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PODCAST

The Documentary Podcast

BBC World Service

Hear the voices at the heart of global stories. Where curious minds can uncover hidden truths and make sense of the world. The best of documentary storytelling from the BBC World Service. From China’s state-backed overseas spending, to on the road with Canada’s Sikh truckers, to the front line of the climate emergency, we go beyond the headlines. Each week we dive into the minds of the world’s most creative people, take personal journeys into spirituality and connect people from across the globe to

society & culture documentary

All Episodes

26:30

Heart and Soul: Portugal's Surf Church

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/30

In the coastal city of Porto, Portugal, a unique spiritual community is making waves, literally. The Surf Church, led by Brazilian-born pastor and avid surfer Samuel Cianelli dos Anjos, blends traditional Sunday worship with the sport of surfing. In a country with deep historical and cultural ties to the Catholic Church, Portugal has seen a steady decline in the number of young people engaging with their faith. Many feel disconnected from the Church and believe it no longer speaks to them in a way

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26:42

The riddle of Iranian cinema

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/29

Iranian-American film-maker Maryam Keshavarz explores a world of creativity under restriction, where film-makers find ways to speak despite censorship. Born in New York City to Iranian parents, Maryam grew up moving between two cultures, smuggling pop culture into Iran for her cousins. That early experience - bridging the gap between freedom and limitation - shaped her storytelling and her understanding of identity. Maryam speaks to Amarali Navaee, an Iranian film-maker now living in Turkey, who

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19:53

BBC Trending: Print and shoot - The spread of...

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/28

A growing number of incidents have highlighted the dangers of 3D-printed ‘ghost guns’, untraceable firearms that can be assembled at home with the help of a 3D printer and a set of blueprints. Since the first design appeared in 2013, 3D-printed gun technology has advanced rapidly. Some models can now fire hundreds or thousands of rounds without their plastic components failing. Although these weapons are illegal in many jurisdictions, designs, parts, and blueprints continue to spread on social

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27:26

Assignment: Spain - can an algorithm predict murder?

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/27

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 building was set on fire. Her ex-partner was arrested and remains in custody. In January, Lina – as she was known to her family and friends – had reported her ex-partner to the police for ill-treatment and threatening behaviour. And by doing so, she became one of around 100,000 cases of gender-based violence active in Spain’s VioGen system.VioGen is an

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26:29

In the Studio: Mika Obanda

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/26

Mika Obanda is a Kenyan artist who creates vibrant and personal mosaics using egg shells sourced from local hotels. Cleaning, drying and colouring them, before painstakingly placing each individual tiny piece onto his canvases. Frenny Jowi visits him in his studio in the Nairobi slum of Mukuru as he works on his latest collection. It is a series called Trying to Blossom, in which he often places himself at the centre of his art works, showing not only his own journey as an artist and a person, but

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26:31

America: The human plasma factory

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/25

Journalist Kathleen McLaughlin investigates the multi-billion dollar global plasma industry. Kathleen needs $15,000-a-dose medication to treat her rare autoimmune condition. While she sits for hours at a time, just down the block is one of over 1,000 blood donation centres in the USA extracting plasma, which forms an essential part of her treatment. Kathleen investigates the origins of her plasma-based medication and learns why people are resorting to plasma donation to stay out of debt, who is

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26:32

The Fifth Floor: The reality of reporting in Syria

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/24

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 Index. The country was incredibly dangerous for journalists who had to manage strict government censorship. But in December 2024, Assad’s rule was toppled by a swift rebel offensive that took the capital city Damascus within a few days. The country then experienced a level of press freedom it hadn’t seen for decades. Dalia Haidar of BBC Arabic worked as a

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23:02

BBC OS Conversations: Living with prostate cancer

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/24

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 it only affects men, many are reluctant to talk about it. Following former president Joe Biden’s announcement that he has an aggressive form of the disease, we hear from two men about their diagnosis, their fears, the stigma and the reality of dealing with side effects like erectile dysfunction and incontinence after surgery. Leslie, a 46-year old DJ

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26:44

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

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/23

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 world for grey gulls and home to hundreds of other bird species and cobra. Amid the birds, snakes and lizards lives a male only community of fisherman who live by a code of cultural and spiritual practices. Reporter Zawadi Mudbio travels to live among the men of Musambwa to explore their sacred relationship with nature. Although the men have lived

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23:46

People Fixing the World: Helping Chile's stolen children

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/22

During the 1970s and '80s, thousands of Chilean babies were illegally kidnapped, trafficked and adopted. The practice was widespread during the rule of General Augusto Pinochet, who encouraged overseas adoptions to reduce poverty. A network of adoption brokers, hospital staff, social workers, judges, priests and nuns facilitated this trafficking. Today many of Chile’s ‘stolen children’ are trying to trace their birth families and their mothers are also looking for them. A small Santiago-based NGO

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20:26

BBC Trending: Brazilian farmers are (very) online

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/21

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 wearing farmers, driving tractors and boasting about their wealth, have garnered millions of views online. Meanwhile, farmers turned influencers offer a window into rural life, insisting Brazil is not just a country of football and Carnival, but of farming. Critics say social media has become the latest battleground in a long-running effort by Brazil’s

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27:08

Assignment: Colombia's webcam women

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/20

Colombia’s second largest city, Medellín, is booming and one of the biggest industries revolves around the city’s webcam studios which live stream women performing sex acts.  It’s estimated there are hundreds of studios in the city employing thousands of women and turning over millions of pounds as men – primarily in the US and Europe – pay to watch the women. The work is legal with studios running glossy websites to attract models and even hosting their own annual trade show. Crossing Continents

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3:21

Trailer: Bill Walton’s The Grateful Team

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/19

Basketball, the Cold War, and rock band The Grateful Dead collide in this incredible true story. Presented by the late NBA star Bill Walton. Episodes weekly from 19 May.What do basketball, rock music, and tie-dye t-shirts have in common? And what about Mickey Hart, Sarunas Marciulionis, Arvydas Sabonis, and the US Dream Team? Well, they are all subject of the brand new season of Amazing Sport Stories: Bill Walton’s The Grateful Team. It’s Moscow, 1989, and Lithuanian basketball star Sarunas

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26:27

In the Studio: Esben Holmboe Bang

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/19

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 its seasonal cuisine. For Esben every flavour is a note, and the secret of the perfect dish is to build those notes into a symphony. He only uses local produce for the menu at his restaurant in Oslo, Maaemo, and he collects many ingredients from the local forest. He aims to tell the story of Norway through food and respects the ancient crafts of

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34:30

The Global Jigsaw: The Trump effect on global media

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/18

We assess the damage to independent journalism globally by cuts to USAGM and USAID, described as “the chainsaw approach” of the Trump administration. The defunding of Voice of America, RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) and its multiple language services has been decried as “a gift to dictators”. Although these cuts are being disputed in court, they could have long-lasting implications for audiences around the world. Can the harm be undone?Producer: Kriszta Satori Presenter: Krassi

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14:47

The Fifth Floor: Ukraine, the war and TikTok

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/17

What do Ukrainian soldiers eat on the frontline? And what's the latest meme trending on Ukrainians' TikTok channels? Zhenya Shidlovska from the BBC Ukrainian social media team will talk about the stories they've been covering, and how she adapted her presenting style to connect with a younger audience. Plus, is Brazilian chocolate getting worse? With Mariana Schreiber from BBC Brasil. And the lioness that woke a family up in the middle of the night, with Gopal Kateshiya reporting for BBC

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23:43

BBC OS Conversations: Living in Kashmir

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/17

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 Kashmir last month, many feared that the series of cross-border clashes between India and Pakistan would lead to a wider conflict. We hear from three Kashmiri women who now live abroad but still have family and close connections with Kashmir. We also speak to two people living either side of the de facto border, known as the line of control, who find

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26:36

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

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/16

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 empowerment, he was often portrayed as a fierce separatist and controversial figure during his years with the Nation of Islam. But his life was marked by constant growth, questioning, and evolution. In The Hajj, his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964, Malcolm X witnessed a community of Muslims from every background – rich and poor, Black and White – united in

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28:52

Autism, empathy and psychopaths

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/15

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 part of a recent autism assessment, science journalist Sue Nelson decided to confront these damaging stereotypes and question the experts who work in this area. Sue’s investigation reveals latest research shows the opposite of the commonly held stereotype. Instead of the majority of autistic people having low to no empathy, a trait commonly associated

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18:02

BBC Trending: Are we dating the same person?

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/05/14

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 people joined. Soon that was thousands, and its content went from details of young women’s dating history, to revenge porn - sexually explicit videos and images. BBC Trending traces the Telegram group’s origins back to Are We Dating the Same Guy? groups on Facebook. But how did they first come about? Why are they seen as an important safety tool for

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2,350 results

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