May 13, 2020

Brazil's COVID-19 infections are skyrocketing, but President Jair Bolsonaro consistently plays down the threat of the virus and is urging businesses to reopen across the country. Bolsonaro sparred publicly with his health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta--a qualified physician–before firing him in April. Mandetta joins the program from Brasilia to discuss his former boss’s response to the virus.

Imagine fleeing civil war and then ending up on the frontlines of another battle in your new home. Hassan Akkad is a Syrian refugee-turned-filmmaker, whose nail-biting journey to the UK formed part of a BAFTA-winning documentary. But now he’s joining the fight against coronavirus and working as a cleaner on a London hospital ward, a story he discusses with Christiane.

Recessions are predicted all around the world. While governments desperately try to kickstart their economies, one crucial question is whether a fairer and more just future will emerge from the wreckage. Mariana Mazzucato is an economist and founder of the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at University College London. She joins the program to discuss the outlook.