Yesterday

Songs of disenchantment: the sorrow of Nigeria

Nigeria is suffering a worsening security crisis, compounded by a lean harvest, global aid cuts and rising energy prices. So why is President Bola Tinubu likely to win January’s election? Europe is struggling to develop a rival to Starlink and reduce reliance on American satellit ... Show More

24m 40s

Oct 22

Dunes and gloom: MBS’s annus horribilis

This week, Muhammad bin Salman, crown prince of Saudi Arabia, was forced to postpone his annual investment summit. His other big bets on the kingdom’s future are also floundering. Sam Bankman-Fried, a crypto-billionaire supporter of effective altruism, calls our correspondent fro ... Show More

24m 21s

Oct 21

Cash test: can Europe support Ukraine alone?

Donald Trump’s administration is turning against Ukraine. But as European powers confront trouble at home, they are struggling to replace American support. Are US private science institutions entering a golden age? And the climb in art crime.Guests and host:Anton La Guardia, dipl ... Show More

23m 50s

Aug 2025

Frozen conflict? A special episode in the Arctic

In Norway’s north, a geopolitical quirk may yet transform into a geopolitical conflict. We visit Svalbard, an Arctic archipelago that contains a Russian company town complete with a bust of Lenin. Ahead of the high-stakes, high-north summit in Alaska, our correspondents lay out w ... Show More

23m 28s

Mar 2025

129 - Frozen Flashpoints: Greenland, Svalbard, and the Next Arctic Standoff

The last few months have seen major shifts in the balance of power in the far north, with the US making threats toward Greenland, Russia exerting pressure on Svalbard, and Arctic shipping routes, once seen as a counterweight to the Suez Canal, are now increasingly having their vi ... Show More

1h 30m

Jun 2024

Real Trouble in the Arctic

Today we speak to journalist Sergiy Slipchenko about how, after years of media exaggeration, there is now actually a real threat of potential conflict in the Arctic region. www.arcticpod.co Discounted internet privacy services for all our listeners: www.protonvpn.com/popularfron ... Show More

1h 5m

Oct 2023

Is peace in the Arctic melting?

Climate change and the war in Ukraine is transforming the geopolitics of the Arctic. Melting ice opens up the possibility of new trade routes making the region more valuable. Tensions in the area are rising as Russia turns to China for cooperation. China in return wants to positi ... Show More

23m 48s

Apr 2020

14 - War in the Arctic (Russia's Hypersonic Missile Program)

The coldest battlefield in the world is opening up, and old regional rivalries are beginning to flare. This is moving trade routes from the US's backyard toward the Russians. A battle is about to begin for the far North, but only one side is really prepared. Russia is rolling out ... Show More

1h 13m

Sep 2019

The fight to control the Arctic

Who owns the Arctic? There are several countries who think they have a right to the North Pole or the rich territory around it. Russia has a military presence close by, and recently fired two missiles from the Arctic Ocean as a show of strength. Mike Pompeo, the U.S. secretary of ... Show More

20m 29s

Aug 2025

The summit of its parts: Ukraine, Trump and Putin

What is on the table for the meeting in Alaska? What are the red lines? What chance Ukraine would accept what is agreed, especially if its president is not even in the room? Many world cities would like to become the Detroit of electric vehicles; our correspondent visits China’s ... Show More

23m 49s

Frozen conflict? A special episode in th...