When a newly orphaned shoebill chick arrives at Safari World, Andy and Jen notice it's having trouble drinking water. Andy takes to the skies in his safari-mobile, jetting off to the swamps of Zambia, in southern Africa, to discover how shoebill chicks drink water. Along the way, he meets a pack of African hunting dogs, complete with adorable puppies.

When the meerkats escape from Safari World, it's up to Andy to jet off in his safari-mobile to the Kalahari Desert in Africa to record a meerkat alarm call that will bring them running home. But a scorpion and cobra thwart his every move. Will Andy make it back to Safari World in time before Mr Hammond notices the meerkats are missing?

Adult learners in Kenya get to read their first words, after a library opens in their village.

The chance of a successful kidney match between two unrelated people has increased significantly in the past ten years - why? Tim Harford speaks to Professor Anthony Warrens, president of the British Transplantation Society.

Donations to the Manchester Dogs' Home have exceeded £1m in the wake of a fire, which killed more than 50 dogs. The large sum raised caused Today presenter Justin Webb to comment that it often seems easier to raise money for animals than humans who are in need. Is it true that we give more generously to animals? Ben Carter reports.

Is Britain poorer than every US state, except for Mississippi? Journalist Fraser Nelson calculates that's the case. Tim Harford speaks to economist Chris Dillow about why he's right.

An edition of BBC Four's Wonder of Animals states that there are 14,000 ants to every person on earth, and that were we to weigh all of these ants they would weigh the same as all the people. Can this be true? Tim Harford and Hannah Moore investigate with the help of Francis Ratnieks, professor of at the University of Sussex.

Friday, September 19 is Huntrodds' Day - a chance to celebrate coincidence and the extraordinary tale of Mr and Mrs Huntrodds. As Michael Blastland explains, they shared their birthday and day of death.

A complaint has been held up against a BBC programme for calling Eritrea 'tiny'. Can any country rightly be described this way?

Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Ruth Alexander.

Roger Law, the co-creator of Spitting Image, heads to Cape Town to meet South Africa's satirical puppets. What happens when he meets the rubber version of Nelson Mandela?

In a small studio under Table Mountain a dedicated group of puppeteers are keeping the satirical flame burning for South Africa. With rubber versions of their politicians. old and new, and the backing of one of the country's finest cartoonists Zapiro, they are making waves for the establishment. But how easy is this to do in a democracy that is so new? Comedy can be tricky in a country where race and politics are so highly sensitive.

Roger Law goes on set to talk to the writers and the performers of ZA News, South Africa's puppet show, as well as stand up comedians. He finds out what can - and can't be - said on air and on stage, and what really upsets the country's political elite. A portrait of South Africa through its evolving satirical scene, with a democracy only now finding that perhaps it can laugh at itself.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.

Their founders were told by God, you have been given as a sacrifice to deliver Kenya from darkness to the light. Dressed in the white turbans and flowing robes, Akorino Christians have been a familiar sight in Kenya east Africa for decades.

Wairimu Gitahi meets this sect to find out more of their history, but also about their present and future. Modern ideas threaten their traditional values and ideas, which leads them to shun many of the trappings of contemporary life. Wairimu will attend a funeral, a huge event in the community which brings out the traditional elements of the Akorino, but she finds that even this important event has given way to the modern world.

Two elders of the village tell Heart and Soul about their conservative beliefs, such as refusing to shake hands for fear of losing your faith and also refusing hospital treatment so as not to stand in the way of God's will. Another member of the group tells Wairimu of how she had her daughters circumcised despite it being against Kenyan law.She meets singers and DJs who have moved on from their traditional ways, but tells her that they have not forgotten their roots, but are simply giving the traditional Akorino music a modern twist. And by speaking to them, she finds that the outside world is a place many traditional Akorinos fear, even though younger followers show that embracing what it has to offer doesn’t have to mean their faith is lost altogether, it’s just done differently.

With the downfall of Hosni Mubarak, political revolution has already happened in Egypt. But is the Arab Spring now encouraging much wider change in the Arab world’s biggest country?

Many argue that the historic heartlands of Islam are engaged in a chaotic experiment with modernity. Coverage of the Arab Uprisings of the past two years has focused on the political drama; less scrutinised have been the changes in society that are part and parcel of the great experiment.

In the second of two programmes the writer, Christopher de Bellaigue, travels to Tunisia – the first country to experience the Arab Spring two years ago, but whose people now often find themselves divided and disillusioned. Will the new mind-set of free thinking survive the harsh realities of post-revolution?

(Image: A boy holds a Tunisian flag, Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

With the downfall of Hosni Mubarak, political revolution has already happened in Egypt. But is the Arab Spring now encouraging much wider change in the Arab world's biggest country?

In this edition of Heart and Soul, the writer, Christopher de Bellaigue, considers the potential for a new, more questioning attitude among Egyptians in the wake of the popular uprising, and asks if the result could be an increasingly critical approach to social, familial – and even religious – authority.

The programme explores a number of examples - from an apparent new determination to resist paying bribes to public officials, through a greater desire to see active debate rather than passive obedience in the classroom, to the growth of salafists - conservative Muslims who advocate more personal interpretations of Islam’s holy texts, and who reject reliance on the rulings of traditional Koranic scholars.

Though not all these phenomena were unknown before the Arab Spring, the political revolution does seem to have fuelled their growth. Key to many appears to be the disappearance of personal fear – one unmistakable consequence of vanquishing the Mubarak regime. Today, despite often remaining wary of the future, Egyptians are, it seems, fearlessly asserting their own views as never before, without seeking external validation.

Questions, however, remain - if a new, more assertive mentality is indeed emerging, who shares it – and crucially, who does not? And would such an increased personal conviction necessarily result in more pluralism, as is sometimes assumed in the west? Or could it give greater voice to Egypt's innate social and religious conservatism?

(Image: An Egyptian boy poses with a sign saying 'We Shall Over Come' in front of anti-government protesters in Tahrir Square. Credit: AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

The King of Morocco, descendant of the Prophet Mohammed and Commander of the Faithful, is an Arab Spring survivor. While most of North Africa has been swept by revolution and bloody regime change, Morocco’s ancient monarchy has stood firm. In Morocco, street demonstrations accelerated the pace of reform but did not lead to revolution.

For Heart & Soul, John Laurenson travelled to Morocco to find out how religion has played a crucial role in keeping Mohammed VI on throne. How, despite abandoning his sacred status, the monarch is still revered by his people. How the Berbers or Amazighs, the indigenous people of North Africa, see him as a protector of their un-orthodox form of Islam. How the King supports – and protects – a traditionally tolerant and open form of the faith. And how some would like to use religion to unseat him.

(Image: King Mohammed VI of Morocco parading on horseback at the Royal Palace in Rabat, Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Andy Day and Kip the cat go all around the world in search of weird and wonderful animals.

Andy and Kip head to the jungles of Africa in search of chimpanzees. Andy finds a family of chimps and discovers that they use tools to help them to eat. One baby chimp shows Andy that by using a stick, it is able to fish for termites in an underground nest. With the help of Kip's fast and fabulous finding device, Andy tries his hand at termite fishing.

On Sunday June 10, Islamic militants attacked two churches in the central Nigerian city of Jos, killing at least one and wounding more than 50. Reprisal attacks claimed the lives of six more people.

It is the latest tragedy in an escalating religious feud in Nigeria. In recent months, the radical group Boko Haram has killed hundreds of people, targeting Christian churches and universities in its quest for a state run strictly along Islamic lines.

Nigeria is oil rich but half of its people live in poverty. Corruption and mis-management is rife, but it is also said to be one of the most religious countries in the world.

Joining Ernie Rea to discuss the role of religion in the conflict in Nigeria are Dr Jameel Yusha, senior lecturer in media and politics at Northumbria University, Dr Steven Pierce, lecturer in the history of sub-Saharan Africa at the University of Manchester and Dr Leena Hoffman, who has just completed her PhD on democracy and patronage politics in Nigeria at the University of Birmingham.

(Image: People gather outside the ruins of a church targeted by a suicide bombing in a church in Jos on June 10, 2012. Credit: AFP Photo / Getty Images)

Tim Key is on a cultural pilgrimage to Cairo, as he grapples with the meaning of 'Egypt'.

Written and presented by Tim Key

Tom Basden plays guitar, while wearing a fez.

Producer: James Robinson

First broadcast on BBC Radio in March 2012.