User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/Today in Focus

Today in Focus (TiF) is a daily news podcast hosted by Anushka Asthana launched on November 1, 2018 by the British daily newspaper The Guardian.

Anushka Asthana
Anushka Asthana was appointed joint political editor at The Guardian in 2015. Previously she worked with Sky News as senior political correspondent where she covered the 2015 United Kingdom general election. At The Times, she worked as chief political correspondent and a columnist. At The Observer she was policy editor and deputy news editor. She won the Laurence Stern Fellowship in 2006 and worked at The Washington Post. Her major reports on politics and women were published by Mumsnet and Ipsos MORI.

Episodes
The British Media Awards (BMA) said that some of TiF "highlights" include "A day of Brexit chaos; Why is Steve Bannon in Europe?" on November 22, 2018, "Is this the end for the Sicilian Mafia?" on December 18, 2018, "Venezuela crisis: can Maduro ride out Guaidó’s challenge?" on January 30, 2018, "A day of Brexit chaos" on November 16, 2018.

In their September 13, 2019 episode, entitled "A 2,000 km journey through the Amazon rainforest", guest Mexico City-based Tom Phillips talks with Asthana about his trip through Rondônia and Amazonas, Brazilian-states that were the most affected by the 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires. He traveled over 2,000 km investigating the environmental impact of the policies of Brazilian’s president, Jair Bolsonaro. Phillips is The Guardian's Latin America correspondent and who has contributed to The Telegraph, The Sun, Newsweek, Business Insider, and many other publications.

In their October 19, 2019 episode, entitled "Naming and shaming the polluters", guest Jonathan Watts "discusses the Guardian's investigation into the fossil fuel industry."

In the November 1, 2019 episode, against the backdrop of the Essex lorry deaths, Annie Kelly, who is a journalist with The Guardian and Observer, and has years of experience as an investigative reporter, talks about human trafficking in the UK, where there are, at least, "15,000 people trapped in a form of modern slavery". Kelly has worked on stories related to human trafficking and slavery for many years—including reportage on "child trafficking in Uganda", "former child soldiers in Liberia", "corrective rape in South Africa", and the "branding of domestic sex trafficking victims in the US".

Reviews and awards
According to the 2019 British Media Awards (BMA), The Guardian's' "flagship" news podcast, Today in Focus, was an "immediate success". MBA said that "in three months average daily listens have grown fivefold, with a 30% increase in the last month. The show is consistently in the UK's top ten iTunes news podcast chart, and regularly in the top ten for all UK podcasts. With over 600 reviews it has a 5-star Apple Store rating." BMA said that TiF was known for its "accessible, informative and diverse content." The British Media Awards, which was created in 2011, held their awards ceremony on May 22, 2019 at the London Hilton on Park Lane.

Today in Focus was the silver winner in the 2019 The Lovie Awards for the best series. The Lovie Awards—named after Ada Lovelace—who was the first female computer programmer, was established in 2010 to recognize the digital creativity of online sites with resonance and pertinence in Europe. Other winners include BBC Future— awarded the 2019 Lovie Award for best writing.

Podcast Insights placed Today in Focus 21st on the list of "Top 100 UK Podcasts".