The Documentary Podcast

Max Kidruk: Imagining the future in a science fiction trilogy

07 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How do you imagine the future if you are a science fiction writer living in the present with your country at war? That is the challenge and dilemma fo...

Is the Taliban’s war on drugs working?

05 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Afghanistan used to produce more than 80% of the world's opium, the key ingredient for the drug heroin. When the Taliban took over, they banned poppy ...

Undocumented migrants in the USA

05 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump campaigned hard on illegal immigration ahead of the presidential election and promised voters a major crackdown if they backed him. Since...

Verses for women: Egypt’s Quran reciters

04 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Salma El-Wardany meets young women in Egypt using their voices to amplify their faith – drawing inspiration from the long tradition of female Quran ...

Diabetes in Pakistan: A nation's struggle

03 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

British-Pakistani pharmacist turned comedian Lubna Kerr hears from doctors, sufferers, and experts as she explores Pakistan’s growing diabetes crisi...

Arthur Ashe: More than a champion

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An inspiration, a politician, a pioneer on and off court - these just some of the words used to describe Arthur Ashe, who became the first African-Ame...

Sri Lanka: The X-Press Pearl disaster

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2021, a huge container ship, the X-Press Pearl caught fire and sank off the coast of Sri Lanka, releasing hazardous materials, toxic chemicals and ...

What next for Poland?

29 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why are Poland's young voters turning to the right? With his veto powers, Poland’s president-elect Karol Nawrocki could halt the pro-EU government o...

Who's Poland's new president?

28 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Poland’s president-elect, Karol Nawrocki, is a right-wing historian, an amateur boxer and a fan of Donald Trump. What will his presidency mean for t...

Iranians living in the USA

28 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following the recent bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites by the United States, we talk to Iranians living in the US about their thoughts as they watch e...

Praise You: A forgotten love letter to black men

27 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

DJ Fatboy Slim’s Praise You is a song you might have heard in a Hollywood movie or danced to in a club - to this day, it is still his biggest hit. B...

Inside the US trans military ban

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

One of the first executive orders that President Donald Trump signed in his second term of office stated that being transgender is incompatible with t...

Pride month special

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From the BBC World Service podcast Witness History, this is a special episode to mark June as Pride Month. We are looking back at some of the major mo...

One week in Gaza

24 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The daily realities and private thoughts of a young woman living through war. Every morning, Hanya Aljamal sees the same man from her balcony. “He...

Joachim Trier: The making of Sentimental Value

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We go behind the scenes with director Joachim Trier as he makes the follow-up to his international hit The Worst Person In The World. Producer Stephen...

Ukrainian life under Russian occupation

22 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Currently about a fifth of Ukraine is under Russian occupation. Olga Malchevska of the BBC News team has spoken to 3 people from different cities in t...

Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast 2025

21 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s the 70th anniversary of this unique BBC radio programme aimed at just a few dozen listeners: The team of scientists and support staff isolated ...

Iranians and Israelis

21 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Since Israel launched its attack on Iran, targeting the country’s nuclear capabilities, air strikes by both sides have killed and injured people in ...

Reworking a future: Buddhist revival in Mongolia

20 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Cambridge anthropologist David Sneath is in Mongolia to find out how Buddhism continues to make a comeback after years of persecution under Communism....

The copper kingdom

19 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The world is electrifying, and central to our decarbonisation drive is copper. The red metal is second only to silver as the best conductor of electri...

What’s Iran’s IRGC?

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Quds force and the Basij militias are back in the news due to the conflict between Israel and Iran. What ar...

Could your colleague be a North Korean in disguise?

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Recently several videos from recruiters on LinkedIn have gone viral. The videos appear to show recruiters conducting routine job interviews over a vid...

The Ketamine trail

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ketamine was designed as an anaesthetic but its use as a recreational drug is growing fast, particularly among young people. In the UK, it’s doubled...

Amoako Boafo: Creating space to celebrate Blackness

16 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo has attracted global fame for his bold and sensual portraits. He paints bodies and faces using his fingertips instead...

Australia's extinction crisis

15 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Roughly a third of all global mammal extinctions in the last 500 years are thought to have occurred in Australia. At least 34 species have gone extinc...

The TV drama that shocked the Arab world

14 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this year, the Egyptian TV drama Lam Shamseya aired across the Arab world. It tackled sensitive topics, including child sexual abuse, and spar...

Female influencers

14 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After the fatal shooting in Pakistan of a teenage social media influencer, Sana Yousaf, we bring together female influencers around the world to share...

Pulpit to palace

13 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In March 2022, the senior pastor of The Redeemed Christian Church of God - Jesus House Parish, Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye, resigned from his position at a ...

The tyre scandal

12 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Every year the UK produces around 50 million tyres for disposal. They are supposed to be sent for recycling. Instead, big money is being made by diver...

No, there isn’t a ‘white genocide’ in South Africa

11 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On 12 May, 59 Afrikaners arrived in Washington to receive “refugee” status. At a press conference, President Trump said he had acted because Afrik...

Balochistan - the women of the vanished

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the last two decades thousands of men have disappeared in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest region. Activists and some of their families accuse the...

Auntie Flo: Making plants dance

09 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Brian D’Souza, aka Auntie Flo, is a Scottish musician, DJ and sound recordist who has played at some of the biggest festivals and clubs around the w...

Why does Moldova matter to Putin?

07 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Moldova is a country torn between pro-Western and pro-Russian factions. In September this year, Moldovans will vote for a new leadership, and pro-Euro...

How life is changing in Syria

07 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For well over a decade, civil war blighted the lives of Syrians, as rebel forces battled against former President Bashar al-Assad and his brutal regim...

The future of the Alawites

06 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the wake of the Assad regime’s fall in Syria, thousands of Alawites, a minority Shia sect historically linked to the former regime, have fled to ...

The Global Jigsaw: Netanyahu’s media squeeze

05 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Israeli government’s push to transform the media landscape has been described by critics as a “hostile takeover” that poses a threat to pres...

Russian informers: Hunting the enemy within

04 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Informers are playing a key role in helping the Russian government silence dissent, now one victim has turned detective to uncover their persecutor’...

Assignment: What future for Assad’s army?

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The former rebels who now rule Syria dismantled the old regime’s security forces as soon as they came to power last December. Overnight, half a mill...

In the Studio: Designing Conclave

02 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Production designer Suzie Davies reveals the secrets behind Conclave, and how she managed to build the Sistine Chapel in a film studio in Rome. And ex...

The three babies mystery

01 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On a cold night in January 2024 a dog walker finds a baby in a bag in east London, UK - a foundling. She is named Elsa, after the Frozen character. Re...

Russia's 'grey zone' war

31 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Grigor Atanesian from BBC Russian joins us to discuss the theories around 'grey zone' warfare techniques and if, why, and how Russia is deploying them...

BBC OS Conversations: Israelis discuss the war in Gaza

31 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas and recent warnings of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, have led to a ratcheting up of pressure on Israel, not just...

Heart and Soul: Portugal's Surf Church

30 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the coastal city of Porto, Portugal, a unique spiritual community is making waves, literally. The Surf Church, led by Brazilian-born pastor and avi...

The riddle of Iranian cinema

29 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Iranian-American film-maker Maryam Keshavarz explores a world of creativity under restriction, where film-makers find ways to speak despite censorship...

BBC Trending: Print and shoot - The spread of 3D-printed guns

28 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A growing number of incidents have highlighted the dangers of 3D-printed ‘ghost guns’, untraceable firearms that can be assembled at home with the...

Assignment: Spain - can an algorithm predict murder?

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Early on a Sunday morning in February in the Spanish seaside town of Benalmadena, Catalina, a 48-year-old mother of four, was killed at home – the b...

In the Studio: Mika Obanda

26 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mika Obanda is a Kenyan artist who creates vibrant and personal mosaics using egg shells sourced from local hotels. Cleaning, drying and colouring the...

America: The human plasma factory

25 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Kathleen McLaughlin investigates the multi-billion dollar global plasma industry. Kathleen needs $15,000-a-dose medication to treat her rar...

The Fifth Floor: The reality of reporting in Syria

24 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

During the last year of Bashar al-Assad’s rule of Syria, Reporters Without Borders ranked the country second to last in the World Press Freedom Inde...

BBC OS Conversations: Living with prostate cancer

24 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Prostate cancer has been called the silent killer and it is the second most common form of cancer among males in the world. Yet, despite the fact that...

Heart and Soul: Musambwa - Lake Victoria's sacred island

23 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Musambwa Island in Lake Victoria, Uganda, is a five-acre rocky outcrop of land five miles from the mainland and is the biggest breeding ground in the ...

People Fixing the World: Helping Chile's stolen children

22 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

During the 1970s and '80s, thousands of Chilean babies were illegally kidnapped, trafficked and adopted. The practice was widespread during the rule o...

BBC Trending: Brazilian farmers are (very) online

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Being a farmer in Brazil has never been cooler - at least, that is the impression you might get from social media. Music videos featuring cowboy hat w...

Assignment: Colombia's webcam women

20 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Colombia’s second largest city, Medellín, is booming and one of the biggest industries revolves around the city’s webcam studios which live strea...

In the Studio: Esben Holmboe Bang

19 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Originally from Denmark, the youngest ever three-starred Michelin chef Esben Holmboe Bang fell in love with his wife’s homeland Norway, as well as i...

The Global Jigsaw: The Trump effect on global media

18 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We assess the damage to independent journalism globally by cuts to USAGM and USAID, described as “the chainsaw approach” of the Trump administrati...

The Fifth Floor: Ukraine, the war and TikTok

17 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What do Ukrainian soldiers eat on the frontline? And what's the latest meme trending on Ukrainians' TikTok channels? Zhenya Shidlovska from the BBC Uk...

BBC OS Conversations: Living in Kashmir

17 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What is it like to grow up and live in one of the most disputed regions on Earth? After 26 tourists were killed by militants in Indian-administered Ka...

Heart and Soul: Malcolm X and his Letter from the Hajj

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm X is one of the most iconic and complex figures of the 20th Century. Known globally for his fiery speeches and radical advocacy for Black empo...

Autism, empathy and psychopaths

15 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Autistic people have been thought to all lack empathy by both science and society for decades. But after receiving an extremely low empathy score as p...

BBC Trending: Are we dating the same person?

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At the start of 2025, a chat appeared on the encrypted messaging app Telegram. It was named Are We Dating The Same Girl? At first only a few hundred p...

Assignment: Syria - return to ruins

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Thirteen million Syrians - half the population - left their homes during their country's 13-year civil war. Seven million were internally displaced. S...

In the Studio: Luke Black

12 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Luke Black is a Serbian singer-songwriter who represented his country at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023, the world’s largest live music event, ...

Women warriors

11 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the last few decades western militaries have been training more women for combat than ever, yet female recruitment and retention is stalling. But w...

The Fifth Floor: The Russian grandma who went to jail

10 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Natalya Filonova is a former kindergarten teacher, a mother, a grandmother. But she’s also an activist and in 2022 she was arrested during a demonst...

BBC OS Conversations: Inside Gaza

10 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After 19 months of war, Israel says it is preparing to expand its military campaign in Gaza. The aim is to defeat and dismantle Hamas, regarded as a t...

Heart and Soul: Praying for healing?

09 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Throughout his life as a theologian, Christian minister and cosmologist, Prof David Wilkinson has been asking - what does God do when I pray? The ques...

Educating Nigeria

08 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Every Nigerian child has the constitutional right to free and compulsory primary education, and free secondary education, yet there remains a huge gap...

BBC Trending: The TikTokers inside an election fire-storm

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the days before the presidential elections, influencers watched comments and content pour across TikTok in support of obscure far-right independent...

Conclave: How will the next Pope be chosen?

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How is a new Pope chosen? How long could the conclave last? In a special edition of the Global News Podcast, the BBC’s Religion Editor Aleem Maqbool...

Assignment: Russia's Church in Texas

06 May 2025

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...

In the Studio: Bishwajit Goswami

05 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Dhaka, Bangladesh, artist Bishwajit Goswami creates a powerful new installation that captures the spirit of his homeland’s rivers, lifelines dark...

The Cultural Frontline: Taiwan

04 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Presenter Elaine Chong speaks to trailblazing Taiwanese artists about exploring history and politics through their work. She hears from the producer H...

The Fifth Floor: Education against the odds

03 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At least 30 million children are out of school in the Middle East and North Africa, with many displaced by conflict in Sudan and Gaza. Today we’ll h...

BBC OS Conversations: Protecting children from online harm

03 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

***Contains upsetting content about suicide*** Hundreds of parents who believe social media played a part in the death of their children gathered in ...

Heart and Soul: After Francis, what do Catholics want next?

02 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following the death of Pope Francis, Catholics around the world look to Rome and the Vatican as the Church prepares to elect its next leader. But what...

BBC Trending: From a suspected smuggler’s TikTok to tragedy

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In January a boat carrying migrants across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe was miraculously rescued by a fishing trawler after two weeks lost at sea. At ...

Assignment: Leaving Israel for Cyprus

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Increasing numbers of Israeli people are moving to the nearby island of Cyprus. Sky high property prices, disillusion with domestic politics and secur...

In the Studio: Madeleine Thien

28 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2020, the Canadian writer Madeleine Thien was working on her next novel, the follow-up to her prize-winning 2016 book Do Not Say We Have Nothing. B...

Bonus: Good Bad Billionaire: Minecraft’s maker

27 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A bonus episode from Good Bad Billionaire - the award-winning podcast from the BBC World Service. You can find more episodes by searching for ‘Good ...

The Fifth Floor: Tackling Nigeria's skin bleaching problem

26 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

According to the World Health Organisation, 77% of Nigerian women have used skin-lightening creams. When BBC Hausa’s Madina Maishanu decided to look...

BBC OS Conversations: Remembering the life of Pope Francis

26 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Lowen in Rome brings people together to share their memories of the Pope, who died on Easter Monday. In our conversations, Mark hears from Cathol...

Bonus: Bridgerton actor’s interview on Dear Daughter

25 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A bonus episode from Dear Daughter - the award-winning podcast from the BBC World Service. You can find more episodes by searching for ‘Dear Daughte...

The call of Anastasia

24 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Members of the new age Anastasia movement espouse strong family values, farm small plots of land and try to educate their own children outside the pub...

Witness History: The Environment Movement

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

To mark Earth Day, we bring you remarkable stories of the history of the environmental movement, told by the people who were there. Selected from the ...

Francis, the rebel Pope

22 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following the death of Pope Francis, Edward Stourton looks at the life and legacy of the spiritual leader of more than a billion Catholics worldwide. ...

Assignment: Dicing with democracy? Romania’s cancelled election

22 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A cancelled election, a cancelled candidate and a divided country – is Romania’s democracy under threat?Last December the country’s Constitution...

In the Studio: Amin Gulgee - Heavy metal

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Amin Gulgee defies easy categorisation: he’s a metal sculptor, a curator, and one of Pakistan’s most innovative and cherished artists, the beating...

Make me perfect: Manufacturing beauty in China

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In China today, looking good is seen as key to career success. With beauty videos promoting extreme weight-loss flooding social media, beauty apps mak...

The Fifth Floor: Inside the Taliban's surveillance network

19 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There are over 90,000 hi-definition CCTV cameras in Kabul, watching everyone’s movements. What are the Taliban using this footage for? BBC Afghan Se...

BBC OS Conversations: Colourism

19 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The issue of colourism was highlighted in a recent BBC news report about a Nigerian woman who bleached the skin of her six young children leaving them...

Heart and Soul: Our Sacred Harp

18 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sacred Harp pioneer and former punk frontman, Tim Eriksen, takes us into the hair-raising sound of shape note singing, an American choral tradition ex...

Braille and me

17 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Built around a game of braille Scrabble, Emma Tracey presents a celebration of braille, 200 years after it was invented. Emma, who’s been blind sinc...

Olympique Lyonnais: The Champions League trailblazers

16 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Olympique Lyonnais is the most successful club in women’s football, dominating Europe over the last 15 years winning eight Champions League titles. ...

Assignment: New Zealand - what counts as Māori equality

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Māori in New Zealand have been resisting moves by the current right-of-centre government to abolish certain indigenous-specific rights aimed at comba...

In the Studio: Steve Reich

14 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For 60 years, New York composer Steve Reich has been one of classical music’s most celebrated revolutionaries. Pioneering minimalism in the 1960s, a...

Defeated: How ordinary Germans experienced the end of World War Two

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On 8 May 1945 Britain, the US and many other countries were rejoicing. Germany had surrendered, and World War Two was over, at least in Europe. Yet it...

The Fifth Floor: Stranded in Panama

12 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On his first day as president, Donald Trump signed an executive order shutting down the asylum system at the US-Mexico border. He also promised huge c...

BBC OS Conversations: The impact of Trump's tariffs

12 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on global trade has sent the world reeling. Stock markets have tanked. Gloomy economists have hit the airwav...

Heart and Soul: Guns, grief and god

11 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On 4 September 2024, the town of Winder in the US state of Georgia became the latest scene of a school mass shooting. Two students and two teachers we...