Analysis BBC Radio 4

Boycotts are big at the moment. On a global scale, many countries are boycotting Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. There are campaigns to boycott products produced in Turkey, Israel or China. Sporting boycotts are used by countries across the world to express their displeasure with their international rivals. And there are plenty of boycotts going on against companies, over working practices, supply chains and political stances.

But international boycotts can be easily circumvented, and we can choose alternative products if we don't like a particular manufacturer. So is this low risk activism, or is it an effective way for ordinary people to hold businesses and nations to account? Do boycotts ever lead to permanent change?

Above all, do they work? Journalist and writer David Baker investigates.

Presenter: David Baker
Producer: Ravi Naik
Editor: Clare Fordham
Sound Engineer: Nicky Edwards
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Contributors:
Caroline Heldman Associate Professor of politics at Occidental College, Los Angeles
Stephen Chan Professor of World Politics at SOAS, University of London
Mark Borkowski PR and Crisis Management agent
Rob Harrison Director of Ethical Consumer
Xinrong Zhu Assistant Professor in Marketing at Imperial College London Business School
Richard Wilson Director and co-founder, Stop Funding Hate
Professor Ellis Cashmore sociologist and cultural critic
Ben Jamal Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Pinar Yildrim Associate Professor of Marketing at the Wharton (Business) School at the University of Pennsylvania

In the last five years in the UK, more than 100 children have died from knife wounds. But violence isn't inevitable and evidence shows that we need more mentoring, therapy, family support and police in the areas where violence is high. So why don't we do what works? Jon Yates from the Youth Endowment Fund looks at the schemes that have successfully reduced knife crime. He investigates why the lessons they've taught us haven’t been scaled up. And why we’re spending money on other things like knife awareness campaigns without any evidence they work.

Presenter: Jon Yates
Producer: Rob Walker
Editor: Clare Fordham
Sound Engineer: Richard Hannaford
Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Contributors:
Karyn McCluskey, Chief Executive, Community Justice Scotland
Karen Timoney, Director, KDT Wellness
Graeme Armstrong, author of The Young Team
Laura Knight, Toolkit and Evidence Engagement Lead, Youth Endowment Fund
Gavin Stephens, Chair, National Police Chiefs’ Council
Lawrence Sherman, Chief Scientific Officer, Metropolitan Police
Jhemar Jonas, youth worker and musician
Ciaran Thapar, youth worker and author of Cut Short
Thomas Abt, Founding Director, Center for the Study and Practise of Violence Reduction at the University of Maryland; author of Bleeding Out
Sajid Javid, Conservative MP for Bromsgrove, former Home Secretary
Luke Billingham, youth worker and researcher
Jahnine Davis, Director, Listen Up

In May 2020 a group of experts came together, at speed, to form the UK’s Vaccine Task Force. Born in the teeth of a crisis, its efforts were responsible for allowing Britain to be among the first countries in the world to roll out vaccines against Covid-19. But as memories of the pandemic fade, the urgency it brought to its work has subsided as well. In this edition of Analysis, Sandra Kanthal asks what lessons have been learned from the success of the Vaccine Task Force and if we should be prepared to allocate the time, energy and expense required to be permanently prepared for the next global health emergency.

Presenter: Sandra Kanthal
Producer: Sandra Kanthal
Editor: Clare Fordham

How difficult is it for a police force to change? A review of the Metropolitan police by Baroness Louise Casey says racism, misogyny, and homophobia are at the heart of the force. The Met's commissioner Sir Mark Rowley admits 'we have let Londoners down'. Everyone agrees change must happen – but where to start?

Margaret Heffernan meets experts on police reform and former senior officers to explore the organisational challenge that faces any force which wants to transform itself and re-establish public trust. She hears from those involved in establishing the Police Service of Northern Ireland, following the Good Friday Agreement. What were the political and organisational challenges that faced the PSNI in terms of recruitment from two different communities? What lessons might that process offer to the transformation that is needed across other forces? And how would organisational psychologists suggest tackling and turning round long established cultures?

Presenter: Margaret Heffernan
Producer: Philip Reevell
Editor: Clare Fordham

Is Britain Exceptional? Historian, author and Sunday Telegraph columnist Zoe Strimpel believes so, and sifts through the layers of Britain’s culture, politics and religious history to find the roots for the nation’s scientific, intellectual and cultural dynamism and the germ for today’s culture wars.
With the help of leading historians, political activists and scientists, Zoe examines whether Britain's obsession with the glories of 'our finest hour': WWII determined a version of history that eclipsed inconvenient truths that contradict our national myths and identity. She asks whether Britain's 'long island story' has really been as unruptured and stable as commonly believed, revealing a much more compelling Britishness forged out of military conflict abroad and religious and political turmoil at home.

Does the secret to Britain's historical dynamism in scientific discovery, philosophy and culture reside in dissent from religious and political orthodoxy, rather than unstinting allegiance? Has the hidden history of religious noncomformity - a rebellion within a rebellion - been the hothouse encouraging creative genius to flourish?
Zoe meets the modern-day heirs to noncomformity to examine how Britain's unwillingness to put culture at the heart of our holdall national identity has led to tolerance and cultural diversity on the one hand, but also an acceptance of inequality. This might be the cause of our lost sense of who we are and what Britain is now for; perhaps we need to learn from and incorporate our unexamined history to shake off self-loathing, embrace eccentricity and regain the creative dynamism we now lack.

Presenter: Zoe Strimpel
Producer: David Reid
Editor: Clare Fordham

The Queen’s funeral appeared a resounding reassertion of our enduring commitment to monarchy, but was it a tribute to her rather than the institution? As the coronation approaches, polls suggest support is at its lowest ever, and the King faces difficult questions on several fronts.
As supreme Governor of the Church of England, congregation numbers are falling and divisions are deepening over its stance on gay marriage.
The union is under threat – what would the monarchy mean if Scotland votes for independence and Northern Ireland joins the Republic?
Commonwealth countries from the Caribbean to the Pacific are asking whether it still makes sense to keep a king in London as their head of state.
The coronation will be a grand reminder of our history, but hanging over everything is a dark chapter in that history; the monarchy’s role in the slave trade. If the King is to represent all his subjects, does he need to say sorry? And what about reparations?

Edward Stourton will unravel the challenges and ask how the King meets them.

Presenter: Edward Stourton
Producer: Jonathan IAnson
Editor: Clare Fordham