Ft Big Read

Once the model for countries across the world desperate to improve education standards, the effectiveness of Sweden’s for-profit schools are being questioned after the country plummeted down the OECD ratings. Helen Warrell reports from Sweden.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The FT's Tehran correspondent Najmeh Bozorgmehr reports from the Zayandeh Roud, an ancient river in Iran that has dried up amid a wider water crisis in the country.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Two FT journalists report from different sides of the US border, speaking to Hondurans fleeing poverty and violence for a better life in America, and to Texan citizens who witness illegal immigrants - often unaccompanied children - crossing the border.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As sectarian violence in Iraq spreads, many people are beginning to talk about the possibility that the country might be split into Sunni, Shia and Kurdish states. The FT's Borzou Daragahi reports from Baghdad on what that might mean for the country and its people.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Investors are flocking into Africa's frontier markets. But tapping into such growth brings its own hazards, as Katrina Manson, the FT's East Africa correspondent, reports.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ahead of Indonesia's elections in July, Ben Bland reports on the remarkable ascent of the frontrunner, Joko Widodo, who has been propelled from the obscurity of provincial politics to the global spotlight.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Far from uniting Brazil, the World Cup has in some places exposed growing public antipathy. Many Brazilians are angry at spiralling costs while others blame a police crackdown in the slums for the rise of children working as drug dealers. Samantha Pearson and Joe Leahy report.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Secret sanction-evading oil deals were only the start of corruption that thrived under Ahmadi-Nejad. Can the country clean up now President Rouhani is in charge? Najmeh Bozorgmehr, the FT's Tehran correspondent, reports.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

More than two and a half years before the 2016 election, the scaffolding to support a Hillary for president campaign is already substantially built. Richard McGregor reports from Washington DC.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Young activists in Egypt helped overthrow two presidents. But now, many are so disillusioned with the country's politics that they have decided not to vote in week's presidential election. Heba Saleh, the FT's Cairo correspondent, reports.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We talk to Peter Spiegel, the FT's Brussels bureau chief, about his groundbreaking series of articles on the worst days of the eurozone crisis, and he answers a selection of reader questions.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ahead of European elections in late May, Kiran Stacey and Jim Pickard take an in-depth look at the rise of the UK Independence Party and its leader Nigel Farage.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Long term unemployment can take a huge toll on individuals, but it also carries grave consequences for the overall economy. James Politi, US political correspondent, looks at why levels of long term joblessness remain high in the US, and whether government efforts to tackle the problem are proving effective.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Are shareholder activists fearless advocates for investors or opportunists chasing a quick buck? Stephen Foley, the FT's US investment correspondent, reports from New York.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Twenty years after almost a million people died in Rwanda, Katrina Manson, the FT's East Africa correspondent, reports from Kigali on the fractures that remain in the country, the efforts of President Paul Kagame's government to rebuild, and future threats to stability.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.