’s a serious criminal offence to do that. This week, Charmaine Cozier asks why people are protesting against the Thai monarchy.

Oct 29, 2020 • 23min
Can President Trump still win the US presidential election?
National polls ahead of the US presidential election suggest a clear win for challenger Joe Biden. But could they be getting it wrong as they did four years ago? In 2016, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but - because of the US electoral system - lost the election. Could history repeat itself? In this week’s Inquiry, Tanya Beckett asks: can President Trump still win?

Oct 23, 2020 • 23min
How has Trump changed America’s relationship with the world?
When he was elected, President Trump promised to put ‘America First’, but how has he governed? Charmaine Cozier looks at trade, diplomacy, defence and the environment to examine the results of four years of a very different approach to international affairs.(Image: Donald Trump at public address, Credit: Getty Images)

Oct 15, 2020 • 25min
Should we learn to live with Covid?
As new students start at universities in many countries around the world, governments are grappling with how to contain a second wave of Coronavirus. Already many universities have put lectures online and students are being told to stay in their rooms. But is this fair? Covid-19 is a deadly virus but not so much for the young. Can or should we keep the world locked down until there’s a vaccine or cure? Or, Tanya Beckett asks: should we learn to live with Covid?(Students wait to start their entrance exams outside the University of Madrid, Spain. Credit: Eduardo Parra/Getty Images)

Oct 8, 2020 • 23min
Are shares in Elon Musk’s Tesla vastly overvalued?
In 2018, the electric car maker, Tesla, was struggling to get the Model 3 electric vehicle off the production line. Its CEO, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, was working up to 22 hours a day on the factory floor, trying to solve a host of problems on the car he’d bet the company on. It was close to running out of money.
Two years later, the company’s doing better. It says it will grow 30-40% this year.No surprise then that Tesla’s share price has gone up. But the amount may surprise you – up eight fold in the last year, to $400 a share. Making it the most valuable car company in the world.It’s now worth more than Toyota, Volkswagen and Honda put together. But yet it still manufactures only a fraction of the cars they make.
So are shares in Elon Musk’s Tesla vastly overvalued? Sumant Bhatia finds out from our expert witnesses, who include a Tesla owner who’s a shareholder and superfan, a fund manager who thinks the shares are in a bubble, an investor with millions of dollars in Tesla and an expert in electric vehicles.

Oct 1, 2020 • 24min
Is Kanye West really running for US president?
In July, billionaire musician Kanye West announces on Twitter that he’s standing as a candidate in November’s US presidential election. After a scramble to meet the registration deadlines, his name is on the ballot in fewer than 20 states. His manifesto is confusing, his motive unclear.In the past, Kanye West has been a vocal supporter of president Donald Trump. And it seems his campaign is being run largely by those with close ties to the Republican party. The Democrats say his entry in the race as an independent third party candidate is a dirty trick by Republicans. Others claim it’s simply a publicity stunt to promote his new album.
But, in battleground states, where every vote counts, could his celebrity status have a significant impact on the election result?
How seriously should we take Kanye West’s run for president? Kavita Puri finds out from our expert witnesses, who include professors of African-American studies at US universities, a Washington-based politics reporter and a Democratic pollster and strategist.(Kanye West at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, Beverly Hills, California. Photo: Rich Fury/Getty Images)

Sep 24, 2020 • 24min
Will the US presidential debates change the course of the election?
On the 29th September the two US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden will take part in the first of three 90-minute live televised debates ahead of the presidential election in November. Tanya Beckett asks can the debates affect the outcome of the election?(Composite image of Joe Biden (Credit: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters) and Donald Trump (Credit: John G Mabanglo/EPA)