Our show is about where the world and America meet.
And so we want to begin this year by looking at a few people who might be at the center of the news in that zone.
People who intersect with some of the big themes and stories that we think might define 2026.
Some of them you might know and some of them you might not.
This isn't about heroes and villains.
It's about power and influence to change things.
And frankly, these days the world is so unpredictable that by this time next year,
it might feel like we are living in a radically different place.
But we think this is worth doing anyways.
From the BBC, I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C.
And I'm Tristan Redmond in London, and today on The Global Story,
our picks for the people who could change the world in 2026.
Well, friends, we were going to do this for our very first episode in 2026,
but we couldn't because some big news happened in Venezuela and that got in the way,
but we're bringing it to you now instead.
So, as I often like to say, speculation is the lowest form of journalism.
Except in this episode where we are going to speculate about who we think the most influential and important figures of 2026 are going to be.
So drum roll, Asma.
Here we go, here we go.
This doesn't sound as good when people have it blasted into their headphones,