Podcast Icon Podcasts
Trump's Tax Scandal - Who Cares?

Trump's Tax Scandal - Who Cares?

Why has there been so little political fall-out from allegations by the New York Times that the US President and his family dodged hundreds of millions of dollars in tax, in some cases through outright fraud?

Manuela Saragosa speaks to Susanne Craig - one of the journalists making the claims after 18 months of painstaking research. Yet the US public remains unmoved. Bloomberg editor John Authers fears for what that says about the breakdown in trust in modern Western society.

Plus Pippa Malmgren, a former advisor to President George W Bush, explains why she thinks the tax investigation may represent a bigger threat to Donald Trump than the much-reported Mueller investigation.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: Donald Trump; Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Holidays in Space

Holidays in Space

The private sector is muscling in on space exploration, and the biggest commercial opportunity could be tourism.

Ed Butler meets the star-gazers at the Future in Review conference of tech entrepreneurs in Utah. Ariel Ekblaw, who founded the Space Exploration Initiative at MIT, discusses the logic of self-assembling space hotels. Nasa chief scientist Dennis Bushnell talks cosmic beach combing.

And Chris Lewicki, head of space mining start-up Planetary Resources, explains why he thinks it makes more sense to mine water on asteroids than bring it with us from Earth.

(Picture: Fictional space station with astronauts and space ships; Credit: ZargonDesign/Getty Images)

Lab-grown Meat on your Table

Lab-grown Meat on your Table

Are new forms of 'artificial' meat about to change the food industry? Regan Morris goes to California to taste a chicken nugget its makers hope will be on restaurant menus by the end of this year. Josh Tetrick is the boss of Just - the company behind it. She also hears from Mark Post, the maker of the first lab-grown burger, and Tom Mastrobuoni from Tyson Ventures, the meat processing company that wants to be the world's largest 'protein' company. That's fine but just don't call it "meat" says Lia Biondo from the US Cattlemen's Association.

(Photo: Chicken nuggets made from meat, Credit: Getty Images)

Sexist Science

Sexist Science

Does STEM still have a problem with women? Manuela Saragosa speaks to Dr Jess Wade, a physicist at Imperial College in London, and soil microbial ecologist Kelly Ramirez, co-founder of 500 Women Scientists. Rebekah Higgitt, a lecturer in history of science at the University of Kent in the UK, explains the marginalisation of women in science.

(Photo: Female scientist, Credit: Getty Images)

Italy Goes Rogue

Italy Goes Rogue

Rome and Brussels look set to clash over the Italian government's spending plans. What's at stake for the rest of the EU? Manuela Saragosa speaks to Claudio Borghi, economic spokesman of the Lega party, the right wing party now part of Italy's coalition government, and Jeremy Cliffe, columnist at The Economist.

(Photo: A 'debt clock' screen displays Italy's public debt at the Rome's Termini central station, Credit: Getty Images)

Indonesia's Disasters - Natural and Man-Made

Indonesia's Disasters - Natural and Man-Made

Tsunamis, earthquakes and a sinking capital - not all of Indonesia's problems are down to Mother Nature.

Jonathan Bithrey reports from this blighted archipelago on the Pacific ring of fire. 14 years after the Indian Ocean tsunami, why was the country so ill-prepared for the tidal wave that hit Palu this week? And what is being done to stop Jakarta slowly sinking into the sea under the weight of poor planning and overdevelopment?

(Picture: A woman looks for salvageable items among the debris in following the earthquake in Sulawesi; Credit: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

Has Elon Musk Already Won?

Has Elon Musk Already Won?

Whatever the fate of the heavily indebted Tesla Motors, is the electric vehicle revolution now set to sweep the world? And despite his Twitter antics and legal problems, has the company's chief executive earned the right to be brash?

Justin Rowlatt speaks to Gene Munster of tech investors Loup Ventures and to the author and tech prophet Tony Seba. Plus what is the future for fossil fuel companies in an electrified world? We ask Shell's vice president for new fuels, Matthew Tipper.

Producer: Laurence Knight

Image: Elon Musk (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

The #FoodPorn Business

The #FoodPorn Business

Instagram and social media are transforming the food industry, but is the fixation on visual aesthetics destroying the dining experience?

Elizabeth Hotson explores the nexus between our stomachs and our smartphone screens, with help from sandwich blogger Xander Fletcher, cake decorator Georgia Green, online food and drink reviewer Rebecca Milford, food writer Natalie Seldon and restaurateur Cokey Sulkin, among others. Producer: Elizabeth Hotson

(Picture: Cake decorated by Georgia Green; Credit: Elizabeth Hotson)

Bill Gates on Africa

Bill Gates on Africa

Bill Gates speaks to Manuela Saragosa about the future of Africa and the urgent need for the world to invest in the continent's exploding youth population.

It comes as the billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft founder launches the second annual conference in New York of his Goalkeepers initiative - a network of activists from across the world who aim to ensure that their governments fulfil the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

But why is it that the number of children born per woman in Africa remains so stubbornly high? We ask Olufunke Baruwa, a gender and development practitioner in Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria. And are the attempts of wealthy outsiders to solve Africa's problems misguided? Teddy Ruge, an outspoken Ugandan activist and entrepreneur, tells us it's time to let a new generation of Africans take over the controls.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: Bill and Melinda Gates introduce the 2018 Goalkeepers event at the Lincoln Center on in New York; Credit: Ludovic Marin/AFP)

The Company Without Managers

The Company Without Managers

Most companies around the world exist with some form of hierarchy. Usually it is a vertical structure, with executive above management, which is in turn above the workforce. But there is another form, a “flat” hierarchy. Long promulgated by tech companies and start-ups in particular, flat or horizontally-structured companies operate on the principle of “Be your own boss.” Everyone chooses their agenda, their pace and in principle there is no boss to upbraid you if you make a mistake. So does it work? David Heinemeier Hansson is a founder and partner at the web services company Basecamp, a company with a “flat as possible” structure. He gives his thoughts on being the boss of people when they are their own boss. We also hear from Drew Dudley, author of This is Day One and André Spicer, professor of organisational behaviour at Cass Business School, on the potential pitfalls of flat hierarchies.

Image: Silhouetted faces in a boardroom (Credit: Getty Images)

Welcome to Wakaliwood

Welcome to Wakaliwood

Uganda's home-grown film industry is proving a hit on YouTube, but does it glorify violence? Ed Butler heads to Wakaliga on the outskirts of Kampala to investigate, only to get shot with fake bullets.

Programme features interviews with the American immigrant studio boss Alan Hofmanis, director and screenwriter Isaac Nabwana, special effects supremo Dauda Bisaso, and British fan Timon Singh of the Bristol Bad Film Club.

Expect the Unexpectable!

(Picture: Dauda Bisaso mans his home-made prop gatling gun; Credit: BBC)

The Trouble With Bike Sharing

The Trouble With Bike Sharing

Why are Chinese bike-share companies struggling to replicate their success abroad? Ed Butler hears from Nick Hubble, a cycling campaigner in Manchester - the UK city where Chinese firm Mobike has just scrapped its bike-share scheme. Mobike's head of growth in Europe Steve Milton describes the challenges of global expansion. Julian Scriven from rival German firm Nextbike explains why the Chinese model doesn't necessarily work in other countries, and Dana Yanocha, Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy in Washington DC, describes the challenges faced by US cities swamped by shared bikes.

(Photo: A Mobike on a London street, Credit: Getty Images)

Shafaq Live
Shafaq Live
Radio radio icon