Analysis

• Updated:
  Weekly

• Episodes available:
  Indefinitely

Show recent episodes (10)

All episodes (55)

• Middle East: too soon for democracy? 28.05.12

  Mon, 28 May 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Edward Stourton explores the prospects for post-revolution government, following the Arab Spring. Elections are being held, but can voters be sure autocratic rule is in the past?

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Preparing for Eurogeddon 20.05.12

  Thu, 24 May 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  As Greece teeters on the brink of ejection from the Eurozone, Chris Bowlby reveals the scenarios likely to follow a return to the Drachma. Originally broadcast in February 2012

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• What is money? 26 Mar 12

  Mon, 26 Mar 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Is the value of money determined by anything more than our willingess to believe in it? Frances Stonor Saunders tries to understand the fundamentals.

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• War Gaming Iran 19 Mar 12

  Mon, 19 Mar 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Can war between Iran and the West over Iran's nuclear programme be averted? Leading Israeli, Iranian, American and British voices speak to BBC Analysis; Edward Stourton examines the West's options.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Nassim Taleb - Downing Street guru 12 Mar 12

  Mon, 12 Mar 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Black Swan author Nassim Nicholas Taleb is Downing Street's favourite intellectual. Janan Ganesh of The Economist investigates his appeal.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Neue Labour 02 Mar 12

  Mon, 5 Mar 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Should Germany be the model for our future economy? Some British politicians, especially in the Labour party, think so. Matthew Taylor, a former policy adviser to Tony Blair, asks whether this is realistic.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• America - The Right Way 27 Feb 12

  Mon, 27 Feb 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  The American primaries - Justin Webb explores what they reveal about the state of the right in the US. Is the Republican party really split? Has a radical wing taken over? What does the American right offer in the post financial crisis world - that might enthuse Americans and perhaps the rest of us too? And is the party ready to lead again?

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Profits before pay 20 Feb 12

  Mon, 20 Feb 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Wages have failed to rise in line with profits since the early 1980s. Duncan Weldon, a senior economist at the Trades Union Congress, goes in search of the possible causes.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Preparing for Eurogeddon 13 Feb 12

  Mon, 13 Feb 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Europe thinks the unthinkable - what happens if the Eurozone splits. What would happen to the banking sector, how would a new currency be put in place, can contagion be halted, and more fundamentally could the Euro survive? Chris Bowlby runs through some of the scenarios of what may happen if a country were to withdraw, and, crucially, what would happen next.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Sheikh Rachid Gannouchi 06 Feb 12

  Mon, 6 Feb 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  After the Arab Spring, Islamic parties have won elections: should the world fear or trust them? Sheikh Rachid Gannouchi, an influential Islamist thinker, just returned from London to Tunis and won elections. Owen Bennett-Jones investigates his ideas combining Islam and democratic values.

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Do schools make a difference? 30 Jan 12

  Mon, 30 Jan 12

  Duration:
  28 mins

  New school league tables have been brought in by the government to help parents choose. But do we really know what makes a good school? And how far can schools transform lives?

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Capitalists against the Super Rich 23 Jan 12

  Mon, 23 Jan 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Defenders of capitalism are turning against the undeserving rich. Edward Stourton asks those on the centre-right who now condemn financial excess, what they would actually change?

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Analysis Extra: Foreigner Policy 02 Jan 12

  Mon, 2 Jan 12

  Duration:
  29 mins

  UK Immigration: were the unprecedented numbers of people migrating to Britain in the Labour era the result of a policy accident or design? In a programme originally broadcast on 8 February 2010, towards the end of the last parliament, David Goodhart looks at the arguments and ideology behind Labour’s immigration policy – including the claim that it pursued deliberate policy to increase diversity. We hope you enjoy this programme from the Analysis archive, which we offer you while Analysis is off air.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Analysis Extra: Doesn't Everyone? 26 Dec 11

  Mon, 26 Dec 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Are the political elite losing touch with how most voters really live, asks Michael Blastland in this edition of Analysis, originally broadcast on 22 June 2009. We hope you enjoy this programme from the Analysis archive, which we offer you while Analysis is off air.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Analysis Extra: Dead Cert 19 Dec 11

  Mon, 19 Dec 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Certainty: is the lust for it a sin? And if so, should politics fear for its soul? Michael Blastland makes a plea for policy makers to be less sure of themselves in "Dead Cert", originally broadcast on 6 November 2008. We hope you enjoy this programme - which we offer you while Analysis is off air.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Analysis Extra: Divorcing Europe 12 Dec 11

  Mon, 12 Dec 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  EU withdrawal is being seriously discussed for the first time in a generation. But how would it work? In a programme previously broadcast on 16 November 2009, Analysis looks at the Lisbon Treaty, which contains a clause setting out an exit process. But, as Chris Bowlby reports, the final deal between Britain and its former EU partners would depend a lot on the mood of their "divorce" - amicable or acrimonious. We hope you enjoy this programme - which we offer you while Analysis is off air.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Analysis Extra: Jackanory Politics 05 Dec 11

  Mon, 5 Dec 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Storytelling is an art that our politicians are keen to use on us. But are their stories getting in the way of making the right decisions? In a programme previously broadcast on 21 February 2008, Frances Stonor Saunders finds that the desire for a dramatic narrative arc can sometimes lead us to ignore the humdrum but important facts. The programme includes an interview with the late Philip Gould. We hope you enjoy this programme - which we offer you while Analysis is off air.

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Analysis Extra: A Price Worth Paying? 28 Nov 11

  Mon, 28 Nov 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Banks are underwritten by the government in Britain. But should the taxpayer bail out so-called casino banks? In a programme previously broadcast on 1 February 2010 - Edward Stourton talks to the growing band of experts who believe that risk-taking investment banks should be forced to face the consequences of their losses. We hope you enjoy this programme - which we offer you while Analysis is off air.

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Analysis Extra: Martin Wolf: New Global Economics 2 21 Nov 11

  Mon, 21 Nov 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator of the Financial Times asks what changes are neeeded to the global financial system if the world is to fully recover from the worst economic crisis since the depression of the 1930s. Contributors include: Larry Summers, of Harvard and former member of Barack Obama's economic team; Zhu Min, deputy managing director, IMF and formerly of the Bank of China and Adair Turner, FSA chairman. Producer: Sandra Kanthal Editor: Stephen Chilcott

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Analysis Extra: Martin Wolf: New Global Economics 1 14 Nov 11

  Tue, 15 Nov 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator of the Financial Times, examines how the world economy has changed since the beginning of the financial crisis four years ago. Contributors include US Treasury Secretary Timonthy Geithner, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde and FSA chairman Adair Turner. Producer: Sandra Kanthal Editor: Stephen Chilcott

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• The Darwin Economy 14 Nov 11

  Mon, 14 Nov 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Professor Robert Frank tells an audience at the LSE that Darwin was a greater economist than Adam Smith. Newsnight's economics editor, Paul Mason, asks him to explain why.

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Do leaders make a difference? 07 Nov 11

  Mon, 7 Nov 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  We talk much of personal leadership being the key to change in, say, politics or business. But how much can such figures really influence events? Michael Blastland investigates.

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• A New Black Politics? 13 Oct 11

  Mon, 31 Oct 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  David Goodhart meets the politicians who claim to advocate on behalf of Britain's black communities and asks how the ideologies of black politics have changed since the 1980s. The programme hears from David Lammy MP, Kwasi Kwarteng MP, Tory activist Shaun Bailey, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Trevor Phillips, 1980s Black Sections politician Linda Bellos, and Stafford Scott, who was a community leader during the time of the 1985 Tottenham riots."

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Cultural diplomacy 24 Oct 11

  Mon, 24 Oct 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Frances Stonor Saunders investigates how the UK government uses culture as a tool of soft power and asks whether it does any good for culture or diplomacy.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Euroscepticism Uncovered 17 Oct 11

  Mon, 17 Oct 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  As opinion polls suggest that half of Britons would vote to leave Europe altogether, Edward Stourton asks if the political class is now catching up with public opinion on the EU. The programme hears from several Eurosceptic Conservative MPs who feel that the issue is so sensitive that they want to remain anonymous. Edward Stourton also questions Conservative Home's Tim Montogomerie, former Chancellor Norman Lamont, Blue Labour peer Lord Glasman, and Director of the People's Pledge Mark Seddon."

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Hezbollah 10 Oct 11

  Mon, 10 Oct 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Owen Bennett Jones looks at the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, regarded by some in the West as terrorists and others in the Middle East as a resistance organisation.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Aid or Immigration? 03 Oct 11

  Mon, 3 Oct 11

  Duration:
  28 mins

  The government is committed to protecting the aid budget. Frances Cairncross asks if actually cutting state aid and relaxing immigration controls is a better way to combat poverty.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Libya's Islamic Capitalists 26 Sep 11

  Mon, 26 Sep 11

  Duration:
  28 mins

  With Colonel Gaddafi gone, Hugh Miles asks if Libya could transform itself into an Islamic capitalist model for the entire Middle East.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Non-Riotous Behaviour 19 Sep 11

  Mon, 19 Sep 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  On the topic of riots, philosopher Roger Scruton tells us, "What needs explaining is why they don't occur, not why they do." Presenter Jamie Whyte searches for some answers.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Keynes vs Hayek - The LSE Debate 3 AUG 2011

  Wed, 3 Aug 11

  Duration:
  44 mins

  John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich Hayek are regarded as two of the twentieth century’s greatest economists. Modern day followers came together at the London School of Economics to debate the ideas of their intellectual heroes. The event was chaired by BBC Newsnight Economics Editor, Paul Mason.

  Download 20MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Unsure about Sure Start 11 Jul 11

  Mon, 11 Jul 11

  Duration:
  28 mins

  The government says that despite budget cuts it is committed to Sure Start Children's Centres - one of the defining policies of the New Labour era. But in this week's Analysis Fran Abrams asks what the service - loved by parents - has really done for their kids.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Scotland 04 Jul 11

  Mon, 4 Jul 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Defying the downturn, Scotland seems to have free public services the rest of the UK is denied. Anne McElvoy assesses SNP plans to defy austerity Britain and assert independence.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Is America Doomed? 27 Jun 2011

  Tue, 28 Jun 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Justin Webb asks whether the United States is capable of averting economic meltdown.

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Hague's Middle East 20 Jun 11

  Mon, 20 Jun 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Popular uprisings from Cairo to Damascus shook the West's longstanding foreign policy. Edward Stourton asks Foreign Secretary William Hague what the West will do next.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Egypt's New Islamists 13 Jun 11

  Mon, 13 Jun 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Edward Stourton asks if the Egyptian revolution spells the end of old-style Islamism. As groups like the Muslim Brotherhood embrace democracy, how will they - and Egypt - change?

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Goodbye the Golden Eggs of Banking? 06 Jun 11

  Mon, 6 Jun 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  With calls growing for Britain to rebalance its economy away from banking, Janan Ganesh asks if we should really be so hostile to the financial sector - and so warm to manufacturing.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Unhealthy Expectations?: 30 May 11

  Mon, 30 May 11

  Duration:
  28 mins

  The government’s proposed changes to the NHS are prompting much political discussion. But is it all avoiding the real issue? Michael Blastland presents: ‘Unhealthy Expectations?’

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Blue Labour: 21 Mar 2011

  Mon, 21 Mar 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  David Goodhart examines a radical plan to win back Labour's working-class supporters.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Muscular Liberalism: 14 Mar 2011

  Mon, 14 Mar 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  David Walker examines the prime minister's proposals for 'muscular liberalism'.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Testing the Emotions: 07 Mar 2011

  Mon, 7 Mar 11

  Duration:
  28 mins

  Fran Abrams asks whether children need to be taught emotional and social skills in school.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Rethinking the Middle East: 28 Feb 2011

  Mon, 28 Feb 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Maha Azzam examines the long term implications of the recent uprisings in the Middle East.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• The Orange Book: Clegg's Political Lemon? 21 Feb 2011

  Mon, 21 Feb 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Edward Stourton assesses where the Liberal Democrats' influential right wing is heading.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• The Big Society: 14 Feb 2011

  Mon, 14 Feb 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  In this week's Analysis, Chris Bowlby looks at what happens when government plans for the Big Society meet reality.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Radical Economics: escaping credit serfdom: 07 Feb 11

  Mon, 7 Feb 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Paul Mason asks whether the expansion of credit created a new form of worker exploitation.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Yo Hayek! 31 Jan 11

  Mon, 31 Jan 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Jamie Whyte looks at the free market Austrian School of FA Hayek. The global recession has revived interest in this area of economics, even inspiring an educational rap video.

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• On Trust 24 Jan 10

  Mon, 24 Jan 11

  Duration:
  29 mins

  In the first programme of a new series, Edward Stourton interviews the eminent political philosopher, Onora O'Neill, on trust and mistrust, the subject of her 2002 BBC Reith Lectures.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• The deserving and the undeserving poor: 15 Nov 2010

  Mon, 15 Nov 10

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Chris Bowlby asks whether a state welfare system can ever distinguish between those who deserve help and those who do not.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Rehabilitation: A sub-prime investment? 8 Nov 2010

  Mon, 8 Nov 10

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Emma Jane Kirby investigates Kenneth Clarke's promised "rehabilitation revolution".

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Defence: no stomach for the fight? 01 Nov 2010

  Mon, 1 Nov 10

  Duration:
  29 mins

  With future defence under scrutiny Kenneth Payne asks: are we losing the will to wage war?

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• A secret history of 25 Oct 2010

  Mon, 25 Oct 10

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Analysis is 40 years old this year. Michael Blastland uncovers the intriguing cold war history of the BBC's most unashamedly intellectual current affairs programme.

  Download 14MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Turkey: staying secular insha'Allah: 18 Oct 2010

  Mon, 18 Oct 10

  Duration:
  28 mins

  Turkey is on the rise, economically and politically. Edward Stourton examines the apparent contradiction of its secular constitution and its government's Islamist roots.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• The Spirit Level: 11 Oct 2010

  Mon, 11 Oct 10

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Is inequality bad for society as a whole? Mukul Devichand tries to settle the statistical argument kicked off by the authors of The Spirit Level.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Whatever Happened to Sisterhood? 04 Oct 2010

  Mon, 4 Oct 10

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Budget cuts will hit women three times harder than men. Why aren't feminists protesting?

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• Bigging it up: 27 Sep 2010

  Mon, 27 Sep 10

  Duration:
  28 mins

  Anne McElvoy examines what the origins of the government's Big Society idea tell us.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

• What's wrong with child labour? 20 Sep 2010

  Mon, 20 Sep 10

  Duration:
  29 mins

  Fran Abrams asks why the idea of children earning money causes such unease.

  Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

Play episodes