The Briefing Room

Will the French accept that changes need to be made to fix their ailing economy? Political paralysis and a debt crisis has led to 5 prime ministers in the last two years. Every attempt at fixing the economic problems is met with outrage and protest. Saturday 17th October 2026 saw some of the worst protests in years, with peaceful demonstrations over the cost of living and school funding descending into an 'apocalyptic hell'. 500 police officers were injured in the violence, 1,500 shops were damaged and an historic 19th century city hall was burnt to the ground in the mass disorder that ensued. But there are some serious economic issues that must be faced head on. France's borrowing costs have just hit a 26 year high, signalling they are not trusted to manage their growing debt. Public spending in France is higher than in many other European countries and a big part of that bill is pensions. Raising the pension age would save the state much needed money but proposals to do so were met with outrage and put on hold. So, has France become ungovernable?
Guests:
Sophie Pedder, Paris bureau chief, The Economist
Victor Mallet, Financial Times, author of Far-Right France: Le Pen, Bardella and the Future of Europe
Agnes Poiriet, UK editor, L'Express
Producers: Ben Carter, Phoebe Keane, Kirsteen Knight

Will we still be able to grow enough food as temperatures rise and rainfall becomes more erratic? What changes will farmers need to make to keep feeding the nation? As Radio 4 marks 75 years of the farming drama The Archers, David Aaronovitch examines the future of British farming. Models suggest large parts of the South East of England will no longer be favourable for growing cereals like wheat and even barley, important for things like beer and whiskey. Strawberries may be far too difficult to grow at all. Some areas of the UK may become better for farmers and new crops may grow that we've never been able to grow before, but it presents a huge challenge for farmers who will have to change their entire way of working. What must farmers do to adapt and what do we need to do to ensure we keep the food on our plates?
GUESTS:
Charlie Ireland, a farming consultant at Ceres consultancy, who advises Jeremy Clarkson on Clarkson’s Farm
Professor Nicola Cannon, Royal Agricultural University.
Neil Ward, Professor of Rural and Regional Development at the University of East Anglia
Tom Lancaster, Head of Land, Food and Farming at The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit

The ceasefire between the Saudi-backed Yemen government and the Houthi rebels is over. As the fighting for control of land and sea intensifies, what are the knock on effects for the rest of the world?
Guests:
Nawal Al-Maghafi, BBC senior international investigations correspondent
Baraa Shiban, researcher and political analyst on Yemen and the Gulf at the defence and security thinktank, RUSI
Dr Elisabeth Kendall, Arabist & Middle East specialist and also The Mistress of Girton College at the University of Cambridge
Frank Gardner, BBC Security Correspondent
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter, Phoebe Keane and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Richard Vadon
Sound engineer: James Beard
Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele

In May, the Chief Justice of India unwittingly gave a name to a generational protest. He called unemployed young people “cockroaches” and the mass youth movement that had begun in the wake of the sudden cancellation of a national exam took on the title - the Cockroach Janta party.
But India hasn’t been the only country that has seen Gen Z - people aged between 14 and 29 - engaging in mass protests this year. It’s been happening all over the place, from Serbia to Kenya. Different grievances, different circumstances, but the same generation.
So what are the youth revolting about, and are they winning?
Step inside The Briefing Room and together we’ll find out.
Guests:
Dr Nayana Prakash, research affiliate at the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge.
Erica Frantz, associate professor in political science at Michigan State University
Matthew Cebul, lead research fellow at the Nonviolent Action Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School
Production team:
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter, Emma Close and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Penny Murphy
Sound engineer: James Beard
Production co-ordinator: Keshia Agyei

Did you step outside this morning and feel something odd on your face or neck? Its called rain. We’ve hardly had any this summer and the result was the declaration this month of drought status across two thirds of England and almost all of Wales. The reservoirs are low. And the future looks parched: the government estimates that by 2055, England will face a water shortfall of 5 billion litres a day. To put that in context we currently use 14 billion litres.
Why has this happened and how can we fix it? Other than everyone moving to Scotland.
Step inside The Briefing Room and together we’ll find out.
Guests:
Sir John Armitt, chair of The Public Private Partnership Commission
Professor Jim Hall, Professor of Climate and Environmental Risk at Oxford University
Dr Heather Smith, Senior Lecturer in Water Governance at Cranfield University
Production team:
Presenter: David Aaronovitch
Producers: Ben Carter, Bob Howard and Kirsteen Knight
Editor: Penny Murphy
Sound engineer: James Beard
Production co-ordinator: Keshia Agyei