This week, as part of the Be Hope Podcast Takeover, we talk to guerilla gardener and nature rights campaigner Kalpana Arias about her work and what makes her feel hopeful.

We also talk about new social media rules in the EU, a scheme to encourage more people to read in Singapore, and whether e-scooters should be banned.

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A rug factory in Rangpur, Bangladesh, has been named the world’s best new building outside the UK, and Bex, Eve and Joe talk through why the Green Field Factory by Nakshabid Architects won the RIBA International Prize, from its courtyards, ponds and gardens to a rooftop daycare centre for the children of the more than 5,000 people who work there.

There’s also Mont Blanc shrinking by more than a metre in the past year, audiobook trainers that open Spotify with a tap of your phone for Real or Rubbish, Sgiath the Labrador, who sniffs out sea squirts, crowned Animal of the Year as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether schools should scrap screens.

Plus who the team would make out of cake after a baker’s model of the Princess of Wales, the results of the data centres debate, a painted pen pot and a cardboard bed den from the inbox, Helen Parry’s A Scrap of Moss and Magic as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy.

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Brazil has re-elected Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as its president, and Bex, Eve and Joe talk through how Lula beat Flávio Bolsonaro in the second round of voting after trailing him in the first, helped by nearly three million extra voters and young campaigners who became known as “Lula’s army”.

There’s also 13-year-old Naré from Armenia winning the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Malta, a front garden full of Halloween decorations for Real or Rubbish, Harry Kane becoming the first UK winner of the Ballon d’Or in 25 years as hero of the week, and a big debate on whether Halloween costumes should be creepy.

Plus Nessie, Paddington and a pet dog as cake ideas from your voice notes, the results of the screens in schools debate, kitchen roll ghosts and spooky Halloween toast from the inbox, Eiko Kadono’s Kiki and the New Magic as Book of the Week, and your chance to win a copy.

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