This Is Why

Why James Talarico could go all the way to the White House

A blue tsunami annihilated Donald Trump’s Republican party in the US midterm elections – and one candidate rode the wave higher than anyone. James Talarico (or Talafrea

Why interest rates have gone up

The Governor of the Bank of England blamed Donald Trump's war with Iran for the first rise in interest rates in more than three years. They have gone up from 3.75 % to 4%

Why can’t we name the celeb who lost his High Court injunction bid?

An anonymous celebrity asked the High Court to permanently prevent two news organisations from publishing his identity, amid claims of sexual misconduct, which he denies.

Why can’t Britain build warships on time?

The Ministry of Defence has committed billions of pounds to building a new generation of warships. But there's a problem. Older vessels are being retired, their replacem

Why a trip to Hull and back took 28 years

In October 1998, Karl Bushby left his mum’s house in Humberside to fly to the southern tip of South America. The journey home would take him the best part of three decade

Why King Charles can't apologize for Britain benefitting from slavery

The King is in the Caribbean, and, so far, he's faced hardly any protests from people campaigning for reparations for transatlantic slavery. But the leaders of the coun

Why your council tax band dates back to 1991

Prime Minister Andy Burnham joked on TikTok that demand from people trying to find out their council tax band crashed the government website. They wanted to know because

Israel’s ‘AI Election’

The World and This Is Why join forces for a special episode on Israel's election - a contest that could have significant consequences for the Middle East and the wider wo

Why leaving Spurs won Harry Kane the Ballon d'Or

Aged eight, Harry Kane risked being written off when he was released by Arsenal. But Kane persisted, and he was taken on by Tottenham Hotspur's academy. He went on to bec

Why Melania's ceasefire will be a lifeline for besieged Ukrainians in Oleshky

People are surviving on plants, have no power and hardly any water in Oleshky, a Ukrainian city occupied by Russia since the first days of the 2022 full-scale invasion.

Why is Sally Rooney pulling her books from shops in the UK?

There's been a rush to buy Sally Rooney's books after she said she can no longer sell them in the UK. Rooney, known for best-selling novels Normal People and Conversati

Why web attacks show we’re all vulnerable

PHP. The three little letters few people realised were so vital for most of the websites in the world. But a vulnerability in a piece of programming virtually all of us

Why do we need new North Sea gas?

Winter is coming. So, a decision to finally allow drilling at the controversial Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea should be welcome. Well, not by environmental campaign

Why Putin and Xi want to control the Arctic

Europe’s leaders are joining the fight for the Far North – but is it already too late? The European Union has announced a new security strategy for the Arctic. Yet Russ

Why France protests are spreading across Europe

Violent clashes, burning buildings, widespread looting and thousands of arrests. Even for France, the scale of the current protests across the country is extreme. What

Why didn’t Trump trust Katie Zacharia?

Surely, the first rule of being a press secretary is never to be the story. But it took Donald Trump's newest spokesperson just 14 minutes to put herself very much front

Why now? Burnham’s Brexit backtrack explained

Remember when Brexit meant Brexit? Well, a decade on from the referendum to leave the European Union, Andy Burnham thinks now is the right time to reopen the debate. Th

Why tiger death won’t stop zoo visits

Donald Trump decided to mark the death of a man mauled by a tiger in a Yorkshire zoo by posting an AI-generated video of himself wrestling with a tiger. The killing of

Why Ukrainians are angry with Trump’s Russian diesel deal

Donald Trump just loves a long-running feud, and in recent days he’s returned to an old favourite. America’s mudslinger-in-chief is calling for Ukraine’s wartime presid

Will Andy Burnham bring the UK closer to the EU?

Cheat Sheet - all the news you need to know in 10 minutes. On today's episode, Sophy and Wilf discuss the latest forecast from the IMF, how Andy Burnham has reignited th