The Documentary Podcast

Bonus: HARDtalk - The Whistleblowers

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a special edition of HARDtalk Stephen Sackur looks back at some of the guests who have risked their personal freedom to disclose secret information...

In the Studio: Willard Wigan

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Willard Wigan MBE creates the smallest handmade sculptures in the world. He uses high powered microscopes and custom-made tools formed from shards ...

Las Patronas

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We visit the Las Patronas women 30 years on from when the young Romero Vazquez sisters first threw a loaf of bread onto the infamously dangerous La Be...

The Fifth Floor: Make-up and rebellion

27 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In countries like Somalia and Iran, where women are largely expected to present themselves with modesty, what role can make-up play? Bella Hassan of B...

BBC OS Conversations: Supporters of Kamala Harris

27 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Could a woman of colour be the next president of the United States? That is what much of America has been asking this week and it is at the heart of o...

Heart and Soul: America’s Atheist Street Pirates

26 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On a busy street in Los Angeles a group of people in yellow vests are holding a ladder against a lamppost. Up the ladder, 34-year-old Evan Clark is ri...

India's wrestling school for girls

25 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the industrial town of Haryana in Northern India, young girls are breaking barriers training hard to become the next generation of gold medal-winni...

The gay activists who won an Olympic-sized battle

24 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1993 the legislators in Cobb County Atlanta passed a resolution stating that “lifestyles advocated by the gay community are incompatible with the...

Introducing: World of Secrets S3

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Apartheid Killer. All the victims were black and the youngest was just 12 years old. Some relatives are still searching for the graves. They were ...

In the Studio: Massimo Bottura

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana has twice been named the world’s best restaurant. Situated in Bottura’s hometown of Modena, a place renown...

The Romani holocaust: An unfinished history

21 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The destruction of the Roma by the Nazi state and allies and their subsequent post war fate is little understood and still being written. Historian Ce...

The Fifth Floor: From Paris to the world, Olympics 2024

20 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is it like to cover such a globally significant sporting event such as the Olympic Games? We've invited three of our Fifth Floor colleagues to di...

BBC OS Conversations: After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump

20 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The former President, with his face bloodied, surrounded by Secret Service agents, the American flag behind him, his fist in the air defiant – how m...

Heart and Soul: Georgia's maverick Bishop and his peace cathedral

19 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In Tbilisi, Georgia, a radical experiment in interfaith relations is taking place. The Peace Project is one of the world’s first to bring a mosque, ...

Instagram's fake guru

18 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Former Brazilian model, wellness influencer and spiritual life coach Kat Torres was an inspiration and a lifeline to women all over the world. More t...

Assignment: A slogan and a land, part two

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this second part of his journey from the River Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea, across the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel, reporter Tim Whew...

Assignment: A slogan and a land, part one

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas last year, the cry “From the River to the Sea” has been heard more and more as a pro-Palestini...

Assignment: The child rescue con

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Project Rescue Children claims to save children from trafficking and abuse across the world, but the BBC has uncovered evidence of false and misleadin...

In the Studio: Anchi Lin (Ciwas Tahos)

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Inspired by a story told to her by an Indigenous elder, Taipei-based artist Anchi Lin, also known by her Atayal name Ciwas Tahos, is working on a new ...

The Fifth Floor: The reality of conscription

13 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hundreds of thousands of men are currently fighting for Ukraine, and the army needs yet more soldiers. We speak to three BBC Ukrainian colleagues abou...

BBC OS Conversations: Voters in Britain and France

13 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

People in both the UK and France have voted for change in snap elections, sending a signal that they are unhappy with many aspects of their lives. To ...

Heart and Soul: How should I remember Mum in Islam?

12 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The BBC's Rahila Bano, explains why her family decided to break with the Muslim tradition of a congregational prayer reading for her mother after she ...

Shaken goalposts

11 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Football rarely stops in Turkey, but when two earthquakes causes tens of thousands to die in the south-east region of the country early in 2023, even ...

Trending: The scammers who make you kidnap yourself

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It is one of the most bizarre crimes of our times. Con men posing as police officers are forcing Chinese students to fake their own kidnapping. Elaine...

In the Studio: Wendy Sharpe

09 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a new exhibition Wendy breaks conventions, painting on walls and installing herself in the gallery, becoming part of the art. Wendy Sharpe is an mu...

Assignment: Cry witch - take my land, take my life

08 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a coastal region of eastern Kenya at least one elderly person is being killed every week – in the name of witchcraft. There are violent attacks o...

Three Million: 7. Live show

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The BBC’s Yogita Limaye speaks to Kavita Puri, the creator and presenter of Three Million, to explore how the series was made, and how she went abou...

The Fifth Floor: Can climate change stories be cool?

06 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A virtual tour of Brazil's giant ravines, the radio shows helping Maasai people to protect their land and a real life Squid Game in South Korea: how B...

BBC OS Conversations: Kenya’s Gen Z protesters

06 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Like many countries, Kenya is struggling with a cost of living crisis and how to balance the books. The government’s answer was a plan to raise taxe...

Bonus: The Global Story - Keir Starmer: Who is the UK's new prime minister

05 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a bonus episode of The Global Story podcast - A historic loss for the conservatives ushers in a new era in British politics.The Global Story brings...

Heart and Soul: Journey to Sepharad

05 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sepharad is the Hebrew word for Spain and Jews who trace their ancestry there are called Sephardic Jews. Five hundred years ago they were expelled fro...

Suicide's silent survivors

04 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In many countries around the world, trying to take your own life is still a criminal offence. People who have attempted suicide are often put in priso...

Trending: Scammed by the fake Chinese police

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chinese people around the world are being targeted by a scam in which conmen posing as police, trick them into believing they are wanted for a crime b...

Assignment: Loving, living and dying together in the Netherlands

01 Jul 2024

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...

In the Studio: Baek Mi-kyoung

01 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Script writer Baek Mi-kyoung has pioneered female narratives on Korean television, putting women front and centre of acclaimed dramas like Mine and Th...

Bonus: What in the World - Why are so many young people leaving Nigeria?

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nigeria is Africa’s economic powerhouse - so why are so many young people trying to leave and find opportunities in other countries? It’s become s...

The Fifth Floor: India's deadliest scam

29 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Instant loan apps promise easy money. But what's the catch? Investigative reporter Poonam Agarwal and filmmaker Ronny Sen take us behind the scenes of...

BBC OS Conversations: Hajj pilgrims

29 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The annual pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, is something millions of people look forward to as an immensely spiritual experience. A main pillar o...

Saint Sara: Patron saint of the Romani people

28 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Roma photographer Artúr Čonka joins the annual Romani pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the south of France. Thousands of Romani from across...

The West Indies’ first black captain: Sir Frank Worrell

27 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The brilliant cricketer Frank Worrell became the first permanent Black captain of the West Indies team in 1960 – but he had to wait for a decade to ...

Trending: The American pushing Russian disinformation

26 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The websites have names like DC Weekly and Chicago Crier. They are filled with thousands of legitimate-looking stories, plucked from real news website...

Assignment: Germany’s AI detectives

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In late 2023 a group of German journalists released a podcast series, Legion: Most Wanted. It described their ultimately unsuccessful search for a ter...

In the Studio: Hanna Harris

24 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hanna Harris is Helsinki’s chief design officer and the second person in the job since the role was created in 2016. But why does a city need a chie...

The Global Jigsaw: The evolution of the Islamic State Group

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After a lull in activities, in 2024 the Islamic State Group claimed to be behind several major attacks, showing the world they have not gone away. Amo...

Alvin Hall's other America

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Writer Alvin Hall returns to Wakulla County, Florida, the world he grew up in, to shed light on the political present and share a haunting portrait of...

The Fifth Floor: Is Islamic State still a threat?

22 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

10 years ago, IS proclaimed the creation of an Islamic State or Caliphate in Iraq and Syria. They went on to dominate headlines for years, committing ...

BBC OS Conversations: National service

22 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The war in Ukraine has contributed to a heightened awareness of security in parts of Europe, and in some countries, the reintroduction of different fo...

The Antarctic Midwinter Broadcast 2024

21 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This special programme is dedicated to the team of scientists and support staff isolated at British research stations in the Antarctic midwinter. For ...

Ukraine to Korea

20 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Over 800 ethnically-Korean refugees fled Ukraine for Koryo Village in South Korea’s Gwangju province following Russia’s invasion. Many Koryoin are...

Trending: Colombia’s guerrilla recruitment video problem

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Fighters from dissident armed groups in Colombia are using TikTok to glorify their lives as guerrillas and recruit youngsters. These armed groups did ...

Assignment: Decolonising Russia

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is Russia Europe’s last empire? Is its invasion of Ukraine a “colonial war”? Is “decolonising” the country the only way of ensuring it stops...

In the Studio: Nazanin Moradi

17 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For artist Nazanin Moradi, who was brought up in Iran where women are “second-class citizens in every sense,” reversing the “unfair” gender ro...

Three Million: 6. Silk scarves

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Eighty years ago at least three million Indians, who were British subjects, died in the Bengal Famine. But today different generations in Britain are ...

The Fifth Floor: My AI boyfriend

15 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Would you turn to AI to create your perfect partner? Wanqing Zhang from the BBC Global China Unit has been looking into an AI dating trend that is goi...

BBC OS Conversations: Far-right voters in Europe

15 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Politics in Europe took a shift to the right following the recent European parliamentary elections, with far-right parties making gains in several cou...

Losing Attar

14 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Attar is the essential oil that is produced when aromatics like jasmine and sandalwood are pressed and distilled. It has been a feature of life in Ind...

Heart and Soul: Last Christians of Gaza

14 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

George Antone is a member of the only Roman Catholic Church in Gaza, part of a dwindling Christian community whose roots in this area, go back to the ...

Trending: The Kenyan influencer championing climate denial

12 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jusper Machogu is a farmer from south-western Kenya who describes himself as a “climate sceptic”. He wrongly claims that climate change is a “sc...

Assignment: Ireland’s phone-free town

11 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Greystones made global headlines a year ago when, concerned by rising anxiety levels among their pupils, the headteachers from all the primary schools...

In the Studio: Senua's Saga - Hellblade II

10 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Released in 2017, the video game Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice saw players take control of dark-age warrior Senua as she battled to rescue the soul o...

Greening the Hajj

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj, attracted no fewer than two million pilgrims in 2023. But this pilgrim boom has an environmental downside: c...

The forgotten people of the Ravi River

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For the hundreds of people who live in a cluster of villages between India and Pakistan, a map drawn up long ago still causes daily struggles. Punjab ...

BBC OS Conversations: Stories from Mexico

08 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The election of Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum is a moment of history. For the first time, a woman is in charge of the country. Host James Reyno...

Heart and Soul: Losing my religion

07 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

'Spiritual but not religious’ is the fastest growing faith category amongst Gen Z and Millennials around the world. However, in Nigeria, where most ...

The Fifth Floor: For the love of football

06 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why is football such a universal language? Three BBC World Service journalists and football fans - Matias Zibell Garcia, Pooria Jafereh and Njoroge Mu...

Bonus: What in the world - Africa and FGM: When will it end?

06 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Female genital mutilation affects around 230 million women and girls globally, with rates highest in Africa. FGM is considered a human rights violatio...

Whose Truth?: Online women haters

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Attacked on social media - how Nobel Prize laureate Maria Ressa came under fire for doing her job as a journalist in the Philippines, covering the pre...

Whose Truth?: Climate change denial

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nobel Prize laureate Sir Paul Nurse wants science, not politics, to guide the debate surrounding climate change. But how do you convince the denialist...

Whose Truth?: Russia v Ukraine

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Can information become a weapon of war? Oleksandra Matviichuk, whose organisation was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, is documenting alleged Russian wa...

Whose Truth?: The vaccine

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How Nobel Prize laureate Katalin Kariko got caught up in the Covid vaccine disinformation wars. What was it like - as someone behind one of the vaccin...

Trending: Is Russia targeting Poland's farmers’ protests?

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Farmers' protests have been erupting across Europe, and on 20 February one image from a protest in Poland went viral. It showed a tractor carrying a s...

Assignment: El Salvador – life after the gangs

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

El Salvador used to be known as one of the most dangerous places in the world. The central American country was dominated by rival gangs who terrorise...

In the Studio: Andy Riley

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Andy Riley is an Emmy-winning scriptwriter and a million-selling author and cartoonist published in more than 20 countries, notably with the Bunny Sui...

The Fifth Floor: Russia's lost troops

01 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How many soldiers are fighting - and dying - for Russia in Ukraine? Who are they, and what do their stories tell us about Russia's frontline tactics? ...

BBC OS Conversations: Toxic politics

01 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anyone seeking election as a politician can expect to have to argue their case with the electorate, and deal with opposition and criticism. But what h...

Heart and Soul: Hijabs and skinny jeans

31 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anna Holligan spends time with Dutch Muslim Nora Akachar, whose world was turned upside down with the traditional progressive country voted for right-...

Gaming Africa

30 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ghanaian gamer and broadcaster Kobby Spiky explores the video game landscape across Africa. He speaks to everyday gamers and developers about their ex...

Trending: Love and deception in the age of AI

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a viral thread posted on X in January this year, a 23-year-old Russian man claims he used ChatGPT to filter through and chat thousands of women on ...

Assignment: Myanmar - Rise of the resistance

28 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Myanmar is in the grip of a country-wide insurgency as armed resistance groups, including many young people from the cities, attempt to overthrow a mi...

Perfume’s dark secret

27 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The global perfume industry is worth billions. Some luxury brands sell for hundreds of dollars a bottle. But BBC Eye Investigations has discovered tha...

Mad Women: Portraying mental health in theatre

27 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As a unique creative experiment, Chilean director and playwright Constanza Hola Chamy is directing in parallel both a professional cast and a communit...

Shadow War: China and the West

26 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The rise of China is a defining challenge for the West. How far should it co-operate, compete or confront Beijing? And were Western countries slow to ...

The Fifth Floor: Life in exile

25 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What's the price journalists pay for telling the truth? For many it's exile. We'll hear from two colleagues, TV presenter Shazia Haya from BBC Pashto ...

BBC OS Conversations: Beauty pageants

25 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the United States, questions are being asked after two beauty queens, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, stepped down in as many weeks. The sudden and con...

Heart and Soul: Hervé's Way, the story of a one-legged pilgrim

24 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hervé lost a leg in a motorbike accident. On the eve of the operation, he made a deal with God: “If I walk again, I'll go to Santiago.” He did wa...

Denmark's esports revolution

23 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The world of esports is a wide and varied domain which has captured audiences around the world. OJ Borg explores how Denmark is leading the way in emb...

Trending: Long Covid: Think yourself well?

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Long Covid can ruin lives, and scientists are striving to understand the condition and beginning to get some early clues about possible treatments. Wh...

Assignment: The Caspian crisis

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Caspian Sea is the largest inland body of water in the world. Bordered by Kazakhstan, Russia, Iran, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan it spans 371,000 s...

In the Studio: Zoë Barrett and Patrick Eley

20 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Zoë Barrett and Patrick Eley have a unique way of thinking about space. They know just how to guide people from A to B with ease, no matter how higgl...

Bonus: The Global Jigsaw

19 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A bonus episode from The Global Jigsaw podcast. “China is not buying Africa, it is building Africa” is the view from Beijing. How is this landing ...

Labelling the world: The power of DSM

19 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The number of labels to describe different types of mental disorder has mushroomed in recent years. New categories include Oppositional Defiant Disord...

The Fifth Floor: Message in a bottle to North Korea

18 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Park Jung-oh defected to South Korea from the North 26 years ago. Hearing how North Koreans in the Hwanghae Province suffer from food shortage, he sta...

BBC OS Conversations: The floods in Brazil

18 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Vast areas of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul remain under water after the worst flooding in 80 years. Homes have been destroyed, th...

Heart and Soul: Glorifying God through wine

17 May 2024

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...

Bonus: The Global Story

16 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A bonus episode from The Global Story podcast. EncroChat: The crime family brought down by their violent messages. The Global Story brings you one big...

Bonus: Lives Less Ordinary

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A bonus episode from the Lives Less Ordinary podcast. Manni Coe’s brother Reuben has Down’s syndrome, and had become isolated and non-verbal in a ...

Assignment: Return of the Benin Bronzes

14 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1897 British colonial forces attacked and looted the ancient Kingdom of Benin in what is now southern Nigeria. Thousands of precious objects were t...

Crime and punishment in South Africa

12 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Outside of a war zone, South Africa is one of the most dangerous places in the world. The country’s murder rate is now at a 20-year high. With trust...

In the Studio: Cressida Cowell

12 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Enter the magical world of children’s writer Cressida Cowell. She created the hugely successful How to Train Your Dragon series, which continues to ...

The Fifth Floor: China’s global mining for green tech

11 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The BBC's new Global China Unit tell Faranak Amidi about their investigation into Chinese mines overseas, and what it's like to work in them and live ...