Saint, Sinner, Freedom Fighter, Leader, Follower, Symbol of the Divine Feminine - Mary Magdalene is one of the most controversial and significant figures in Christian history. But what does it mean to walk in her footsteps today? In this episode Natasha Serlin embarks on a personal journey to connect with her legacy and explore how it resonates with her today.Natasha traces a path through Southern France, beginning at the spot where Mary is believed to have first arrived: Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer, and continuing to the cave of Saint Baume where she is said to have spent the final 30 years of her life.

First, work feels more uncertain than it has in years. Layoffs, AI disruption, hiring freezes and a tough job market are leaving many people out of work or stuck. So instead of hopping jobs for better pay or new opportunities, more people are doing the opposite. They are staying put, even if they are unhappy. It is called “job hugging”. But is it a smart move in an unstable world, or could it hold you back in the long run? The BBC’s business reporter Emer Moreau takes us through the trend. Then later, we hear about Hannah's experience with rejection therapy - where you deliberately put yourself in situations where you might get rejected, to see if it can help with social anxiety. From asking strangers for favours to dancing on trains, people are documenting their experiences online. Supporters say it helps people build resilience, reduce anxiety and stop taking rejection personally. Claudia Hammond, a psychologist and BBC presenter, helps us unpack if it actually works. To hear more, search What in the World wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

The Interface is your weekly guide to the tech rewiring your week and your world. Hosted by journalists Thomas Germain, Nicky Woolf, and Karen Hao, each episode unpacks, week by week, how technology is shaping all our futures. No guests. No jargon. Just three sharp voices debating the stories that matter - whether they shook a government, broke the internet, or quietly tipped the balance of power.

In this episode, Tom and Nicky head deep into the TikTok Farlands - the semi mythical place you supposedly reach if you scroll too far, too late, until your feed stops looking normal and starts serving up surreal, eerie and deeply unhinged videos. The name comes from Minecraft’s Far Lands, the glitched edge of the map where the world used to break apart, and TikTok users have borrowed it to describe the “end of the algorithm”: a strange zone of distorted edits, ominous warnings, weirdcore imagery and recurring figures like the now iconic fat bee playing the violin. TikTok’s Farlands have become a shorthand for what happens when doomscrolling tips into digital folklore.

But the Farlands aren’t just a joke. Tom and Nicky ask what this trend says about internet culture now. In a platform ecosystem dominated by polish, branding and optimisation, the Farlands feel like the return of an older internet: raw, surreal, handmade and proudly bizarre. At the same time, the meme also works as a critique of doomscrolling itself — turning algorithmic exhaustion into shared mythology, and making people newly conscious of how deep into the feed they’ve wandered.

So in this episode, we ask: is the TikTok Farlands a genuine return of weird, creative internet culture — or just another algorithmic genre?

Also in this episode: Karen looks at how AI detection tools may be changing the way we all write. As detectors spread through schools, publishing and professional life, students, teachers and writers are increasingly shaping their prose around what software might flag - dropping stylistic quirks, sanding off rhythm, and checking their own work in advance for fear of a false accusation. Researchers say the central problem is not just whether detectors catch AI, but how they balance false positives and false negatives in high stakes settings. And with a growing parallel market of “humanizer” tools promising to make AI text sound more human - and pass detection - the result may be an arms race that leaves everyone writing in a flatter, safer and more paranoid style.

To hear more, search The Interface wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

For three years a brutal civil war has been raging in Sudan. Hundreds of thousands have been killed. Millions have been forced from their homes. But the war has other hidden costs – particularly for the young. It’s estimated that 60% of the population is under 25, and millions have lost out on their education. Now after the capital Khartoum was recaptured by the army, for the first time in years, school and universities have re-opened in the city. But as Mohanad Hashim reports, the lives of Khartoum’s youth are still shaped by war.

Reporter: Mohanad Hashim Producer: Alex Last Sound mix: Neil Churchill Production coordinator: Katie Morrison Series Editor: Penny Murphy

(Image: Kids on a swing at a communal kindergarten in Khartoum. It was set up by local mothers who stayed during the battle for the city. Credit Alex Last/BBC)