The life expectancy of Americans has fallen in recent years after a long period when it had been increasing. There are a number of factors which contribute to the fall. The Covid pandemic, with over 1m deaths, made a significant impact on lowering the average life expectancy. In comparison with other peer countries, the USA also did not return to pre-Covid levels at the same rate. However there are also other important factors driving this, namely gun deaths and drug deaths as a result of opioid overdoses. And another major contributor to lower life expectancy in the States is inequality in the US healthcare system. In this edition of The Inquiry Tanya Beckett explores why US life expectancy is falling. She hears from Jeremy Ney an adjunct professor at Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco and author of American Inequality, a data project that highlights US inequality and regional divides. Dr. Mark Rosenberg helped set up the Centre for Disease Control’s National Centre for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) and is a key proponent of research that examines how to reduce gun violence. He explains how gun deaths among young people have a big influence on the average life expectancy numbers. Dr. Judith Feinberg, is a professor at West Virginia University School of Medicine - her experience of working with communities with high levels of opioid problems makes her an authority on the extent to which drug overdose deaths impact average life expectancy. Ellen Marra is a professor of health economics at Harvard University - she says that diseases such as cancer and cardio deaths are big factors in lower life expectancy, compared with the number of gun and opioid deaths. CREDITS Presenter Tanya Beckett Producer Phil Reevell. Researcher Bisi Adebayo Editor Tom Bigwood Image: USA Birthday Cake, Credit: Getty Images

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is ageing and his ruling Fatah party is deeply unpopular. There have been protests against him and the Palestinian Authority. Many Palestinians feel the PA has lost legitimacy. There’s no plan for how to choose a successor to Mahmoud Abbas and any candidate is likely to be controversial. There’s a risk that an unpopular replacement may throw the occupied territories into chaos, even violence, and have major implications for the future goals of Palestinian people. Contributors: Dalia Hatuqa, independent Palestinian journalist. Khalil Shikaki, Professor of Political Science and director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. Ahmad Khalidi, political analyst and writer on Palestinian and Middle East political and strategic affairs. Ines Abdel Razak, executive director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy. Presenter: Emily Wither Producer: Louise Clarke Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tara McDermott Sound engineer: Jack Wood (Photo: Palestinians celebrate vote. Credit: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

How much do you think about your gut? Are you taking a probiotic or prebiotic? If so, you’re not alone as globally we spend billions of dollars on soothing our stomachs. Our guts do so much more than just digest our food and there’s a very special connection to our brain. So how exactly does our gut work? And what do we need to do in order to keep it healthy? Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Louise Clarke Researcher: Matt Toulson Sound engineer: Nicky Edwards Contributors: Geoff Preidis, a gastroenterologist at Baylor college of medicine at Texas children’s hospital in Houston (Photo: Man bites in to cheeseburger. Credit: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)

In July 2023 a group of lawmakers in the US held a session to explore evidence of extra-terrestrial life. The evidence included the famous Tic Tac videos of mysterious objects flying through the sky. Pilots described encounters with Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon – or UAPs. Congress also heard of a secret US government programme that retrieves and reverse engineers materials made by non-humans, including crashed and intact craft – and possibly the remains of the entities that piloted them. So does this mean we are not alone in the universe? Do sightings and hearsay provide enough scientific data to answer a question that has been asked by humans for thousands of years – are we alone in the universe? Contributors: Greg Eghigian is professor of history and bioethics at Penn State University in the US. Leslie Kean is an investigative reporter. Adam Frank is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Rochester, and author of The Little Book of Aliens. Dr Chelsea Haramia is a member of the UK SETI Research Network Post-detection Hub. Presented by Charmaine Cozier Produced by Louise Clarke Researched by Matt Toulson and Bisi Adebayo Editor Tom Bigwood Mixed by Kelly Young (UFO crash site sign in Roswell, New Mexico USA / Getty Images)

Working from home became the norm for millions of us around the globe during the Covid-19 pandemic, but now three years on some major employers are insisting on their employees returning to the office, for at least some part of the working week. The levels of working from home currently vary, depending on the country and its culture. The Netherlands are looking at legislation to allow employees the ability to work remotely, whilst in Japanese culture the preference for employees tends to be going into the office. So how do we navigate a future where both business and personnel needs are met to provide a good work life balance. This week on the Inquiry we’re asking ‘Is work from home working?’ Contributors: Jose Maria Barrero, Assistant Professor of Finance at ITAM Business School, Mexico and Co-Founder of WFH Research project Dr Saori Sugeno, Lecturer in Corporate Governance and International Business, Surrey Business School, University of Surrey Román Gil, Partner in law firm Sagardoy Abogadas, the Spanish firm of Ius Laboris, global employment law alliance for multinational companies. Dr Wladislaw Rivkin, Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Trinity Business School, Dublin, Ireland Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producer: Jill Collins Researcher: Matt Toulson Editor: Tom Bigwood Technical Producer: Kelly Young Production Co-ordinator: Brenda Brown (A working from home environment / Getty images)