Episódios
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The wait is finally over for the Tokyo Olympics, 2020. Ken Nishikawa and Nick Luscombe take inspiration and hope from the Tokyo Olympics of 1964, which kick-started a new internationalism in Japan as the first Olympic games to be held in Asia. Together they meet the designer of the new grand stadium Kengo Kuma and many more Tokyo residents whose lives were touched by the games in 1964 to contrast the Tokyo of the past with the city and its people today.
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So how do you get an emoji added to the list? We hear from the women who have had hundreds of emoji approved between them, from the sari, to the mirror, to the one-piece bathing suit. How did they do it? And will Amy and Rachel finally get their drone emoji? We ask the woman who is in charge of it all.
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In a segregated US, black audiences, entertainers and entrepreneurs established their own network of live performance venues known as the Chitlin’ Circuit. Concentrated primarily in the Deep South, it provided many pioneers of modern music with the platform to hone their craft and perfect their style as they travelled the country. Virtually every notable African-American performer from the '30s to the '60s graced the circuit. From famous urban institutions like The Apollo Theater in New York or The Howard Theatre in Washington D.C, to a run-down barn on a country back-road. It was in these settings, amidst a backdrop of segregation, that the sounds of rhythm and blues and rock’n’roll emerged and evolved, long before they captivated the world. Bobby Rush shines a light on a hugely influential network of venues that paved the way for rock’n’roll and shaped music history.
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A year later than planned, due to the pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics are underway. Yet Covid cases in the capital are rising, and a recent poll showed that 55% of people in Japan were opposed to the Games being held in Tokyo with fears that it could become a super spreader event. For the athletes, it’s business as usual, albeit under extraordinary circumstances. Host Nuala McGovern hears from 19 year old US-born Joseph Fahnbulleh, who is representing Liberia on the athletics track in the 200 metres race; and Mary Hanna who has competed in five previous Olympics as part of the Australian equestrian team
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The Mexican state of Sinaloa is synonymous with drug trafficking. With the profits from organised crime a driver of the local economy, the tentacles of ‘narco cultura’ extend deep into people’s lives – especially those of women. In the city of Culiacan, plastic surgeons service demand for the exaggerated feminine silhouette favoured by the men with guns and hard cash. Often women’s surgery will be paid for by a ‘sponsor’ or ‘godfather.’ Meanwhile, a group of women trackers spend their weekends digging in isolated parts of the state, looking for the remains of loved ones who disappear in Sinaloa’s endless cycle of drug-fuelled violence.
Producer / presenter: Linda Pressly
Producer in Mexico: Ulises Escamilla
Editor: Bridget Harney
(Photo: Lawyer Maria Teresa Guerra advocates for women in Sinaloa. Credit: BBC/Ulises Escamilla) -
Lex Gillette was seven years old when his eyes stopped working. At first, things were a little blurry, a little distorted. Then, after 10 operations to treat the retinas that kept detaching in both his right and his left, he saw nothing but darkness. But that did not stop him: Lex learned to ride a bike. He learned to run around. And eventually, he learned to to jump - jump farther than any other blind person in the world. Lex Gillette - world record long jumper, four time Paralympic medal winner - is on his way to Tokyo in 2021 to get the gold medal he has wanted since he was a child. The other half of the Lex Gillette Paralympic success story is his guide coach, Wesley Williams.
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We travel to California to find out who controls the emoji available on every single smartphone in the world - the mysterious Unicode Consortium. This secretive organisation decides what is included and what is left off the official emoji keyboard. But are they up to the job? Not everyone is convinced. Presenter: Sarah Treanor and Vivienne Nunis Producer: Sarah Treanor
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As the Chinese Communist Party celebrates its 100th anniversary, Celia Hatton looks at how party slogans reveal the turbulent history of modern China. Throughout its existence, the party has used key slogans to communicate policy and mobilise the country's vast population. These messages reflect not just the ambitions of party leaders but also have a profound impact on the lives of millions. Using the BBC archive Celia examines the story behind eight key Communist Party slogans, from their early years as a guerrilla movement to the campaigns of China's current all-powerful leader Xi XInping.
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Breaking, also known as break-dancing, borne in New York City in the 1970s, is set to make its debut at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. Four-time breaking world champion, BoxWon (Benyaamin Barnes McGee), traces how breaking went from Bronx block parties to NYC’s downtown art scene, to the world. Speaking to legends of the scene, such as Rock Steady Crew's Ken Swift and B-Boy Glyde from Dynamic Rockers, BoxWon reveals how punk impresario, Malcolm McLaren, helped breaking become a worldwide craze in the 1980s - before it vanished. When the International Olympic Committee proposed breaking as a new sport for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, the general public were taken by surprise.
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England is about to do what no country has done before during the coronavirus pandemic - open up in the face of rapidly rising infections, driven by the more transmissible Delta variant. Nearly all remaining Covid restrictions will end on 19 July. It will mean an end to legal requirements on social distancing, no limits on how many people can meet and face coverings will no longer be required by law. England has high levels of immunity with significant numbers of the population vaccinated. The government’s plan is that this new so-called ‘natural’ wave of infections will be allowed to play itself out without lockdown restrictions. But many experts are warning that it is a gamble
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In November 1990 a body of a woman was discovered - near an abandoned farm house in Missouri. The victim had been restrained with six types of rope. Police had no idea who she was, let alone who had killed her. With no clues to go on, and no leads, the police dubbed her ‘Grace’ after one officer said ‘only by the grace of god will she be identified’. For three decades there wasn’t a single lead in the case. However earlier this year, the young woman was identified using a revolutionary technique. It combines advanced DNA genome processing with genealogy websites which people use to trace ancestors and build their family trees. The BBC’s North American technology reporter, James Clayton, discovers Grace’s true identity and meets the victim’s siblings who are grateful to finally get some sense of closure after years of uncertainty. The new method has already solved hundreds of cold cases across America. Yet some worry that uploading DNA onto police databases violates privacy and could be open to abuse.
Radio producer in London - Lucy Ash
(Image: Shawna Beth Garber aged two, who was later known to police as "Grace." Picture courtesy of Danielle Pixler) -
Multi Gold-winning Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson explores the role of women in sport through history. She looks at some of the milestones in sport for women and acknowledges several people who were pivotal in helping to make sure women were finally recognised – among them Alice Milliat, the French woman who organised that first international women’s sporting event in Monte Carlo in 1921. She reflects on the achievements of athletes like Dale Greig, the first woman to run a marathon in under 3.5 hours, Russian Olgo Korbut who helped to change the perception of women in gymnastics, tennis player Althea Gibson, the first African-American to win a Grand Slam and the footballers who battled a five-decade ban on women playing on official grounds in England.
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The emoji, invented in Japan in the 1990s, and now standardised on every device and platform we have, has become a new type of global communication. Whether you love them or hate them, they stir up surprisingly strong feelings and the fight for representation on the emoji keyboard can get very heated. In episode two, we explore how sometimes, emoji are more than they seem. In fact, for some dating app users, criminal gangs and even human traffickers, emoji take on secret meanings. The BBC's Vivienne Nunis and Sarah Treanor are here to crack the code.
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The voices of those from mixed race communities are more frequently heard today and are playing a more central role in shaping discussion around race, identity and what it means to straddle different cultures and experiences. The BBC's Nora Fakim takes this opportunity to reflect on what is happening across the globe and to reflect on what the changes mean across the generations.
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Official figures suggest the global death toll from Covid-19 now exceeds four million with the virus proliferating in Asia, Africa and South America, where fewer people have been vaccinated. Host James Reynolds brings three doctors together from Namibia, Bangladesh and Russia, which are among the countries struggling to deal with second and third waves of infections. They describe the constant challenge on the hospital wards and highlight the impact of vaccine hesitancy among patients.
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Last spring New York looked like the epicentre of the pandemic with boarded up shops, makeshift morgues in refrigerated trucks and the constant wail of ambulance sirens echoing through the deserted streets. This summer, as America’s biggest city emerges from the coronavirus crisis, what has changed? For Assignment, Lucy Ash focuses on the most dramatically affected area – the Midtown section of Manhattan – and goes on a hunt for the missing people in this once dynamic, densely populated part of the Big Apple. She talks to those who have fled for the greener pastures of New Jersey where property prices have spiked and she meets a Broadway star who became a florist when theatres went dark. Lucy also finds out what happened to tens of thousands of Midtown cleaners and restaurant staff who couldn’t work from home and were abruptly laid off with no safety net. As undocumented migrants, most didn’t qualify for any state aid.
New York producer: Guglielmo Mattioli
Editor: Bridget Harney
(Image: A view of Midtown Manhattan and Bryant Park. Credit: Reuters/Carlo Allegri) -
Bats are depicted in some cultures as devil-like vampires through images of death and Halloween. But in others they are the opposite and are believed to bring luck and good fortune in China. Fear of bats has been exacerbated in the past 18 months by the Coronavirus pandemic and a blame game, pointing the finger at bats as a potential source of Covid-19. But environmentalists love them for being natural pest controllers – hoovering up harmful insects. Scientists love them too - as a vital source of medical research. How can they carry viruses without getting ill and what is their anti-ageing secret?
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The emoji, invented in Japan in the 1990s, and now standardised on every device and platform we have, has become a new type of global communication. Whether you love them or hate them, they stir up surprisingly strong feelings and the fight for representation on the emoji keyboard can get very heated. In this first episode, we explore how for many of us, these cute symbols have become a natural part of our daily digital lives. We also meet two emoji lovers as they prepare to take on Silicon Valley and try to have their longed-for emoji approved.
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Face coverings have been part of the fight against the spread of the virus in many countries but the debate around them continues. Israel has been one of the most successful countries in the world in tackling the pandemic but, just days after lifting the requirement of wearing face masks indoors, the restriction was reimposed. The decision was made after a rise in Covid cases due to the Delta variant. We also hear from two students in Italy about their feelings now that they are allowed to go outdoors without a face mask for the first time since October 2020.
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Two hundred young women from Sierra Leone, west Africa, have been trapped in the Arabian sultanate of Oman, desperate to get home. Promised work in shops and restaurants, they say they were into tricked becoming housemaids, working up to 18 hours a day, often without pay, and sometimes abused by their employers. Some ran away, to live a dangerous underground existence at the mercy of the authorities – but now they’re being rescued and repatriated, and some are empowering themselves as independent farmers back home. Tim Whewell tells their story.
(Image: Sierra Leonean women hoping for repatriation after leaving their employers in Oman. Credit: Do Bold) - Mostrar mais