The Documentary Podcast

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...

Persian poetry and politics

07 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How poetry is used by Persian-speaking leaders to build legitimacy and shape the political narrative. Across Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, millio...

South Africa and the fight against TB

06 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, TB is humanity’s oldest contagious disease. It has become something of an afterthought in rich nati...

Ismo Leikola

05 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We follow the Finnish comedian Ismo Leikola—known simply as Ismo—as he performs in both English and Finnish. We explore his distinctive brand of i...

The power of nostalgia and a first kiss

04 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Nostalgia. That sentimental feeling of the past. Memory is a powerful thing and we tend to look back on our firsts fondly. Your first phone, your firs...

Afghanistan's love poetry princess

03 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Poetry about love between a man and a woman was banned by the Taliban in September 2025. For many Afghans, poetry is something which is very much a pa...

Living in space

03 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The first crew arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) 25 years ago. Since then, almost three hundred people from some 20 nations have visite...

Astronauts and the future of space exploration

03 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The first crew arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) 25 years ago. Since then, almost 300 people from some 20 nations have visited the orbi...

Two Families from Sarajevo

02 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Born into a Bosnian Muslim family, Salih Hardaga grew up knowing that his family had done a very courageous thing. During the Nazi occupation of Saraj...

Kibera Ballerinas

01 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Ballet, a centuries-old form of European dance, is flourishing in one of Africa’s largest informal settlements. In Kibera, Kenya, we follow aspiring...

Four Months in Gaza

31 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A raw and intimate perspective on the terror, anger, and hope of living through war.As bombs hit ever closer to her home in central Gaza, Hanya Aljama...

When Christian nationalists come to town

30 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

People in Gainesboro, Tennessee, have some new neighbours. A conservative developer has bought land just outside the tiny rural Appalachian town, with...

Haroon Mirza: Creating a sculpture with light, sound and video

29 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following his time at Cern, Haroon Mirza has been creating a major installation based on his research there. The piece, made with his collaborator Jac...

BBC correspondents' look ahead to 2026

28 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

James Coomarasamy speaks to BBC correspondents around the world about the people and places, trends and technology that they are going to be keeping a...

Not-so-golden weddings

27 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gold prices have reached record highs this year, resulting in changes in buying habits, investment patterns and traditional customs. For the Fifth Flo...

Why I chose to adopt

27 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Actress Jennifer Aniston sparked controversy recently when she said that, despite years of unsuccessful fertility treatment, she is not interested in ...

The lord and dance: Michael Flatley

26 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Flatley is the most famous Irish dancer in the world, rising to stardom for his leading roles in Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. Colm Flynn ...

The gift of science

25 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our present to you is the science of gifts. First, we investigate the health benefits of donating blood, and find out about the predator sharing a fea...

Bonus: 2025 in conversations from The Interview

24 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

2025 on The InterviewIn 2025, the BBC launched The Interview, bringing you the best conversations from across the BBC. People shaping our world from a...

Argentina's elusive big cats

23 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After decades of extinction, wild jaguars are once again roaming in Northern Argentina. It has been at least thirty five years since a wild jaguar cub...

In the Studio: Michael Symmons Roberts' Christmas Card Poem

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a tradition among poets to write a poem to put inside the Christmas cards they send. So, the BBC World Service has commissioned one speciall...

United In Space – How we built the ISS

21 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Personal tales of bravery, tragedy, daring and triumph, United in Space unveils the remarkable story of one of humanity’s greatest ever feats – bu...

Living in fear on South Africa's farms

20 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In February, American President Donald Trump signed an executive order which said that South African Afrikaners - descendants of mainly Dutch settlers...

BBC OS Conversations: Jewish Australians on the Bondi Beach attacks

20 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Australian government says it will crack down on hate speech following the deadly shooting that targeted a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach. People ...

Close encounters with an avalanche

20 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It is peak season for avalanches in the northern hemisphere and three survivors share their experiences of being cuaght up in one in the US and Pakist...

Prayers through the checkpoints

19 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Imagine being able to see your place of worship, but not be able to reach it. For many Palestinian Muslims in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusale...

Elephant politics

18 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Botswana is home to about a third of Africa’s remaining savanna elephants, over 130,000. But it is a burden as well as a blessing. It puts pressure ...

Introducing The Bomb: Kennedy and Khrushchev

17 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As the USA and Soviet Union race for supremacy in the 1960s, Premier Khrushchev sizes up his rival, President John F Kennedy. Presenters Max Kennedy a...

Stolen brides of Kazakhstan: The fightback

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In plain sight, in a modern city, a colleague offers to drive you home after work. How would you respond? One woman in Kazakhstan accepted the lift on...

Jim Henson's Creature Shop: Back to Fraggle Rock

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sean Allsop goes behind the scenes inside the legendary Jim Henson's Creature Shop in New York, where fabric and materials bring life to characters be...

A makeover for Syria's interim leader?

13 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

One year after the fall of Syria's dictator, Bashar al-Assad, interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has undergone a significant image makeover. He's regul...

Somalis in America

13 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump says Somali immigrants in the US should “go back to where they came from.” The President’s comments come after allegations of large...

The divine gift of sex

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sex therapist Dr Rica Cruz is on a mission to destigmatise sex in the deeply Catholic Philippines. As a practising Catholic herself, she believes sex ...

Delivering medical support to those in need

11 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How do you get vital medical support to those most in need?

The struggle of Israel's peace movement

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

wo years ago a group of Jewish and Palestinian peace activists stood almost alone in Israel in calling for a ceasefire, as Israel launched a massive o...

Anna-Karin Karlsson: Sunglasses made for icons

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From a quiet forest outside Stockholm to the world’s most glamorous runways, Swedish designer Anna-Karin Karlsson has built one of fashion’s most ...

Steel from shipwrecks

07 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In recent years component parts of historic shipwrecks have started to disappear, with reports of mysterious vessels and scavengers floating around. T...

Reporting the Nigerian School Kidnappings

06 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

More than 300 children were kidnapped from a school in the Western Nigerian village of Papiri in November, but in the aftermath, accounts of the kidna...

Australia’s under-16 social media ban

06 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From 10 December, Australian children under 16 will be banned from most social media platforms including TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat. The ...

The mosque for Bangladesh’s transgender women

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On the banks of the Brahmaputra River, a remote village in northern Bangladesh serves as a sanctuary for the hijra (transgender) community, a once-rev...

Made in Russia: The Kremlin’s economic rebrand

04 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How Moscow is working around international sanctions: promoting self-sustainability, elevating Russian brands and deepening trade with friendly countr...

From rocks to riches

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Meteorites are pieces of space rocks, which having survived a fiery journey through the atmosphere, land on the earth’s surface. No-one knows the ex...

Joana Vasconcelos: Mask of mirrors

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos is renowned for her large-scale sculptural pieces which have featured in galleries across the world. She has u...

Young and stateless

30 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean to belong nowhere? Across the world, millions of people are denied citizenship and live without a country to call their own. It is e...

Ireland's new alcohol warning

30 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ireland has become the first country in the world to introduce labels linking alcohol with cancer and liver disease. Some producers began re-labelling...