The strange figures behind a secret trade
McMafia author Misha Glenny digs into the sophisticated organised crime networks behind the rhino poaching trade.
The town that disappeared
A story looking at Russian “monotowns” – places that were often built and populated decades ago to exploit a single resource (such as coal or ore) and are now in decline as those resources are exhausted or the economyÕs needs have moved on.
ÔOur Saturn YearsÕ
A detailed look at the “insanely, wildly, beautifully successfulÓ Cassini-Huygens mission to explore Saturn, which ended this month after nearly 20 years when its satellite made a planned plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere and burned up.
An education in terror
A piece relating the experiences of former IS recruits living in Europe and the military and ideological education they received when living in the caliphate.
Tales from the new Silk Road
Stories from different players involved in a vast Chinese infrastructure project aimed at expanding trade routes – a “bid to shape our century”.
The Pilot Who Stole a Secret Soviet Fighter Jet
The story of the Soviet fighter pilot who defected in 1976 in a new supersonic fighter jet that no one outside the Soviet military had ever before set eyes upon.
Erdogan’s Turkey
A thorough state of the nation piece looking at Turkey as it prepares for a critical referendum, which would allow President Recep Erdogan yet more sweeping powers if the ‘yes’ vote comes out on top.
The Tortoise and the Share
Amol Rajan, BBC Media Editor and former Editor of The Independent, delivered this lecture on the future of journalism, aptly summarised in the subhead as “How to Save Journalism (from Itself)”.