The Documentary Podcast

The 'grandma benches' of Zimbabwe

30 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Zimbabwe has over 14 million people but fewer than 20 psychiatrists. After years of economic turmoil, unemployment and HIV, mental health is a huge ch...

Coronavirus: The economic shock

28 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In a few short months the coronavirus has turned the world upside down. Alongside the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of deaths, the world is now bra...

Coronavirus conversations: What next?

28 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Health experts and listeners from Ghana, the US, Canada, China, Switzerland and Italy share their views of life in a post-pandemic world.

World debate: Re-engineering the future

27 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

All over the world engineers are being called on to re-purpose and solve the problems the global pandemic creates. We bring together an audience of en...

Kenya’s locust hunters

25 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

East Africa has seen the worst invasion of desert locusts for decades and there are warnings of even larger swarms to come. Millions of people across ...

New York Covid-19 diary

23 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Public health leader Dr Tom Frieden reflects on the ongoing global pandemic. An expert on infectious disease, Dr Frieden is a former director of the U...

Rethink: The edge of change

22 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

BBC Media editor Amol Rajan and a panel of guests analyse how the coronavirus pandemic has created new opportunities to change our world. They range a...

Reporting Covid-19

21 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As the pandemic continues to impact the world, BBC World Service's Nina Robinson, talks to journalists from two daily newspapers in India and the Unit...

Rethink: Class of Covid-19 - Should I go to university?

20 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The pandemic has led to job cuts and reduced salaries, so does going to university still make financial sense? And if you took a cut in wages during l...

Coronavirus conversations: Another Beijing lockdown

20 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We speak to people in China's capital, Beijing, where a fresh spike of Covid-19 cases has been detected. Fan Fan and Richard tell us what it feels lik...

The 5G con that could make you sick

18 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Since the outbreak of coronavirus something strange has been happening – attacks on telephone masts and telecom workers are being reported all acros...

My fake news whodunnit

14 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When a name very similar to journalist Michelle Madsen’s was used as the cover for a fake news hatchet job on a Senegalese politician, she found her...

Coronavirus and Latin America

13 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How has Latin America dealt with the pandemic? The lockdown, the needs of the economy, cash pay-outs to the poor, culture, tradition and safety in a t...

Conversations on race and change

13 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the days since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on 25 May, we have witnessed many things from police officers marching alongside protesters...

The seafarers stranded on the high seas

11 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

There are currently 200,000 seafarers stuck working on vessels across the globe and unable to be relieved of their duties. These are the men and women...

Lockdown: Tales from Panama and Brazil

09 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

There is a sense of fatigue around the lockdown. Ray Gillenwater owns a gym, and explains that if he’s ordered to close down again – he will civil...

Killer Mike - The rapper turned speech maker

07 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Riots and protests have broken out in cities across the USA following the death of George Floyd after his arrest by white police officers in Minneapol...

In my present isolation

06 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Six authors on different continents, write across distances, to convey thoughts and preoccupations, during their present isolation. While the world is...

Conversations about race in America

06 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The death of George Floyd has provoked a global response and galvanised opinion. We bring together African Americans to discuss race and share experie...

America beyond black and white

06 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

With America engulfed again by protests against police brutality and racial discrimination, Rajini Vaidyanathan brings together a group of African-Ame...

The Chechen blogger on the run

04 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In February this year, a Chechen blogger in hiding in Sweden was viciously assaulted by a man with a hammer as he slept. In the fight that followed, T...

Abortion under lockdown

02 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Abortion clinics in Texas were forced to close their doors during the coronavirus lockdown. For several weeks, women wanting abortions could not get t...

The Covid generation

31 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Tens of millions of young people are leaving school and university only to find themselves job hunting in what could be one of the worst recessions in...

Coronavirus Global Conversations: Life in lockdown with autism

31 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What is the pandemic like for people with autism? We hear from three parents in Chile, Spain and India who discuss the impact lockdown has had on thei...

The orgasm gap

30 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What did you learn about sexual pleasure when you were growing up? Chances are, you didn't learn much in school. And if the latest research is anyt...

The Miracle of Istanbul

30 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The 2020 Champions League final was due to be held at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium on Saturday 30 May, exactly 15 years after the most extraordinary n...

Don't log off - part eight

30 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Dein connects with people who are experiencing sleepless nights during the coronavirus pandemic. Salina is a Nepalese student stranded in Bangkok...

Belarus: Masking the virus

28 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Belarus’s all-powerful President has focused global attention on his country by ostentatiously downplaying the coronavirus pandemic. Alexander Lukas...

The Death Row book club

26 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When Anthony Ray Hinton was sentenced to death for a double murder, he used his time behind bars to create a book club for his fellow death row inmate...

Coronavirus Global Conversations: Giving birth during a pandemic

24 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Giving birth is an emotional experience, but what about during this pandemic? And then there is bringing a baby into a world of lockdowns and restrict...

Recycling Chile, recycling Spain

23 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Leena Vuotovesi, the leader of environmental work in Europe’s greenest town, Ii in Finland, travels to Chile and Spain to compare recycling practice...

Don't log off - part seven

23 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In Mumbai, Chinu has been has been providing food to the city’s migrant and daily labourers who have been unable to work since the country’s lockd...

New York stories with Joe Pascal

23 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The story of how chef Marcus Samuelsson made Harlem his home is nothing short of remarkable. He was born in a tiny village in Ethiopia, too small to e...

SOS from the Mediterranean

21 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

People crossing the Central Mediterranean in rubber boats are always putting their lives in danger. Now a bleak situation is made worse by Covid 19 as...

Migrant medics

20 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

More than 17,000 people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus. Among them are frontline medical staff. Dr Adil El Tayar, a Britis...

Lockdown: Tales from Lebanon, Australia, Atlanta and India

19 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Lina Mounzer in Lebanon speaks about the protests which have seen people take to the streets despite lockdown. John McRae shares some good news from A...

Seven dead, 46 injured: One Chicago weekend

17 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On Monday 5 August last year the Chicago Sun Times newspaper carried this headline: “Seven deaths, 46 wounded in Chicago Weekend Shootings.” It wa...

Coronavirus Global Conversations: Making people laugh

17 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We speak to comedian Sarah Cooper in New York - her President Trump lip-syncs have gone viral on TikTok. Also, Waylene Beukes in Namibia and Anna Pipe...

Stimulus cheques and sending money home

16 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How does the financial help on offer where you are compare to other parts of the world? Listeners share their stories and get expert advice on how to ...

Don't log off - part six

16 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Dein connects with people who are anxious about their family business during the coronavirus pandemic. Maria Ester in Ecuador is worried about he...

Boris Johnson and Britain’s Covid-19 crisis

14 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Britain’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has led his country’s efforts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. At one level it turned into a very p...

Wuhan: The beginning of coronavirus Covid-19

12 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

It is week one of the coronavirus. In this critical time, decisions were made that set the entire trajectory of the crisis. The program uses exclusive...

One hundred days of Brexit

10 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How ‘get Brexit done’ turned into ‘StayatHome’ through the experiences of four first time MPs. They represent constituencies across the North ...

Coronavirus Global Conversations: Haircuts after lockdown

10 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We bring together three hairdressers from around the world to talk about how their lives have changed because of the pandemic. Marcel in Jerusalem and...

Coronavirus and Asia

09 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The impact of Covid-19 on Asia is explored with a panel of leading public health experts, politicians and analysts from across the region. What can be...

Don't log off - part five

08 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Across every continent, people are trying to make sense of a new world – one that happens mostly behind closed doors and often alone. Alan Dein conn...

Hanging by a thread: Bangladesh’s garment workers

07 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In March, Aafiyah was told the garment factory where she worked would be closing. And like many other garment workers, she was left destitute in the s...

The Response: Coronavirus - Lockdown tales from Brazil, Germany and Australia

05 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Listeners from Brazil, Germany, Rwanda, Australia and Norway report on their experiences of lockdown, from reaction to Jair Bolsanaro's coronavirus po...

Coronavirus Global Conversations: Remembering medics who have died from Covid-19

03 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We hear about Sophie Fagan, a nurse in London for over 50 years; Dr. J Ronald Verrier, a critical care surgeon in New York; and Vicenzo Leone, a belov...

Spain’s care home nightmare

30 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Why did so many people die in just one elderly care home in Madrid? After Covid-19 smashed its way across the globe, Spain - one of the worst-hit nati...

Universal Basic Income: Alaska style

29 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

There is growing interest in the idea of giving every member of society a Basic Income, as a way of tackling extreme poverty and the loss of jobs caus...

Who cares

28 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Well over 400,000 elderly and disabled people in Britain rely on home care, and many of the care workers are from other parts of the world: Africa, th...

Coronavirus Global Conversations - Care home workers and Covid-19 vaccine volunteers

26 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

People from all over the world discuss our shared experience of the epidemic; from nurses in intensive care and vaccine researchers, to pregnant women...

Don't log off - part four

25 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Dein talks to people around the world about the challenges of family life in lockdown. He connects with Margaret in Uganda who has adopted many c...

Saving Zimbabwe’s forests

23 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Honey bees, cow dung and mulch; how a company in Zimbabwe is protecting forests in order to offset the carbon emissions of people around the world. Ev...

China and the virus

22 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Has the coronavirus epidemic weakened or strengthened the grip of China’s Communist Party? In the early stages of the outbreak in the city of Wuhan,...

In search of the quarter-life crisis

21 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We’re told that our twenties are a time when we’re meant to be finding ourselves, having fun, living our best lives and making the most of our fre...

The Response: Coronavirus - Lockdown tales from Riyadh, Hangzhou and Accra

21 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The first episode includes concerns about the impact of a full lockdown in Ghana, the impact of the closure of public buildings on one man in Mississi...

Togetherness: Coronavirus Global Conversations - Dealing with grief

19 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Shaye in the US, Ana in Spain and Elliot in the UK remember the parents they have lost to Covid-19 and the impact it is having on their lives. African...

Personal finance for the pandemic

18 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

As coronavirus spreads people are worrying about their money as well as their health. What can you do to protect your finances and what are government...

Don't log off - part three

18 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Across every continent, lives have been put on hold, and people are looking to the day when they can pick up and restart after lockdown. In Mexico, Lu...

Chile: An education for all

16 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A much anticipated referendum in Chile on a new constitution has been postponed till the autumn amid safety concerns over the spread of the coronaviru...

What we can do with our waste

14 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Every year we produce over 2 billion tonnes of solid waste worldwide. Most of it ends up in dumps or landfills, or is thrown into the oceans, or is bu...

Togetherness: Coronavirus Global Conversations

12 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A place to talk about the impact of the disease on you, your family and your communities.

Coronavirus and Europe

11 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Experts discuss the challenges posed by and the consequences of the outbreak of Covid-19 in Europe. BBC correspondent Jonny Dymond is joined by a pane...

Women of the World

11 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Kim Chakanetsa for an hour of conversation with the acclaimed authors Isabel Allende and Edna O’Brien. Isabel talks about finding love in her 70s an...

Don't log off - part two

11 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Dein connects with people around the world trying to find moments of calm during the coronavirus pandemic. He speaks to Jens, the captain of a co...

Extreme measures

09 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Can extremists be de-radicalised? For Assignment, Adrian Goldberg, hears from the ‘intervention providers’ in the United Kingdom tasked with turni...

ADHD and me

08 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For many years ADHD was dismissed by sceptics as a dubious condition. Later, when it achieved recognition, if not acceptance, the focus was very much ...

Melbourne: The sounds of the city

07 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Peter's latest spot of tourism takes him to Melbourne. As a huge sports fan, he is used to listening on his crackly radio to cricket commentaries. So ...

Togetherness: Coronavirus Global Conversations

05 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Coronavirus Global Conversations is a place to talk about the impact of the disease.

Germany's refugee teachers

04 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Five years on from the refugee crisis of 2015, Germany is now home to over a million refugees. Naomi Scherbel-Ball explores a classroom experiment wit...

Don't Log Off

04 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Dein connects with seven individuals whose lives have shifted under the coronavirus pandemic as they nervously anticipate what will come next in ...

The man who died for trees

02 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Romania's forests are the Amazon of Europe - with large wilderness areas under constant pressure from loggers. For years, corrupt authorities turned a...

Miami: The sounds of the city

31 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Peter White, who was born without sight, takes a tour of Miami, navigating primarily with his ears. Peter joins a new blind friend, George, who takes ...

Ethiopia and Eritrea: Rebirth at the border

30 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In September 2018, the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea was opened for the first time in 20 years. Physical travel between the two countries and ev...

North Korea's celebrity defectors

26 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

According to South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, there are more than 30,000 North Korean defectors living in the South. The lack of access to Nor...

Indonesia: Not cool to date

26 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Saying no to dating is part of a growing ultraconservative social movement in Indonesia being spread through Instagram and WhatsApp. “When I look at...

The importance of Jurgen Klopp

24 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The manager of Liverpool Football Club, who lead them to victory in the Champions League. But Jurgen Klopp has not always been this successful. When h...

New York Stories with Joe Pascal

22 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

He’s the DMC in the legendary Run-DMC, a titan of the music industry. The group became known as the movie stars of rap. Busta Rhymes said of them “...

Ireland’s housing hunger

19 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ireland has booming investment and lots of new jobs. But Chris Bowlby discovers how a huge housing crisis is haunting the country’s young people in ...

Funeral punks

17 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A new wave of end of life rituals is emerging across northern England. As funeral costs increase, the influence of the traditional undertaker is decli...

Behind the Hong Kong protests

15 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What motivated the demonstrators on the city’s streets – and their opponents? It all began as a peace movement to block a piece of legislation. Mi...

The trees that bleed

12 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The rosewood tree is one of the most trafficked wild products on earth. When it is cut it bleeds a blood red sap. Having exhausted stocks elsewhere, C...

She2He2She

10 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Nele and Ellie are detransitioners too. In their early 20s, they were brought up as girls, and began to identify as transmen in their teens. To presen...

Introducing 13 Minutes to the Moon Season 2

09 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Jump on-board a doomed mission to the Moon. Apollo 13: the extraordinary story, told by the people who flew it and saved it. Search for 13 Minutes t...

Something In The Air?

05 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How safe is the air inside airline cabins? In January 2020, a British Airways flight from Athens to London issued a mayday emergency call when the pil...

The Detransitioners: He2She2He

03 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Brian Belovitch was born a boy, and then transitioned and lived for more than a decade as Natalia – a performer, club hostess and glamorous party an...

Beats, rhymes and justice: Hip-hop on Rikers Island - Part two

01 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We are back on Rikers island – New York’s largest and most notorious jail where Ryan Burvik works with inmates on a unique hip hop program. We hea...

Confessions of a mafia boss

27 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Across Italy hundreds of mafia leaders, hitmen and drug-traffickers are being jailed thanks to the most powerful weapon now in the hands of Italy’s ...

Don't log off - part two

26 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Dein connects with strangers across the world via social media, exploring the things that unite people across cultures and borders. He connects w...

Houston, we have a new criminal justice system

25 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

One year ago, voters in Houston, Texas, elected a slate of liberal Democrats to their local courthouse. These new judges promised to remake justice in...

Beats, rhymes and justice: Hip-hop on Rikers Island - Part one

23 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

MC and producer Ryan Burvick takes us behind bars on Rikers Island, New York’s largest and troubled jail. He leads a music production programme ther...

Riding the Motel 22: Homeless in California

20 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

‘Motel 22’ is an unusual shelter for California’s homeless people. The state is one of the wealthiest in America yet it has the largest populati...

Don't log off: Part one

19 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Dein connects with strangers across the world via social media, exploring the things that unite people across cultures and borders. He speaks to ...

Crossing Divides: The exchange

18 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Casey Spradley is a beef rancher in New Mexico – and runs a sustainable business with a responsible approach to irrigating the land. Thousands of mi...

Gospel meets hip-hop

16 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Some of the biggest rappers in the world like Kanye West, Chance the Rapper and Stormzy are combining gospel and hip-hop in their music. It is bringin...

Reinventing Miss America

15 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How can beauty pageants, a competition steeped in tradition, reinvent itself in the wake of a seismic shift in women’s rights? The #MeToo movement h...

El Salvador: the story of Karla Turcios

13 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On 14th April 2018 El Salvadorean journalist Karla Turcios was brutally murdered. Twelve days later prosecutors pressed charges against her husband fo...

Blasian love

11 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ithra and Tumelo have the world at their feet. Both 24, both in the last year of medical school, both from loving families, and in love. Ithra is Asia...