VIDEOS & TEXTS TO HELP YOU LEARN ENGLISH

"It's really important that you succeed at what you're doing but that isn't going to be the measure of your life," said Professor Clayton Christensen.
The Harvard Business School professor, one of the most important business thinkers of the 21st Century, explains that too often we measure success in life by the progress we make in our careers. So, how do we make sure that we don't forget our ethics and the things we should really value?

Coronavirus: The Big Questions 

An interview with Bill Gates

How the world was changed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Financial Times commentator Martin Wolf discusses how our response to the Covid pandemic could impact the way we live.

The two tech giants - the world's richest companies - went to war over data privacy. Apple, the highest value brand in the world, said it wants to protect your private data. Facebook, with 3 billion users, said it needs to use your data. So, what happened ...?

After surviving a stroke a few people suffer unusual brain damage that stops them from speaking. The condition is known as aphasia and it transforms peoples lives. This award-winning film follows three survivors as they fight against aphasia.

The story of Ireland's historic 2018 referendum on whether to make abortion legal. Abortion was illegal in Ireland and many women paid up to $4000 to travel to the UK for the operation. Ireland was deeply divided over the issue. Meet the campaigners from both sides of the debate, go behind the scenes at a UK abortion clinic and hear from the Irish women who travelled for treatment, listen to a woman who arranged illegal abortions in Ireland, and get the reaction to the 2018 vote by Irish people.

How can the language you speak affect the decisions you make? Behavioral economist Keith Chen has come up with a fascinating idea: that people who speak languages without a concept for the future -- "It rain tomorrow," instead of "It will rain tomorrow" -- behave differently from speakers of 'futured' languages. 

Is it possible to be more effective in your virtual meetings? Body language expert Rachel Cossar explains how you can improve. Most of us know the basics of setting up the webcam, looking good, and using video-chat software. However, Cossar says it is also about bringing intention, focus, and your whole self to the conversation. Watch and learn 3 simple things you can change.

Could the best meat be grown in a laboratory from animal DNA? We take a look at this new technology and how it could be the best alternative to factory farms.  

Animal agriculture accounts for 25% of global greenhouse gases. We look at the reasons for going vegan and whether businesses could be part of a move from animal products. 

Journalists go undercover to expose criminals in the plastic recycling business. They discover Canadian firms that are illegally exporting waste plastic to Malaysia where it’s dumped or burned, killing people and poisoning the land. The news team tracks plastic waste, showing how companies are exploiting loopholes in recycling laws.

Where does your recycled plastic go? Most of it ends up getting shipped to Asia – countries with very poor recycling facilities. Inevitably, it’s burned, dumped in landfills or ends up in the ocean. Governments are bringing in measures to restrict our use of plastic, but do these laws helping or are they making things worse? 

  The consumer movement against plastic packaging is gathering momentum, and companies are beginning to respond. We take a closer look at some of the more innovative products available, including reusable takeaway cups and compostable packaging. Meanwhile, as part of its sustainable strategy, food giant Nestlé is looking to create plastic that’s easier to recycle.

The world produces around 50 million tonnes of e-waste every year and that could double by 2050. We need to extract e-waste’s valuable parts more efficiently, develop the second-hand market for e-products, and stop constantly upgrading our phones, tablets, and laptops.

The world is transitioning away from fossil fuels, but oil and gas companies are looking towards a new growth market – plastic. Producers like ExxonMobil, Sinopec and Dow Chemical are planning for growth but consumers are fed up with plastic waste, and governments around the world are considering limits to plastic production.

What’s the plastics circular economy? It’s a sustainable model where plastics remain in circulation longer and are reused and recycled at the end of their life. Helped by tech innovation, consumer demand, and government policy, it’s now an opportunity for investors.  

There’s a problem, though. 

Typically, recycled plastic (for example, bottles or packaging) is remade into lower-value products such as carpet fibre. This loss of value is due to the limits of sorting and cleaning technology.