Following the recent floods in Valencia, Jonathan Freedland looks at the politics of natural disasters, with CHRIS COURTNEY - Associate Professor in Modern Chinese History at Durham University and author of The Nature of Disaster in China: The 1931 Yangzi River Flood LEAH PATTEM – Madrid based freelance journalist specialising in politics, migration and community stories The readers are Ian Dunnett and Samuel James

Producer: Jayne Egerton

Mob violence breaks out across the country, with an explosion of hatred directed at minority communities who feel under siege. As British courts process hundreds of those involved in the riots of August 2024, Jonathan Freedland looks back more than 800 years ago when hatred was directed at a different group of outsiders. In the late 1180s, Britain's small Jewish community was targeted by violent mobs in the wake of the coronation of Richard I. The worst incident was the York Massacre of 1190 in which 150 people died. What are the historical parallels with today's race riots against British Muslims and asylum seekers, and what can be learnt about how to heal communities?

Guests: Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History, Queen Mary, University of London; Joe Mulhall, Director of Research, Hope Not Hate; Hina Bokhari, Liberal Democrat Member of the London Assembley and Founder, Naz Legacy Foundation

Producers: Dan Hardoon and Luke Mulhall Reader: John Lightbody

As French President Emmanuel Macron calls a snap election to address the political threat to his government posed by the Far Right, Jonathan Freedland and guests discuss Louis XVI's decision in 1789 to call an Estates General, a meeting of representatives of all sections of French society. Louis' gamble in 1789 started a chain of events known as the French Revolution. What are the stakes of President Macron's gamble today?

With

Clare Siviter, Associate Professor in French Theatre at the University of Bristol

Emile Chabal, Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Edinburgh

The reader is Ewan Bailey

Producer: Luke Mulhall

Donald Trump has made history by becoming the first former US President to be criminally charged, facing 91 felony charges across four separate cases. As he heads towards an election rematch with Joe Biden, he has promised to continue his campaign even if he is convicted or sent to prison. What impact could this have on his campaign and has a prisoner ever run for President before?

Eugene V Debs (1855-1926) was one of the best-known Socialists in the United States. He ran for president five times – the final time from prison. Though his politics were rather different from Trump’s, his performance – he won almost a million votes – suggests how a criminal conviction can in fact add momentum to a presidential campaign.

Guests: Adam Smith, Professor of US Politics and Political History at the University of Oxford; Quinta Jurecic, Fellow in Governance Studies, Brookings; Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Professor of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

Producer: Dan Hardoon Reader: Eric Meyers

The Post Office Scandal has gripped the nation’s attention – but only truly captured the public's imagination following the popular ITV drama of the postmaster’s ongoing quest for justice. As the government takes steps to legislater and offer further compensation, Jonathan looks at two important factors from the Post Office inquiry – a drama making all the difference to overturning a scandal, and a miscarriage of justice being righted to make permanent and impactful change.

Professor Rosalind Crone looks back at the curious case of Adolf Beck, whose wrongful conviction and fight for freedom ended in the Court of Criminal Appeal being founded. Dr Ella Dzelzainis shines a light on writer Charlotte Elizabeth Tonna, whose novels were integral in bringing the plight of child factory workers to public attention and resulted in the Factory Acts being passed.

In both cases, it took notable storytelling in the press and popular literature of the day and the outcry of the British public for meaningful change to be made.

Producers: Olivia Sopel and Mugabi Turya

If Donald Trump is elected to a second term as President of the United States he would be 82 at the end, if Joe Biden is re-elected he would be 86. Age has become a campaign weapon. How effective have the octogenarian leaders of the past been shown to be?

One was William Ewart Gladstone who was Prime Minister four times, the last when he was 82. Dr Ruth Windscheffel Head of Teaching and Learning Enhancement at York St John University and author and editor of a number of books and articles about Gladstone discusses how his advanced age affected his final administration.

Emperor Gordian I acceded to Rome's Imperial throne in 238 AD in his early eighties. Dr James Corke-Webster is Reader in Classics, History and Liberal Arts at King's College London. He discusses with Jonathan Freedland the events surrounding Gordian's rise to power in ancient Rome's most turbulent year.

Reader: Josh Bryant-Jones

Producer: Harry Parker

Two of Britain’s ruling political parties find themselves without the strong, charismatic leaders who won them a handsome election victory – and now they’re struggling. At Westminster, it’s the Tories who are emerging, with difficulty, from the shadow of Boris Johnson. At Holyrood, it’s the Scottish National Party getting used to life without Nicola Sturgeon. Both were once riding high – yet this month, both the Conservatives and the SNP lost closely-watched byelection contests to Labour, those Tory defeats coming in Tamworth and mid-Bedfordshire just a few days ago. But the hole left after a once-dominant leader departs the stage is not new – not in Westminster and not in Edinburgh.

.Jonathan Freedland takes The Long View of the void left by once-dominant leaders - to the fall-out from the demise of Sir Robert Peel in the middle of the 19th century and the way Tory politics was upended by the exit of the man who had all but created the modern Conservative Party; and the power vacuum that was left by the sudden death of King James V of Scotland in 1542.

The Guests Dr Luke Blaxill, political historian at Hertford College, Oxford Dr Amy Blakeway, Senior Lecturer in Scottish History at St Andrews

Readers Michael Bertenshaw Kenny Blyth

Assistant Producer: Olivia Sopel Production Coordinator: Shan Pillay

Producer: Mohini Patel

Elon Musk made his money leading and shaping the latest advances in society but now he’s dabbling in politics on the global stage – unelected and unaccountable but with the power to hold one-to-one meetings with world leaders as he did just last week with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who flew to California to meet the tech billionaire in person. Two commercial figures in history also took on the roles of unofficial diplomats and international influencers - Henry Ford, a car maker like Elon Musk, and a man who used his pioneering industrial might for political ends; and Robert Clive, the C18th imperialist and privateer whose actions under the guise of the East India Company brought him influence locally and internationally on the back of the new opportunities of empire.

Historians: Adam Smith, Professor of US Politics and Political History at University of Oxford Chandrika Kaul, Professor of Modern History at University of St Andrews

Reader: John Lightbody

Producer: Mohini Patel

The notorious Wagner group of mercenaries marched for Moscow after calls from its leader to 'end this disgrace’. Yevgeny Prigozhin insisted it was a ‘march for justice’ and not a coup, but for 24 hours Russia’s future seemed uncertain and the political impact of the brief uprising remains to be seen.

The Roman general, Sulla, was the first leader of the Republic to seize power by force, marching twice on Rome – first in 88 BC, and the Streltsy uprising of Russian soldiers in 1698 proved a decisive moment in the rule of Peter the Great.

Jonathan Freedland takes the long view of marches of mutiny.

Contributors: Catherine Steel, Professor of Classics, University of Glasgow Simon Sebag Montefiore, historian and writer

Readings: Gerard McDermott Samuel James

Producer: Joel Moors

Jonathan Freedland takes The Long View of attempted state assassinations.

Russia claimed it foiled an attack by Ukrainian drones on the Kremlin just last week, calling it an unsuccessful assassination attempt against President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, denied it, saying: “We don’t attack Putin or Moscow.” The Russian authorities said the purported attack occurred overnight but there was no independent verification of it and no evidence has been presented to support it. Questions have arisen as to why it took the Kremlin hours to report the incident and why videos of it also surfaced so late in the day. Yet accusations abound in the Kremlin as to which state was the perpetrator - Ukraine or the US. As the threat of Russian retaliation for what it termed a “terrorist” act hangs in the air, Jonathan is joined by two historians. Professor Rory Cormac, Professor of International Relations at University of Nottingham, looks back to the United States' Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) many and varied unsuccessful attempts to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the 1960s. And Dr Elizabeth Norton, who specialises in the queens of England and the Tudor period, takes us back to 1586 and the Babington Plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, her Catholic cousin, on the English throne. The facts of the plot are far from straightforward, and very much tied up with the extensive spy networks created by Sir Francis Walsingham, arguably the first state spymaster. In both cases espionage and politicking lie just below the surface.

The Readers are Leah Marks and Ewan Bailey

The Producer is Mohini Patel

Jonathan Freedland takes The Long View of Spring Offensives.

As Ukraine prepares for what is anticipated will be a Russian Spring Offensive, Jonathan is joined by two historians. Dr Michael Jones looks back at the spring offensive of 1356 in the Hundred Years War, which would lead eventually to the Battle of Poitiers and the capture of the French King. Professor Heather Jones of University College London discusses the German offensive of 1918 at the end of the First World War.

In both cases the winter season forced the conflict to pause and allowed both sides to prepare for the Spring to come. The transition to spring is a time too for anxiety and tension.

The actors Roger Ringrose and Leah Marks provide illustrative readings.

The Producer is Tom Alban