The missing cryptoqueen Dr Ruja Ignatova burst on to the cryptocurrency scene with OneCoin, which promised to be "the Bitcoin killer". With a larger-than-life persona, she persuaded millions of people to join her financial revolution, promising to take down establishment banking and make everyone rich in the process.

Then the Romanian business woman disappeared. In The Missing Cryptoqueen, British author Jamie Bartlett goes on a journey to find out why. This is a story that has it all: adventure, mystery, and danger, but above all provides incredible insight into new societal challenges borne of our digital lives and age-old ones: greed and herd mentality.

Eliza, managing editor BBC: The Missing Cryptoqueen (listening time: 23 minutes)
Witnessing the demise of a democracy in real time The story about the first US presidential debate – that we actually shouldn’t call a debate at all – isn’t that Donald J Trump interrupted Joe Biden, or that he called him names, or broke decorum. The real story here is, in fact, that Trump is explicitly rejecting democracy in favour or authoritarianism, and rallying his supporters to do the same.

No dog whistles, bull horns. It’s all out in the open, these – as autocracy expert Masha Gessen calls them – “autocratic attempts”. Sowing doubt about the legitimacy of the elections, telling white supremacist groups to “stand by”. The way Dan Froomkin puts it all together in this clear overview, you can’t escape the conclusion: we’re witnessing the demise of a democracy in real time.

Rob, founding editor Press Watch: ‘Trump wasn’t just telling his people what to do, he was showing them how to do it’ (reading time: six minutes)
Following in the fugitive artist’s footsteps One of the most impressive painters in history is also a murderer. In 1606, Caravaggio, the master of Italian Renaissance, ran his sword through a man after he lost a wager on a tennis match. He fled Rome, found refuge in Naples, then on Sicily, after that on Malta, and finally succumbed in an attempt to retrieve three of his paintings in Tuscany.

Nigerian writer and photographer Teju Cole recounts in a phenomenal way how he retraced the fleeing Caravaggio’s steps four centuries later. The Italian artist’s increasing restlessness and fear are visible in his work through the years: “the brushwork becoming looser, the subject matter more morbid”.

Caravaggio’s art was so much more than just outstanding craftsmanship or creative genius: with his paintings he hoped to flatter powerful protectors – the Pope in Rome, the Order of St John on Malta – who might be able to prevent his troublesome past from catching up with him.

Riffy, general editor De Correspondent New York Times: ‘In dark times, I sought out the turmoil of Caravaggio’s paintings’ (reading time: 45 minutes)

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