Podcasts | The Guardian

'Singing and dancing to their deaths': football’s forgotten tragedy – podcast

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 12:00:03 GMT

In 1971, an Old Firm derby at Ibrox ended with the death of 66 fans as they celebrated a late goal. John Hodgman survived the terrifying crush and, 50 years on, asks how Rangers avoided taking responsibility. By John Hodgman

Trump, the death penalty and its links with America’s racist history

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 03:00:25 GMT

This week, Donald Trump sanctioned the execution of the only woman on federal death row: Lisa Montgomery. She was the 11th prisoner to be killed since the president restarted federal executions in July last year. The Guardian US’s Ed Pilkington looks at why Trump has carried out more federal executions than any other president in almost 200 years

The chief reporter for Guardian US, Ed Pilkington,talks to Anushka Asthana about the history of the federal death penalty, which Donald Trump revived last July. Trump has so far sanctioned the executions of 11 prisoners, with a further two expected to take place by the end of this week. Lisa Montgomery, who was killed by lethal injection this week, was a particularly high-profile case. Subjected to torture and sexual violence as a child, she was suffering from extreme mental illness when she committed a horrific crime. The state of her mental health was not taken into account at her original trial. So why is Trump carrying out so many executions?

Ed tells Anushka that although use of the death penalty is shrinking in the US, it is still employed in many of the former confederate states. You cannot talk about the use of the death penalty, says Ed, without looking at America’s relationship with its racist history and the impact it still has today.

Gabrielle Chan on the challenges and opportunities in Australian food production

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 16:30:44 GMT

Journalist and author Gabrielle Chan examines the weaknesses in global supply chains and how we can learn from small businesses that helped to fill gaps that were exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic

This interview with Gabrielle Chan is based on an essay she has written for the Fire, Flood and Plague anthology series. You can read it here or buy it in an anthology published by Penguin Random House.

Pogba, Wolves, Celtic and imaginary children – Football Weekly Extra

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 15:50:47 GMT

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Ed Aarons, Ewan Murray and Jacqui Oatley to discuss the Premier League, Celtic’s implosion and more

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The pod review the midweek Premier League action, which saw Manchester United go top on their own after a stirring Pogba performance against Burnley.

Covid-19: how and why is the virus mutating?

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 05:00:28 GMT

The new Covid variant, B117, is rapidly spreading around the UK and has been detected in many other countries. Although it is about 50% more infectious than previous variants, B117 does not seem to cause more severe disease or be immune to current vaccines. Yet it has raised concerns over how the virus may adapt to our antibodies and vaccines in the future. To explore these issues, the health editor, Sarah Boseley, speaks to Prof Ravi Gupta about how and why viruses mutate

Bobi Wine: the reggae singer vying to be Uganda’s next president

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 03:00:26 GMT

Ugandans go to the polls today to elect a new president. Can a charismatic young musician end three and a half decades of rule by a strongman? Freelance reporter Samuel Okiror has been following Bobi Wine’s campaign to defeat Yoweri Museveni

In Uganda, the 38-year-old musician turned politician Bobi Wine – his real name is Robert Kyagulanyi – is seeking the presidency. Wine hopes to oust Yoweri Museveni, 76, who has been in office since 1986. Museveni, who took power after the fall of the dictator Idi Amin, is known for bringing stability to the region and for helping manage the HIV crisis. But he also has a long history of using violence against his political opponents, and Wine is no exception. Over the course of his campaign, Wine has been beaten and repeatedly detained; in November, his bodyguard was killed in an attack on his vehicle.

The freelance reporter Samuel Okiror explains why the country’s youth are rallying behind Wine, and assesses whether the challenger has a real chance of taking office.

Kim Scott on reconnecting to Noongar identity through story

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 16:30:15 GMT

Noongar author Kim Scott has been combing through colonial records, looking for entries related to his people’s culture and history. In this interview he describes travelling across Noongar country, piecing these records together with the knowledge of elders and community members – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous

This interview with Kim Scott is based on an essay he has written for the Fire, Flood and Plague anthology series. You can read it here or buy it in an anthology published by Penguin Random House.

Rashford takes on the government – again: Politics Weekly podcast

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 14:16:07 GMT

Jessica Elgot is joined by Rafael Behr to talk about a week of confusion over lockdown rules and free school meals. Lisa O’Carroll updates us on how Brexit has affected UK trade with the EU so far. Plus, Stephen Bush and Rachel Shabi discuss the potential for 2021 to be ‘the year of Keir’

Two weeks into England’s third lockdown and we’re all still a bit fuzzy about the rules. Police chiefs are once again asking for clarity on the latest Covid guidelines. If they aren’t sure of them, how on earth can the public be?

Members of the government will also, once again, have school meals on their minds after the Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford highlighted the inadequate free school meals being sent to parents under the £30 government voucher scheme. How will the government fix this latest mess?

From the archives: Total recall: the people who never forget – podcast

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 12:00:08 GMT

We are raiding the Audio Long Reads archives and bringing you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors.

This week: An extremely rare condition may transform our understanding of memory. By Linda Rodriguez McRobbie

Covid: vaccinating our way out of a crisis – podcast

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 03:00:57 GMT

Government aims to vaccinate 12 million people by middle of February. With the NHS struggling, Robin McKie asks whether it is fast enough

There have been incredible scientific breakthroughs in the past 12 months. Never before have vaccines been conceived, developed, tested and approved at this speed. But with the NHS nearing breaking point and after days of alarming numbers of Covid-related deaths, this week there was a new urgency in the government’s vaccination efforts.

The Observer’s science editor, Robin McKie, tells Anushka Asthana that scientists are working round the clock in labs to manufacture doses of the vaccine and that after high-profile problems with test-and-trace systems, there can be no excuses for botching the rollout of the vaccine.

Jane Rawson on disaster inequality and how to cope with what the future may hold

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 16:30:46 GMT

Australian novelist and environmentalist Jane Rawson explains why trying to keep yourself safe from the effects of climate change can only go so far and why the only way to be truly safe from global heating is to totally change the way we run the world

This interview with Jane Rawson is based on an essay she has written for the Fire, Flood and Plague anthology series. You can read it here or buy it in an anthology published by Penguin Random House.

What Brexit means for football – Football Weekly special

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 13:59:32 GMT

Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Miles Jacobson, Jonathan Fadugba and Sid Lowe discuss Brexit’s impact on the Premier League and beyond

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Max, Barry, Miles and Jonathan pick over the big issue in the latest of our special podcasts.

What are the new coronavirus variants and how do we monitor them? – podcast

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 12:10:24 GMT

Over the course of the pandemic, scientists have been monitoring emerging genetic changes to Sars-Cov-2. Mutations occur naturally as the virus replicates but if they confer an advantage – like being more transmissible – that variant of the virus may go on to proliferate. This was the case with the ‘UK’ or B117 variant, which is about 50% more contagious and is rapidly spreading around the country. So how does genetic surveillance of the virus work? And what do we know about the new variants? Ian Sample speaks to Dr Jeffrey Barrett, the director of the Covid-19 genomics initiative at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, to find out

Inside the investigation into how Covid-19 began – podcast

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 03:00:28 GMT

This week a team of international experts from the WHO will arrive in China to investigate the origins of Covid-19. A year into the pandemic, Guardian health editor Sarah Boseley looks at what questions still need to be answered

A World Health Organization team of international experts tasked with investigating the origins Covid-19 will arrive in China this week. Scientists want to determine how the virus jumped species into humans. A year into the pandemic there are still many unanswered questions over the origins of the novel virus.

The Guardian’s health editor, Sarah Boseley, tells Rachel Humpheys about what the WHO has uncovered over the past 12 months and the challenges it has faced. Ideally, door-to-door detective work, talking to the first people to fall ill and their families and colleagues, would have begun in Wuhan in January. But the city was in lockdown, its streets deserted. And the rest of the world had not yet understood what it was facing, Bruce Aylward, the Canadian doctor and epidemiologist appointed by WHO to lead its fact-finding mission to China in early February told Sarah in a recent phone call.

Richard McGregor on where to for Australia's tumultuous relationship with China in 2021

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 16:30:24 GMT

In 2014 Chinese president Xi Jinping came to Australia to address the parliament. Just over six years later, Australian politicians don’t seem to be able to get a Chinese politician to answer their phone calls. Author Richard McGregor explains why the once-cosy relationship between the two countries can never go back to the way it was

This interview with Richard McGreggor is based on an essay he has written for the Fire, Flood and Plague series. You can read it here or buy it in an anthology published by Penguin Random House

Car park capers, back gardens and a shock in the FA Cup – Football Weekly

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 15:34:38 GMT

Max Rushdenis joined by Barry Glendenning, Paul DoyleandBen Fisherto review the weekend’s FA Cup action

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The pod review the FA Cup third round action, which saw Leeds dumped out by Crawley, Chorley see off Derby’s youth team and Spurs, who will play Fulham on Wednesday now instead of Aston Villa, avoid an upset at eighth-tier Marine.

The curse of 'white oil': electric vehicles' dirty secret – podcast

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 12:00:18 GMT

The race is on to find a steady source of lithium, a key component in rechargeable electric car batteries. But while the EU focuses on emissions, the lithium gold rush threatens environmental damage on an industrial scale. By Oliver Balch.

From Yemen to the UK: Noor's story of forced marriage and fleeing her home – podcast

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 03:00:07 GMT

A women’s rights activist tells the extraordinary story of how she fled Yemen after her life was threatened, and her devastation at having to leave her four children behind. She describes her terrifying journey to the UK, where she faces an uncertain future

Anushka Asthana talks to Noor*, 29, who escaped from Yemen when her life was threatened because of her work as a human rights campaigner focusing on girls’ rights to education and the right for children not to be forced into marriage. Noor was forced into marriage at the age of 14, but later managed to divorce her husband.

She travelled alone with only smugglers and other desperate migrants for company on a terrifying eight-month journey to Britain. Noor was determined to flee not only because her own life was in danger, but also in the hope of rescuing her four children from the Yemen civil war once she had reached safety, and because her children’s lives would be at risk if she remained in the country. She describes the devastating impact of leaving them behind. Her oldest daughter is at risk of child marriage in Yemen, and she says time is running out to bring her children to safety.

Nyadol Nyuon on race, survival and the need for empathy

Sun, 10 Jan 2021 16:30:55 GMT

Lawyer and human rights advocate Nyadol Nyuon on how the pandemic brought back memories of her childhood in a refugee camp in Kenya and why empathy must be at the heart of our decision-making

This interview with Nyadol Nyuon is based on an essay she has written for the Fire, Flood and Plague anthology series. You can read it here or buy it in an anthology published by Penguin Random House.

'I just want to see the person I always saw in my head': the story of a face – podcast

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 12:00:36 GMT

How a trans woman found the surgery that could restore her sense of self. By Jenny Kleeman