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Xi Jinping is known to be a ruthless leader. In the last five years alone, China’s richest man, Jack Ma, China’s defence minister and the country’s foreign minister have all abruptly disappeared - some never to be seen in public again. Millions of Communist officials have been purged since Xi came to power.
But one man was thought to be untouchable: the head of China’s military forces, Zhang Youxia. A childhood friend of Xi’s, Zhang was allowed to stay in his post, even as other military officials were disappearing. That is — until he, too, was suddenly gone.
Almost a year after he was last seen in public, and with 'strong man' politics on the increase, Celia Hatton investigates why Zhang was purged and looks inside and outside China for answers.
She discovers there's a kind of pattern that dictators and autocratic rulers use to hold on to power. And this, she argues, can be a useful tool in predicting global military aggression.
Presenter: Celia Hatton
Producer: Adele Armstrong
Production coordinator: Katie Morrison
Editor: Penny Murphy.

In June 2026, racist violence erupted across Northern Ireland. Masked groups circulated lists of homes where people of colour were believed to be living, forcing more than a hundred people to flee.
As houses burned around her, Maria barricaded herself inside with her two teenage daughters, filling buckets, mugs and the bath with water in case their home was attacked.
Then across Belfast, other networks formed. When community workers, like Clare and Ciara, recognised the addresses of food bank users on the target lists, they got into their cars and began moving families to safety. It was organised via an improvised WhatsApp group, which brought together drivers, spare rooms, food and emergency support.
For Ciara, the rescue carried a painful echo - she found herself driving along the same street where her own family had been burned out during the Troubles decades earlier.
Tara Mills tells the story of the ordinary people who mobilised against the violence using WhatsApp groups and hears from the communities still living with its consequences.
A Walk On Air Films production for BBC Radio 4

Across the country love for Pride events is waning. Councils are pulling funding saying that cash is better spent on potholes and emptying the bins and big companies, once eager to be associated with the Pride are withdrawing their support - and money.
Last year the company that ran Manchester Pride went out of business owing millions of pounds, the bars of the city's world famous gay village on Canal Street are funding a a new grass roots celebration. Across the country Prides are smaller, less corporate and in some cases just cancelled altogether
Darren Milby asks why it is that our allyship with LBTBQ+ rights seems to be weaker and investigates what the trans debate has got to do with it?
Producer and Presenter: Darren Milby
Technical Producer: Nat Stokes
Executive Producer: Richard McIlroy

As a journalist, historian, constitutional scholar and member of the House of Lords, Peter Hennessy has been observing British public and political life for more than 50 years. But now he's retiring from the House of Lords, and as he does he's struck by the rancour that is corroding our politics. What, he has been asking himself, can we do to restore decency to the heart of political conversation?
In this programme Peter has been putting that question to people who have thought about decency and how we might encourage it. And he's invited them to do it at his house over a cup of tea. From former Prime Minister John Major to Whitehall Fixer Louise Casey, Reform MP Danny Kruger to National Education Union leader Daniel Kebede, the doorbell has rung with its jaunty tune and Peter has sat down to hear what has gone wrong, how a decency economy has emerged on YouTube, and how we might encourage what he calls a 'decency bias' in public life.
Producer: Giles Edwards.

People who've had to abandon their homes because of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, explain what life is like in Lebanon, a country which has been repeatedly hit by war. A social worker describes how she thinks most Lebanese citizens now keep a bag of important belongings packed and ready to go by their front door in case they need to leave home at a moment's notice. A mother is close to tears talking about having to rearrange her daughter's fourth birthday party because of the imminent threat of missile strikes. Israel's military forces are currently occupying southern parts of Lebanon. They say they're there for the purposes of self-defence and to destroy Hezbollah's military capabilities. It's estimated a million people have had to move out of their homes as a result. It's not clear when or if those people will get to return or whether they will still have homes to go back to.
Presenter: Carine Torbey
Producers: Dany Abi Khalil & Nick Holland
Sound: Rod Farquhar
Production Coordinator: Janet Staples
Editor Penny Murphy