Understand
NEW in Understand - The Trip
The story of psychedelics. It's a unique moment. After decades of taboo and blanket illegality, policymakers and research institutions are taking these substances seriously. As a new dawn of psychedelic treatment beckons, Tim Hayward makes a personal journey into how we got here and where this is all heading.
Understand from BBC Radio 4 - unravelling the complexities of the biggest stories and subjects that really matter right now.
Episodes (50)
Derailed: The Story of HS2: 2. Mutually assured exaggeration
As the designs for HS2 took shape, the new team behind it set out to prove its value to Ministers and MPs. But as Kate hears, long term flaws were being baked into the project, with an economic...
Derailed: The Story of HS2: 1. The Railwayman
Kate meets Andrew McNaughton, the man who, in 2009, was given the task of sitting down with a blank piece of paper and designing a new high speed rail line. Ministers across the political aisle were...
Derailed: The Story of HS2: Trailer
Kate Lamble investigates the extraordinary inside story of Britain's most ambitious and controversial rail project. Listen first on BBC Sounds from Monday 14 July 2025
The UK Election: 10. What Happens on Election Day?
Understand the UK Election is a simple 10-part guide to everything that is going on in the election, hosted by Adam Fleming. In this episode, it's all about what happens at the end of the campaign and...
The UK Election: 9. How Does the Election Differ Across the UK?
Understand the UK Election is a simple 10-part guide to everything that is going on in the election, hosted by Adam Fleming. In this episode, how the election plays out differently across the country...
The UK Election: 8. What’s the Media’s Role in an Election?
Understand the UK Election is a simple 10-part guide to everything that is going on in the election, with Adam Fleming. In this episode, from the front pages of the press to the televised debates; why...
The UK Election: 7. What Can Polling Predict?
Understand the UK Election is a simple 10-part guide to everything that is going on in the election, with Adam Fleming. In this episode, what do polls actually tell us? What can we learn when the...
The UK Election: 6. How Important Are Marginal Seats?
Understand the UK Election is a simple 10-part guide to everything that is going on in the election, with Adam Fleming. Seats with slim majorities have played a big part in determining the outcome of...
The UK Election: 5. How Do You Make Sure Voting Runs Smoothly?
Understand the UK Election is a simple 10-part guide to everything that is going on in the election, hosted by Adam Fleming. In this episode; changes to Brits abroad being able to vote, voter ID rules...
The UK Election: 4. Why Do People Vote the Way They Do?
Understand the UK Election is a simple 10-part guide to everything that is going on in the election, hosted by Adam Fleming. In this episode, Adam looks at why people vote the way they do. What can we...
The UK Election: 3. What Difference Does a Manifesto Make?
Understand the UK Election is a simple 10-part guide to everything that is going on in the election, hosted by Adam Fleming. In this episode, Adam looks at manifestos; a set of policies that a party...
The UK Election: 2. How Are Candidates Selected?
Understand the UK Election is a simple 10-part guide to everything that is going on in the election, hosted by Adam Fleming. In this episode, Adam looks at how candidates are selected and why it’s...
The UK Election: 1. How Do You Get the Campaign Right?
Understand the UK Election is a simple 10-episode guide to everything that is going on in the election.Hosted by Adam Fleming, it looks at everything from candidate selection and leader debates, to...
The US Election: 5. Becoming President
In the final episode of the series, Justin Webb and guests discuss how the role of president has changed - and what the winner of the vote will be able to do once in office.
The US Election: 4. The General Election
In the penultimate episode, Justin Webb and guests discuss what happens on election day -- and how the notorious electoral college system works.
The US Election: 3. The TV Debates
Justin Webb and guests reach episode 3 of this guide to how the US elections are run, with a look at the historical and contemporary importance of the TV debates.
The US Election: 2. The Campaign Trail
Following on from part one, which explained how the candidates are selected, part two looks at what happens on the campaign trail - and who's paying the bill?
The US Election: 1. Primaries, Caucuses and the National Conventions
Justin Webb, former BBC US correspondent and co-presenter of Americast unpicks some of the terminology associated with the US Election.
Israel and the Palestinians: 5. The USA and Iran
What role have the USA and Iran played in the region? Where do we stand on the 'two-state solution'? Katya Adler and guests explain the history and context of the decades long conflict between Israel...
Israel and the Palestinians: 4. The Neighbours
How do Lebanon, Hezbollah, Egypt and Jordan view Israel and the Palestinians? Katya Adler explains the history of the formation of Hezbollah and the role it plays in the region. The US, UK and EU have...
Israel and the Palestinians: 3. Hamas
What is Hamas, what do they stand for and what do they want now? As part of our series explaining the context of today’s conflict, Katya Adler and guests take a closer look at the group responsible...
Israel and the Palestinians: 2. Israel
Katya Adler and guests explain the context of the conflict, exploring issues and history that will help you get to grips with what’s going on today. In this episode we'll look at what’s shaped modern...
Israel and the Palestinians: 1. The Palestinians
Katya Adler and guests explain the history and context of the decades long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. In this episode we focus on life in the Palestinian territories of the Gaza...
Tech and AI: 10. Can We Control AI?
When so-called "generative" Artificial Intelligences like Chat GPT and Google's Bard were made available to the public, they made headlines around the world and raised fears about how fast this type...
Tech and AI: 9. Will AI Take My Job?
AI is now able to do some types of work faster and cheaper than human beings, and some workers have already found themselves out of a job. Earlier this year, a report from Goldman Sachs said that AI...
Tech and AI: 8. The Algorithm
At its simplest, an algorithm is a sequence of step-by-step instructions designed to give a result. They are the building blocks of every computer program and are there to ensure every digital device...
Tech and AI: 7. Where is AI Working Already?
Artificial Intelligence is already here. It's being used in products and services you already use, and is working behind the scenes in medicine, transportation, robotics, science, education, the...
Tech and AI: 6. What is AI?
Artificial Intelligence has been in the news constantly this year, from a chatbot that can write anything you can imagine, in any style, to scientists and world leaders warning that AI needs to be...
Tech and AI: 5. Big Data
Big data is vast, unwieldy information that is so huge that normal software traditionally used to analyse it just can't cope. It's not new. Ever since humans organised ourselves, we've been keeping...
Tech and AI: 4. Cryptocurrency, Blockchain and Web 3.0
You might be wary of using digital currencies, but you probably already do. Salaries, benefits and pensions are now paid direct to banks, and when you buy a coffee, you may well use a contactless card...
Tech and AI: 3. VR, AR and the Metaverse
Just by putting on a headset, Virtual Reality promises to immerse you in another world, and Augmented Reality takes that world and brings it into your living room. How do they work? It's a type of...
Tech and AI: 2. The Cloud
We all get that sinking feeling when we accidentally delete a valuable photo or document, but there's now a good chance you can find a backup copy - thanks to the Cloud. Cloud computing has drifted...
Tech and AI: 1. How Do You Get Connected?
You're probably reading this on a device connected to the internet, while listening to this episode. But how did the digital files that make up this description, and the digital sound files that you...
Tech and AI: Trailer
Do you know your Blockchain from your Bitcoin, or your Virtual reality from your Augmented Reality? Are you clueless about AI but are worried it might take your job?If so, you’ve come to the right...
The Economy: 15. Energy Market
The rising cost of living really brought home how those big, global economic shocks can mean some pretty bad bumps for our individual finances. Probably the most obvious, immediate and, painful way...
The Economy: 14. Bankruptcy and Insolvency
The cost of living crisis is putting more pressure on more people - but what happens when that pressure becomes too much, and is bankruptcy always a bad thing? Professor Diane Coyle explains the...
The Economy: 13. National Debt
Politicians talk about government debt a lot. When Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to tackle Britain's five most pressing problems, he included making sure our debt was falling. But what is the...
The Economy: 12. Credit
Collectively, our individual financial decisions have a big impact on what the wider economy does. That includes how we manage our own money, including what we buy and how we buy it. One way we make...
The Economy: 11. Pricing and Discounting
On one hand, we’ve all experienced the things we buy getting more expensive, from the price of fuel to a tub of butter. On the other hand, retailers desperately try to entice us to buy with...
The Economy: 10. Inequality
Why are the rich, rich and the poor, poor, and was it always this way? Tim Harford explains what’s happened to inequality over the last 100 years in the UK and why things might be better than you...
The Economy: 9. International Trade and Currency Markets
The reason we can eat pineapples and sell aeroplane parts. But why might the value of the pound fall and what does that mean if it does? Tim Harford explains who wins and who loses if the pound is...
The Economy: 8. Pensions
Why is it so hard to save for retirement? Will future generations even get a pension? Why is the pension age rising and what is the state pension age? Tim Harford explains the problem an aging...
The Economy: 7. Jobs and Unemployment
What happens when lots of people lose their jobs? Why might wages be low even though everyone who wants a job, has one? What do we mean by employment and unemployment and what does 'economic...
The Economy: 6. Recessions
What is a recession and what causes a recession? Whether something suddenly makes you poorer or just makes you worry about becoming poorer, when you cut your spending in the shops, this affects other...
The Economy: 5. Banks
What are banks and what do they do with our money? Tim Harford explains where your money goes when you put it in a bank account and reveals that your bank might actually be a shadow bank. Economic...
The Economy: 4. Bonds, Gilts, Stocks and Shares
Who lends the government money and why? And what exactly does the stock market do? All those people in the movies shouting at the screens are buying and selling something, but what? Tim Harford...
The Economy: 3. Economic Growth and GDP
What is economic growth, and what happens if there isn’t any? And what does that GDP figure stand for? Tim Harford explains how and why we measure everything.If the economy stops growing, that could...
The Economy: 2. Interest Rates and Mortgage Rates
Why does the interest you pay on your credit card or your mortgage rate go up and down? What’s the Bank of England got to do with it all? In this episode, Tim Harford explains why the banks need to...
The Economy: 1. Inflation
What is inflation, why does it matter, and is someone to blame if it goes up? Understanding inflation will help you understand why your shopping is getting more and more expensive and why prices...
The Economy: Trailer
Everything you need to know about the economy and what it means for you. This podcast will cut through the jargon to bring you clarity and ensure you finally understand all those complicated terms and...
About this Podcast
Copyright
(C) BBC 2025
Language
en
Categories
News, Politics, Government