Best of Today

Best of Today

Insight, analysis and expert debate as key policy makers are challenged on the latest news stories.

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All episodes (22)

  • Today 24/05/13: 'It's better to quit at the top'

    Fri, 24 May 13

    Duration:
    7 mins

    Available:
    7 days remaining

    Sarah Churchwell, professor of American literature at the University of East Anglia and Ed Smith, author of Luck and writer for the Times, discuss the notion of quitting while at the top of one's career.

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  • Today 24/05/13: Woolwich suspects: The back story

    Fri, 24 May 13

    Duration:
    4 mins

    Available:
    7 days remaining

    The two men who were shot by police after the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich on Wednesday remain under arrest in hospital this morning. It will be some time before the full story of the two men's backgrounds is known but as the Today programme's Tom Bateman reports, attention is already focusing on their past in parts of south and east London.

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  • Today 24/05/13: Business news with Simon Jack

    Fri, 24 May 13

    Duration:
    12 mins

    Available:
    7 days remaining

    Business news with Simon Jack on news that the global stock markets were a sea of red yesterday. The FTSE 100 was down more than two per cent, with similar falls in European markets like the CAC in France and the DAX in Germany. In the US the Dow Jones and S&P were down only a touch but the headlines came from Tokyo, where the Nikkei fell by more than 7% on Thursday.

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  • Today 23/05/13: New archives are 'absolutely candid'

    Thu, 23 May 13

    Duration:
    6 mins

    Available:
    6 days remaining

    Historian Lord Hennessy says newly released National Archive files are "beautifully written and absolutely candid".

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  • Today 23/05/13: UK public 'level headed about terrorism'

    Thu, 23 May 13

    Duration:
    7 mins

    Available:
    6 days remaining

    Dame Pauline Neville Jones, a former security and counter terrorism minister, said part of the problem of terrorism in the UK was the amount of hatred preached on the internet.

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  • Today 23/05/13: 'I don't let these extremists get to me'

    Thu, 23 May 13

    Duration:
    6 mins

    Available:
    6 days remaining

    Wiht the full facts about what happened in Woolwich in south east London yesterday still emerging, the Today programme's Tom Bateman attempted to piece together how the events unfolded.

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  • Today 23/05/13: Business news with Simon Jack

    Thu, 23 May 13

    Duration:
    12 mins

    Available:
    6 days remaining

    Business news with Simon Jack on news that the UK economy needs urgent infrastructure spending if it is going to avoid permanent damage, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which concluded its annual assessment of the UK economy yesterday.

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  • Today 22/05/13: LSO conductor on 3D ballet and Wagner

    Wed, 22 May 13

    Duration:
    7 mins

    Available:
    5 days remaining

    London Symphony Orchestra's Valery Gergiev spoke about the 3D ballet and today as the 200th birthday of Richard Wagner.

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  • Today 22/05/13: Attenborough: We're destroying things

    Wed, 22 May 13

    Duration:
    5 mins

    Available:
    5 days remaining

    David Attenborough examines news that a "stocktake" of UK nature suggests 60% of animal and plant species have declined in the past 50 years - and one in 10 could end up disappearing.

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  • Today 22/05/13: Cameron: We'll focus on big picture

    Wed, 22 May 13

    Duration:
    17 mins

    Available:
    5 days remaining

    David Cameron has said he stands by his policies on Europe and same-sex marriage which have faced strong criticism within the Conservative Party.

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  • Today 22/05/13: Business news with Simon Jack

    Wed, 22 May 13

    Duration:
    12 mins

    Available:
    5 days remaining

    Business news with Simon Jack on news that Tim Cook, Apple chief executive, facing a senate committee yesterday robustly defended Apple against charges that it used aggressive and tax avoidance schemes.

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  • Today 21/05/13: Storm chaser: I felt like crying today

    Tue, 21 May 13

    Duration:
    4 mins

    Available:
    4 days remaining

    Ben Holcomb, who describes himself as a storm chaser, explained that he was following the tornado as it entered Moore City and told Today presenter James Naughtie what he saw.

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  • Today 21/05/13: Webbys: Accepting awards in five words

    Tue, 21 May 13

    Duration:
    4 mins

    Available:
    4 days remaining

    The 17th annual Webby Awards take place tonight- they are sometimes known as the internet equivalent of the Oscars - they honour the year's best websites, and online films and videos.

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  • Today 21/05/13: Salmond: ‘All to play for’ in Scottish independence referendum

    Tue, 21 May 13

    Duration:
    12 mins

    Available:
    4 days remaining

    Scotland's first minister, Alex Salmond, has said an independent Scotland would handle the country's oil and gas wealth "rather better" than the UK government. Speaking on the Today programme, Mr Salmond cited the example of Norway, where some oil and gas revenue is paid into a wealth fund. The SNP is releasing a paper today, highlighting what it says are the economic benefits of independence. Mr Salmond says Scotland has a healthy balance sheet in relation to tax revenue - when compared on average to the rest of the UK. He told presenter James Naughtie that there is still "all to play for" in the referendum on Scottish independence.

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  • Today 21/05/13: Business news with Simon Jack

    Tue, 21 May 13

    Duration:
    12 mins

    Available:
    4 days remaining

    Business news with Simon Jack including news that Apple is one of "America's largest tax avoiders" according to a US Senate Committee. The committee accused the company of using "a complex web of offshore entities" to avoid paying billions of dollars in US income taxes.

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  • Today 20/05/13: Gay marriage 'part of free society'

    Mon, 20 May 13

    Duration:
    8 mins

    Available:
    3 days remaining

    Culture Secretary Maria Mille says the gay marriage bill is "something the majority of people in the country support".

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  • Today 20/05/13: Torture victim 'delighted to be free'

    Mon, 20 May 13

    Duration:
    6 mins

    Available:
    3 days remaining

    Philemon Semere, an Eritrean man who was held by kidnappers in Egypt's North Sinai, has finally been released after seven months. He has been talking to our correspondent, Mike Thomson, who carried out the initial interview with him and his kidnappers five months ago.

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  • Today 20/05/13: 'Even Elton John painted a gnome'

    Mon, 20 May 13

    Duration:
    5 mins

    Available:
    3 days remaining

    Jekka McVicar, council member of the RHS, explains that the strict ban on ornamental figures populating gardens at Chelsea Flower Show has been lifted, for one year only.

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  • Today 20/05/13: Business news with Simon Jack

    Mon, 20 May 13

    Duration:
    12 mins

    Available:
    3 days remaining

    Business news with Simon Jack including news that an independent Scotland could be vulnerable to a Cypriot-style financial collapse because of a bloated banking sector, according to a UK Treasury analysis of Scotland's financial services.

    Download 6MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

  • Today 18/05/13: Cannes jewel theft 'like a movie'

    Sat, 18 May 13

    Duration:
    4 mins

    Available:
    1 day remaining

    More than a million dollars’ worth of jewellery has been stolen from a hotel in Cannes just as the film festival was getting under way. Peter Bradshaw, the Guardian's film critic, outline if the heist is as impressive as one from the movies.

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  • Today 18/05/13: Are women "sleepwalking into infertility"?

    Sat, 18 May 13

    Duration:
    7 mins

    Available:
    1 day remaining

    A campaign which warns women about "sleepwalking into infertility" is being launched today. Kate Garraway, a TV presenter, and Rosamund Urwin, an Evening Standard columnist, discuss whether women are already acutely aware of their ticking biological clocks.

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  • Today 18/05/13: Our Slough focus group on the economic downturn

    Sat, 18 May 13

    Duration:
    17 mins

    Available:
    1 day remaining

    How did the recession impact people's lives in the UK? The Today programme's John Humphrys hears from people from Slough who reflect on their experiences over the last five years.

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