What in the World

Charity used to be about bake sales and running marathons. Now it’s all about thumbnails, hashtags, and stunts.Recently, MrBeast ran a massive campaign called #TeamWater - he partnered up with WaterAid and 10,000 other content creators. It raised over $40 million and is the biggest example so far in terms of number of influencers involved in a charitable campaign.Now other influencers, and charities are following this trend - working together on campaigns. So what happens when charity becomes content? Does this represent the future of philanthropy? Makuochi Okafor, a BBC reporter in Nigeria talks us through this growing trend and we hear from Gisela Amponsa, a Ghanaian digital creator, who was part of the #TeamWater campaign. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producer: Julia Ross-Roy Editors: Verity Wilde and Harriet Oliver

Taiwan is an island about 180 kilometres off the coast of China - nearly 24 million people live there. Taiwan is self governed but China says it’s part of its territory. Only 12 countries (plus the Vatican) officially recognise Taiwan as a country. Taiwan is increasingly worried that China could be preparing to take the island by force. Whatever happens there could affect your whole online life, because Taiwan makes most of the world’s computer chips, which power your phone, your laptop, AI apps and electric cars. In this episode Shawn Yuan from the BBC’s Global China Unit explains the relationship between Taiwan and China and how the whole world could be affected if conflict broke out. We also hear from Taiwanese students Yi-Ting and Louis and Chinese student Rongzhi, who tell us how they feel about Taiwan-China relations. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Video producer: Baldeep Chahal Producers: Julia Ross-Roy, Imogen James and Benita Barden Editor: Verity Wilde

On Sunday evening in Australia, two gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach in Australia. Fifteen people were killed and dozens more are in hospital.In this episode we’re going to look at what we know about what happened and talk about why the Jewish community in Australia were already concerned about their safety before the shooting.Australia has some of the strictest gun laws in the world - we’ll also talk about how they work and why some people are now calling for them to be tightened. BBC’s William Lee Adams joins us to helpInstagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Benita Barden and Chelsea Coates Editor: Verity Wilde

Vases crafted thousands of years ago, temples built by past civilisations, natural parks with stunning waterfalls. These are all tangible things, there is a physical trace of them and many times they are protected and valued. But what about festivals, recipes or dances and skills that are unique to a certain part of the world? These cannot be stored, really. However they are passed on, become part of many people’s identities and are known as intangible cultural heritage. UNESCO, the United Nations agency that focuses on culture and education has released its yearly list recognising these practices. But what does it actually mean to be included and why is it celebrated? We hear from Matthieu Guevel, Chief of Communications at UNESCO.Plus we talk to three people whose cultural practices have been added to the list this year: Paola Maggiulli a British-Italian cook, Lika Kat, a content creator from Kyrgyzstan and Zahra Hankir, a Lebanese author and journalist.Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Chelsea Coates Producers: Maria Clara Montoya and Benita Barden Editor: Verity Wilde

Stray Kids or BlackPink? Spice Girls or Westlife? Music executives - like Simon Cowell - have been creating girl bands and boy bands for decades. And he’s about to launch a brand new competition on Netflix to find “The Next Act”. When we talk about these groups, we generally mean good-looking young women or men who’ve been brought together, and who don’t tend to write their own songs or play their own instruments. Their fans are stereotyped as being teenage girls and their mums. Is there any truth to the belief that girl bands make better music because they are held to higher standards? The BBC’s music correspondent Mark Savage explains how pop bands have evolved over the decades. We look at the different pressures and stereotyping that girl and boy bands face and we hear from some of our BBC friends - do they prefer girl bands or boy bands and why?Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: [email protected] WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Video producer: Baldeep Chahal Producers: Julia Ross-Roy and Adam Chowdhury Editor: Verity Wilde