2023 predictions

We’re doing something a little different… and a bit risky. We’re going to kick off the new year by predicting what we think might happen in 2023.

2022 picks – The Darwin job: the mystery of the vanishing notebooks

One sleuth, two notebooks – and a 20-year puzzle

China’s Covid gamble

After nearly three years, China has abandoned key parts of its flagship zero-covid policy.

Dry World Cup stadiums

With just days to go before kick-off, Qatar banned beer from its World Cup stadiums. What happens to all the beer?

The Alzheimer’s drug

An experimental Alzheimer’s drug called lecanemab has been hailed as an historic breakthrough. But what does it actually mean for people living with the disease?

The Alzheimer’s casino: Big money and bad science

What happens when science and medical research meet Wall Street?

The return of Suella Braverman

Suella Braverman was sacked as home secretary after breaking the ministerial code. Six days later Rishi Sunak appointed her as home secretary again. Why?

Flexing for Qatar

The foreign secretary suggested LGBTQ football fans should “flex and compromise” when visiting the Qatar World Cup. His comments reveal a truth about relations with strategically important countries that don’t respect human rights.

Not-so-disposable vapes

Single-use vapes are increasingly popular with young people. But what about their impact on the environment?

 Disappearing crabs

The US snow crab harvest has been cancelled after billions of them went missing from the waters around Alaska. The industry is normally worth $132 million a year. What caused them to vanish?

Liz Truss quits

Liz Truss will go down in history as Britain’s shortest serving prime minister. How did we get here and what happens next?

“There hasn’t been a coup”

A cabinet minister insisted that “there hasn’t been a coup” and that Liz Truss “is not under a desk”. But you wouldn’t have blamed the prime minister if she was after her new chancellor dismantled the mini budget and with it, her political project.

Mortgage mayhem

Last month’s mini-budget has thrown the property market into crisis. Where does that leave first-time buyers?

Britannia unhinged

What happened in the 17 days between Kwasi Kwarteng becoming chancellor, sacking the Treasury’s top civil servant and his fiscal event which crashed the British economy?

Paradise Bust: Scandal in the British Virgin Islands

When the premier of the British Virgin Islands was arrested in a drugs sting in Miami, what did British government officials know about the operation?

China’s trafficked women

There are almost 40 million more men than women in China, which is fueling the illegal trafficking of women to be brides that’s spilling over into neighbouring countries.

Chained woman: China’s trade in brides

When a video of a woman chained to a wall went viral in China, it ignited a battle for the truth between the people and the state

Londongrad: The Johnson Affair

A former KGB officer, Britain’s foreign secretary – and a potential national security breach

Episode 3: Dividing lines

Does the UK punish families for their poverty? Is the government doing enough to help young children flourish and parents succeed? What will it take to fix a broken system?

Episode 2: Nursery networkers

What’s the point of nurseries? Why are the ages of three to five so crucial? Are today’s children part of a giant, unplanned experiment?

The Darwin job: the mystery of the vanishing notebooks

One sleuth, two notebooks – and a 20-year puzzle

Episode 1: Modern families

Is there such a thing as a “normal” family? Does technology make interactions between parents and children better, or worse? In the struggle between work and childcare, who wins and who loses?

Stripped. Searched. Traumatised. Children and the police

How many more Child Qs are there? How many children are strip-searched by the police and who are they? Patricia Clarke and Claudia Williams investigate

Downfall: twenty days that did for Rishi Sunak

How did Rishi Sunak go from one of the most popular members of the government to one of the least in a matter of days? Matthew d’Ancona pieces together what happened

P&O all at sea

The decision to sack 800 staff via Zoom and replace them with cheaper agency workers seemed to surprise many. But there were signs of what was to come.

The trials of Alexei Navalny

What does the story of Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia Navalnaya tell us about Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the state of opposition?

Russia’s controversial coach

Kamila Valieva’s Olympic doping scandal has made headlines around the world. But she’s just 15 years old. What about the team of adults surrounding her?

Modi’s warrior pose

Narendra Modi’s dominance of Indian politics is built on a knowing appeal to traditional Indian values: Hindu values. He has turned yoga into an unlikely but powerful weapon in his campaign

The most expensive drug in the world

Zolgensma is a life-saving drug but it costs more than a million and a half pounds per patient. Who decides if the NHS can afford it?

The princess of pop

Britney Spears has rarely been out of the headlines this year. What does her story tell us about pop culture in 2021?

Three dads

Three dads came together this year in the saddest of circumstances; they all had daughters who’d taken their own lives. They turned their tragedies into a story of love and hope.

School 49: An explosion in China’s high-pressure education system

China’s transformation into an economic powerhouse has come at a cost to its children, under enormous pressure to succeed. Now the country is wondering if the price has been too high

Where did all the doctors go?

Lots of GPs are leaving the profession, and we can’t recruit or train new ones fast enough to fill the gaps.

Masters of the metaverse

Facebook has just announced that it is creating 10,000 jobs to make a metaverse. A what?

Orphaned by America

Thousands of children were separated from their parents at the US border under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy. This is the story of how, five years later, 300 remain lost in a system designed to swallow them

Popbitch

Claudia Williams presents a special edition of the Slow Newscast – on a newsletter that both reflected and reshaped celebrity culture

The meaning of taking the knee

Rarely has a gesture been as misunderstood as taking the knee. We’ve looked into its history.

A star lawyer in the dock

A vaccination anthem

Could Vaxx That Thang Up – a pro-vaccination remake of Juvenile’s 1999 hip hop classic – be the sound of summer 2021?

The rise of REvil and ransomware

Ransomware attacks – taking over computer networks and blackmailing their owners – has become huge business

The Middle East misinformation war

Pressure is growing on Israel and Hamas to announce a ceasefire. Is online misinformation making peace less likely?

The end of Ellen

Ellen DeGeneres has been one of the biggest stars on US television. Why is her show coming to an end?

Cross stitch

How an embroidery charity – beloved by its members – tore itself apart at the seams

Hidden homicides

How many women are being killed – but not counted?

The golden egg

Young women are being offered the chance to delay the menopause. The question is: does it work, and does anyone even want it?