The Compass

Have you used the words antwacky, jarg and squinny recently? Presenter Robin Lustig examines linguistic change and continuity in British English. He visits the Oxford English Dictionary, he gets a lesson in regional slang. In Portsmouth, on the south coast of England, Robin hears some of that language on the streets as he meets young people who blend local slang with the global influence of social media and music. As he travels around the city, Robin sees how British English relates to the wider world as he meets speakers of Arabic, Chinese and Spanish learning English as well as English teens learning Hinglish, a combination of English and Hindi.As he considers its future place in the world, Robin asks whether British English will still matter in a post-colonial, post-Brexit world. Producer: Julia Johnson.(Photo: Man learning English via a computer. Credit: Getty Images)

Robin Lustig explores language change and diversity, as he asks whether English is fragmenting into multiple dialects or becoming increasingly uniform. In Kampala Robin polishes up his Uglish and he finds out how Hinglish, Tamglish and Spanglish are evolving in India and the US.And everywhere he goes, Robin seeks out new words and phrases as he tracks linguistic change from social media and the streets through a California campus to the corridors of the Oxford English Dictionary. Sorting his memes from his muggles, spotting milkshake ducks and phubbing, Robin explores the future of English in the virtual world and the real one.(Photo: A Spanglish sign which reads Vote Aqui Hoy. Credit: Getty Images)

Whether you learnt it at your mother's knee, at school or from a smartphone app, more than one and a half billion of us are speakers or students of English. It is the world's most widely used language but in the 21st Century English is being transformed. To investigate its diversity, vitality and future direction, Robin Lustig travels the world to find out if English is set to dominate or decline.Robin begins his journey in the speech artificial intelligence labs of Silicon Valley and in conversation with tech entrepreneurs in Shanghai as he asks how computer scientists are engineering new ways of using and learning English. On campus at Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley, Robin asks whether advances in neural machine translation might one day replace English as a global lingua franca. However, although technology is making English more accessible, it could one day break its grip on the globe. As Robin discovers, the future of English may be very different in an era when AI-powered ‘hearables

Could abortion be banned in the United States? Since the election of President Trump the question has taken on a new urgency, for both sides of America’s abortion wars. Philippa Thomas travels to two states which perfectly capture the debate – Texas and Kentucky – to explore, the past, present and future of this most controversial debate.Finishing her journey in Washington, DC, in the third programme Philippa Thomas meets lobbyists on both sides of this issue, and visits the Supreme Court to watch the nine judges hear the latest major abortion case.(Photo: Pro-life demonstrators (R) confront pro-choice counterparts (L). Credit: Karen Bleier/AFP)

Could abortion be banned in the United States? Since the election of President Trump the question has taken on a new urgency, for both sides of America’s abortion wars. Philippa Thomas travels to Kentucky, where a legal case is under way aimed at closing that state’s last clinic. She visits the lawyer trying to keep it open, and the opponents fervently praying for it to close. And she is invited to a smart suburb to see for herself one answer to the question often asked of anti-abortion activists: ‘well, what would you do?’(Photo: Pro-choice advocates (right) and anti-abortion advocates (left) rally outside of the Supreme Court, Washington DC. Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Could abortion be banned in the United States? Since the election of President Trump the question has taken on a new urgency, for both sides of America’s abortion wars. Philippa Thomas travels to two states which perfectly capture the debate – Texas and Kentucky – to explore, the past, present and future of this most controversial debate.In the first programme Philippa visits abortion clinics in Texas to hear from women who have had abortions, and protesters who would like to stop them, about why this issue is so important. She hears from a doctor who performs abortions, a state lawmaker who would like to stop him, and an activist who wants to remove the shame about abortion. In the state capital, Austin, Philippa meets Sarah Weddington, the lawyer who argued the famous Roe versus Wade case which made abortion legal across America, and she hears how the reaction against that judgement helped create modern conservatism, modern liberalism, and elect President Trump.Excerpts from Sarah Weddington’s oral argument

Half of the world’s river systems host hydro-electric dams. They offer reliable electricity but their construction forces people from their homes and disrupts the natural life of the river.Scores of dams already span the Mekong River, the great waterway linking China to Vietnam. They’ve brought power and jobs to some of the most undeveloped parts of South-East Asia and the building boom shows no sign of ending. But the impact of the massive building programme on those living in the Mekong Delta and along the river is immense: silt deposits are disrupted and fish populations are displaced, as are many of the millions of people that depend on them. Reporter Peter Hadfield sails up the Mekong to meet those communities living with the dams on their doorstep and discover how their lives are impacted.Meanwhile, presenter Didi Akinyelure is in western Europe to find out why the countries that pioneered hydro-power are now turning their backs on it. In Switzerland they are releasing floodwater from their dams to

Life in the Himalayas is tough at the best of times. Crops are dependent on the seasonal melt-water from the mountain glaciers. If climate change wipes out the glaciers then the people will be forced to move. As the global population increases and climate change tightens its grip the struggle for land intensifies. The tension over the ownership and the use of land creates new conflicts and inflames existing struggles. It also inspires creative thinking and fresh approaches to agriculture, development and conservation. Nigerian journalist, Didi Akinyelure meets the innovators determined to maintain their traditional ways of life in the face of the worst that the climate can throw at them. In the Himalayas the locals are building their own artificial glaciers. Known as ice stupas, these mounds of ice modelled on Buddhist meditation structures can hold water for agriculture right through the summer. Meanwhile, in the Alps, villagers are determined to save the glaciers that provide their groundwater and att

An arranged marriage brought Yin Yuzhen to Inner Mongolia’s Ordos desert. Depressed by the sandstorms and poor productivity of the region, Yuzhen began to plant trees. Over 30 years she has planted a million trees in 70,000 hectares of desert. Those trees improved the soil and served as a barrier, blocking the sandstorms. She’s transformed the region, allowing a whole community to thrive in once uninhabitable conditions.Didi Akinyelure travels to the Maowusu Desert to meet Yuzhen and the local farmers and officials who see her work as an example to the rest of China, a nation threatened by encroaching deserts and land degradation. If we’re to feed a growing population then it’s vital that the deserts aren’t just held back but shrunk or adapted to make food production feasible. Didi also talks to the proponents of Africa’s Great Green Wall, designed to battle the march of the Sahara, and to researchers who believe that deserts can be turned into friends for mankind.Image: Yin Yuzhen

Five of the Solomon Islands have disappeared, many more are becoming uninhabitable. For Kerry and Sally, climate change is not a theory - it is what has made them abandon their island and the graves of their ancestors. They see themselves as lucky - they had family land to move to and the skills to build new homes on stilts - but they are resigned to moving again. Award-winning journalist Didi Akinyelure visits her home city of Lagos to find out the latest solution to sea level rise in West Africa. The glass towers of the new financial district of Eko Atlantic are protected from the waves by state of the art sea defences. The residents of the luxury apartments should keep their feet dry whatever the climate throws at them. That may be small comfort for their unprotected neighbours in the shanty town on the lagoon, Makoko, but they’re experts in survival against the odds.(Photo: The sea encroaches on a tropical island. Credit: Getty Images)

Fi Glover, Martha Lane Fox and Henrietta Moore are on the hunt for solutions to the world’s problems. Their aim is to create the perfect country made up of the best global policies that actually work. In this episode, the panel hear the voices, opinions and criticisms of the World Service audience. Together, they debate how the perfect country is shaping up.The policies include: Rwanda reducing the gender pay gap, Cuba’s disaster preparedness, Germany’s refugee integration, Norway’s prison system, Nepal’s maternal healthcare, and Canada’s sustainable fishing programme. Listeners who have first-hand experience of these policies give their own personal reflection of living through them – and direct feedback to the verdicts from the My Perfect Country panel. Members of the audience from vastly different nations give their views of whether the policies could work where they are. And, in cases where they might not – listeners offer alternative suggestions for the countries they would look to instead.

Fi Glover, Martha Lane Fox and Henrietta Moore from the Institute for Global Prosperity at University College London are building an imagined utopia made up of the best solutions to the world’s problems. They look at a sustainable fishing scheme in British Columbia in Canada called catch share, a quota system based on dedicating a secure share of fish to individual fishermen, co-operatives or fishing communities.It means fishermen have the ability to catch a certain amount of fish each year and are responsible for not exceeding that amount, promoting stewardship of the seas. Just outside Vancouver, local reporter Madeline Taylor goes to meet the fishermen who spearheaded the scheme at the British Columbia groundfish fishery, which has evolved over the last 40 years from an open access, high discard fishery to a full retention, fully monitored fishery that accounts for all catch whether retained or released. Could it work elsewhere? With the help of Erin Priddle from the Environmental Defense Fund, the tea

Nepal has managed a record achievement for its maternal mortality rates. Between 1991 and 2011, it has seen an 80% decline in the number of women dying in pregnancy, during labour and after childbirth - meaning it is one of the few countries on track to achieve the fifth Millennial Development Goal. The foundation of their achievement comes from an outstanding women’s volunteer programme known as the Female Community Health Volunteers. Currently over 50, 000 women volunteer to distribute life-saving advice and tools to mothers across the country. They administer vaccinations, contraceptives and ensure women understand the importance of self-care in pregnancy. Moreover, Nepal’s government have created a financial incentive programme to ensure women stop giving birth at home, and instead under the guidance and supervision of health professionals in local hospitals. However, these achievements may be undermined by entrenched problems that lie deep in Nepal’s health and social welfare. Alongside, superstitions

How has Norway managed to have the lowest rate of prisoners reoffending in Europe, and one of the lowest in the world? Their policy revolves around the fact that the justice system see taking their citizen’s freedom away as punishment enough, and prisoners are expected to carry on a life as similar to normal society as possible. As a result, high-quality education is given to inmates – as well as opportunities to work, to receive mental health support, and remain self-sufficient by cooking their own meals. This support is further strengthened by the prison guards who are some of the most highly-trained in the world and who are encouraged to spend time with inmates. The Norway government also brought in top architects and asked them to redesign prisons from scratch – focusing on decreasing any tension or conflict between inmates. Upon release, inmates are given significant help to reintegrate back into society – as help is provided for them to find both housing and employment. However, the policy is not with

Is the way Germany has handled refugee integration a model other countries could follow? In September 2015 the German chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to take in one million mainly Syrian refugees, and over the past three years more refugees have arrived in Germany than anywhere else in the European Union.But Germany did not just open its doors to those seeking refuge, it recognised that integrating them into society was crucial. The foundation of this is free but compulsory state-run German language and civic orientation courses for qualifying refugees, as well as help finding employment. There are also thousands of volunteer-led and non-governmental refugee projects across the country.But not everyone in Germany is happy with this approach to newly arrived refugees, and despite a tightening of refugee policy the fallout has resulted in political instability in the country. With the help of professor Christian Dustmann, director of the Centre for Research and Analysis on Migration, the team discuss the achiev

After 2017 brought a string of hyper-active and destructive hurricanes in the so-called Atlantic Hurricane Season, it is said that Cuba is a world leader in both hurricane preparedness and recovery, as it has one of the lowest fatality rates. It has been a cornerstone of their government for decades – at the heart of the model is the promotion of local level decision-making that relies on co-ordinated early warning systems, high-quality weather forecasting and community preparedness. Most notably, when disaster hits, every Cuban at every level of society has a role to play. Children are educated from a very young age of what to do in the event of a hurricane and there is an annual nationwide training to ensure plans are kept up to date. As the country also gives a particular focus to vulnerable members of society, other Caribbean countries are starting to take notice of Cuba’s policy – and this model could be implemented globally.However, Cuba’s achievements may be under threat as Hurricane Irma in 2017 too

Rwanda has closed its gender gap by 80% since the 1994 genocide. How has the country done it, and should others be following its lead?Under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, the 2003 Rwandan constitution states that at least 30% of all decision-making jobs in government or public organisations must be held by women. The constitution enshrines the right to equal education opportunities for girls and boys, the right to equal pay in public sector jobs, and the right for women to own and inherit land. Since 2012 there has also been a drive to get more women into business, and women’s access to financial services such as bank accounts and credit has now more than doubled.In the Rwandan capital Kigali, Maggie Mutesi reports on the experience and views of a range of women, including Chief Gender Monitor Rose Rwabuhihi and Rwanda’s first woman taxi driver Amina Umuhooza. With the help of Dr Keetie Roelen, co director of the Centre for Social Protection at the Institute of Development Studies, the team discuss

In Sierra Leone, the Ebola outbreak in 2014-16 caught everyone, including the World Health Organisation, completely unprepared. Award-winning reporter Umaru Fofana talks to Tulip Mazumdar about his own experience of the outbreak; plus we hear from both local and western doctors and aid workers about the fight to bring the disease under control. Central to this was persuading grieving families – with the help of social scientists – to change their burial practices.(Photo: Health workers carry a stretcher at the Kenama Ebola treatment centre run by the Red Cross, 2014. Credit: Francisco Leong/AFP/Getty Images)

When the Rana Plaza building collapsed in 2013, it drew worldwide attention to the horrific conditions for workers in the garment industry. Over a thousand people were killed one day after the building’s owners ignored warnings about cracks. Four years later, contributors on the ground wonder if anything has changed in the rush for profit in Bangladesh.(Photo: A Bangladeshi worker who was rescued from the collapsed poses on the site of the former Rana Plaza garment complex poses at the former site. Credit: Getty Images)

In the most earthquake ready country on earth – Japan - a massive tsunami in 2011 hit two schools in Kamaishi and Okawa. At one everyone survived; at the other 74 children were killed. What went wrong? We hear gripping contributions from pupils at both schools, including Mai Ogasawara and Tetsuya Tadano; location recordings from Mai Nishiyama and Yu Wada Dimmer on the aftermath of the giant wave; plus interviews with Richard Lloyd Parry, author of Ghosts of the Tsunami and Robert Muir-Wood, author of the Cure for Catastrophe.(Photo: Cherry blossom covers trees amid tsunami devastation in Kamaishi City, 2011. Credit: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP)