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The news is stressful. Talking about it doesn’t have to be.

Join the Guardian’s Kai Wright (@kai_wright) and Carter Sherman (@heyyymizcarter) for conversations with the best journalists and biggest thinkers.

New episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Starting 13 May.

Introducing BIG LIVES from @pushkinpods & @BBCPodcasts — a new show about the cultural giants we think we know... until the archive proves we don’t. Each episode, acclaimed journalists @kai_wright and @newsmanual_ dive into the BBC’s century‑deep vault of interviews, performances, and forgotten tape to rediscover the humans buried beneath the headlines. Jane Fonda, George Michael, Richard Pryor, Amy Winehouse and more: the people who shaped modern culture, but were flattened into punchlines, scandals, or single defining images. New episodes release on Mondays, starting March 23. Hear the trailer today and subscribe wherever you like to listen!

Every legend has a twist...

Introducing BIG LIVES from @pushkinpods & @BBCPodcasts — a new show about the cultural giants we think we know... until the archive proves we don’t. Each episode, acclaimed journalists @kai_wright and @newsmanual_ dive into the BBC’s century‑deep vault of interviews, performances, and forgotten tape to rediscover the humans buried beneath the headlines. Jane Fonda, George Michael, Richard Pryor, Amy Winehouse and more: the people who shaped modern culture, but were flattened into punchlines, scandals, or single defining images. New episodes release on Mondays, starting March 23. Hear the trailer today and subscribe wherever you like to listen!

Every legend has a twist...

Introducing BIG LIVES from @pushkinpods & @BBCPodcasts — a new show about the cultural giants we think we know... until the archive proves we don’t. Each episode, acclaimed journalists @kai_wright and @newsmanual_ dive into the BBC’s century‑deep vault of interviews, performances, and forgotten tape to rediscover the humans buried beneath the headlines. Jane Fonda, George Michael, Richard Pryor, Amy Winehouse and more: the people who shaped modern culture, but were flattened into punchlines, scandals, or single defining images. New episodes release on Mondays, starting March 23. Hear the trailer today and subscribe wherever you like to listen!

Every legend has a twist...

Is Hasan Piker (@hasandpiker) just ‘a regular dude’?

With millions of followers, Piker is one of the most-watched creators on Twitch. Recently, he started campaigning with Democratic candidates. In the latest episode, Stateside host Kai Wright talks to Piker and asks, what exactly is this very online, very popular figure trying to achieve in the real world? Full episode at the link in bio.

#HasanPiker #USPolitics #Twitch

What are Hasan Piker’s blind spots?

Hasan Piker (@hasandpiker) is no stranger to controversy. As the Twitch streamer started campaigning with Democratic candidates this spring, an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal was released with the headline, “Democrats are too cozy with Hasan Piker.” That triggered a fever pitch of more op-eds and interviews asking Piker to respond to past statements he’s made on the war in Gaza, 9/11, and more. But that hasn’t slowed his momentum or influence – if anything, it’s amplified both.

In the latest episode, Host Kai Wright talks to Piker about how he sees himself, misogyny, and his wild 2026. Full episode coming soon at the link in bio.

#HasanPiker #USPolitics #Twitch

@kai_wright will lead a conversation centering around a crucial question:

“Could technology replace our need for human connection?”

That question is at the heart of “AI Is About to Solve Loneliness. That’s a Problem,” psychologist Paul Bloom’s 2025 article for @newyorkermag

Join us for a live taping of “Theater of War on the Radio” at Brooklyn Academy of Music. Actors Bill Murray, Oscar Isaac and Lois Smith will perform a live dramatic reading of the article, followed by listener calls and a discussion moderated by Kai Wright and “Theater of War” artistic director, Bryan Doerries.

Audience members will also be invited to participate in a discussion after the broadcast.

Get your tickets at the link in our bio.

Before host Carter Sherman (@heyyymizcarter) hosted @statesidepodcast she was the Guardian’s US reproductive health and justice reporter. She covered gender and sexuality for 10 years.

In today’s episode, Carter speaks with Dr Angel Foster, co-founder of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, about what’s next in the battle over abortion pills. Full episode at the link in bio.

#ReproductiveHealth #Abortion #SupremeCourt #USPolitics

‘An entire department is gone.’

In April 2025, all of the full-time cruise ship inspectors with the CDC were unexpectedly laid off. Today, governments around the world are attempting to contain the hantavirus, a rodent-carried disease that broke out on a cruise ship. Three people who were on the cruise ship have died.

In today’s episode, host Kai Wright speaks with Guardian health correspondent Melody Schreiber about whether this virus is the next Covid – and what this outbreak has revealed about US preparedness.

#hantavirus #CDC #Covid #USPolitics #virus

The hantavirus outbreak was contained. But it revealed something alarming about our readiness for the next pandemic.

Cuts to public health funding and rampant misinformation have rendered the US ill equipped to respond to emerging infectious diseases. “If you are working with cells in a lab, that is now ‘suspect,’” Guardian health correspondent Melody Schreiber tells host Kai Wright. Full episode at the link in our bio.

#hantavirus #CDC #Covid #USPolitics #virus

He screamed, shimmered and rewrote popular music and then disappeared from the throne he built... @kai_wright and @newsmanual_ dig into the BBC archives on Big Lives to uncover Little Richard’s unstoppable rise, and why rock and roll history still gets its origin story wrong. Listen now! 🎹

#LittleRichard #PopCultureHistory #CulturePodcast #BlackHistory #RockAndRollHistory @BBCPodcasts

How do states keep getting away with racist voter suppression?

Last month, the supreme court ruled that states can’t consider race in redistricting, gutting the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Since then, state legislatures in the south from Tennessee to Alabama have rushed to erase majority Black districts.

In our debut episode, Kai Wright talks with voting rights activist and former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (@StaceyAbrams) about the dangerous myth of “race neutrality” – and the real reason voter suppression persists. Find the full episode at the link in our bio.

@CrookedMedia #VotingRights #SupremeCourt #Tennessee #Alabama #USPolitics

“They are not just rigging the game. They’re kneecapping the players.”

In our debut episode, voting rights activist and former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (@StaceyAbrams) reacts to recent voter suppression efforts in southern states following the US supreme court decision, Louisiana v Callais.

When asked about the way forward, Abrams told Stateside host Kai Wright: “They have fractured communities and said we’re going to scatter these seeds. Our job is to grow.” Find the full episode at the link in our bio.

@CrookedMedia #VotingRights #SupremeCourt #Tennessee #Alabama #USPolitics

On the latest episode of BIG LIVES…we revisit Muhammad Ali’s iconic TV duels with Michael Parkinson. Listen wherever you get your podcasts! #muhammadali #popculturehistory #blackhistory