David Aaronovitch and guests discuss the reasons why millions of people in the UK aged between 16 and 64 are neither working nor looking for work and what we can do about it.

Tony Wilson, Director of the Institute for Employment Studies Sam Avanzo Windett, Deputy Director at the Learning and Work Institute Torsten Bell, Chief Executive at the Resolution Foundation

Production team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Sound engineers: James Beard

2024 is the year of elections. According to one estimate just under 50% of all the people on earth live in countries where by December 31st there will have been a national vote. In terms of population size there are none bigger than the six week exercise that got underway last Friday. The world’s biggest democracy - India - has gone to the polls and prime minister Narendra Modi is hoping – perhaps expecting – to win a third term. He first came to power in 2014 and since then fears about “democratic backsliding” have been growing. So how concerned about that should we be? Step inside The Briefing Room and together we’ll find out.

Guests:

Yogita Limaye, BBC's South Asia Correspondent Rohan Venkat, editor of “India Inside Out” newsletter Louise Tillin, Professor of Politics in the India Institute at King’s College London Chietigj Bajpaee, senior research fellow for South Asia at Chatham House.

Production team: Rosamund Jones and Ben Carter Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Sound engineers: Hal Haines and Sarah Hockley

David Aaronovitch and guests explore the thinking behind Iran's decision to attack Israel and ask what the short and long term aims of the Iranian regime are.

Guests:

Shashank Joshi, Defence editor at The Economist Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at International Crisis Group Dr Roxane Farmanfarmaian, lecturer specialising in the politics of Iran and the Middle East at Cambridge University

Production team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Sound engineer: Neil Churchill

Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to “eliminate” Hamas but after six months of death and destruction in Gaza what do we know about their status?

David Aaronovitch talks to:

Jennifer Jefferis, Teaching Professor at Georgetown University's Security Studies program and author of Hamas: Terrorism, Governance, and its Future in Middle East Politics.

Michael Clarke, Professor of Defence studies and Specialist Advisor to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy.

Khalil Shikaki, Director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research

Gershon Baskin, Middle East Director, International Communities Organization and a former Israeli negotiator with Hamas

Production team: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Ibtisam Zein Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar

The state pension system relies on the workers of today paying the pensions of current retirees. But does an aging population and rising costs threaten that model continuing?

David Aaronovitch talks to:

Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies Paul Lewis, financial journalist and presenter of Radio 4’s Money Box programme Claer Barrett, consumer editor at the Financial Times and presenter of the FT's Money Clinic podcast Sir Steve Webb, formerly Minister for Pensions and current partner at Lane Clark & Peacock

Production team: Drew Hyndman, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar

2024 is the year of elections. According to one estimate just under 50% of all the people on earth live in countries where by December 31st there will have been a national vote. To mark this phenomenon we are broadcasting three special programmes.

David Aaronovitch and guests discuss why do some countries bother holding elections if the outcomes are pre-determined and they also ask why the public bother voting in them?

Guests:

Naomi Hossain, Professor of Development Studies at SOAS Katerina Tertychnaya, Associate Professor in Comparative Politics in the Department of Politics & International Relations at the University of Oxford Ben Ansell, Professor of Comparative Democratic Institutions at Nuffield College, University of Oxford Erica Frantz, Associate Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University

Production team: Ellie House, Ajai Singh and Ben Carter Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Sound engineer: James Beard

2024 is the year of elections. According to one estimate just under 50% of all the people on earth live in countries where by December 31st there will have been a national vote. To mark this phenomenon we are broadcasting three special programmes.

In the third and final programme in this special series we’re focusing on South Africa. It is 30 years since the African National Congress - led back then by Nelson Mandela - first won power. It has had a majority in parliament ever since. But this year it could well be different. If so, does this decline of the ruling party bode well or badly for South Africa?

Guests:

David Everatt, Professor at the Wits School of Governance in Johannesburg Dr Ayesha Omar, British Academy International Fellow at SOAS Alexander Beresford, Associate Professor in African Politics at Leeds University Professor Cherrel Africa from the University of the Western Cape

Production team: Rosamund Jones and Ben Carter Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Sound engineers: Hal Haines and Neil Churchill

In 1964, pre-historic remains were discovered at Jabal Aṣ-Ṣaḥābah - or Mountain of the Companions - in the Nile Valley near what is now the border of northern Sudan and Egypt. That site contained evidence of the earliest known warfare believed to have taken place around 13,500 years ago. It’s thought that climate change led to that conflict; as crop yields became smaller, more groups had to compete with each other for what food sources were available.

Spears and possibly arrows were the high-tech weapons of choice in the Nile Valley. Flash forward to today and it’s AI-enabled drones that have been - literally - levelling the playing field for Ukraine in their battle against Russia.

But as technological advancement continues apace what lessons have we learned from recent conflicts and how might things change in the wars yet to begin?

Guests: Shashank Joshi, defence editor at The Economist, Dr Jack Watling, Senior Research Fellow for Land Warfare at the Royal United Services Institute Dr Emma Salisbury, associate fellow in military innovation at the Council on Geostrategy

Production team: Ben Carter and Kirsteen Knight Editor: Richard Vadon Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Sound engineer: Neil Churchill

It is two years since Russia began its costly conflict against Ukraine. How does it fund its war effort, how do sanctions impact that and how tight is Putin's grip on power?

Guests: Sarah Rainsford, BBC Eastern Europe Correspondent Maria Shagina, Research Fellow for Economic Sanctions, Standards and Strategy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies Isaac Levi, Europe-Russia Policy & Energy Analysis Team Lead at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air Mark Galeotti, Writer on Russian security affairs and director of the consultancy Mayak Intelligence

Production team: Nick Holland, Kirsteen Knight and Ben Carter Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Sound engineer: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon

Deaths from synthetic opioids such as nitazenes and fentanyl are low in the UK but there are fears the problem could escalate and that figures don't show the true picture of the situation. David Aaronovitch explores how dangerous these drugs are, why the opioid crisis is so bad in the US, where they come from and why a shortage of heroin in the UK could mean drug cartels switch to supplying these often fatal alternatives.

Guests: Rick Treble, Forensic chemist, and advisor to the Government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Dr Caroline Copeland, Director of the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths Alex Stevens, Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Kent Sam Quinones, journalist and author of 'Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic'

Production team: Nick Holland, Kirsteen Knight and Charlotte McDonald Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar Editor: Penny Murphy

This week a great queue of dentistless Bristolians appeared outside a new practice offering NHS treatment. That followed a report on children’s health which specifically referenced the poor and worsening state of their teeth. This week the government announced a package to try and improve things in England. But did it go anything like far enough to solve the problems of too few dentists being willing or able to treat NHS patients?

David Aaronovitch is joined by the following experts:

Beccy Baird, Senior Fellow, the King’s Fund Ian Mills, Dentist and Associate Professor of Primary Care Dentistry at the Peninsula Dental School in Plymouth Thea Stein, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust Professor Claire Stevens CBE, Spokesperson, British Society of Paediatric Dentistry

Production team: Nick Holland, Kirsteen Knight and Charlotte McDonald Production Co-ordinator: Gemma Ashman Sound: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon