One question beyond the headline.
Beyond Today turns major headlines into careful, question-led conversations. Episodes move from a concrete case into wider questions about power, policy, health, identity, technology, and social pressure.
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Beyond Today is a daily news-analysis programme from BBC Radio 4, shaped around one central question at a time. The premise is narrow, but the range is broad. One episode may begin with balcony singing during coronavirus lockdowns, then move quickly into job losses, unpaid leave, hospitality, transport, manufacturing, landlords, tenants, and the limits of emergency policy. Another asks whether coronavirus is worse than flu, using public health risk, death rates, immunity, lockdowns, and official advice to make a fast-moving crisis more legible. The show is at its strongest when a headline has become too simple. Its episode on drill music resists treating the genre only as evidence of violence, instead presenting it as a survival strategy, a route out of poverty, and a way for marginalized young people to feel visible. That patient widening of the frame is typical. A conversation about Such a Fun Age turns questions of wokeness toward class, race, wealth, and the desire to be liked. A story about facial recognition begins with police cameras and high-street surveillance, then points toward airports, shops, doorbells, databases, algorithms, and the risk of being misidentified. The programme also enters more intimate territory. The episode on transitioning twice follows trauma, identity, marriage, and acceptance without turning the subject into spectacle. The ayahuasca tourism episode starts from a substance used by Indigenous people in Latin America and asks what changes when retreats appear in Europe. The tone is careful. It is not chatty. It prefers witnesses, reported scenes, and follow-up questions that give an answer room to qualify itself. The show can be grave, especially when it covers sexual violence, public health, poverty, or policing. It also has enough warmth to keep those subjects from feeling abstract. Beyond Today suits listeners who want a daily podcast that explains the news without rushing to a slogan. It asks what is happening, then keeps asking what else is attached to it.
Made for: For listeners who want daily news explained through careful interviews, reported context, and social consequence. It is especially suited to people who prefer measured analysis over fast opinion.
What sets it apart: The show uses a single framing question to slow down complicated stories and connect individual cases to wider systems. Its strength is the move from headline to evidence without losing the human stakes.
Beyond Today is the daily podcast from Radio 4 that asks one big question about one big story in the news - and beyond. Tina Daheley, Matthew Price, and a team of curious producers search for answers that change the way we see the world. They speak to the BBC’s unrivalled global network of reporters, plus occasional special guests, to tell stories about identity, technology, and power - where it lies and how that is changing.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Beyond Today turns consequential public debates into focused, evidence-led conversations that clarify both the immediate question and the forces surrounding it.
Beyond Today builds each episode around a direct question, then follows the consequences through reporting and conversation. Tina Daheley and Matthew Price keep the inquiry moving without treating the answer as obvious, whether the subject is workplace automation, drill music,…
A drill researcher describes babysitting gang members' kids; your first assumption may need a second draft.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A grounded account of drill as survival strategy, social pressure, and possible escape route.
Drill is framed as a survival strategy shaped by poverty, criminalization, demonization, gang violence, and the need to feel worthwhile. Its strongest material comes through the ethnographer who spent two years with a gang on Chicago's South Side, watching videos and raps take…
A steady explanation of why coronavirus fears could not be settled by comparing it with seasonal flu.
The episode starts with a familiar question: whether coronavirus could really be judged against seasonal flu. From the prime minister's warning about a generational public health crisis, Matthew Price gives the issue a steady frame, moving through immunity, death-rate estimates…
Sam Harris interviews scientists and journalists on AI risk, religion, and US politics.
WSJ reporters unpack the Epstein files, surrogacy industry abuses, and true-crime court battles.
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway argue through tech, media, and Trump-era politics twice weekly.
Dan Carlin's solo essays connecting executive power, historical collapse, and American democracy.
Sharp political debate with policy detail and real disagreement.
Demetri Kofinas interviews specialists on geopolitics, energy markets, AI, and finance at length.
Beyond Today examines the booming cosmetic surgery industry, questioning its risks and cultural normalization.
Economist Daniel Suskind explores whether AI could replace human jobs, from doctors to journalists.
Forrest Stewart says drill is a "survival strategy" for young people in poor neighborhoods.
Dr Natalie McDermott says coronavirus is "not your standard seasonal influenza" and has "pandemic potential".
Beyond Today on BBC Radio 4 asks why someone would transition twice by centring detransition stories.
On BBC Radio 4’s Beyond Today, Matthew Price asks writer Barry Weiss how to fight anti-Semitism after the October 27, 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh.
Beyond Today examines whether Home Secretary Priti Patel should resign after allegations that she shouted at, belittled, and intimidated staff, including an alleged incident involving a folder.
This episode explores how police use facial recognition technology like NeoFace to scan and identify people in real time, raising privacy concerns.
This episode investigates the rise of ayahuasca retreats in Europe and the issues surrounding ayahuasca tourism.
This episode investigates how Britain's worst serial rapist, Reynard Sinaga, evaded capture for years.
This episode explores whether doctors should prescribe lifestyle changes instead of pills to improve patient health.