This Is Why

A notorious killer convicted of murder more than 30 years ago has finally faced the death penalty – execution by lethal injection. Except Christa Pike didn’t die.
Investigative journalist John North was one of the few people allowed inside a maximum-security facility in Nashville, Tennessee, to witness Pike’s death. What happened next was one of the most extraordinary moments in America’s troubled history with the death penalty.
Speaking to Niall Paterson, John describes in detail how the execution went wrong, why Christa Pike’s violent murder of Colleen Slemmer still resonates three decades later, and the heartbreaking response of her victim’s family.
And as the country prepares for its first public execution in almost a century – with plans to livestream former US Army major Nidal Hasan’s death by firing squad – Niall and John discuss why state-sponsored killing remains such a divisive topic in American society.
Warning: This episode contains graphic details of Christa Pike’s original crime and attempted execution, which some listeners may find distressing.
Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

Taking a hot shower, heating your home, cooking dinner – all things we take for granted. All at risk.
Britain’s gas storage levels are at a decade-low, while the UK’s largest storage facility faces closure as its stockpiles near empty.
Wars in the Middle East and Ukraine continue to constrain supplies and push up prices. And what if Donald Trump goes through with his threat to put "America first" and stop the flow of fuel abroad?
Niall Paterson is joined by Sky's economics and data editor Ed Conway, who was given exclusive access to a previously unseen emergency planning exercise – revealing what would happen if the country runs out of gas.
You can watch Ed’s full investigation here.
Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk

Imagine being tear-gassed and targeted with stun grenades – all for complaining about timetables, absent teachers and crumbling classrooms.
That’s the experience of thousands of French students, whose initial demonstrations over high school conditions have evolved into a wider national protest across 40 towns and cities.
Parents, teachers and a sympathetic public have all joined pupils on the barricades. But far-right groups have accused those on the left of politicising the movement.
And while the use of stun grenades has now been suspended in France, the response from the police and government has been heavy-handed and heavily criticised – just months before a general election.
Niall Paterson is joined by NBC News chief foreign correspondent and co-host of The World podcast, Richard Engel – and Ruby Celemenski, a 17-year-old student in Lyon who has witnessed the police response first-hand.

Cheat Sheet - all the news you need to know in 10 minutes.
On today’s episode, Wilfred Frost and Lucy McDaid discuss whether there could be a “Badenoch bounce” following the Tory leader’s party conference speech later.
Meanwhile, a death row inmate is said to be “conscious and speaking” after surviving a failed execution attempt.
Wilf and Lucy also discuss the student protests in France, the death of a Russian lab worker from suspected pneumonic plague, and England’s win over the Czech Republic in the Nations League.

In the 14th Century, the Black Death wiped out up to half the population of Europe. So, no wonder world leaders, including Donald Trump, are keeping a careful watch on a plague scare in Eastern Russia.
One laboratory worker from a plague research facility in Siberia has died, with fears they may have been exposed to pneumonic plague – the most virulent and dangerous form of the disease. A further 200 people were placed in quarantine.
With the Covid pandemic still fresh in people’s minds, what is pneumonic plague and how worried should we be about a potential outbreak?
Niall Paterson speaks to Sky’s science and medical correspondent Thomas Moore.
Have you got a question for Niall? Email us: why@sky.uk