Turning hope into action

The COP31 climate talks are under way in Antalya, Turkey, and Bex, Eve and Joe talk through what world leaders from nearly 200 countries hope to agree, including Turkey’s “35 by 35” goal to get more of the world’s energy from electricity. There’s also Kent’s new fleet of gritters with names like Taylor Drift and Spready Salted, furniture made from party balloons for Real or Rubbish, Kindness Award winner Noah as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether young people should do national service. Plus the films the team would love to forget and watch again, the shortlist for The Week Junior’s Word of the Year, the results of the COP debate, a Pikachu fruit salad and a trip to Pompeii from the inbox, Cristiano Ronaldo retiring from international football, Ross MacKenzie’s Rusthead as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s cover stars are Ollie and his 12-year-old daughter Cora, and they join Bex to share their story, from Ollie’s bowel cancer diagnosis and how a Week Junior article helped Cora spot the signs, to meeting the King and Queen and climbing Big Ben, and why it’s so important for all of us to talk about cancer. There’s also Joe on the US midterm elections and what the results could mean for President Trump, Eve on the 2026 Youth Olympic Games getting under way, a flower pharmacy for Real or Rubbish, and a big debate on whether COP, the global climate change conference, is worth the effort. Plus Stevie from Science+Nature with an amphibian true or false quiz for Bex, your voice notes on which flower should be the UK’s national symbol, the results of the creepy Halloween costumes debate, long-time listener Alfie and Scarlett’s Twilight Walk for Marie Curie from the inbox, Onyinye Iwu’s African Queens as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brazil has re-elected Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as its president, and Bex, Eve and Joe talk through how Lula beat Flávio Bolsonaro in the second round of voting after trailing him in the first, helped by nearly three million extra voters and young campaigners who became known as “Lula’s army”. There’s also 13-year-old Naré from Armenia winning the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Malta, a front garden full of Halloween decorations for Real or Rubbish, Harry Kane becoming the first UK winner of the Ballon d’Or in 25 years as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether Halloween costumes should be creepy. Plus Nessie, Paddington and a pet dog as cake ideas from your voice notes, the results of the screens in schools debate, kitchen roll ghosts and spooky Halloween toast from the inbox, Eiko Kadono’s Kiki and the New Magic as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A rug factory in Rangpur, Bangladesh, has been named the world’s best new building outside the UK, and Bex, Eve and Joe talk through why the Green Field Factory by Nakshabid Architects won the RIBA International Prize, from its courtyards, ponds and gardens to a rooftop daycare centre for the children of the more than 5,000 people who work there. There’s also Mont Blanc shrinking by more than a metre in the past year, audiobook trainers that open Spotify with a tap of your phone for Real or Rubbish, Sgiath the Labrador, who sniffs out sea squirts, crowned Animal of the Year as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether schools should scrap screens. Plus who the team would make out of cake after a baker’s model of the Princess of Wales, the results of the data centres debate, a painted pen pot and a cardboard bed den from the inbox, Helen Parry’s A Scrap of Moss and Magic as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

South African lawyer Navi Pillay has won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her work on human rights and international law, and Bex, Eve and Dan talk through her life’s work, from defending people who fought against apartheid to six years as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and how she found out she’d won at the same time as everyone else. There’s also the Atlantic puffin, barn owl, buff-tailed bumblebee and hedgehog being picked by the public for the next Bank of England banknotes, a pool party in Nevada crashed by 296 puppies for Real or Rubbish, a 150-year-old “bendy” wych elm in County Down crowned UK Tree of the Year as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether more data centres should be built. Plus what joy means to the team for The Week Junior’s Christmas cover competition, Stevie from Science+Nature with a spooky quiz on tarsiers and glowing scorpions and a call for your questions about time for Jim Al-Khalili, home-sewn trousers for a teddy bear and a reader in a vintage tram in Milan from the inbox, Girl with a Sabretooth Tiger by Jasbinder Bilan as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The WWF’s new Living Planet Report is called The Science of Hope, and Bex, Eve and Stevie talk through what it found, including wild tiger numbers rising by more than 70% since 2010, and what we can all do to help nature recover. There’s also Dutch porridge maker Gina Saarberg winning the Golden Spurtle in the Highlands, a government investigation into why the UK keeps flopping at Eurovision for Real or Rubbish, a tiny chihuahua called Comando joining Mexico’s National Guard as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether it’s okay to boo sports stars. Plus Week Junior editor Vanessa on the hunt for the magazine’s first ever Word of the Year, a very human-looking carrot and a papier-mâché bowl from the inbox, The Week Junior Real or Rubbish? as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was The Week Junior Book Awards this week, and Bex, Eve and Stevie talk through the big night, including Jack Mackay’s spooky story Gloam winning two trophies and the books they each helped to judge. There’s also new shoots sprouting from the stump of the Sycamore Gap tree, a hotel shaped like a Poké Ball for Real or Rubbish, a BAFTA Young Presenter as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether pets should have birthday celebrations. Plus Dan from Science+Nature on the Dream Machines competition to design the car of the future, a conker family and a seagull postbox topper from the inbox, Half-Asleep Chris’s The Unordinary Book of Ideas as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, as part of the Be Hope Podcast Takeover, we talk to guerilla gardener and nature rights campaigner Kalpana Arias about her work and what makes her feel hopeful. We also talk about new social media rules in the EU, a scheme to encourage more people to read in Singapore, and whether e-scooters should be banned.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The boss of AI company Anthropic has said that powerful artificial intelligence should be developed more slowly and checked more closely, and Bex, Eve and Dan talk through why more than 70 UK politicians are also asking for new rules on AI. There’s also scientists in Switzerland wrapping melting glaciers in blankets of sheep’s wool, a marathon in Canada that may have been too long for Real or Rubbish, some fun facts about the new Shaun the Sheep film, and a big debate on whether dogs should be banned from beaches. Plus editorial assistant Kaye’s last visit to the inbox, Harry Woodgate’s Cinnamon Crumb, Baking Detective: The Great Cake Caper as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

France has brought in new rules that make ultra fast fashion companies pay a fee on every new item of clothing they sell there, from 43p for an item of underwear to £10.28 for a jacket, and Bex, Eve and Martha talk through why cheap, quickly made clothes create so much waste. There’s also a blue plaque for fossil hunter Dorothea Bate, one of the first women to work as a scientist at the Natural History Museum, a story about 10 Downing Street being rented out to holidaymakers for Real or Rubbish, and a big debate on whether alligators should be hunted in Louisiana. Plus Science+Nature editor Dan on the megalodon and the magazine’s winning photo, two astronauts completing the sixth all-female spacewalk as heroes of the week, Freddie Kölsch’s Spindlewood as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.