The Documentary Podcast

BBC OS Conversations: Cuts to US foreign aid funding

15 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On his first day in office, Donald Trump froze foreign aid funding, ordering an immediate review into USAID, the government agency which was running p...

Heart and Soul: Ayahuasca and the new spiritual tourism

14 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For centuries, ayahuasca has been a sacred plant for the Shipibo-Konibo peoples of the Peruvian Amazon. Part medicine, part spiritual ceremony, ayahua...

The village of sex offenders

13 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Set among endless sugar-cane fields in a remote part of southern Florida, Restoration Destination is a community made up of registered sex offenders. ...

Assignment: Guatemala’s ‘Indigenous Spring’

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Guatemala’s been going through huge political upheavals. Protestors brought the country to a standstill with roadblocks and national strikes which l...

In the Studio: Kwaku Bediako

10 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ghanaian fashion innovator Kwaku Bediako is redefining luxury with sustainability at its heart. We step inside his world as he transforms second-hand ...

Witness History: Women's History Month special

09 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Extraordinary stories from global women's history, as told by the people who were there. We hear about the Jewish feminists who demanded to pray as fr...

The Fifth Floor: Russia’s gymnastic drama

08 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The head of the Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation has recently fallen from glory. Irina Viner has been the most powerful person in the sport for ...

BBC OS Conversations: Three months after the fall of Assad

08 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After 13 years of civil war, a transitional government is now in charge in Syria, led by interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Islamist...

Heart and Soul: The race to break the glass

07 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Amie Liebowitz interviews matchmaker and dating coach Aleeza Ben Shalom from the Netflix show Jewish Matchmaker. She then goes on her own quest to lea...

Boxing Sisters: Yazidi women boxing back to health

06 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Northern Iraq, Yazidi women and girls who have been the victims of brutal sexual enslavement and lost swathes of their family and community to gen...

What in the World: How have older reality tv shows aged?

05 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

America’s Next Top Model, the reality competition series hosted by Tyra Banks, continues to face criticism years after it stopped airing. And it is ...

Assignment: Russia’s new war elite

04 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Russians who sign up to fight in Ukraine earn big money in salaries and bonuses – and the Kremlin is even more generous to families of those killed ...

TikTok and the digital pimps: Eye Investigates

03 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With its dancing challenges and comedy sketches, it’s no surprise why Tiktok is popular with young Kenyans. It’s also a way for them to make money...

In the Studio: Marcin Dudek

02 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Burman follows artist Marcin Dudek as he works on his sound sculpture The Ground Harbours The Soul, which is made from the sounds of the crowd at...

The Fifth Floor: Are Korean beauty products too light?

01 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Korean skincare industry is booming around the world, but some brands faced backlash because of the lack of products for people with darker skin t...

BBC OS Conversations: Polyamorous relationships

01 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A video of American R&B singer Ne-Yo kissing three of his girlfriends backstage has had loads of attention and highlighted the practice of polyamo...

Heart and Soul: Becoming a Buddhist Bhikshuni in Bhutan

28 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2022 the kingdom of Bhutan ordained 144 women in an unprecedented ceremony. Among them was Emma Slade, also known as Lopen Ani Pema Deki, from Kent...

Flight of the vulture

27 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With their fearsome talons, acid poo and a penchant for rotting carcasses, the vulture has long been shouldered with associations of death, and dishon...

BBC Trending: Can Community Notes clean up your feed?

26 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Meta has decided to abandon the use of independent fact-checkers on Facebook and Instagram in the United States, citing concerns that fact-checkers ha...

Assignment: Road wars - cycling in Paris

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On 15 Oct 2024, a 27-year-old cyclist was killed in a bike lane in Paris. His name was Paul Varry. He was run over by a car after an argument with a d...

In the Studio: Mohammad Barrangi

24 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Iranian-born artist and former Paralympian, Mohammad Barrangi, creates intricate, dreamlike worlds where myth and reality collide. His bold, layered w...

Life in occupied Ukraine

23 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Russia’s land grab playbook aimed at erasing local identity and russifying “liberated” territories. Three years into the full scale invasion of ...

The Fifth Floor: Syria after Assad

22 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In December 2024, rebel forces took control in Syria, and former President  Bashar al-Assad fled the country. What's happened since? Salma Khattab f...

BBC OS Conversations: Ukraine and three years of war

22 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The past week has seen talks between the United States and Russia – without Ukraine. This was followed by what seems to be a deepening rift between ...

Heart and Soul: The only thing certain in life

21 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2019, performer and writer Rochi Rampal found herself attending 10 funerals in one year. To contend with this, she embarked on her own “crash cou...

Witness History: US Black History Month special

20 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Extraordinary stories from African-American history, told by the people who were there. We hear tales of bravery and survival against all odds, from t...

BBC Trending: Quadrobic panic in Russia over craze to dress and walk on all fours like animals

19 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There’s a moral panic in Russia and several former Soviet states about a craze in which teenagers and children dress up as animals and walk on all f...

Assignment: The village that came back from the dead

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Germany some 300 villages have been destroyed since the Second World War because of the coal that lay beneath them. Villagers have grown up in the ...

In the Studio: Jennifer Walshe

17 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dublin-born Jennifer Walshe is one of the world’s most bold and imaginative contemporary classical composers, and holds the prestigious post of prof...

Ukraine: The architects' plan

16 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches, we explore how the country will be rebuilt, who is coming up with the redesign of...

The Fifth Floor: What the US left behind in Afghanistan

15 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When the American troops withdrew from Afghanistan, they left behind $7bn of military supplies. Where are they now? Hafizullah Maroof from BBC Afghan ...

BBC OS Conversations: How AI is changing our lives

15 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Thousands of people from all around the world came to Paris this week to talk about the impact of artificial intelligence in society. The rapidly grow...

Heart and Soul: The caretaker of Bukhara

14 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Abram Iskhakov is the caretaker of the oldest synagogue in Bukhara, one of the sacred cities of Islam. He is keeper of a Torah inscribed on deer velum...

World Wide Waves '25: Whispers in the air

13 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Nuxalk people of Canada's Pacific north-west were almost wiped out by colonisation. Now a community radio station is reviving their language and c...

BBC Trending: Inside Nigeria’s hustle kingdoms

12 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There is growing concern about cybercrimes like romance scams and sextortion targeting victims around the world. Hiding behind fake or hacked accounts...

Saudi and trans: Eden’s final message

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In March 2023, the "final message" from Eden Knight, a young Saudi transgender woman, went viral on Twitter. It was viewed more than 35 million times....

In the Studio: Bárbara Sánchez-Kane

10 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Bárbara Sánchez-Kane is a Mexican fashion designer with eclectic influences - from quinceañera dresses to BDSM harnesses, Jesus's loincloth to luch...

Assignment: Ghana militants in the Sahel

09 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For years now, an Islamist insurgency in the Sahel region has been claiming thousands of lives and displacing millions of people. There are fears that...

Sportshour at Super Bowl LIX: New Orleans edition

09 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Katie Smith is in New Orleans on the eve of Super Bowl LIX to bring you the atmosphere and the stories ahead of Philadelphia Eagles v Kansas City Chie...

The Fifth Floor: An Afghan love story

08 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Aalia Farzan of BBC Afghan services left her life in Afghanistan after the Taliban retook the country in 2021 and came to London, and it was there she...

BBC OS Conversations: Donald Trump and the future of Gaza

08 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Many countries have condemned President Trump in recent days for his proposal to “take over” the Gaza strip while “resettling” Palestinians in...

Heart and Soul: Feminism is my jihad

07 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Muslim feminist movement is growing in Turkey with young women becoming increasingly vocal about their rights and place in a traditionally patriar...

Germany: Rebellion on the Rhine

06 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After talks in Germany on government spending collapsed, chancellor Olaf Scholz was forced to dissolve his coalition and call for snap elections, to b...

BBC Trending: The dark side of music streaming

05 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In September last year, musician Michael Smith of North Carolina was charged with stealing millions from music streaming services. The US Department o...

Assignment: Spain - ‘liquid gold’ under pressure

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Spain is the world’s largest producer of olive oil. But successive, brutal droughts have led to plummeting production, whilst prices have reached re...

Encore: Border stories

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Since President Trump was inaugurated in January, migrants – and especially the border the US shares with Mexico - have dominated the news. In this ...

Troublemakers: Drugged, framed and detained

02 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

BBC Eye investigates police abuse of psychiatric detention in China. In 2012, China introduced a law to curb the widespread abuse of psychiatric hospi...

The Fifth Floor: Inside an Iranian prison

01 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Thousands of women in Iran were arrested in 2022 after the Woman, Life, Freedom protests against the mandatory hijab. Many of them were sent to Evin, ...

BBC OS Conversations: Immigrants in America

01 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hours after his inauguration, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at America’s southern border with Mexico. He vowed that "all ille...

Heart and Soul: Spirituality in Sin City

31 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Spirituality in Sin City, presenter Rajeev Gupta takes listeners on an unexpected journey through the hidden spiritual side of Las Vegas—a city f...

Flamboyant funerals

30 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ghana has a reputation for staging some of the most eccentric funerals in the world – boasting extraordinary displays of colour, dancing, deep roote...

BBC Trending: Ukraine war - the cost of bearing witness

29 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Three years since Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, BBC Trending speaks to Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) analysts and fact checkers who ha...

Assignment: Reel revolution? The dramatic rise of Saudiwood

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Saudi Arabia is rolling out the red carpet to filmmakers and foreign companies as it sets out to establish itself as a major player in the entertainme...

Songs from Auschwitz

27 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Shirli Gilbert explores the story of Żywulska. Imprisoned in Auschwitz, Żywulska turned to poetry and music, creating some of the most re...

In the Studio: Behind the scenes with Ken Loach

27 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Old Oak will be Ken Loach's last feature film and Sharuna Sagar was granted exclusive access behind the scenes of this landmark movie. She joins t...

Bonus: Sportsworld: Julien Alfred - The Race of My Life

26 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A bonus episode from the Sportsworld podcast. Julien Alfred made history in 2024 when she won the women’s 100 metres gold medal in Paris becoming Sa...

The Fifth Floor: Russia's crackdown on gay clubs

25 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There have been at least 12 police raids on gay clubs in Russia since November 2023, when the country’s Supreme court banned what they call 'the glo...

BBC OS Conversations: The first days of the Gaza ceasefire

25 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We witness the first Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners being released following the signing of the ceasefire deal. More exchanges are expecte...

Heart and Soul: Glorifying God through wine

24 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Father Père Basile was 12 years of age, he started thinking of a religious life. But it never crossed his mind that he would someday be living...

Israel’s Unrwa ban

23 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What will it mean for Palestinians if Israel bans Unrwa, the UN agency that provides vital aid and essential services to millions of refugees in Gaza ...

BBC Trending: Passport bros

22 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dating in Medellín, Colombia is being promoted to foreign men on YouTube, TikTok and other social media platforms. Lots of the videos, in English and...

Assignment: Death marches - uncovering the truth beneath the soil

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How a town in Poland – once in Germany - is discovering its troubling past.Eighty years ago Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest ...

In the Studio: Michael Visocchi

20 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In an old schoolroom in the Scottish Highlands, sculptor Michael Visocchi is working on Commensalis, a huge work that will be installed thousands of m...

The Coming Storm: Inauguration

19 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

America through the looking glass, a world where nothing is as it seems. Gabriel Gatehouse follows a cast of characters who have propelled Trump into ...

The Fifth Floor: IVF and me

18 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When BBC Mundo journalist Ana Maria Roura found out she couldn't get pregnant, she decided to turn the camera on herself and document her struggle to ...

BBC OS Conversations: Living through the Los Angeles fires

18 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Vast areas of Los Angeles have been destroyed since these fires began on 7 January. Thousands of homes and businesses have been lost, and tens of thou...

Heart and Soul: Kaddish - why we pray for the dead

17 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize winner and Holocaust survivor, once told Michael Goldfarb of people going to their deaths at Auschwitz asking who will say Ka...

Solutions Journalism: Prison of the mind

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In many countries around the world, prison populations are bursting at the seams. However, in some Northern European countries, prisons are closing an...

BBC Trending: The chatbot bridging an aid gap

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A mechanical engineer by day, Hania Zataari felt compelled to put her skills to use as the war intensified in Lebanon. Hailing from the south, one of ...

Assignment: The Gambia - when migrants are forced to go home

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Each year young people from the tiny West African nation of The Gambia try to reach Europe through “The Backway” - a costly, perilous journey over...

In the Studio: Madame Gandhi

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kiran Gandhi, aka Madame Gandhi, is an American artist, activist and producer who originally started out as a percussionist for popular British artist...

Paths of return: A special homecoming to Sierra Leone

12 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Freetown, Sierra Leone, we join a group of African-Americans who have all taken a DNA test and discovered their ancestors came from this country on...

The Fifth Floor: China's empty maternity wards

11 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Eunice Yang from BBC Chinese reports on the closure of over 400 maternity wards across China. Plus, South Korea's illegal tattoo parlours with BBC Kor...

BBC OS Conversations: Dealing with trauma after vehicle-ramming attacks

11 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Over the past decade, cars and trucks have been used as lethal weapons in an increasing number of attacks. Fourteen people died and at least 35 were i...

Heart and Soul: The plight of Hindus in Bangladesh, part two

10 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sahar Zand follows young Hindu activists Banamali and Sukanto, who are documenting the violence they say authorities and media are ignoring. She joins...

Licence to operate a space object

09 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Since humans have been on earth, the night sky has caused many to gaze upwards, open-mouthed in astonishment. Beyond its beauty, it has facilitated bo...

Child soldiers and capoeira

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the city of Goma, former child soldiers are being rehabilitated using capoeira, the Brazilian martial art. Since the start of the conflict in 1996 ...

BBC Trending: Were Valencia's floods engineered weather?

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The people of Valencia are still trying to come to terms with the events of 29 October - in a matter of hours, the Spanish city was hit by flash flood...

Assignment: South Korea - the feminist hunters

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why feminism has become a dirty word in South Korea. In South Korea being a feminist is now something that can only be admitted in private, thanks to ...

In the Studio: Dan Perri

06 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You might not know the name Dan Perri, but you will probably have seen his work: he designed the title sequences for some of the most famous films in ...

The Fifth Floor: Fighting crime with kitchen spoons

04 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A few years ago, the town of Anam in Southern Nigeria was known for all the wrong reasons: high levels of crime and knife and gun violence. A group of...

BBC OS Conversations: How going viral changed my life

04 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“I’m looking for a man in finance …” is the opening line of one of the most viewed, copied and remixed social media posts of the year. The wom...

Heart and Soul: The plight of Hindus in Bangladesh: Part one

03 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the aftermath of Bangladesh’s political unrest and the student-led protests that led to the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 20...

The dogs of Palermo

02 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Palermo, and across southern Italy, there are two main types of stray dog. There are the semi-wild packs that live on the edge of human settlements...

Built different: Why women athletes suffer ACL injuries more than males

01 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The fear of an Anterior cruciate ligament injury, or ACL, hangs over all athletes. It is a season-ending injury, agonising, and with a long painful re...

Assignment: The human cost of developing Cambodia's Angkor wonder

31 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tourists are flooding to Cambodia's "8th wonder of the world," the ancient temple complex at Angkor. But the rapid expansion of the site comes at a te...

Bonus: Americast - Former US President Jimmy Carter has died aged 100

30 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Former US President Jimmy Carter has died aged 100. The 39th U.S. president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate lived longer than any president in history....

In the Studio: Tomás Saraceno

30 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno's studio is two big and old industrial units covered in graffiti, in what was East Berlin. This was where the compa...

Bonus: HARDTalk - Past Notes

29 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A special bonus episode remembering some past HARDtalk guests who died in 2024. All of them made a significant impact, whether it be in politics, acti...

The Fifth Floor: Bollywood binge

28 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why are old Bollywood hits being re-released in cinemas? And why are horror movies doing so well this year? Journalists Meryl Sebastian, Yasser Usman ...

BBC OS Conversations: Becoming an Olympic and Paralympic trailblazer

28 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this year, five countries won Olympics medals for the first time in history. We celebrate three of those athletes from Nepal, Cape Verde and D...

Heart and Soul: From the ashes of Notre Dame

27 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2019 a devastating fire ripped through the historic Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Locals looked on in disbelief, and millions watched on televisio...

The street that tech built

26 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The city of Florence is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. But are new technologies and hyper-tourism changing it forever? Writer...

Bonus: HARDTalk - 2024 Review

25 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A special episode from the HARDTalk podcast. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur looks back on some of the most powerful moments from 2024 in his end of year ...

Assignment: Poland's ghosts, Ukraine's heroes

24 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ukraine and Poland are neighbours and close allies in today’s conflict with Russia. But the ghosts of victims of an earlier war have returned to div...

In the Studio: International film school

23 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Reid visits a school in Bulgaria where they are teaching their pupils how to make movies. They are making a short film about their local horse ma...

The Global Jigsaw: Russia’s gateway to Africa in jeopardy

22 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What would the potential loss of Syria naval and air bases mean for Russia? The fall of the Assad regime triggered the start of possibly the greatest ...

The Fifth Floor: K-drama craze

21 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

K-dramas are taking the world by storm. What's the secret of their success? BBC journalists Faith Oshoko, Julie Yoonnyung Lee and Samantha Haque discu...

BBC OS Conversations: Syrian prisoners and their families

21 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It has been two weeks since the fall of the Assad regime and the horror of the brutal and corrupt system he oversaw has been laid bare. Since the star...

Heart and Soul: Antisemitism in Turkey

20 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Members of Turkey’s ancient Jewish community say they feel forced to hide their identities and practice their religion in private, after a marked ri...