The Documentary Podcast
Episodes
Bonus: The Global Story
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from The Global Story podcast: Washington’s antitrust cases against Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta The US government is suing some...
From the Archive: Heart and Soul - Faith, terrorists and mercy at Guantanamo
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
An episode of Heart and Soul from our Archive. Dr Jennifer Bryson interrogated suspected Al-Qaeda terrorists at the infamous Guantanamo Bay. She work...
Bonus: What in the World
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from the What in the World podcast. When it comes to elephant conservation, Botswana is the world leader. It is now home to more than ...
Forward Thinking: Jocelyn Bell Burnell
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1967, Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered a previously unknown kind of star, the Pulsar. A Nobel prize followed, but not for Jocelyn; her male boss too...
Assignment: New Caledonia - new agreement needed
09 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
New Caledonia is an island archipelago in the south Pacific. It has an incredible diversity of birds and plants. Its history includes a period serving...
In the Studio: Ellie Simmonds
08 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Public swimming pools are more than just concrete and water. Often, they are the heart of a community, a place to exercise, to meet people and connect...
El Salvador's missing children
07 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
During El Salvador’s brutal civil war hundreds of children were separated from their families. Some were seized by soldiers during military operatio...
The Fifth Floor: My Ramadan
06 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It’s a period of prayer, celebrations and community gatherings and Muslims worldwide observe it ...
BBC OS Conversations: Living with cancer
06 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The world was shocked to hear the news that the Princess of Wales is being treated for cancer. In her video message, Catherine encouraged everyone fac...
Heart and Soul: The caste faultlines in Modi’s India
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As India completes 10 years of being governed by the Hindu nationalist BJP, Divya Arya explores the divergent political and religious views of differe...
Azovstal: The 80 day siege
04 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine for a moment what it would be like to live in darkness underground for 80 days, while bombs and missile strikes rain down from above and ratio...
Forward Thinking: Is it ethical to live longer?
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nobel Prize-winning scientist Venki Ramakrishnan considers both why we might live longer, and the dilemmas this raises. In the last few years, medical...
Assignment: Secret Sisters. Political prisoners in Belarus
02 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Belarus has huge numbers of political prisoners - around three times as many as in Russia, in a far smaller country. Almost industrial scale arrests b...
In the Studio: Maria Grachvogel
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Maria Grachvogel’s design have been worn by many famous names including actors Emma Thompson and Angelina Jolie, as well as Spice Girl and now desig...
Bonus: Lives Less Ordinary
31 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from the Lives Less Ordinary podcast. The Jordanian coach who started a refugee kids’ football team in the US after being rejected b...
Bonus: The Global Jigsaw: Moscow attack: disinfo wars
30 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from the Global Jigsaw podcast.Who is behind the Crocus City Hall attack? Within an hour of last week’s deadly attack on a concert h...
BBC OS Conversations: Messages from Gaza
30 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
BBC OS producer Kristina Völk has been following the lives of several people in Gaza since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in October last year...
Heart and Soul: An ‘Encore’ for Jesus
29 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Eudist Servants of the Eleventh Hour is a Catholic order of nuns made up of mature women called to a religious life in their later years. It was f...
Bonus: HARDtalk
29 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from HARDtalk, in-depth, hard-hitting interviews with newsworthy personalities. Stephen Sackur is on the road in Guyana, South Americ...
Assignment: Choking in Chiang Mai
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For a period earlier this month, the historic city of Chiang Mai in northern Thailand had the worst air of any city in the world.The city gained the s...
Rwanda 30 years on
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Victoria Uwonkunda makes an emotional journey back to Rwanda, where she grew up. It is the first time she has visited since the age of 12, when she fl...
Bonus: The Black 14
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from the Amazing Sport Stories podcast - The Black 14. Sport, racism and protests are about to change the lives of “the Black 14” ...
In the Studio: Helmut Deutsch and Michael Volle - Staging Winterreise
25 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Volle is a baritone singer who has made his name with magisterial operatic performances, particularly Wagner. Helmut Deutsch has been playing ...
Bonus: The Global Story
24 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from The Global Story podcast. Rare access inside Sudan's forgotten war. The Global Story brings you one big story every weekday, maki...
The Cultural Frontline: Bjarke Ingels
23 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bjarke Ingels is the Danish architect who is responsible for creating the flood defence project for Manhattan. In 2012 Hurricane Sandy saw flood wate...
BBC OS Conversations: Protesting farmers
23 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Long lines of tractors have become an increasingly common site in recent months on the streets of many European cities. In Poland, farmers blocked roa...
Heart and Soul: How the Church’s role in Argentina’s dictatorship shook the nation’s faith
22 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Next Year will mark 50 years since the start of a seven-year violent military dictatorship in Argentina. During this period, many who opposed the fasc...
Assignment: Border Stories, part 2 - Coyotes and Kidnap
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Thousands of people every day are on the move across Mexico towards the border with the US. But for migrants, this is one of the most perilous journey...
Bonus: What in the World
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Philippines is one of the most at risk countries in the world from the effects of climate change, with typhoons becoming more severe. At the same ...
A reckoning with drugs in Oregon
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, the people of Portland, Oregon - a famed city of progressives and counterculture - voted to pass Measure 110, the USA’s boldest drug policy...
Trapped in Oman
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A story of humanity in the face of inhumanity.It starts with women from Malawi who travel to Oman in the hope of improving their lives. Instead, they ...
In the Studio: Colm Tóibín
18 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Irish author Colm Tóibín is among the world’s most celebrated contemporary writers. His works includes novels such as Nora Webster and The Blackwa...
Bonus: The Global Story
17 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from The Global Story podcast. Panama Canal: It's running dry and it's going to cost us. The Global Story brings you one big story eve...
BBC OS Conversations: Haiti gangs and stray bullets
16 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Haiti is facing its most most acute humanitarian crisis for more than a decade. There’s been a surge in violence with armed gangs in control of most...
Heart and Soul: Not even water?
15 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
They are the top questions asked to anyone who is fasting for Ramadan: no food or water? But what is Ramadan? Why Fast? And how do young Muslims manag...
Assignment: Border Stories, part one - Zero Tolerance
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2018 the US government under President Trump introduced a policy of “Zero Tolerance” at its border with Mexico. Anyone attempting to enter the ...
Running out of sand
13 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It is hard to believe but the world is running out of sand. Our insatiable appetite for the substance that makes everything from skyscrapers to smartp...
Bonus: Lives Less Ordinary
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from Lives Less Ordinary podcast. Miracle on the ocean floor. Have you ever locked eyes with a stranger and wondered, "What’s their ...
In the Studio: Peter Beatty
11 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 2021, with UK Covid restrictions putting plans for his creative collaborations on hold, British artist and musician Peter Beatty decided to take th...
Bonus: The Global Story
10 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from The Global Story podcast. Why young people are having less sex. The Global Story brings you one big story every weekday, making s...
BBC OS Conversations: The cost of living crisis in Nigeria
09 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nigeria is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a generation. Over the past year the price of the staple food, rice, has more than doubled and a ...
Heart and Soul: I joined the Taliban after they kept me hostage
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bara’atu Ibrahim speaks to Jibra’il Omar, formerly Timothy Weeks; an Australian educator who was held captive for three years in Afghanistan by th...
Assignment: Educating Tibet
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Schools in Tibet are changing - and not for the better, say activists. Micky Bristow investigates China’s educational reforms: children as young as ...
Diving With a Purpose
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Diving With a Purpose is a collective of Black scuba divers who search for long-lost slave wrecks. They are on a mission to raise the silent voices of...
Trending - The anti-vax candidate?
06 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How is Robert F Kennedy’s long record of spreading anti-vaccine misinformation impacting on his bid to be elected US President in 2024? In 2024 ye...
Tumaini
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tumaini (‘hope’ in Swahili) Festival is a unique refugee-led celebration of music, culture and solidarity in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi. Founded...
In the Studio: Ghawgha
04 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ghawgha is a singer-songwriter originally from Afghanistan. Growing up between Afghanistan and Iran, she now lives in Norway, as part of ICORN program...
Bonus: The Global Story
03 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from The Global Story podcast. Are you ever too old to have a baby?. The Global Story brings you one big story every weekday, making s...
BBC OS Conversations: Beyoncé and the changing face of country music
02 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The latest Beyoncé song, Texas Hold ‘Em, has topped the charts in the US and UK. More significantly, however, this is the first time a black woman ...
Heart and Soul: The new iconographers
01 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Irena Bradley and Kelly Latimore are both iconographers taking the ancient tradition of iconography into the 21st Century. Both interpret their ico...
Assignment: Botswana - living with elephants
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The battle to keep the peace between people and elephants in northern Botswana. The earth’s largest land mammal, the elephant, is an endangered spec...
Trending - The disinformation war in the Middle East
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
"A flood of disinformation has erupted across social media in the online propaganda battle that’s being waged alongside the physical conflict betwee...
Storm over a teacup
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the mountainous east of Nepal many communities are dependent on tea. The nitrogen-rich soil of the high-elevation estates allow tea bushes to produ...
In the Studio: Claudia Piñeiro
26 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Claudia Piñeiro is a multi-award winning novelist, with many of her books being adapted for television. She's one of Argentina's most translated writ...
Bonus: The Global Story
25 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from The Global Story podcast. Is #Me Too finally exploding in French cinema?. The Global Story brings you one big story every weekday...
Bonus: Hardtalk - Defying Putin
24 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Russian authorities have announced the death of one of the country’s most significant opposition leaders Alexey Navalny in a remote penal colony in ...
BBC OS Conversations: Ukraine war babies and returning home
24 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It is two years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The war has claimed tens of thousands of lives, left millions of Ukrainians as refugees...
Three Million: 5. Ghosts
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Bengal Famine, particularly the experiences of people in the rural areas who suffered the most, is not well remembered today. There is no memorial...
Three Million: 4. The tapes
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kavita Puri discovers a set of cassette tapes containing rare interviews with Indian civil servants who were on the ground across Bengal during the fa...
Three Million: 3. The f-word
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Colonial authorities wanted to censor the famine. They were worried that Britain’s wartime enemies - the Germans and the Japanese - would use it as ...
Three Million: 2. The cigarette tin
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A boy decides how much rice he can give from a cigarette tin to hungry people. A Christian missionary sets up a makeshift relief hospital. A small chi...
Three Million: 1. War
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
During the Second World War, at least three million Indian people, who were British subjects, died in the Bengal Famine. It was one of the largest los...
Heart and Soul: Ladino - Saving Greece’s ancient Jewish language
23 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For centuries, the Judaeo-Spanish language of Ladino was spoken in the vibrant streets of Thessaloniki. But today, it is a language on the verge of fa...
Assignment: Pakistan - journalists under fire
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Journalists in Pakistan say they’re under threat of abduction and even of being killed if they criticise the state authorities. Whoever is in power...
Trending: The new fight for land rights
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In Malaysian Borneo, indigenous people have struggled for land rights against companies and the state. Using new mapping technology, communities in Bo...
Two Years of War: Voices from Russia
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, Oleg Boldyrev reports on how ordinary Russians are dealing with life in a cou...
In the Studio: Vik Muniz
19 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Vik Muniz says he owes his artistic career to being shot as a young man, not because he had an epiphany about the meaning of his life, but because he ...
World Wide Waves '24
18 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Radio can be a lifeline for women: a place to speak out in safety; a place to find their voices. We hear from women taking to the air and making waves...
Bonus: The Global Jigsaw - Does Russia’s election matter?
17 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Putin’s re-election is certain, but there is still a lot at stake for the Kremlin. We look into the efforts aimed at achieving unequivocal victory i...
BBC OS Conversations: The earthquake in Turkey and Syria – one year on
17 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When we first reported on the earthquake in February 2023, the scale was overwhelming. We heard from families who had escaped as buildings around them...
Bonus: HARDtalk - Alexey Navalny: The interview
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Russian authorities have announced the death of one of the country’s most significant opposition leaders Alexey Navalny in a remote penal colony in ...
Heart and Soul: The killer's counsel
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Doctor Gwen Adshead is a forensic psychiatrist working with the UK’s most violent offenders, many of them serving life sentences at Broadmoor Prison...
Assignment: Tempting fate - Istanbul's earthquake dilemma
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Millions of residents living in Istanbul face the dilemma of whether or not to find out if the buildings where they live are resilient to earthquakes....
Trending: The Mexican mayor and a deepfake scandal
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When an audio recording alleged to be from the Mayor of one of the world's largest cities started circulating online, reality was called into question...
Reporting Greece
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Greece is the birthplace of democracy. But how free is Greece’s media? Nikos Papanikolaou travels to his home town, Athens, to speak to journalists ...
In the Studio: Jon Foreman
12 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jon Foreman is a land artist. He creates work in natural spaces using natural materials like stones, sand, leaves and driftwood. Known for his mesmeri...
Bonus: The Global Story
11 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from The Global Story podcast. Could Taylor Swift swing the US election?The Global Story brings you one big story every weekday, maki...
Bonus: Sportshour at the Super Bowl Las Vegas edition
10 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Some claim that the romance between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce has been manufactured by the NFL for political gain, and whilst that is clearly nons...
BBC OS Conversations: Deepfake attacks
10 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After explicit faked photos of Taylor Swift went around the world, US politicians have called for new laws to criminalise the creation of deepfake ima...
Heart and Soul: Religion in the 21st century - Buddhism (episode 3)
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to be a Buddhist today? For this last programme in a special series on religion in the 21st century, Heart and Soul on the BBC World...
Assignment: Is Ireland’s reputation for tolerance under threat?
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ireland is known as the land of a hundred thousand welcomes. But the government says the country has run out of accommodation to house all new eligibl...
Bonus: Killer drug: Fentanyl in Mexico and the US
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fentanyl is deadly. Thousands of Americans die every year from a drug overdose – the majority of them after using a synthetic opioid like fentanyl. ...
Trending: Serbia’s real life ‘bots’
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Over the summer, a mysterious Twitter persona published details of over 14,500 social media accounts - all of them controlled by real-life Serbian cit...
Cairo in comics
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Modern Cairo is a crowded metropolis. The city’s ‘thousand minarets’ are now dwarfed by a new skyline of slick tower blocks. Modern highways fly...
In the Studio: Awais Khan - Overcoming writer’s block
05 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Pakistani author, Awais Khan, is working on his latest thriller, His Sister’s Secret, a look into the dark side of dating and family life. But A...
Bonus: The Global Story
04 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A bonus episode from The Global Story podcast. Elon Musk says Chinese electric vehicles could destroy competition. The Global Story brings you one big...
BBC OS Conversations: Leaving Gaza
03 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The BBC revealed this week that more than half the buildings in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed since Israel launched its retaliation fo...
Heart and Soul: Religion in the 21st Century - Hindus (episode 2 of 3)
02 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to be a young Hindu in 2024? The world's Hindu population is projected to rise by 34%, by 2050 to nearly 1.4 billion. So how does on...
Assignment: Spain, the kiss and the culture war
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When Spanish football boss Luis Rubiales kissed Jenni Hermoso after her team’s world cup victory last summer, it set a match to Spanish gender relat...
Trending: Power
31 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Crude fakes in Uganda A BBC investigation has uncovered a network of fake social media accounts seemingly working together to promote the Ugandan gove...
The Israeli hostages
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking around 240 hostages, including children and babies, women, and elde...
In the Studio: Shoeshine Caddie
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The search is on to find new ways to document the lives of the homeless – nowhere is this more true than in America, with increasing numbers of peop...
Understand: The US election
28 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Caucuses, primaries and Super Tuesday. Justin Webb, former BBC US correspondent, unpicks some of the terminology associated with the US election.
BBC OS Conversations: Life in Yemen
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With concerns around further instability in the Middle East – as well as international trade – Yemen is the focus for many around the world. The R...
Heart and Soul: Religion in the 21st Century: Islam
26 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What does it mean to be a young Muslim in the world today? In the first of three discussion programmes looking at religion in the 21st century, a pane...
Assignment: American mercenaries - killing in Yemen
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While recent attention has focused on the Houthi rebel movement in Yemen, BBC correspondent Nawal Al-Maghafi investigates a different, hidden aspect o...
Solutions Journalism: Reducing risks in a risky world
24 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Since the devastating 2011 tsunami, Japan has been piloting risk reduction solutions in areas prone to severe damage from earthquakes and tsunamis. Be...
Solutions Journalism: Ending homelessness the Finnish way
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What happens if you give a homeless person a house, with no strings attached?In 2007 Finland decided to switch to a radical new approach to homelessne...
In the Studio: Maria Djurkovic
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Another chance to hear from production designer Maria Djurkovic, as she takes us behind the scenes of Harry Styles' movie, My Policeman, which was mad...
Paris: Football’s greatest talent factory
21 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the France World Cup squad, 11 were from Paris and there were also players born in the city's suburbs representing Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Qatar...