Hosts

Nikki Bedi

Presenter, The Arts Hour

Nikki Bedi is an international television and radio broadcaster with a passion for making arts and culture accessible. She has covered the arts across the globe for over two decades and interviewed some of the world’s biggest names and talents, celebrities and industry heavyweights. Nikki currently curates, writes and hosts The Arts Hour, the BBC World Service’s flagship arts and culture program.  

Marnie Chesterton

Presenter, Unexpected Elements

Marnie Chesterton is the presenter on Unexpected Elements on the BBC World Service. She has two decades of experience of working in audio, predominantly in science and health programmes. She spent 7 years making science and environment output for Radio Netherlands Worldwide, and has been with the BBC since 2013, producing science radio and podcasts for the BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4. Her background is in anatomy, but she’s drawn to the magic of Dark Matter, and loves telling stories about how the world fits together.   

James Coomarasamy

Host, BBC Newshour

James Coomarasamy has been one of the hosts of BBC World Service Radio’s Newshour programme since 2010. James spent fifteen years as a BBC Correspondent in Washington, Paris, Moscow and Warsaw. He is a fluent Russian & French speaker, who frequently presents from the field and played a prominent role in the BBC World Service coverage of the last six US presidential elections. Jamie will be presenting the BBC World Service coverage of this year's US midterm elections. 

Tim Franks

Presenter, Newshour

Tim Franks anchors BBC World Service's leading international current affairs program Newshour, which broadcasts globally and on a range of public radio stations in the U.S. Previously, Tim was an award-winning foreign correspondent for the BBC. For three years, he was the BBC's Middle East correspondent, based in Jerusalem. He spent five years prior to that as the BBC's Europe Correspondent, based in Brussels, and reporting across the continent. He also, during this period, spent extended time in Iraq during the war of 2003, and in its aftermath.

Asma Khalid

BBC Host, The Global Story

Asma Khalid is the co-host of a new daily news podcast and radio show that launched this September from the BBC called The Global Story. She’s based in Washington DC, with a co-host in London — and together they tell the stories of where the world and America meet. 

Prior to joining the BBC, Asma was a White House correspondent for NPR and a co-host of The NPR Politics Podcast. She was also a regular fill-in anchor on flagship public radio shows, like Morning Edition and Here & Now. 

Asma has spent her career in public radio – much of it as longtime U.S. political reporter. But in addition to countless counties across America, her reporting has also taken her abroad -- to Pakistan, the United Kingdom and China.

Her reporting has been recognized with the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism, as well as awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Gracie Award.

James Menendez

Presenter, Newshour

James Menendez is an anchor of the BBC Newshour, which broadcasts globally on BBC World Service via public radio partners in the U.S. He joined the program in 2012 having worked as a host, correspondent, and producer internationally for the BBC. Prior to anchoring Newshour, James was the BBC's correspondent in Venezuela from 2003-2004. He has worked globally for the BBC as a correspondent, reporting from across the Middle East and Haiti, Columbia, and Europe. James has also worked for the BBC as a world affairs producer, which included deployments to a range of countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kuwait.   

Tristan Redman

BBC Host, The Global Story

Tristan Redman is co-host of the BBC’s Global Story podcast and a journalist with 20 years of experience in the field. He hosted the #1 hit podcast Ghost Story, which topped the charts around the world and won the 2024 Ambie for Best Documentary. The show was the Guardian’s #1 podcast of 2023, was nominated for the Rose d’Or and was called “one of the medium’s greatest achievements" by Apple. Tristan has reported on the Arab Spring in Egypt, Libya, and Syria for Al Jazeera English. He’s covered conflicts in central Africa, the war in Ukraine, and the Hong Kong democracy protests. He lives in Paris.