Exchanges - Ideas and Argument Podcast

Gun rights, racism, climate change, impeachment are some of the big issues convulsing the United States. In downtown Houston, Congressman Joaquin Castro, Judge Lina Hidalgo, Congressman Randy Weber and State Senator Joan Huffman join Jonny Dymond to debate questions raised by the audience in Houston. BBC World Questions is a series of international events created in partnership with the British Council.

In the last few days Turkey has launched an air and ground offensive in Northern Syria and this unilateral decision has been widely condemned that’s been widely condemned with the European Union urging Turkey to end its offensive. What implications does this have for Turkey’s future role as a power in the region? Zeinab Badawi travels to Istanbul to find out. Turkey has long been at the crossroads between Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia – a crucial gateway between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, a nation that is pivotal economically, militarily and strategically. It’s a key member of NATO, but feels undervalued by the United States. It wants membership of the EU, but feels snubbed and spurned by Brussels, despite its help in stemming the flow of Syrian refugees into Europe. So now Turkey is being courted by Eastern powers, Russia and China in particular. Zeinab and guests will take questions from a local audience. Panel: HUSEYIN ALP-TEKIN works at SETA, which is a think tank that supports government thinking on foreign policy. SIR PETER WESTMACOTT is the former UK ambassador to Turkey and the United States. PROFESSOR HURSIT GUNES is a member of the CHP – the main opposition party. SEZIN ONEY is a Turkish journalist and commentator.

In a world already facing the challenges of exploding population growth and climate change, will super-rich global elites foster resentment, dangerous discontent and political populism? Zeinab Badawi discusses the issues with a high-profile panel at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeepers event in New York

Worries about jobs, inequality, waste, corruption and issues such as the country's elephant population and the decriminalisation of homosexuality give the sense that Botswana is at a turning point, and the opposition and the government are both promising change. World Questions comes to Botswana for a vibrant debate in the heat of an election campaign. The BBC's Toyosi Ogunseye is joined by a panel of leading politicians and thinkers as well as an audience of the public in Gaborone, the country's capital.

Anu Anand and a panel of leading correspondents from around the world discuss the big political trends of the year. The rise of populist political parties, Brexit, powerful leaders and immigration are just some of the big issues up for discussion. Panellists include Ethiopian journalist and editor of The Addis Standard, Tsedale Lemma; Susan Glasser from the New Yorker; and BBC Europe correspondent Kevin Connolly.