The Inquiry

This week we’re looking at nothing less than the state of life on earth. The planet has seen mass extinctions before, periods of widespread and dramatic species loss. Some now fear human activity is driving another one: land cleared for farms, homes and roads; waters filled with pollution and emptied of fish; skies choked with gasses causing climate change. But does it add up to a mass extinction? In the first of a two-part series, we examine the evidence of species loss and compare it with the geological record. Presenter: Neal Razzell Producers: Josephine Casserly and Siobhan O’Connell(Image: Dinosaur skeleton, Credit: Getty images)

Millions of us take a vitamin tablet every day - how did they become so popular? We follow the rise and rise of vitamins from their discovery just a century ago, to the multi-billion dollar market of today. The story of how the vitamin supplement entered our daily lives takes us from the targeted guilt-tripping of concerned mothers, to the use of vitamins as a weapon against the Nazis, via a plan for vitamin doughnuts. Experts question whether most of us need to take them at all – so how did we get hooked on vitamins? Contributors include: Dr Lisa Rogers – World Health Organization Catherine Price – Author of Vitamania: How Vitamins Revolutionized the Way We Think About Food Dr Salim Al-Gailani - Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge Matthew Oster – Head of Consumer Health, Euromonitor InternationalPresenter: Kavita Puri Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton(Photo: a woman shopping at 'Mr Vitamins', a chain of supplement outlets in Sydney, Australia. Credit: Saeed Khan/Getty Images)

#MeToo became viral following allegations of sexual harassment and violence at the hands of Harvey Weinstein. Now women and men in their millions around the world have been mobilised by the hashtag to share their stories of abuse. But its founder Tarana Burke fears the movement has moved away from its original remit to give a voice to victims of sexual violence. She worries it is being talked about as a vindictive plot against men. So what is the reality on the ground around the globe? We hear about the impact of the #MeToo in India and Iran. What did it really achieve? Presenter: Kavita Puri Producer: Jim Frank(South Korean demonstrators at a rally for the country's #MeToo movement in Seoul, 2018. Photo credit: Jung Yeon-Je/Getty Images)

Journalists have been subject to more killings, and increasing levels of violence and intimidation in 2018, according to monitoring groups. This year alone more than 30 have been murdered, including Mexican veteran journalist Carlos Domínguez Rodríguez who was stabbed to death in January, 5 journalists shot dead at their office in Annapolis in the US in June, and the story that has dominated the news, the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at his consulate in Istanbul in October. The suspects range from organised criminals to state-sponsored assassins. And it’s not just about murder – imprisonments and intimidation are also on the rise. Why should the public care? What’s behind the surge? And how can the press and the public fight back? We talk to those journalists and activists from across the world to find out: is this the most dangerous time to be a journalist?Contributors include: Pavla Holcova - Czech Centre for Investigative Journalism Sothearin Yeang – former journalist, Radio Free Asia Omar Fa

The UK voted to leave the European Union in June 2016. More than two years on, it’s still not clear how that will happen, or what will come after. Consensus within Westminster seems impossible, and if the deal currently on offer from Brussels is voted down on December 11, the UK could crash out of the EU with no deal at all. What makes it so hard to come up with a solution? The BBC has followed all of the twists and turns of the Brexit negotiations in minute detail. In this special programme, four correspondents from across the organisation give their take on what makes Brexit such a fraught process.Katya Adler, Europe Editor Chris Morris, Reality Check Correspondent Alex Forsyth, Political Correspondent John Campbell, Northern Ireland Business and Economics CorrespondentPresenter: Edward Stourton Producer: Lucy Proctor(Brexit Map - Getty Creative)

There’s talk of a new Cold War between Russia and the West. What responsibility does the West carry for the dismal state of relations?Russian leaders say Nato has expanded far beyond the borders that were agreed when the Soviet Union collapsed and a new European order was thrashed out. They see troops and hardware stationed close to their towns and cities as highly provocative. America and the EU are seen as meddling in the internal affairs of Russia and the states surrounding it by funding pro-democracy movements and helping to topple regimes. And a new arms race is underway. Russian military leaders perceive an active threat from the West – are they right?The previous edition was: Is Russia At War With The West?Presenter: Kavita Puri Producer: Lucy Proctor

There are currently a number of serious allegations made in the West against Russia. They include the attempted murder of the former spy Sergei Skripal on British soil; interference in the 2016 US election; the hacking of the American electricity grid. To some, it feels like the West is under attack. But do any of these actions amount to war? Olga Khovostunova, a Russian media analyst, describes the effect of the collapse of the Soviet Union on the psyche of President Putin and his close knit circle of security chiefs. For them, the threat from the West is real.Norwegian foreign correspondent Oystein Borgen says Russia is engaged in a hybrid war with the West, in which Norway has become a little-known front line. Lawyer Michael Schmitt, from the US Naval College, sets out how Russian security chiefs, almost certainly surrounded by a team of international law experts, operate in the grey zone of international law. Political scientist Kimberley Marten explains how private military contractors operating in Ukra

There are different routes to pariah status. North Korea, with its gross human rights abuses and illicit nuclear weapons programme tops the list and represents the classic pariah - completely ostracized from the international system. Another sure-fire way to become a pariah is to sponsor international terrorism, like Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya in the 20th century. But as his example shows, international rehabilitation can happen almost overnight. Then there are less clear cut pariahs like Zimbabwe, condemned by the West but very much part of the regional African system. Four expert witnesses examine these cases and explore whether the notion of a pariah state is meaningful in the 21st century multi-polar world. Presenter: Kavita Puri Producer: Lucy Proctor(Photo: Ostracized /Getty Images)

Warnings about the approaching post-antibiotics apocalypse have been sounding for years. There are now strains of deadly bacteria that are resistant to all antibiotics. This means that doctors are faced with patients who have completely untreatable infections. Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are dying due to antibiotic resistance - and this number is set to rise rapidly. If we carry on like this, scientists predict we will return to a pre-antibiotic era, where organ transplants, chemotherapy and C-sections are impossible. We have come a long way since 1928, when the famous chance discovery of penicillin led to a golden age in which antibiotics were seen as wonder drugs, heralding in an age of huge medical advances and increased human life spans. But by the 1990s we were running out of new antibiotics and infections were again a killer. How did this happen?Our expert witnesses are medic and historian, Dr Eric Sidebottom, Dr Scott Podolsky of Harvard Medical School, journalist Maryn McKenna and infect

The burgeoning relationship between China and Africa has been one of the great economic stories of the 21st century. Billions of dollars of investment and loans from China have created radical change in many African countries. But not everyone is happy, with some even claiming this is a new form of colonialism. As signs of discontent grow in countries like Zambia, and investment numbers start to slip down, we ask: is the China-Africa love affair over?Contributors include: Dr Lauren Johnston – Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Professor Lina Benabdallah – Assistant Professor of Politics & International Affairs, Wake Forest University Laura Miti – Executive Director, Alliance for Community Action Professor Stephen Chan – Professor of World Politics, School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)Presenter: Linda Yueh Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton(A Chinese railway worker drills holes on the newly put railway tracks in Dondo, outside Luanda, Angola. Photo credit: Per-Anders Pettersson/Gett

Thousands died when an earthquake and tsunami struck Palu, Indonesia – but could more lives have been saved? Accusations have been made of a host of failings: alert systems that were out of action, sirens that didn’t sound, a government slow to give emergency help - even people who were too busy filming the disaster to run away. How much truth is there to this? Was everything done to warn people beforehand, and rescue people in the aftermath? We speak to experts on the ground and around the world to find out. Contributors include: Lian Gogali – Founder, Institute Mosintuwu Harald Spahn – Consultant geologist 2006-2013, German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System project Harkunti Pertiwi Rahayu – Chair, Indonesian Association of Disaster Experts & Assistant Professor, Bandung Institute of Technology Mark Astarita – Former Director of Fundraising, British Red Cross Presenter: Kavita Puri Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton(A man looks for his belongings amid the debris of his destroyed house in Palu, Ce

Delhi is one of the worst polluted cities in the world. Radical ideas like skyscraper-sized air purifiers are being proposed to clean the smog – can they work? There are lessons to be learned from other cities around the world about how to manage emissions. But will any city’s air ever be really clean?(Image: A heavily polluted street in Delhi. Photo Credit: Arvind Yadav/Getty Images)

Most countries in the world have signed up to the idea that no child should work at all under a certain age – but is this the best approach? This week Nicolle, a 17 year old from Peru, has been part of a delegation of child labourers visiting the UN to ask them to rethink their ban on child labour. She’s been working since she was 8 years old, and says not only did her family need the money she earned, but working brought her status and respect. Some charities and experts working with child labourers agree that there are safe forms of child work. They say non-hazardous work can allow children to help their families, gain life skills, and even pay for the school uniforms and equipment they need to stay in education. But the UN and other former child labourers disagree, saying an outright ban is the only way to protect children from exploitation. We ask whether it’s time to rethink the ban on child labour.Contributors include: Benjamin Smith – Senior Officer for Child Labour, International Labour Organization

DNA testing is big business. Millions of people worldwide are finding out about their ancestry and genetic health traits by sending off a spit sample to one of the big consumer genetic testing companies. But what do your genes really tell you? And could genetic testing have harmful consequences for our health and for society? Four experts chart the rise of consumer genetic testing and examine the claims made and our expectations about the results.Presenter: Helena Merriman Producer: Lucy Proctor(image: Tube collecting saliva for dna testing of genetic markers. Photo By BSIP/UIG/Getty Images)

The story of how a line on a map becomes a hard state border that no one can cross. Korea was ruled as one Kingdom for a thousand years. They valued poetry and scholars helped rule the country. But their Kingdom was invaded by Japan. When Japan left, Russia and America raced to take their place. Amid frantic organising, a line dividing Korea in two was suggested. Who knew that line would become the front line in a war, eventually creating a hard border between two new countries?This is a special edition that 10-14 year olds can also enjoy, but if you are not in that age bracket we hope that there’s something in it for you too. It’s a trial and we’d love to know what you think. Email theinquiry@bbc.com or tweet @bbctheinquiry – thanks to Niko, Christina and Sophie for your feedback. The Inquiry will be back to normal next week.(image 2018: A North Korean student attends a class at Kang Pan Sok revolutionary school outside of Pyongyang. Credit: Ed Jones/Getty Images)

This is a special edition that younger listeners aged 10 to 14 can also enjoy. If you’re no longer in that bracket, don’t worry, The Inquiry as you know and love it will be back to normal after the next two episodes. It’s an experiment and we’d love to know what you think of it. Please email us Theinquiry@bbc.com or tweet @bbctheinquiry.What’s Killing Africa’s Elephants? Poachers, jewellery makers and angry farmers: the story behind the drop in elephant numbers across Africa.Presenters: Priscilla Ngethe and Kate Lamble.Image: African elephants (Credit: BBC)

Ever since it began, women’s sport has been beset by a fundamental question: who gets to compete as a woman? It’s a debate which is more heated now than ever. That’s because in a few months, athletics’ governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, will introduce controversial new rules, regulating the participation of athletes with disorders of sexual development, commonly known as intersex conditions. It’s a debate that goes far beyond sport - throwing up difficult questions about what separates men from women. In this edition of The Inquiry we plunge into this debate, which is troubling women’s sport.Presenter: Helena Merriman Producer: Josephine Casserly(image: Women's Athletics 200m at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo Credit: Yang Huafeng/China News/Getty Images)

Thousands of cyberattacks occur every single day. Some hackers steal credit card details or pilfer money from online bank accounts. Others cripple businesses, or even governments. As tensions mount in cyberspace, what are countries doing to strengthen their cyber power and build a hacking army? In this Inquiry, we delve into some of the world’s most intriguing cyber operations – including Iran, Russia and North Korea.(Black Hat DEF CON cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas, Nevada USA. Photo Credit: Ann Hermes/Getty images),

It’s graduation day at the end of a religious summer school in Yemen’s Saada province. A class of young boys are off on a trip to a shrine. In a land of war, they are happy - jostling and full of energy on their school bus. Moments later, most of the boys are dead. A Saudi-led coalition airstrike has hit their bus. The bomb that was dropped by the Saudis was made in the United States, and Saudi Arabia is the America’s single biggest customer when it comes to buying arms.Critics argue that Donald Trump is quietly escalating America’s role in the Saudi-led war on Yemen, and many, including US Congress, have begun to question the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia. Will the US support Saudi Arabia no matter what? So on this week’s Inquiry we’re asking, who’s in the driving seat when it comes to the US – Saudi alliance?Presenter: Krupa Padhy Producer: Marie Keyworth Researcher: Dearbhail Starr(Photo: U.S. President Trump meets Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Al Saud, (c) Getty Images)

The year 2030 was set by the UN as the world's deadline for halting the spread of HIV, stopping Aids deaths, and having the first generation since 1980 born and raised completely free from infection. But at last month’s 22nd International Aids conference the mood was less optimistic. Deaths from the disease, having stabilised, are now beginning to increase, with some people fearing the disease is now poised to add massively to its global death toll.As global funding for Aids decreases, and drug resistant strains of HIV rise, this week’s Inquiry asks, could we see another Aids pandemic?(image: HIV and Aids activists in Amsterdam, Netherlands take part in the protest march Towards Zero Together. Credit: Shutterstock)