Like '1984', 'Catch 22' is one of those books that's become a part of our everyday language.

But when it comes to contemporary society, what exactly did Joseph Heller's famous satire predict?

This is the question we attempt to unravel in the final episode of our first season. Helping us are three guests: Business Insider reporter Isobel Hamilton; her father, the legendary writer/comedian Andy Hamilton; and Guardian journalist Amelia Gentleman.

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'Good Omens' is a book written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, 30 years ago.

This year it also became a TV show.

There's a reason for that. Now, with international tensions and the shadow of climate change constantly hanging over us, the story's apocalyptic themes feel more relevant than ever.

In this episode we spoke to Neil Gaiman and the cast about all the ways the story anticipated the world we live in today.

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'1984' turned 70 years old today, but it doesn't feel outdated. In fact, it's constantly coming back to dominate the news. Just a few days ago, CNN's Jake Tapper tweeted a quote from the book that went viral.

In this second part of our exploration into how much of the Orwellian dystopia has come true, we look at the three giants in our world today: China, the US, and Russia.

June 4 marked the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests in China, which saw the Communist Party there affirm power at all costs as other socialist regimes were starting to crumble. In those 30 years, China has used technology to enforce a total surveillance state. We talk to the New York Times' Paul Mozer about how far China has been able to emulate the Orwellian totalitarian state.

We then move on to America, where the Trump presidency has totally upended democracy as the only game in town and has started to slowly chip away at deeply ingrained American values. We talk to Media Matters for America's Matthew Gertz about the complex and intertwined relationship between Donald Trump and Fox News.

Lastly, we talk to the London School of Economics' Peter Pomerantsev about what happened to an authoritarian state that failed – the Soviet Union – and how in the years that followed Russia seemed to get really rather good at anticipating the legitimacy crises democracies are facing today.

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