Rethink

Rethink considers how we might take a different approach to issues that affect all of us, asking some of the brightest minds what we could do to make the world a better place.This week, we're rethinking energy. The massive rise in the price of wholesale gas in 2022, and the subsequent rise in our household energy bills highlighted the need for the UK to have a secure, reliable and cheap energy supply. So what choices do we have? UK fossil fuel reserves are dwindling, but we have offshore wind, and sunshine in the south. Renewable power is also cheaper than fossil fuels. In the first three months of 2024, the UK's wind, solar and other forms of renewable power generated just over half of our energy and by the end of September, coal had been phased out completely.But there is still a long way to go before the UK is self-sufficient. It can take as long as 15 years to connect a renewable power plant to the National Grid. A nuclear power station hasn't been completed in the UK for nearly 30 years Do we have enough power storage for cloudy or windless days? And industry and homes are still reliant on gas. So how to we need to rethink energy to keep the lights on, charge our many devices and power our electric vehicles in the future? And if we get it right, what will be the rewards for everyone? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Ravi Naik Editor: Clare Fordham Contributors: Aoife Foley, Professor & Chair in Net Zero Infrastructure at the University of Manchester. Emma Pinchbeck, Chief Executive, the Climate Change Committee. Sam Richards, a former special advisor on energy to Boris Johnson, and now the Chief Executive of campaign group Britain Remade. Andrew Crossland, Associate Professor in practice at the Durham Energy Institute.

The care system in Britain is creaking at the seams. People who need care aren't receiving it - or if they do it's untenably expensive. There aren’t enough staff for care homes, and unpaid family carers often burn out looking after their loved ones without support.Successive governments have recognised it’s a problem, but they haven’t been able to fix it. Rachel Reeves is just the latest in a long line of chancellors to back away from care reform.How can we reform the care system so it works better for everyone involved? And crucially - how can we pay for it?In this edition of Rethink we look at some of the big ideas that could revolutionise social care in this country. We look at the arguments for a National Care Service to match the National Health Service. We hear about new technological fixes, from robots in care homes to smaller scale initiatives to help with medication or paperwork. Or maybe we all need to think about the whole system differently - and all care for each other a little more.Contributors: Sir Andrew Dilnot, head of the 2011 government review on Funding of Care & Support Kathryn Smith, chief executive of the Social Care Institute for Excellence Ben Cooper from the Fabian Society, co-author of their report Support Guaranteed: The Roadmap to a National Care Service Hilary Cottam, designer, social activist and author of Radical Help: How We Can Remake the Relationships Between Us and Revolutionise the Welfare StatePresenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Lucy Burns Editor: Clare Fordham

Rethink looks at the issues of our time, and considers how we might approach them differently. Scrutinising the latest thinking and research, we look at what this might mean for policy and society. In this episode: the cost of living has been high, but all too often, we also pay a premium. It's because of dynamic pricing, drip pricing and now personalised pricing. Dynamic pricing is why, after queuing for hours, Oasis fans were offered tickets that were considerably more expensive than the ones advertised. It's also why do you can be offered different prices each time you try and book an airline ticket, or a hotel online. Big data means that companies can figure out exactly what you are willing to pay online and can shift the price you face to match that. AI data-gathering software is causing cartel-like behaviour amongst competitors, who can draw similar conclusions about their market, and set similar prices.The depth of information available to companies means that they know the price a market will bear, rather than how much customers can afford and regardless of interest rates set by central banks. Regulators are playing catch-up, but what other strategies could be used to combat anti-competitive pricing led by algorithms? And what needs to change to ensure buyers can work out if they're getting a fair deal? Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Ravi Naik Editor: Clare FordhamContributors: David Dayen, writer and journalist, and the executive editor of The American Prospect magazine. Tom Smith, partner at Geradin, and former Legal Director at the UK Competition and Markets Authority. Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, Professor of consumer psychology at Anglia Ruskin University. Martyn James, consumer rights campaigner and journalist.

Rethink looks again at the issues of our time, and considers how we might approach them differently. Scrutinising the latest thinking and research, we look at what this might mean for policy and society. In this episode, we’re looking at one of the most divisive issues of our time – immigration – and in particular, how we can change the discourse around migration. Polling from the British Social Attitudes survey suggests that the UK is now more divided on immigration, by age, education, and political party, than at any time since 2011. But polling also indicates that there are large areas of agreement between people who are pro-immigration and others who are immigration-sceptic. A majority of people think net immigration is too high. A majority also believe that Ukrainian refugees, Afghans who helped UK forces, Hong Kong Chinese, doctors, nurses and care workers should be allowed to come to the UK. And most people agree that crossing the channel in small boats is not a good idea.So if a majority of people agree on these issues, how have we become so tribal? Why have politicians of all flavours failed us over the decades? How can get them to be more honest about the trade-offs that come with every immigration decision that's made - and how can we change the political discourse?Presenter: Ben Ansell Producer: Ravi Naik Editor: Clare FordhamContributors: Sunder Katwala, Director, British Future Alan Manning, Professor of Economics at the LSE and former chair of the Migration Advisory Committee Dr Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory in Oxford, and a current advisor to the Migration Advisory Committee Robert Colvile, Director, the Centre for Policy Studies