The Documentary Podcast

God, grief and the chatbot

03 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

When Megan Garcia travelled to Rome, she carried with her a mother’s grief. At the Vatican she met the Pope and asked him to pray for her son Sewell...

The Saltmakers

02 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In India's Gujarat state lies the Little Rann of Kutch, a sprawling salt marsh desert where temperatures soar to 50 degrees Celsius. This harsh landsc...

Inheritance Samsung: 1. My kingdom for a horse

01 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In 2017, the heir to South Korea’s biggest company is facing jail, leaving it with an uncertain future. After 80 years of business, how did Samsung ...

India’s Shadow Children

31 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Stephanie was brought up in France in a French family, but her birth parents are Indian – she’s an intercountry adoptee. In the 1980s and 1990s t...

Kubra Khademi: Art of strength and survival

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On a busy street in Kabul, a young artist steps into traffic wearing a steel sculpture she has shaped around her breasts and buttocks. She calls the p...

Elana Meyers Taylor: A 20-year journey to gold

29 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Elana Meyers Taylor became the oldest-ever winner of an individual Winter Olympic gold medal when she won the women’s monobob event in Milan-Cortina...

80 years of the BBC Russian Service

28 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The BBC's Russian service marks its eightieth anniversary this week.  In eight decades, it has grown from a short wave radio service to a multimedia...

Bombings in Lebanon

28 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Lebanon’s citizens are again caught under fire. As many as a million people are displaced as they search for a place of safety and there are fears o...

Deaf Umrah

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Islamic religious practice is deeply entwined with sound, from the call to prayer to memorising the Quran; learning to recite the holy text is very mu...

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest~serving PM

26 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel’s longest serving prime minister. He was born in Tel Aviv in 1949, the year after the State of Israel was founded. One ...

Madagascar: From famine to hope

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Lying off the south-eastern coast of Africa, Madagascar has been pushed into crisis by a deadly combination of climate change, poverty and environment...

Billion dollar babies

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Eels are a popular food in parts of Asia, but they can’t be commercially bred in captivity. Coupled with trade bans to protect the highly endangered...

The Romeros: Developing digital games

23 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Brenda and John Romero are towering figures in modern game development, creators whose work has shaped how millions of players experience digital worl...

Is the revolution in Cuba over?

22 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Cuba is facing one of its most severe humanitarian crises in decades.For years, Cuba relied heavily on oil from Venezuela. Those supplies have largely...

Nepal - “Shot like enemies”

22 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Nepal has just held a historic election — one that has toppled the old political guard and swept a new generation of leaders into power, many backed...

Bangladeshi newspapers attacked by mob

21 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On 18th December 2025, the offices of two of Bangladesh's biggest newspapers, The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, were surrounded by mobs, attacked and se...

Navigating the Strait of Hormuz

21 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed by Iran for more than a fortnight, preventing vital supplies of oil and gas from leaving the Middle E...

Can yoga be Christian?

20 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Yoga is an ancient practice with its roots in Hinduism. It originated over 5,000 years ago in northern India, but for many, has now evolved from a spi...

Iran's media at war

19 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The war in Iran through the eyes of the Islamic Republic, and how Tehran’s restrictions on information went full throttle. The Global Jigsaw looks u...

Hope and fear: India's space revolution

18 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

India is revolutionising its approach to space exploration. Science journalist Alok Jha follows preparations for the country’s first human spaceflig...

How to spend billions – fast: Carney’s Defence Deadline

17 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has given his generals and admirals an unusual command: spend money. Lots of it. Quickly. For years, it was ...

Mariam Issoufou: Designing a museum

16 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Architect Mariam Issoufou has always been very ambivalent about museums: "Who decided that the only way to look at art is inside this intimidating, gr...

How the Oscars went international

15 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On Sunday, many of the film industry’s biggest stars will gather in Los Angeles for Hollywood’s biggest night: the 98th annual Academy Awards.Loom...

Europe's night train renaissance: Still on track?

15 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Night trains are making a comeback, once again connecting Europe’s cities with the promise of green, serene and iconic journeys. Just a decade ago, ...

Iran war: What's life like inside Iran?

14 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The United States and Israel have now been at war with Iran for two weeks, since 28th February. In that time, there have been over 1200 civilian death...

Iranians in London

14 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Five Iranians join host James Reynolds in the Naroon Persian restaurant in central London to share their experiences. In our conversation over dinner,...

The naked monks

13 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why would someone live publicly nude for their faith? In parts of India, Jain monks belonging to the Digambara sect permanently renounce all possessio...

The women of IS: Part three

12 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What next for the Syrian detention camps and their residents? After the fall of the so-called “caliphate”, tens of thousands of women and children...

The women of IS: Part two

11 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What next for the Syrian detention camps and their residents? After the fall of the so-called “caliphate”, tens of thousands of women and children...

The women of IS: Part one

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What next for the Syrian detention camps and their residents? After the fall of the so-called “caliphate", tens of thousands of women and children f...

Ukraine: The war behind the war

09 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

No one wants to do Major Serhiy Laziuk’s job. He travels from house to house in Lviv, western Ukraine, bringing families news of their loved ones a...

Graffiti across continents

08 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Bright geometric shapes make the graffiti work of Kenyan artist Wise Two really stand out. Michael Kaloki tracks how his bold style is evolving as he ...

Inside Russia’s ‘Youth Armies’

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The "Yunarmiya" or 'Youth army' is a movement that was founded in January 2016 by the Russian government. In total, more than 1.8 million children in ...

Iranians in London

07 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Five Iranians join presenter James Reynolds in the Naroon Persian restaurant in central London to share their experiences. In our conversation over di...

Leaving Isis: Is redemption possible?

06 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In 2014, Tareena Shakil, then 24, made a decision that would change her life forever. She secretly left the UK, telling her family she was on holiday,...

Forty-eight hours in Isfahan

05 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Eyewitnesses from a city in Iran describe how armed forces loyal to the Islamic regime killed countless protesters in a lethal crackdown on demonstrat...

Namibia’s hydrogen superpower dream

04 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A near-pristine desert wilderness on southern Africa’s remote Atlantic coast in Namibia could host a huge green hydrogen development, raising hope f...

Can Syria’s Kurds save their women’s revolution?

03 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

For 14 years, while Syria was divided by civil war, Kurds in the north-east of the country tried to build a new democratic society, with equality for ...

Kwan Pun Leung: The image creator of nature

02 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Shan Ng follows acclaimed Hong Kong and Taiwan cinematographer Kwan Pun Leung as he creates a new music video, Fragile Love. Known for his work on lan...

Rewriting a revolution

01 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On 25 February 1986 the Philippines, Asia’s oldest democracy peacefully took control of its destiny. Ferdinand Marcos, a democratically elected pres...

Will Venezuela ditch Chavismo?

28 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On the 3rd of January this year, Venezuela's President, Nicolas Maduro, was removed from office by a US military intervention. He was flown to the Uni...

Living with Tourette syndrome

28 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

When the film I Swear won three Bafta awards, what happened at the ceremony prompted a much bigger story and wider discussion. The film portrays the l...

When music became a prayer

27 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Concert pianist Yirui Weng, 32, grew up in a communist, atheist family in China, where religion played no part in her life. Music, however, always did...

Ukraine’s defiance, four years on

26 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This week marks four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the largest and deadliest conflict in Europe since WW2.Ukraine ha...

Bonus: Lives Less Ordinary

25 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Aged 16, coming out of an audition, budding British actor Dan Whitlam was caught up in a fight with a group of boys in London. He was stabbed twice in...

Russia's Church in Texas

24 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Not that long ago many church-going Americans saw Russia as a godless place, an “evil empire” in the words of Ronald Reagan. But in President Trum...

The Dream Makers

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In Christopher Nolan’s 2010 blockbuster Inception, Leonardo DiCaprio’s protagonist is paid to implant an idea into a target’s subconscious. If y...

Jason Gilkison: Choreographer for Strictly Come Dancing

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Jason Gilkison has for the past 10 years been the creative force behind the UK's top rating TV show, Strictly Come Dancing, better known around the wo...

Ukraine after four years of war

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The 24th of February will be the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Irena Taranyuk is joined by several of her BBC Ukra...

Remembering Ukrainians who have lost their lives in the war

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Just before dawn on 24 February 2022, Russia launched its full-scale attack on Ukraine. Since then, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands on both...

‘Oasis of peace’ in wartime

20 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Wahat al-Salam/Neve Shalom is a unique community located on a hilltop between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where Jewish and Palestinian families have lived...

Give me my child back

19 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Greenlandic parents across Denmark are fighting to be reunited with their children who were taken into care after authorities used ‘parenting compet...

Alex Eala: The tennis star who could be a game-changer for the Philippines

18 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The hottest ticket at this year's Australian Open tennis tournament wasn't to see Novak Djokovic or Iga Swiatek, or even the tournament's eventual win...

Fixing Chile’s fashion graveyard

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Chile’s Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on earth – often likened to Mars. It is also home to piles of dumped clothes from fast fashion ...

Bridgerton: Behind the scenes

16 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Producer Jess Brownell takes us behind the scenes of Bridgerton. When the first series of Bridgerton premiered in 2020, it offered a welcome escape, i...

Body image and weight loss drugs

14 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

An advert shown during this year’s Super Bowl has prompted a backlash on social media. In the ad, tennis champion Serena Williams promotes a weight ...

The spy who loved to dance

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In April 2022, two months after Russia invaded Ukraine, a man in his thirties called Victor Muller Ferreira flew into Amsterdam airport using a Brazil...

Kirsty Coventry: Becoming president of the IOC

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

With the 2026 Winter Olympics well under way in Italy, we look to the most powerful woman in sport - the International Olympics Committee president, K...

The Gaudí code

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Millions flock to Spain’s Sagrada Família to marvel at its towering tree-like columns, remarkable displays of light and ornate stonework. One hundr...

Kentucky’s Real People Radio

12 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

For Word Radio Day 2026, we visit WMMT in Whitesburg, Kentucky, one of many small community radio stations in the US threatened by cuts to government ...

Trump and Greenland: How MAGA went Arctic

11 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Why does President Trump really want Greenland? The Arctic territory is rich in vital minerals and oil. And it hosts an important American military ba...

Assignment: Loving, living and dying together in the Netherlands

10 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Els and Jan have fewer than three days left on Earth. Childhood sweethearts who met in kindergarten more than six decades ago, they know precisely whe...

New climbing video game

09 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Gaming writer Jordan Erica Webber on the epic task of building a virtual mountain for a prize-winning video game. She hears from the creators and voi...

Super Bowl LX

08 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Inspirational NFL stars Leonard Russell, Steve Wright, Jaime Coffee and Chris Poitras, COO of Jostens the jewellers who have made the vast majority of...

China's Population 'Rhinoceros'

07 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

China's population has shrunk, year on year, for four years in a row, pushing a country with a long history of official worry about overpopulation to ...

Returning to Gaza

07 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

For the first time since May 2024, people have been allowed to cross between Gaza and Egypt through the Rafah crossing – seen by many Palestinians a...

Caught on camera: Exposing China’s spycam porn

06 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Criminals are hiding video cameras in hotel rooms across China to secretly film and live stream unsuspecting victims having sex and then selling the f...

Game of clones

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In Argentina, cloning polo horses is transforming the sport. There are big companies, big profits and big ambitions. Against the backdrop of the Argen...

From American Pastor to Whirling Dervish

04 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Former Christian Minister Craig Fentor was in the midst of a deep spiritual void when he first picked up a book of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi’s poetry ...

India's sportswomen playing to be seen

03 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How sport is giving some young women in India a way out of child marriage and allowing them to be seen.Officially, the practice of child marriage is i...

Liberation Radio

02 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew Sweet reports from an exhibition in Sweden about American conscripts who sought refuge there during the war in Vietnam. He hears from sound ar...

Ukraine: Whose peace?

01 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Can diplomacy alone end the war in Ukraine in the absence of a compromise? After nearly four years of fighting and countless deaths, top diplomats fro...

Archaeology and war

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A top Russian archaeologist is currently under arrest in Poland. Alexander Butyagin is waiting for courts to decide on a request from Ukraine for him ...

ICE in Minnesota

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Over the past year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have become a visible force on American streets. Accused of using aggressive tact...

Jesus in a shop doorway

30 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

*** This episode contains distressing content, including references to suicide, drug use, and sexual and violent material *** Mick Fleming turned to d...

Hungary: The alternative to Orban

29 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In April 2026, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban faces fresh parliamentary elections. He has been in power since 2010, and his party's grip on the...

Shepherd's Eye In The Sky

28 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Africa's 250 million nomadic herders, or pastoralists, are the invisible keystone of the continent's food system. They provide 50% of Africa's meat an...

Nigeria: Killings, land and cattle

27 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On Christmas Day 2025, the US carried out missile strikes on suspected Islamist militants in Nigeria. They came after President Trump said he would in...

Mrinalini Mukherjee: Hemp sculptures

26 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Art from the circle of friends, family and teachers of artist Mrinalini Mukherjee is now on show at London's Royal Academy, alongside her giant hemp s...

US foreign policy in five doctrines

25 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Looking back at five big US foreign policy shifts from the Monroe doctrine in the 19th Century to the post-9/11 strategies of the Bush doctrine in the...

Protest in the age of the 'Kill Switch'

24 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the face of widespread protests, the Iranian government ‘switched off’ the country’s access to the internet on 8th January. In Uganda, prior ...

Living in Greenland

24 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Described by Donald Trump as “a giant piece of ice,” the world’s largest island has found itself at the centre of global attention. The presiden...

Daughters of thunder

23 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In small towns and rural areas across the south of the United States traditional family churches have long been key guardians of black culture, memory...

Bonus: Introducing: The History Bureau

21 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that draft turns out to be flawed? The History Bureau revisits the defining stories of ou...

Greece: Rescuers on Trial

20 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In a case with profound implications for European migration policy, two dozen former volunteer humanitarian workers have been on trial on the Greek is...

Black girlhood in photos and writing

19 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Black girls performing in a parade on the streets of Chicago and playing in the surf at Martha's Vineyard offer a glimpse of what it is like, growing ...

New elements

18 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

What does it take to make something which has never existed on Earth before? The search for element 120 on the periodic table has begun at the Lawrenc...

Kenyans lured to Russia's frontline

17 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Kenyan authorities recently reported that 200 of their citizens are fighting for Russia in the war in Ukraine. Many of them have reported that they tr...

Surviving an avalanche

17 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the past few days there have been a number of deaths on ski slopes in the Alps and, in recent months, hikers in Greece, climbers in Italy’s Dolom...

Eternal horizons

16 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

*** This programme contains graphic descriptions of body mutilation *** In the Nepalese Himalaya, one of the world’s rarest and most spiritually pro...

Stories from the New Silk Road: The Bering Sea

15 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In 1867, the US government bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million dollars. At the time, critics questioned the value of purchasing such an inhospi...

Putin's foreign fighters

13 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

*** This programme contains very strong language *** Over the past year, BBC Eye has followed the journeys of young men from Syria, Egypt, and Yemen w...

The Netherlands: 10 new cities?

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

'Start by lighting a candle every morning.’ In other words, pray. That’s the advice on one social media platform to those looking for a rented pro...

Bianca Raffaella: A world of blurred vision

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Bianca Raffaella is a partially sighted painter based in Margate. Working entirely by touch and memory, her flower and figure paintings emerge from a ...

Looking for No Man's Land

11 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Humans have spread to every corner of the globe, transforming ecosystems and reshaping landscapes. Is there anywhere left on Earth that is unaffected ...

Taraneh: Iran's defiant actress

10 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A recent BBC Persian documentary, Taraneh, has recieved millions of views online. It features an Iranian actress who is considered an icon in the coun...

Life in Venezuela

10 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

After the dramatic US military operation that saw Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife taken from the country and placed in a New York pri...

Living side by side: Morocco’s Jews and Muslims

09 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Relations between Jews and Muslims in Morocco have historically been strong unlike elsewhere in North Africa and the Middle East. Although now relativ...

Returned to sender

08 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Clint Buffington is a hunter. He hauls his trophies back to his lab, covers himself in PPE and studies each specimen with pathological scrutiny. Howev...

World Questions - Greenland

07 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In a programme which first aired in November 2025, Jonny Dymond chairs a debate about the future of Greenland. Leading Greenlandic and Danish politic...