The Briefing Room

For previous generations, coupling was something only trains did. Then it became a word to describe the business of finding a partner. An important business for the future of the species. But today in the developed world - and even beyond - the data shows that coupling is significantly down. Increasingly, people are just not forming those relationships. There are all kinds of theories out there now about why this is happening, ranging from the intriguing to the improbable. So what do we know about this noncoupling and its implications?
Guests:
Dr Alice Evans, visiting Associate Professor at Stanford and author of the upcoming book The Great Gender Divergence
John Burn-Murdoch, columnist and chief data reporter for the Financial Times
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound engineer: Gareth Jones, Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Siobhan Reed, Maria Ogundele
Image credit: Malte Mueller, Getty Images

Two weeks ago a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Americans and the Iranians aiming at ending a bomb, missile-and-drone conflict that has lasted four months. Victory has been claimed by everyone and on behalf of everyone. So is the US/Israeli/Iranian war effectively over bar the seemingly inevitable bombast? If so did anyone win? On what terms? And where does it leave the rest of us?
Guests:
Shashank Joshi, The Economist’s Washington bureau chief
Ali Vaez, Project Director, Iran at the Crisis Group in Washington DC
Suzanne Maloney, VP and director of the Foreign Policy programme at the Brookings Institution
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound engineer: Neil Churchill
Production co-ordinator: Siobhan Reed

The war between Russia and Ukraine has shifted closer to Moscow. In the past week Ukraine has sent drones, made by Ukraine, to Moscow. While many were intercepted, 3 people died when an apartment block was hit. For many Russians the war - or special military operation as President Putin calls it - has been far away. But not any longer. At the same time though, Russia continues to hit cities across Ukraine and civilians continue to die. David Aaronovitch and his guests discuss whether Putin is under greater pressure now and whether the trajectory of this conflict has changed with the use of drone-warfare?
Guests:
Steve Rosenberg, BBC Russia Editor
Christopher Miller, Ukraine Correspondent, The Financial Times
Angela Stent, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former US National Intelligence Officer for Russia and Eurasia
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley and Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon

It's ten years since the Briefing Room was first transmitted in May 2016. And what a decade it's been. To mark the tenth anniversary the programme looks at the biggest changes at home and abroad since that momentous day in British broadcasting. We’ve had Brexit, a pandemic, the Gaza war, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Donald Trump - twice. It is hard to remember such a time. So David Aaronovitch's three expert guests will help him answer the question: are we even the same people as we were back then?
Guests:
Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs, King’s College London
Bronwen Maddox, Director and CEO, Chatham House
Meg Russell, Professor of British and Comparative Politics in the Department of Political Science at University College London.
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Kirsteen Knight, Sally Abrahams
Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound engineers: James Beard and Neil Churchill
Editor: Richard Vadon

A month ago the Artemis II crew landed safely in the Pacific Ocean, completing their historic space mission to the far side of the moon. It’s been several decades since the last human mission to the moon - although this time there was no landing. However, the 4 astronauts travelled further from earth than any human ever has so far. David Aaronovitch asks his guests whether space exploration is back in fashion and if so what’s next? And are we any closer to a human mission to Mars and what would we hope to achieve there?
Guests:
Dr Julia Balm, Research Associate, Freeman Air and Space Institute in the School of Security Studies, King’s College London
Professor Andrew Coates, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London
Libby Jackson, Head of Space, Science Museum, London
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Caroline Bayley, Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight
Production Co-Ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Editor: Richard Vadon