Russia recently banned gambling across the country, save for four tiny and isolated ‘special zones’. Supporters of the law claim that the casinos support organized crime, bankrupt people, and are relics of the lawlessness that took control of Russia after the fall of the USSR.

But is gambling always, entirely bad? Declan Lynch is the author of Free Money: The Gambler’s Quest. He believes there’s something intrinsically satisfying to the human spirit to gamble. Attempts like the one in Russia to control gambling are puzzling, he says, as repression of people’s urge to gamble only drives the business into organized crime.

But there’s one casino in the US state of Iowa that is very different from organised crime. It’s called Prairie Meadows, and it’s run as a non-profit company. It’s given millions away in community grants and scholarships.

Take a listen to our segment on the right to gamble.

Below you can hear the rest of this week's programme:

The right to proselytize:

In God’s name
Samir is Lebanese and a Southern Baptist. He’s also a filmmaker and photographer travelling around the world not only taking beautiful pictures but also using every opportunity he can find to spread the word of his evangelical faith.

For whom we serve
Idris Tawfiq was once a Roman Catholic priest working in England . He’s now a Muslim based in Cairo and travels the world talking to people about his faith. “I don’t like the word proselytise,” he says. “It’s never been my way.”

In God we don’t trust
Ariane Sherine was so bothered by a religious advertisement she saw on the side of a London bus, she wrote about it in a British newspaper and sparked public anti-religious advertisements all over the world.

Violence trumps words
The president of Nigeria has offered amnesty to militant groups in the country. One of them, MEND (Movements for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) has rejected the amnesty and continues to attack oil companies. A spokesman for the group explains that in his part of the world, violence works.