The Inquiry

Excluding dictators and royalty, there are around 2,000 people in the world who are billionaires. Some inherit wealth while others might build fortunes through inventions, businesses or investments. Some say individuals holding onto extreme amounts of money is wasteful because it could be diverted to other areas that would benefit more people such as education and healthcare. Others reason than some billionaires should keep what they have because they drive economic growth and inspire others to innovate. Are billionaires the right focus or should attention move to the systems and processes that enable them to make and keep huge amounts of money? Experts: Dr Paul Segal Roxanne Roberts Caroline Freund Will Wilkinson Presenter: Celia Hatton Producer: Charmaine Cozier Researcher: Diane Richardson (Photo: Billionaire Kylie Jenner arrives at the 2019 Met Gala in New York City. Credit: Karwai Tang/Getty Images)

An estimated 2.6 billion people use social media, but in the online world not everything is what it seems. Fake accounts and automatic programmes can be used to spread disinformation and influence political narratives. We hear from experts across the world about how elections have been fought, and won, with the help of this electronic – and sometimes not so electronic – army. In a world where social media expansion shows no signs of slowing – how do we protect our elections from social media manipulators? Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producers: Lizzy McNeill & Helen Grady Experts: Samantha Bradshaw Natashya Gutierrez Idayat Hassan Ben Nimmo

A year ago more than a quarter of a million people took to the streets across France, in what became known as the “gilets jaunes” protests. They began as a reaction to an increase in fuel tax - a tax which was supposed to help the environment, but which the protesters said meant they could no longer afford to drive their cars or get to work. These were the first high profile demonstrations against policies designed to tackle climate change, but they put a spotlight on a sense of unrest that has spread far beyond France. So if it is widely accepted that climate change is a real threat, why is there a backlash against climate policies? Contributors include: Jacline Mouraud - Original member of the “gilets jaunes” Matias Turkkila - Editor of the Finns Party Carol Linnitt - Co-founder of The Narwhal Simone Tagliapietra - Research Fellow at Bruegel think tank Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producers: Beth Sagar-Fenton & Josephine Casserly (Yellow Vests (Gilets jaunes) protest in France against a diesel tax increase, justified as an anti-pollution levy. Credit: Xavier Leoty /Getty Images.)

If there was a serious illness that we knew thirty percent of us would experience in our lives, wouldn’t we do everything in our power to address it? Well research suggests that one in three of us will experience a serious mental health problem at some point in our lives; it’s a topic many are uncomfortable about discussing but one that shows no signs of going away. Slowly we’re beginning to learn more about which factors cause anxiety and depression but old prejudices are hard to come overcome so – what can we do about the world’s mental health problem? Presenter: Celia Hatton Producer: Lizzy McNeill Researcher: Helen Grady Experts: Vikram Patel Shekhar Saxena Sir Graham Thornicroft Grace Ryan (image: Earth sunrise in space. Credit Getty Images)

In September 2019 violence broke out in the city of Johannesburg. Many people were beaten, at least 12 were killed, and shops were looted and burned down. The perpetrators were mainly poor black South African men, and those attacked were predominantly immigrants from other African countries and from Asia. This just the latest in a long line of xenophobic attacks in the country. In 2015 the army was even deployed to deter further unrest. Immigrants are often subject to threats on social media, and some have even voluntarily returned to their home countries in response. But in the country once labelled “the rainbow nation”, why are foreigners so often subject to violence? We hear from: Kimberly Mutandiro – freelance journalist Dr Alex Hiropoulos - Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at California State University, Stanislaus Dr Suren Pillay - Senior Researcher at the Center for Humanities Research, University of Western Cape Dewa Mavhinga - Southern Africa Director, Human Rights Watch Presenter: Victoria Uwonkunda Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Researcher: Lizzy McNeill (A woman sings as she holds a banner during a march against the recent rise of xenophobic attacks in South Africa. Credit: Michele Spatari /Getty Images)