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BBC World Service

The Inquiry gets beyond the headlines to explore the trends, forces and ideas shaping the world.

The Inquiry

The 2026 men’s football World Cup will be the biggest ever staged. For the first time, 48 teams will compete, playing more than 100 matches across North America.

But the expanded scale comes at a cost. Ticket prices are far higher than at the last World Cup in Qatar. With matches also spread across the US, Mexico and Canada, attending the tournament is becoming unaffordable for many global fans.

FIFA says higher revenues will be reinvested to grow the game worldwide and has released some lower-priced tickets for dedicated supporters, but some fan groups say this isn’t going far enough. 

This week on The Inquiry, we’re asking: Is the 2026 World Cup an own goal?

Contributors:
Dr Christina Philippou, associate professor in sport finance at the University of Portsmouth, UK
Dr Victor Matheson, professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, US
Dr Johan Rewilak, associate professor of sport management at Loughborough University, UK
Miguel Delaney, chief football writer, The Independent newspaper in the UK

Presenter: Tanya Beckett
Producer: Matt Toulson
Researcher: Evie Yabsley
Editor: Tom Bigwood
Technical Producer: Cameron Ward
Production Management: Phoebe Lomas and Liam Morrey

(Photo: FIFA World Cup Trophy is displayed during the FIFA World Cup 2026. Credit: Pool/Getty Images)

Is the 2026 World Cup an own goal?

Chennai, São Paulo, Mexico City, Tehran, Cape Town - these cities have all faced the threat of a ‘Zero Day’, or, having no fresh water left in their taps. 

The UN says we’re entering a ‘water bankruptcy’ era, meaning our water ‘current accounts’ are running empty, while our ‘savings accounts’ - the long term stores of water deep underground - have been depleted, with some beyond repair. 

So how did we get here?

From clearing forests for cattle grazing, to thirsty AI data centres, Rajan Datar examines the pressures on our global water supply and looks for solutions.

Contributors:
Jayshree Vencatesan, Co-founder, Care Earth Trust, India
Augusto Getirana, research scientist at NASA's Hydrological Sciences Laboratory, USA
Prof Bridget Scanlon, Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas, USA 
Dr Jie-Sheng Tan Soo, Director, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, National University of Singapore

Presenter: Rajan Datar
Producer: Phoebe Keane
Researcher: Evie Yabsley
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Technical Producer: Cameron Ward
Production Management Assistant: Liam Morrey

(Photo: Indian women with empty plastic pots protest as they demand drinking water. Credit: Arun Sankar/Getty Images)

Why are our taps running dry?

Bangladesh will hold a national election in February, after years of political turmoil and the ousting of long-time leader Sheikh Hasina. Her rule of more than a decade delivered strong economic growth but was also accompanied by tighter political control and repeated confrontations with protesters.

Sheikh Hasina’s party, the Awami League, has been banned. This has brought renewed focus on the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s leader Tarique Rahman, who is the son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, as well as several emerging challengers.

Following years of unrest, the vote is seen as a test of whether Bangladesh can move towards political stability.

This week on The Inquiry, we’re asking: What does the national election mean for the future of Bangladesh?

Contributors:
Shaheen Mamun, Executive Director of the Jargoron Foundation, London, UK
Zia Chowdhury, journalist, Dhaka, Bangladesh 
Rounaq Jahan, Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, Dhaka, Bangladesh 
Constantino Xavier, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress, New Delhi, India 

Presenter: Tanya Beckett
Producer: Matt Toulson
Researcher: Evie Yabsley 
Editor: Tom Bigwood
Technical Producer: Cameron Ward
Production Management Assistant: Liam Morrey

This programme has been updated since the original broadcast.

(Photo: A woman casting her ballot during the 2024 national election in Bangladesh. Credit: Ahmed Salahuddin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

What does the national election mean for the future of Bangladesh?

Boosting, swiping or the five finger discount - many countries around the world are seeing a rise in retail theft. 

From Japan to the UK, the USA to Germany, retailers are struggling to tackle shoplifting - but the factors fueling this trend are as varied as the people carrying out these crimes. Poverty, opportunism, thrill-seeking - and technology - are some of the factors experts say are to blame. 
 
But a more costly problem is the rise in organised crime, as gangs of thieves strategically target shops and steal to order, turn to online marketplaces to anonymously sell on stolen goods for big profits.

Charmaine Cozier reveals how the justice system and surveillance technology are being used to combat this rising crime wave, as The Inquiry asks what’s behind the rise in shoplifting?

Contributors: 
Dr Nicole Bögelein, sociologist at the University of Cologne, Germany
Assistant Chief Constable Alex Goss, national lead for retail crime at the UK National Police Chiefs Council 
Tony Sheppard. Vice President of Retail Risk Solutions at Think LP, USA
Khris Hamlin, Retail Industry Leaders Association in the USA

Presenter: Charmaine Cozier
Producer: Phoebe Keane
Researcher: Evie Yabsley
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Technical Producer: Cameron Ward
Production Management Assistant: Liam Morrey

(Photo: A warning sign in Canada. Credit: NurPhoto/Getty Images)

What's behind the rise in shoplifting?

Iran has been shaken by protests on a scale not seen since its 1979 revolution. 

Demonstrations that began in the country’s capital over the state of the economy have spread to multiple cities, with wider calls for political change.

The government has called the demonstrations "riots" backed by the nation’s enemies.

Thousands have been killed.

For some, the scenes bring back memories of the uprising that toppled the monarchy more than four decades ago. 

Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last monarch, has emerged as a figure that could challenge the existing order.

This week on The Inquiry, we’re asking ‘Is history repeating itself in Iran?’

Contributors:
Naghmeh Sohrabi, modern Middle East historian, director for research at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University, United States
Azadeh Kian, author of ‘Rethinking Gender, Ethnicity and Religion in Iran’, emerita professor of sociology and gender studies at the University of Paris Cité, France
Sara Bazoobandi, non-resident research fellow at the Institute for Security Policy of Kiel University, Germany
Siavash Ardalan, BBC Persia senior reporter, United Kingdom

Presenter: Daniel Rosney
Producer: Megan Lawton
Technical producer: James Bradshaw
Editor: Tom Bigwood
Production Management: Phoebe Lomas and Liam Morrey

(Photo: Car on fire on a street in Iran. Credit: WANA/Reuters/BBC Images)

Is history repeating itself in Iran?

In February 2026, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty bilateral between Russia and the United States is set to expire. The aim of the New START agreement was to reduce and limit the number of strategic nuclear warheads, but once this treaty comes to an end it means there will no longer be rules on the cap of these nuclear weapons. The legal provisions in the treaty for a one-time five-year extension, were used in 2021. 

The multilateral Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is still in place, to which 190 countries are signatories. The general idea behind the NPT was for nuclear countries to reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons, with the goal of complete disarmament. Whilst those countries without nuclear weapons would commit to not pursuing them. In 1995 the members agreed to extend the treaty indefinitely, but it is not without its challenges. Four nuclear powers sit outside the NPT and there are rifts between the non-nuclear and nuclear states. 

So, on The Inquiry this week we’re asking, ‘Is nuclear disarmament set to self-destruct?’

Contributors: 
Hermann Wentker, Professor of Modern History, University of Potsdam and Head of Berlin Research Department, The Leibniz Institute for Contemporary History, Germany
Alexandra Bell, President and CEO, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, USA 
Mike Albertson, arms-control expert, former negotiator on New START arms reduction treaty, USA 
Nathalie Tocci, Professor of Practice, Johns Hopkins SAIS (School of Advanced International Studies), Italy

Presenter: Charmaine Cozier
Producer: Jill Collins
Researcher: Evie Yabsley
Production Management Assistant: Liam Morrey
Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford
Editor: Tom Bigwood

(Photo: Deck of the nuclear submarine Saphir. Credit: Alexis Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Is nuclear disarmament set to self-destruct?

Kenya is facing rising public discontent over allegations of political corruption, economic stagnation and a shortage of good quality jobs, particularly for the country’s Gen Z. 

One of the government’s flagship responses is an ambitious push into digital outsourcing. It argues that call centres, coding work and other IT-enabled services can position the country as a global hub and generate a million new jobs within five years.

The model has worked before in countries such as India and the Philippines, but the global landscape is shifting. Advances in artificial intelligence are already transforming the very roles Kenya hopes to attract, raising questions about whether this strategy can deliver long-term employment at scale.

Tanya Beckett asks whether Kenya’s vision for digital outsourcing can provide stability and opportunity for the country.

This week on The Inquiry, we’re asking: Can Kenya answer the call for employment?

Contributors
Joy Kiiru, senior lecturer at the Department of Economics and Development Studies at the University of Nairobi, Kenya

Marcus Larsen, professor at the Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark

Deepa Mani, faculty member and deputy Dean for academic programmes at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India 

Boaz Munga, research consultant at the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, Nairobi, Kenya 

Presenter: Tanya Beckett
Producer: Matt Toulson
Researcher: Evie Yabsley
Editor: Tom Bigwood
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Production Management Assistant: Liam Morrey

(Photo: President of Kenya William Ruto. Credit: Luis Tato/Getty Images)

Can Kenya answer the call for employment?

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour shattered records, becoming the highest-grossing concert tour of all time, redefining what’s possible and confirming a new era in the business of touring. 

As streaming transformed how we listen to music, selling records is no longer the financial centrepiece it once was for artists. Instead, exclusivity has been transferred to the live experience. But staging shows on this scale requires enormous investment and complex production. At the same time, ticket scarcity fuels extraordinary demand and rising prices, which mean big ticket prices.

Tanya Beckett explores how technology, fandom and economics turn modern concert tours into multi-billion-dollar ventures.

This week on The Inquiry, we’re asking: How did music megatours become such a money spinner?

Contributors 

Kevin Kim, Head of Asia at music distribution company Route Note, Seoul, South Korea

Serona Elton, professor at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, United States

Adam Behr, Reader and Head of Music at Newcastle University, United Kingdom

Poppy Reid, music journalist and founder of Curious Media, Sydney, Australia

Presenter: Tanya Beckett
Producers: Maeve Schaffer and Matt Toulson
Researcher: Evie Yabsley
Production Management Assistant: Liam Morrey
Technical Producer: Craig Boardman
Editor: Tom Bigwood

(Photo: Taylor Swift during The Eras Tour. Credit: Erika Goldring/TAS24/Getty Images)

How did music megatours become such a money spinner?

Christmas is a time of year when many families and friends come together for a period of joy, peace and goodwill. 

The story of the birth of Jesus Christ has been translated into thousands of languages over thousands of years.

And while you may hear it differently, the message is the same.

From carols to conversations, Christmas reminds us how united we can be. But there’s still one thing that sets us apart and prevents us from truly understanding one another - language.

Esperanto, created in the late 1800s, was the most ambitious direct attempt at creating a singular way of speaking. 

Its struggle to spread beyond a committed community shows us how deeply languages are tied to identity, power and history.

This week on The Inquiry we’re asking: Will there ever be a single global language?

Contributors:
Esther Schor, author Bridge of Words: Esperanto and the Dream of Universal Language, professor of English at Princeton University, United States 
Patrick Foote, author Immigrant Tongues: Exploring How Languages Moved, Evolved, and Defined Us, YouTuber, United Kingdom
Salikoko Mufwene, professor of linguistics at the University of Chicago, United States
Celeste Rodriguez-Louro, associate professor, chair of linguistics, director of language lab at the University of Western Australia

Presenter and Producer: Daniel Rosney
Researcher: Evie Yabsley
Production Management Assistant: Liam Morrey
Technical Producer: James Bradshaw
Editor: Tom Bigwood

(Photo: Earth. Credit: Planet Observer/Getty Images)

Will there ever be a single global language?

In November gunmen seized more than 300 pupils and a dozen teachers from a Catholic school in northern Nigeria. While authorities have rescued around 100 children, many remain missing. 

Kidnapping has become a recurring reality in many parts of the country, and in late 2025 President Bola Tinubu declared the crisis a national security emergency. He pledged to boost security in remote areas, but rights groups say the true scale of abductions is hidden by widespread underreporting. 

The sheer number of kidnappings has also drawn international attention. The United States President has spoken of sending troops to assist, and France’s President Emmanuel Macron has offered broader help to tackle insecurity.

This week on The Inquiry, we’re asking: How can Nigeria stop its kidnap crisis?

Contributors 

Dr Kachi Madreke, politics and international relations scholar, University of Aberdeen, UK

Dr Jumo Ayandele, clinical assistant professor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs, US

James Barnett, non-resident research fellow at the Centre on Armed Groups

Dengiyefa Angalapu, research analyst at the Centre for Democracy and Development in Abuja, Nigeria

Presenter: Tanya Beckett
Producer: Matt Toulson
Researcher: Evie Yabsley 
Editor: Tom Bigwood
Technical Producer: James Bradshaw 
Production Management Assistant: Liam Morrey

(Photo: Nigeria demonstration about student kidnapping. Credit: Kola Sulamon/Getty Images)

Is the 2026 World Cup an own goal?

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