Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | The Role Of The State | 20200401 | 20200404 (R4) | Mary Ann Sieghart and a panel of experts discuss the possible long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the role and image of the state and politics. What will the huge expansion in the role of government - from employing much of the private sector, to insuring businesses against losses and taking on powers to order us all to stay at home - mean for our relationship with government once it's all over? Will there be resentment, or gratitude? Will it forever change how we think about the government's role in the economy, or make us more likely to accept state surveillance in future? And what of ideology and political leadership? Can politicians persuade us to trust them again? Producer: Giles Edwards Mary Ann Sieghart discusses the long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the state. Leaders from a range of backgrounds assess the societal impact of the coronavirus pandemic |
| 02 | The Global Economy | 20200408 | 20200411 (R4) | Mary Ann Sieghart and a panel of experts discuss the possible long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy. There are many burning issues for our guests to tackle. How will people in the UK feel the economic impact of the virus in the future? Are we about to experience a financial crash to top 2008? How will the virus exacerbate global inequality? Will the virus kill off globalisation? What will global trade look like now that we've experienced the widespread disruption of supply chains? What will happen to the already fractious relationship between the West and China? Does the virus spell the end of the Euro and even the European Union itself? And in the midst of so much uncertainty and instability, what strategies should we adopt to future-proof the global economy against pandemics and other systemic shocks in the future? All this and more will be dissected and discussed by economist and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, Editor-in-Chief of the Economist Zanny Minton Beddoes, former Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King and Ian Goldin Professor of Globalisation and Development at Oxford. Producer: Max O'Brien A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 Assessing the long term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the global economy. Leaders from a range of backgrounds assess the societal impact of the coronavirus pandemic |
| 03 | The Future Of Health | 20200415 | 20200418 (R4) | Mary Ann Sieghart and a panel of experts discuss the possible long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on health and healthcare. The immediate impact of the virus on global health is devastatingly clear. But it could also have far-reaching consequences for health in the UK and worldwide for years to come. What long-term impact will the pandemic have on the NHS? What healthcare innovations will be accelerated by the virus? How will it change the way we tackle global health challenges - will we see increased co-operation? Or will it push countries towards a more insular approach? How will our medical supply chains change in the aftermath of the pandemic? Could this be an opportunity for major systemic change in global healthcare? And how should we build resilience to face health emergencies like this in the future? To grapple with these questions and more, Mary Ann Sieghart is joined by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, former Medical Director of NHS England and Chair of Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust; Professor Devi Sridhar, Chair of Global Public Health at Edinburgh University; Professor Christopher Dye, leading epidemiologist and former Director of Strategy at the World Health Organisation; and Dr Jessica Potter, a specialist in respiratory medicine working on the frontline of the NHS's coronavirus response. Producer: Caroline Thornham A Novel production for BBC Radio 4 Assessing the long term impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global healthcare. Leaders from a range of backgrounds assess the societal impact of the coronavirus pandemic |
| 04 | The Future For The Environment | 20200422 | 20200425 (R4) | How will COVID-19 affect how we think about risk? If we can change our behaviour to fight this emergency, could we also do it to avert a climate emergency? Or will we be even less willing to do so, as we'll be more concerned about putting food on the table? Will governments also be less interested in tackling climate change when climbing out of a recession is a higher priority? Will we see more global co-operation to tackle global problems or the opposite: a more nationalist and divided world? And what about relations between the young and old: will this bring the generations together or push them apart? To answer all of this and more, Mary Ann Sieghart is be joined by the experimental cognitive psychologist and popular writer Professor Steven Pinker, Christiana Figueres who, as the then Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, helped secure the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement, the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge Diane Coyle, and the environmentalist and writer George Monbiot. Producer: Camellia Sinclair Could Covid-19 change individual behaviour and our collective attitude to climate change? Leaders from a range of backgrounds assess the societal impact of the coronavirus pandemic |