The Global Story

This Saturday, the 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest final takes place in Vienna, and this year’s competition is again mired in controversy.
A boycott over Israel’s participation by several countries, including Spain and Ireland, threatens to put the competition’s stance of political neutrality to the test. And it is part of a wider debate over which countries should be allowed to compete in prestigious international arts and sports competitions.
We speak to William Lee Adams, a culture reporter at the BBC who also runs a Eurovision YouTube channel, to unpack the controversy surrounding this year’s contest and discuss whether politics and art can ever really be separated.
Producer: Sam Chantarasak
Sound engineer: Travis Evans
Executive producer: James Shield
Senior News Editor: China Collins
(Photo: Noam Bettan of Israel performs during the first semi-final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, 12 May 2026. Credit: Hannibal Hanschke/EPA/Shuttershock.)

For the first time in nearly a decade a sitting American President is travelling to China. While tensions between the US and China have been simmering for a while now, over everything from tariffs to Taiwan, Donald Trump has expressed admiration for his powerful Chinese counterpart.
Meanwhile in China, President Xi has been conducting a years long “purge” on the military elite.
The BBC’s Celia Hatton joins us to discuss whether this should be seen as a weakness… or a strength.
Producers: Cat Farnsworth and Xandra Ellin
Executive producer: Bridget Harney
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior News Editor: China Collins
Photo: U.S. President Donald Trump meets with China's President Xi Jinping at a G20 summit in 2019.

The British comedian Russell Brand is due to stand trial in the UK this year on charges of rape and sexual assault, to which he pleads not guilty.
Over the course of his decades-long career, he has had many guises; Hollywood actor, MTV presenter, radio host, author, religious sceptic, and political agitator among them, moving between mainstream and ‘alternative’ media platforms.
His latest appearances, on podcasts hosted by Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Piers Morgan, have gone viral for his admissions about his past behaviour, and his conversion to Christianity.
With BBC media editor Katie Razzall.

Producer: Hannah Moore
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins

Photo: British actor and comedian Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court, February 24, 2026. Credit: Reuters/Toby Melville.

At the outset of the war in Iran, US President Donald Trump suggested that regime change was one of its goals. He later said it had been had achieved, a claim that is disputed by critics who point out that the same repressive forces in Iran still hold power.
American attempts at regime change in Iran have a long history. In 1953 the CIA, assisted by British intelligence, led a deadly coup that toppled Iran’s last democratically elected leader. It’s a moment in history that poisoned US-Iranian relations, and helped launch the theocratic revolution to come. But the immediate success of ‘Operation Ajax’ would convince the CIA to carry out a wave of similar plots around the world.
We get the full story from Scott Anderson, author of King of Kings: The Fall of the Shah and the Revolution That Forged Modern Iran.
Producers: Viv Jones and Valerio Esposito
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Supporters of the Shah of Iran in Tehran, 1953. Credit (Getty/Bettmann)

**Warning: this episode includes discussions of sexual abuse, suicide and upsetting scenes**
In just the last few years, AI chatbots have become routine aspects of many people’s everyday lives. They are being used as search engines, agony aunts, and sources of companionship.
In rare cases though, AI chatbots have sent users down a dark path. In a new BBC investigation, population correspondent Stephanie Hegarty speaks to people who have experienced delusions after talking to chatbots – including one man who grabbed a hammer and prepared for war after his chatbot told him it was sentient.
Producers: Valerio Esposito, Viv Jones and Xandra Ellin
Executive producer: James Shield
Mix: Travis Evans
Studio manager: Jonathan Greer
Senior news editor: China Collins
Photo: Adam Hourican. Credit: BBC.