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Indonesia's Disasters - Natural and Man-Made

Indonesia's Disasters - Natural and Man-Made

Tsunamis, earthquakes and a sinking capital - not all of Indonesia's problems are down to Mother Nature.

Jonathan Bithrey reports from this blighted archipelago on the Pacific ring of fire. 14 years after the Indian Ocean tsunami, why was the country so ill-prepared for the tidal wave that hit Palu this week? And what is being done to stop Jakarta slowly sinking into the sea under the weight of poor planning and overdevelopment?

(Picture: A woman looks for salvageable items among the debris in following the earthquake in Sulawesi; Credit: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

Has Elon Musk Already Won?

Has Elon Musk Already Won?

Whatever the fate of the heavily indebted Tesla Motors, is the electric vehicle revolution now set to sweep the world? And despite his Twitter antics and legal problems, has the company's chief executive earned the right to be brash?

Justin Rowlatt speaks to Gene Munster of tech investors Loup Ventures and to the author and tech prophet Tony Seba. Plus what is the future for fossil fuel companies in an electrified world? We ask Shell's vice president for new fuels, Matthew Tipper.

Producer: Laurence Knight

Image: Elon Musk (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

The #FoodPorn Business

The #FoodPorn Business

Instagram and social media are transforming the food industry, but is the fixation on visual aesthetics destroying the dining experience?

Elizabeth Hotson explores the nexus between our stomachs and our smartphone screens, with help from sandwich blogger Xander Fletcher, cake decorator Georgia Green, online food and drink reviewer Rebecca Milford, food writer Natalie Seldon and restaurateur Cokey Sulkin, among others. Producer: Elizabeth Hotson

(Picture: Cake decorated by Georgia Green; Credit: Elizabeth Hotson)

Bill Gates on Africa

Bill Gates on Africa

Bill Gates speaks to Manuela Saragosa about the future of Africa and the urgent need for the world to invest in the continent's exploding youth population.

It comes as the billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft founder launches the second annual conference in New York of his Goalkeepers initiative - a network of activists from across the world who aim to ensure that their governments fulfil the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

But why is it that the number of children born per woman in Africa remains so stubbornly high? We ask Olufunke Baruwa, a gender and development practitioner in Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria. And are the attempts of wealthy outsiders to solve Africa's problems misguided? Teddy Ruge, an outspoken Ugandan activist and entrepreneur, tells us it's time to let a new generation of Africans take over the controls.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: Bill and Melinda Gates introduce the 2018 Goalkeepers event at the Lincoln Center on in New York; Credit: Ludovic Marin/AFP)

The Company Without Managers

The Company Without Managers

Most companies around the world exist with some form of hierarchy. Usually it is a vertical structure, with executive above management, which is in turn above the workforce. But there is another form, a “flat” hierarchy. Long promulgated by tech companies and start-ups in particular, flat or horizontally-structured companies operate on the principle of “Be your own boss.” Everyone chooses their agenda, their pace and in principle there is no boss to upbraid you if you make a mistake. So does it work? David Heinemeier Hansson is a founder and partner at the web services company Basecamp, a company with a “flat as possible” structure. He gives his thoughts on being the boss of people when they are their own boss. We also hear from Drew Dudley, author of This is Day One and André Spicer, professor of organisational behaviour at Cass Business School, on the potential pitfalls of flat hierarchies.

Image: Silhouetted faces in a boardroom (Credit: Getty Images)

Welcome to Wakaliwood

Welcome to Wakaliwood

Uganda's home-grown film industry is proving a hit on YouTube, but does it glorify violence? Ed Butler heads to Wakaliga on the outskirts of Kampala to investigate, only to get shot with fake bullets.

Programme features interviews with the American immigrant studio boss Alan Hofmanis, director and screenwriter Isaac Nabwana, special effects supremo Dauda Bisaso, and British fan Timon Singh of the Bristol Bad Film Club.

Expect the Unexpectable!

(Picture: Dauda Bisaso mans his home-made prop gatling gun; Credit: BBC)

The Trouble With Bike Sharing

The Trouble With Bike Sharing

Why are Chinese bike-share companies struggling to replicate their success abroad? Ed Butler hears from Nick Hubble, a cycling campaigner in Manchester - the UK city where Chinese firm Mobike has just scrapped its bike-share scheme. Mobike's head of growth in Europe Steve Milton describes the challenges of global expansion. Julian Scriven from rival German firm Nextbike explains why the Chinese model doesn't necessarily work in other countries, and Dana Yanocha, Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy in Washington DC, describes the challenges faced by US cities swamped by shared bikes.

(Photo: A Mobike on a London street, Credit: Getty Images)

The Class of 2008

The Class of 2008

What happened to those who graduated straight into the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression?

Kim Gittleson is one of them, and she goes in search of three others who - like her - found their career prospects straight out of university blighted by a disaster not of their making. Are they angry? Or did they actually learn some useful life lessons unique to their generation?

And how long a shadow has the grim milestone in financial history cast over their financial wellbeing and their ability to have families? Professor of sociology Kenneth Johnson of the University of New Hampshire and Lowell Ricketts of the St Louis Federal Reserve provide some of the answers.

(Picture: Students at a George Washington University graduation ceremonies in 2008. Credit: The Washington Post/Getty Images)

Remembering Lehman

Remembering Lehman

10 years after the failure of Lehman Brothers triggered global financial meltdown, Ed Butler hears from those who were in the middle of the maelstrom.

Lynn Gray was employed within the commercial property division in New York, while Scott Freidheim was Lehman's chief administrative officer and on the bank's executive committee. Plus the mess at the London Clearing House is retold by two employees who had to resolve some 70,000 outstanding trades that Lehman still had open as it went under.

(Picture: An employee of Lehman Brothers carries a box out of the company's headquarters building on September 15, 2008 in New York City; Credit: Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Vaping: A New Addiction?

Vaping: A New Addiction?

Is the multi-billion dollar e-cigarettes industry doing more harm than good? Manuela Saragosa hears from Jack Waxman of the Students Against Nicotine campaign, who is worried about a new generation of vaping addicts in the US. Health campaigner Robin Koval explains why one brand in particular - Juul - has teenagers hooked. We hear from Dan Thompson, Juul's managing director in the UK. And is regulation about to catch up with the vaping business? Owen Bennett, global tobacco analyst at Jefferies, tells us.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Photo: Vaper in an e-cigarette store in California, Credit: Getty Images)

Looking Back at Lehmans

Looking Back at Lehmans

Ed Butler talks to historian Adam Tooze about the legacy of the global financial crisis, which peaked with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008. Adam Tooze is a professor at Columbia University in New York and the author of a new book Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World. He argues that the reverberations of 2008 are still defining much of our political and economic life, from the rise of Donald Trump in the US to youth unemployment and economic policy in Europe.

(Photo: Lehman Brothers sign being carried to an auction in London in 2010, Credit: Getty Images)

Why Do So Few Women Work in India?

Why Do So Few Women Work in India?

India has been developing rapidly over the past few decades. But in one way, it can still be very traditional. Women are often expected to stay at home after marriage. And that means only a quarter of Indian women are in paid work, according to the World Bank. So what's behind it? The BBC's Vivienne Nunis hears from Ajit Ranade, chief economist of Aditya Birla Group, and Radhika Kumari, founder of the Pink City Rickshaw Company, a team of female rickshaw drivers overcoming cultural barriers to break into a male-dominated field.

(Picture: Pink City Rickshaw driver Pushpa in Jaipur, India. Credit: BBC)

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