Neil MacGregor visits different countries to talk to leading political, business and cultural figures to find out how they, as individuals and as members of their broader communities, see Britain. In Egypt, Neil hears from political historian Said Sadek; magazine publisher and editor Yasmine Shihata; and writer and activist Ahdaf Soueif.
Byson expected to be dead long ago. Now in his sixties, he was given a death sentence quarter of a century ago. But instead of being executed, he’s found himself back at home, looking after his elderly mother, holding down a job, and volunteering to help other prisoners leaving jail.
His release was part of a re-sentencing project in Malawi. Anyone who was given the death penalty automatically for killing someone can have their case re-examined. What is known as a mandatory death sentence was ruled to be unconstitutional, so now judges are giving custodial sentences instead, or in some cases inmates are even being freed.
Charlotte McDonald travels to the small town of Balaka to visit the Halfway House where Byson mentors former inmates. She visits someone who came out of jail a few years ago and now runs her own business in the village where she was born. And she speaks to one of the last remaining people on death row about their upcoming re-sentencing hearing.
Many of those former death row inmates are now back in their communities living and working – but that doesn’t necessarily mean that ordinary Malawians are ready for the death penalty to be abolished.
(Image: Former inmate Byson sits with his mother, Lucy, outside her house. Credit: BBC)
George Weah, former World Footballer of the Year and star of AC Milan, Chelsea and Monaco, was elected president of Liberia in a landslide victory just over a year ago. Having been raised in one of Liberia’s worst slums, many saw him as a man who understood the needs of the poor. But some now doubt that he will deliver on campaign promises to help lift people out of poverty. Mike Thomson, who was granted a rare interview with the President, reports from Monrovia.
Samira Ahmed explores the profound connection between ancient Egypt and the Victorian heyday of Britain’s industrial north – in a legacy of museums and northern pride.
Being taken to see the mummies has become a right of passage, captivating generations of children since the late 19th century. Ancient Egypt is now embedded in early years education. At more than a hundred museums across the UK, that lost culture helps shape the British imagination. Where did that affinity come from?
To find out, Samira follows in the footsteps of three extraordinary women: Amelia Oldroyd, Annie Barlow and Marianne Brocklehurst. Each came from a northern, mill-owning family, and each felt compelled not only to visit Egypt and to collect antiquities, but to share their treasures with those at home. Each established local museums that survive today, inspiring new generations.
Today, many such museums face an uncertain future. By returning to these women’s stories, can lessons be learned from the past?
Contributors: Katina Bill, Kirklees Museums and Galleries Matthew Watson and Rizwana Khalique, Bolton Library and Museum Services Danielle Wootton Emma Anderson and Kathryn Warburton, Macclesfield Museums Rebecca Holt, MPhil student at Oxford University Heba abd al-Gawad, Egyptian Egyptologist Alice Stevenson, Institute of Archaeology, UCL Dr Chris Naunton
Producers: Simon and Thomas Guerrier A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4
Uganda is a country that has seen massive growth in the number of ‘orphanages’ providing homes to children, despite the number of orphans there decreasing.
It is believed 80% of children now living in orphanages have at least one living parent. The majority of the hundreds of orphanages operating in Uganda are illegal, unregistered and now are in a fight with the government trying to shut them down.
Dozens on the government's list for closure are funded by overseas charities and church groups, many of which are based in the UK.
With widespread concerns about abuse, trafficking and exploitation of children growing up in orphanages are funders doing enough to make sure their donations aren't doing more harm than good?
Reporter: Anna Cavell Producer: Kate West
(Image: Ugandan children stand on the banks of the Kagera River. Credit: ISAAC KASAMANI/AFP/Getty Images)
The Central African Republic is one of the least developed countries on earth. Years of conflict have left hundreds of thousands of people displaced. Sexual violence is rife and extreme poverty is endemic. Yet despite this dire humanitarian situation, reporting from CAR is rare. Anna Foster explores the challenges facing this nation from the inside, and hears from those trying to improve its fortunes.
2019 is a year of potentially momentous change for the United Kingdom, and in a new series of five programmes, Neil MacGregor visits five different countries to talk to leading political, business and cultural figures to find out how they, as individuals and as members of their broader communities, see Britain.
In this programme he travels to Kano and Lagos to see how far the relationship between Nigeria and Britain can be traced back to key events or cultural influences, and what impact those events still have on the nature of that relationship today. The Emir of Kano; Africa's first Nobel Laureate for Literature Wole Soyinka; and Yeni Kuti, dancer, singer and eldest child of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti each reveal what they learnt about Britain at school and how their first encounters with British cities and culture have shaped their perception of Britain now.
Producer: Tom Alban
Somaliland’s rich archaeological heritage was practically unknown 15 years ago. Now thanks to Dr. Sada Mire, Somali archaeologist and author, medieval Islamic towns, pre-Islamic Christian burial sites, and pre-historic cave paintings have been uncovered. One of them, Laas Geel, has been described as one of the most important rock-art sites in eastern Africa. Dr Sada Mire takes us there to see astonishing rock paintings more than 5000 years old in near perfect condition.
An investigation into the 'killing machine' of one of Africa's most repressive and secretive countries. Three years ago there was widespread unrest in the East African country of Burundi when the country’s president ran for a third term. Protestors said he was violating the constitution that limits presidential terms to just two. Since then street protests have ended but a BBC investigation has now uncovered evidence of government sponsored torture and killings designed to silence dissent. The government has always denied any human rights violations, and declined to comment on the allegations in this programme. Reporter Maud Jullien. Producers Charlotte Atwood and Michael Gallagher.
*This programme contains graphic scenes of torture and killing.
(Image: A computer generated image of an alleged detention house in Burundi’s capital, Bujumbura. A red liquid, which looked like blood, was seen pouring from its gutter. Credit: BBC)
Producer Paul Chandler reports from Bamako, exploring the rich musical culture of Mali including interviews and music from Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traore
In this special series of Essays, five writers each consider the history and effects of a different contagion in their city. Each is ‘shown’ the city by a disease historian or clinical expert who reveals something of how urban life has been physically and psychologically shaped by an epidemic – some current, some from the past. The journey through the city that the writer and their ‘guide’ took was recorded and the sound of the tour ghosts into the background of each Essay.
"In downtown Nairobi, we walk past nondescript buildings which Dr. Kimani identifies as lodges or massage parlours where his clients work. This, he says, is where the city’s labourers go for quick sex, sometimes during their lunchbreak. We visit another sex workers’ clinic, located directly across from Liddos strip club. The clinics are always found in close proximity to clients’ workplaces. We stand on the sunny rooftop. On one side is a glass dome that covers the stairwell, and on the other side, a shipping container which is an extension of the clinic’s offices."
In Polly of Kinshasa Street, young Nairobi author, Okwiri Oduor recalls with incredible intensity and sadness, a childhood friend and her mother who suffered from HIV AIDS. She cuts this memory with a current tour of the city given by HIV AIDS worker and Epidemiologist, Dr Joshua Kimani whose clinics across Nairobi, reveal how the disease has infiltrated the lives of people at all levels of society.
This series has been developed by BBC and Wellcome (www.wellcome.ac.uk/contagiouscities) in partnership. They are part of an international collaborative project which explores the interplay of people and pathogens in urban contexts.
A Cast Iron Radio Production for BBC Radio 3.
Nigerian patients held in hospital because they can’t pay their medical bills.
In March 2016, a young woman went into labour. She was rushed to a local, private hospital in south-east Nigeria where she gave birth by caesarean section. But when the hospital discovered this teenage mother didn’t have the money to pay for her treatment, she and her son were unable to leave. They remained there for 16 months – until the police arrived and released them.
This is not an isolated case. In Nigeria, very few health services are free of charge, and campaigners estimate that thousands have been detained in hospitals for failing to pay their bills. It’s become an increasingly high-profile issue – one couple have been awarded compensation after going through the courts.
For Assignment, Linda Pressly explores a widespread abuse – meeting victims, and the hospital managers attempting to manage their budgets in a health system under enormous pressure, where only 5% of Nigerians are covered by health insurance.
Producer: Josephine Casserly
(Photo: Ngozi Osegbo was awarded compensation by a court after she and her husband were detained in a hospital because they couldn't pay their medical bills. BBC PHOTO)
Nigerian patients held in hospital because they can’t pay their medical bills.
In March 2016, a young woman went into labour. She was rushed to a local, private hospital in south-east Nigeria where she gave birth by caesarean section. But when the hospital discovered this teenage mother didn’t have the money to pay for her treatment, she and her son were unable to leave. They remained there for 16 months – until the police arrived and released them.
This is not an isolated case. In Nigeria, very few health services are free of charge, and campaigners estimate that thousands have been detained in hospitals for failing to pay their bills. It’s become an increasingly high-profile issue – one couple have been awarded compensation after going through the courts.
For Crossing Continents, Linda Pressly explores a widespread abuse – meeting victims, and the hospital managers attempting to manage their budgets in a health system under enormous pressure, where only 5% of Nigerians are covered by health insurance.
Producer: Josephine Casserly
(Photo: Ngozi Osegbo was awarded compensation by a court after she and her husband were detained in a hospital because they couldn't pay their medical bills. BBC PHOTO)
We follow a unique group of Sahrawi women working alongside the world’s longest minefield, the 2,700km sand wall or berm built by Morocco across the region. Baba, Minetou, Nora and the team work in temperatures exceeding 42°c (107°f), hundreds of miles from even rudimentary medical care, risking their lives in Western Sahara’s so-called “Liberated Territories” east of the Berm, clearing some of the seven million landmines and unexploded bombs left over from the still unresolved conflict between Morocco and the ethnic Sahrawi liberation movement, the Polisario Front.
In 1904 the Herero people of South West Africa made their final stand against German Colonial troops with their backs against the slopes of Waterberg mountain in today’s Namibia. The battle marked the beginning of what has been called the first genocide of the 20th Century as tens of thousands were killed, driven into the desert to die and thousands more held in concentration camps. The Nama, another indigenous group suffered the same fate soon after. And their deaths fed a bizarre and gruesome trade in body parts, driven by racial anthropologists in Germany intent on proving the superiority of their own race.
In Senegal, west Africa, live a group of chimpanzees led by an alpha male named David. He has already been alpha for three years - a time when leaders here are usually overthrown. To make matters worse, David has no allies - no-one to help him defend his leadership. As the dry season sets in, the group are forced closer together to survive. But David is now surrounded by rivals who all want his crown and are prepared to kill him for it.
David faces brutal battles, has his world engulfed in flames and has to pull off an extraordinary act of deception. In a story of power and politics, can David overcome the threats to his leadership and hold on to the alpha position long enough to sire a possible future heir to his throne?
Overfishing is blighting traditional livelihoods along the coast of Senegal. Fish catches are collapsing there after years of overfishing, mainly by foreign trawlers, some of whom are fishing illegally. Meanwhile, Senegal’s traditional fishermen have been evicted from the rich waters of neighbouring Mauritania, leading to a vicious circle of rapidly falling catches, economic desperation and yet more overfishing. Some have continued crossing the border, provoking an armed response from Mauritania’s coastguard. Senegal’s main traditional fishing port St Louis has seen anti-Mauritanian violence break out as a result. Alfonso Daniels travels to St Louis to find a community in despair, with some young men now seeing no choice but to join the exodus of migrants trying to reach Europe. He also gains rare access to Mauritania – usually off-limits to foreign journalists – and discovers an insatiable onshore fish processing industry now being encouraged across the region, and consuming catches on a vast scale. Much of the industry is fed by big foreign trawlers, and the end product, known as fishmeal, exported to wealthier countries to feed livestock and aquaculture. At the centre of this story is the humble sardinella, a small oily fish which migrates up and down the West African coast, breeding and supporting other species as it moves across borders. With bigger and more nutritious fish routinely exported, sardinella is a staple for several West African countries whose people cannot afford meat. It is also the stock that fishmeal factories typically utilise. Its increasing scarcity threatens millions with malnutrition. As fish stocks collapse and powerful interests vie for those that remain, ordinary Africans are paying the price. Producer: Michael Gallagher (Photo: Artisanal fishermen unload their catch on the beach at Nouadhibou, Mauritania's only fishing port. Credit: BBC)
The 1995 Rugby World Cup final saw hosts South Africa take on New Zealand.
South Africa - playing in the first tournament post-apartheid - won in extra time, and in an iconic moment in the history of sport, Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok rugby shirt, presented the Cup to South African captain François Pienaar.
In the third series of a Body of Essays, five writers explore different bodily organs, some held in the dark, suctioned interior of our bodies. With help from clinicians and scientists, each writer learns about the organs bodily function before setting down their own sense and experience of their chosen organ. In this edition, British Zambian poet Kayo Chingoni chooses the blood, and reveals a tragic personal story of HIV AIDS.