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Kate Adie introduces insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents and writers.

Kate Adie introduces insight, wit and analysis from BBC correspondents, journalists and writers telling stories from around the world.

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From Our Own Correspondent: A change of pace in the White House

20/05/2021

A change of pace in the White House

BBC Radio 4 - From Our Own Correspondent, A change of pace in the White House

Washington reporters adapt to a new tempo; Armenian POWs; Eurovision; the Danube; France.

The Washington press corps adapts to a new tempo; Armenia calls for its POWs to come home; plus tales from the Eurovision contest, the River Danube and Monet's gardens in France.

President Biden’s administration has plenty to do – and has gone about doing it at a less hectic pace than its predecessor. The Democrats say their plans are all about ‘rebuilding America’  with proposals for huge infrastructure projects as well as social care reform. Senior Republicans have called it 'the most socialist agenda' Congress has ever voted on. Anthony Zurcher has been feeling a different mood in DC.

The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno Karabakh last year cost Armenia dearly, in territory and lives. A truce deal, backed by Russia, was meant to get all prisoners of war back home. But Armenia says around 200 of its citizens are still in captivity. Rayhan Demytrie reports.

Nick Thorpe, the BBC’s correspondent in Budapest, is no stranger to the River Danube. He’s travelled its length twice, has written a book and made a series of documentary films on it. But this week, he met his match - a hardy couple of adventurers who've been paddling upstream for weeks, only leaving the water to sleep. 

The buzz over the Eurovision Song Contest is a little quieter this year in Rotterdam – though we can still expect blaring power ballads. Singing indoors is a high-risk activity these days. Covid-19 restrictions don't make the easiest conditions for a festival of unity. But Steve Rosenberg’s enthusiasm is undampened.

The work of Claude Monet is deeply rooted in nature. For him, plants and landscapes weren’t simply pretty things to be observed, but the core of his inspiration. From 1883, at his home in Giverny in Normandy, he cultivated specific views to contemplate. His gardens are usually a major visitor attraction but languished unseen through much of 2020. As they got ready for a limited reopening, Christine Finn had an early look.

Producer: Polly Hope

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