The world needs sources of low-carbon fuel, so why are we so afraid of nuclear energy? Justin Rowlatt speaks to Geraldine Thomas, professor of molecular pathology at Imperial College London, about the cancer rates in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster in Soviet Ukraine in 1986, and to Spencer Weart, former director of the Center for the History of Physics at the American Institute of Physics about the evolution of "nuclear fear". Dr Arjun Makhijani from the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Washington DC gives the case for why we really should be afraid.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Photo: An early nuclear test at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the 1950s, Credit: Getty Images)

A bridge to a renewable future or just hot air? The energy industry touts natural gas as the cleanest of all fossil fuels and a bridge to a renewable future. Others say we should stop using it all together. Manuela Saragosa speaks to Marco Alvera. the boss of Snam, one of Europe's biggest gas pipeline operators, about the future for gas, and Anthony Marchese from Colorado State University, who's done research into the impact of gas leaks. Charlie Kronick, senior climate adviser at Greenpeace UK, explains why gas shouldn't be part of the long term energy mix.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Photo: Gas flaring at an oil field in Montana, United States, Credit: Getty Images)

Boris Johnson has promised to get the UK out of the European Union by 31 October,"do or die" - but can the incoming Prime Minister deliver anything more than gusto?

Andrew Rosindell thinks so. The Conservative Member of Parliament and supporter of Mr Johnson tells Ed Butler what the Brexit plan is, and why the worst case scenario of the UK crashing out of the EU with no deal at all is nothing to fret about.

Will the EU countenance any further renegotiation of the divorce deal already struck with Mr Johnson's predecessor? We ask Ryan Heath, political editor at the website Politico Europe. Plus Allie Renison of Britain's Institute of Directors gives us a business perspective on what a no-deal scenario would mean, and the trade issues we should be most concerned about.

(Picture: Newly elected Conservative party leader Boris Johnson poses outside the Conservative headquarters; Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Many Venetians say cruise ships and tourist hordes are killing their city - almost literally after one gigantic liner crashed into the harbour on 2 June.

Manuela Saragosa speaks to the activists fighting back: Tommaso Cacciari of No Grandi Navi ("No Big Ships"), Sebastiano Giorgi of Gruppo 25 Aprile, and Matteo Secchi who fears his home town is being steadily transformed into a gigantic theme park.

But it's no simple matter of simply banishing the visitors. Venice receives 30 million tourists each year - some 600 times the number of city residents, most of whom now depend on tourism for their livelihoods. Manuela asks Italian transport minister Danilo Toninelli what the government's plan is. Meanwhile, Jan Van Der Borg of Venice University explains why the economics of tourism is far more lopsided than most policymakers appreciate.

(Photo: A cruise ship in the Giudecca canal, Venice, Credit: Getty Images)

Our system for keeping planes in the sky dates back to the 1940s, and still relies on a patchwork of national authorities using radar and VHF radio.

Vivienne Nunis asks whether its time for a complete overhaul. That's the objective of Andrew Charlton, of lobby group the Air Traffic Management Policy Institute, who says the organisation of airspace and the technology deployed are worryingly antiquated.

It is an objective shared by the European Union, which has long aimed to knit its dozens of authorities into a "single European sky". Thomas Reynaert of industry body Airlines for Europe explains why the EU has still failed to deliver on this promise.

Meanwhile Vivienne speaks to one of the most technologically advanced air traffic control operators in Europe, the UK's semi-privatised Nats. Jamie Hutchison runs one of its main control centres, while Fran Slater has been working the screens there for over two decades.

(Picture: Aair traffic controller looking at screen; Credit: 18percentgrey/Getty Images)

What are the obstacles are for a permanent base on the Red Planet? Ed Butler puts that question to Dennis Bushnell, the chief scientist at Nasa's Langley Research facility. He also hears from Ariel Ekblaw, the founder and lead of the Space Exploration Initiative at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chris Lewicki, President and CEO of the firm Planetary Resources and Therese Griebel, the deputy associate administrator for programs within Nasa's Space Technology Mission Directorate.

(Photo: Nasa InSight spacecraft launches onboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas-V rocket on May 5, 2018, from Vandenberg Air Force base in California. Credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

The Italian capital is in the midst of a waste management crisis as mountains of uncollected rubbish are left to rot on the eternal city's streets. Manuela Saragosa hears from disgruntled residents and the war of words between those who say the blame lies with the anti-establishment mayor, Virginia Raggi of the Five Star Movement party, and the mayor's supporters, who argue Rome's rubbish crisis has its roots in an historically corrupt and inefficient waste disposal system. We hear from Massimiliano Tonelli, founder of the Roma Fa Schifo blog, Marco Cacciatore, the Five Star Movement city council alderman responsible for Rome's waste management, and Mr. Cacciatore's counterpart, Massimiliano Valeriani, at the Lazio regional government. Will Rome's recurring rubbish crisis ever be resolved?

(Picture: Waste overflows on the street in the Tor Sapienza neighborhood, on June 30, 2019 in Rome, Italy. Picture credit: Simona Granati - Corbis/Getty Images)

Italy's economy remains in the doldrums, with many Italians blaming the European single currency. Meanwhile the Italian populist government has taken a markedly more friendly line towards Russia, with a scandal brewing about alleged business deals between Moscow and the ruling Lega party.

Manuela Saragosa speaks to Alessandra Maiorino, an Italian MP for the Five Star Movement and Lorenzo Codogno, economist with the European Institute at the London School of Economics, about growing anti-European sentiment in Italy. And journalist Stafano Vergine explains why prosecutors are now looking into links between Italy's Lega Nord party and Russia.

(Photo: An Italian euro coin; Credit: Getty Images)

As more of daily life gets taken over by technology, we ask what technology’s place is in the future of education. Pearson, the world's largest education publisher for example has just announced that it plans to phase out physical books, and adopt a "digital first" strategy.

So will lectures of the future be conducted purely on a virtual screen, with professors and students interacting digitally across hundreds or even thousands of miles? Ben Nelson, chief executive of the Minerva Project, an online learning project, thinks so. But Princeton historian Kevin Kruse is not convinced. He tells Ed Butler how he has had to deal with the dark side of “education” on the internet.

Also in the show, Oliver Thorn delivers philosophy education and entertainment on his YouTube channel Philosophy Tube. While "study-tuber" Ruby Granger can help you, and her 350,000 other subscribers, with revision.

(Picture: A female student lying in bed, holding a coffee mug and looking at her tablet computer; Credit: FatCamera/Getty Images)

It’s been a year since New Zealand put all but a stop to foreigners buying houses. The near-total ban followed years of astonishing price increases - fuelled in part by Chinese money and American tech billionaires buying up some of the country's most desirable plots. With the help of seasoned property reporter Greg Ninness, and New Zealand’s biggest real estate firm Barfoot & Thompson, we’re in Auckland to investigate whether the law has improved housing affordability. Photo: The Auckland skyline, credit: BBC

Hasty borrowing by Chinese consumers and corporates may leave the country's economy with a debt hangover.

That's the contention of independent China economist Andy Xie. Business Daily's Ed Butler asks him whether ordinary Chinese are carelessly running up huge debts without appreciating the consequences, and whether the rest of the world should be concerned.

And it's not just China. Most East Asian countries have seen a rapid rise in household debts in recent years. Among them is Vietnam, where journalist Lien Hoang of Bloomberg BNA explains that it is in large part a bi-product of the government's policy to introduce its citizens to the wonders of online banking.

(Picture: Chinese woman holding phone and credit card; Credit: RyanKing999/Getty Images)

Payday loans, auto loans and student loans are overwhelming a sector of American society - what can be done to help them dig their way out of their debts?

Ed Butler speaks to Dean, a military veteran who says his debts wrecked his health and forced him into personal bankruptcy. Plus student Melissa says her inability to keep up with the interest on her student loans, despite working a well remunerated middle class job, is typical of her Millennial generation.

Such stories are becoming commonplace among the young and the poor in the US. In search of solutions to their plights, Ed speaks to Mary Jackson of the Online Lenders' Alliance, Harvard economist Ken Rogoff, and Martha Wunderli of the AAA Fair Credit Foundation in Utah.

(Picture: Senior man receiving bank debt documents; Credit: THEPALMER/Getty Images)