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PODCAST

The Documentary Podcast

BBC World Service

A window into our world, through in-depth storytelling from the BBC. Investigating, reporting and uncovering true stories from everywhere. Award-winning journalism, unheard voices, amazing culture and global issues. From Trump"s new world order, to war in Sudan, to the legacy of football icon Mo Salah, The Documentary investigates major global stories.We delve into social media, take you into the minds of the world"s most creative people and explore personal approaches to spirituality. Every week,

society & culture documentary

All Episodes

26:29

G-Land: Surfs and spirits

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/23

Off the coast of Java, Indonesia, lies G-Land, one of the world’s most legendary surf breaks, framed by a dense forest that was once home to the now-extinct Javan tiger. Alas Purwo (which literally means “Ancient Forest” or “First Forest” in Javanese) is considered one of the most mystical places in Java, with deep ties to Javanese spirituality and legend. Despite Java being one of the most crowded islands on Earth, this sacred jungle has remained largely untouched. In the 1970s, surfer Bobby

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26:36

The Last Cowboys

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/22

Humorous and tender, this BBC World Service documentary takes a long-haul view of the lives of modern truckers in Europe – exploring working-class masculinity on the road, all-nighters, and long journeys from inside a truck driver’s cab.Truck drivers are often seen as symbols of freedom and independence. But how free is life on the road today, when the watchful eye of the system is always upon them?One of them is Finnish truck driver Tiia Rajala, who has dreamed of the open road since childhood. As

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27:18

Bonus: The Global Story - A Gazan journalist's diary

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/21

Reporting on the war in Gaza has only been possible because of the work of Palestinian journalists, because the Israeli government will not let foreign broadcasters – including the BBC – inside the territory to report freely, even now a ceasefire is in place.One month ago, freelance journalist Ghada Al-Kurd began sharing voice notes with us, talking about her life, her hopes, her family, and her days reporting in Gaza City. Her job is dangerous – almost 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza in

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26:27

Carl Brandon Strehlke: My search for the 15th Century...

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/20

Art historian Carl Brandon Stehlke is a world expert on the great 15th Century Florentine painter Fra Angelico, and this is his dream project: a historic, once-in-a-lifetime exhibition of the artist's work at the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi and the Museo di San Marco in Florence. The show brings together more than 140 works from 70 different lenders and reunites the sections of Angelico's great altarpieces, scattered when Napoleon closed the city's churches and convents in the late 18th and early

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61:40

A people’s history of Gaza

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/19

The back-story of Gaza, from the 1940s to the 2010s, told through the personal experiences of a wide variety of ordinary people - a teacher, a smuggler, a bird-watcher, musicians, doctors and others. Tim Whewell finds out how the tiny territory was created, how it first filled with refugees, how people lived, worked and died, how they survived invasions, wars and blockade, how hopes for peace rose and fell - under the rule of Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas. How did refugees

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26:28

Reporting the impact of the Gaza ceasefire

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/18

Following the ceasefire in Gaza, this week has seen the release of hostages and prisoners on both sides and the beginning of the return of the remains of some of the deceased. Over the past two years, The Fifth Floor has been speaking to language service colleagues reporting on the conflict. This week, we reconnect with them to find out how networks of citizens on both sides have informed and provided new perspectives on their reporting. Amira Dakroury checked in from the BBC's Cairo Bureau where

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23:20

Families in Israel and Gaza share their stories

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/18

After two years and two days of war in Gaza, Israel and Hamas have agreed the first phase of a US-brokered ceasefire. In our conversations, families in Israel and Gaza share their experiences of the conflict and their lives today. With the remaining 20 surviving Israeli hostages seized by Hamas fighters on 7 October 2023 now back with their families, we hear from husband and wife George and Yael. Their town was attacked by Hamas fighters two years ago, but Yael is hoping for a lasting peace. On the

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26:31

Mamdani New York

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/17

Zohran Mamdani catapulted on to New York’s political scene this summer when he captured the Democratic nomination to run for Mayor this fall. A young politician, Mamdani campaigned on issues that mattered to New Yorkers including lowering the cost of living, but unlike other candidates, was not shy about making his Muslim faith a central talking point on the campaign trail. We explore how a single decision galvanized voters of different faiths across America’s biggest city, and delve into the social

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26:33

Fighting on two fronts

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/16

More than a third of Ukraine’s scientific institutions have been damaged or destroyed by Russian bombing. Many scientists have either fled the country or are internally displaced, and that Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences is trying to operate on half its pre-war budget. The funding may be reduced but the science still matters, even in wartime. Perhaps especially in wartime. It is something the country can be proud of. Climate change has no borders and Ukraine is making a key contribution to

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17:40

Sabotage by smartphone

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/15

Ukrainian teenagers are being recruited online to carry out sabotage against their own country in return for cryptocurrency, and for some the consequences are deadly. Ukraine accuses Russia of using Telegram to offer minors large sums of money to plant bombs or stage arson attacks. There have even been allegations that some recruits have been blown up while transporting explosive devices. This episode features a rare interview with a Ukrainian teenager who is currently awaiting trial after

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54:28

Drugs, Overdose, Hope - North Carolina and Nevada

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/14

Drug overdose has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Fentanyl – a synthetic opioid mass produced in Mexico and smuggled across the border – drove the increasing number of fatalities ever higher. But there’s a good news story that hasn’t been widely reported… Drug-related deaths fell year on year from 2023 to 2024 by around 25%. In some states, the decline was even more dramatic - North Carolina was one of them. In a two-part series for Assignment, Linda Pressly first visits the state

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26:29

Alexey Seliverstov: Bionic birdsong

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/13

How fixed is the borderline between human music and the sounds of nature? That is a question that guides the work of Los Angeles-based composer Alexey Seliverstov. In this programme, Regan Morris follows Alexey’s creative process from recording the dawn chorus in the Santa Monica mountains, through the ingenious transformations of the field recordings to the finished multi-channel and multi-sensory installation for the Shelemay Sound Lab at Harvard University. There is more to Alexey’s music than

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49:32

Brazil's Miracle: an Indigenous disaster

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/12

During the Brazilian military dictatorship, the Krenak indigenous people were banned from speaking their language, imprisoned in reformatories and forcibly displaced from their land. In 2024, the State asked them for forgiveness. Can it be granted? Journalist Pūlama Kaufman travels to the remote city of Resplendor in the south-east of Brazil to meet up with Brazilian environmental journalist, Cristina Serra. Together, they are welcomed into the Krenak Indigenous territory where they speak with

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26:28

Tackling loneliness in India

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/11

India is known for its close knit families and communities, but modern work practices mean more and more people are living far from home, and suffering from loneliness. Reporter Sumedha Pal in Dehli shares the stories of some of the people in India who are trying to find creative solutions to connect with others. Animated film 'K-pop Demon Hunters' has topped streaming and music charts globally, pitting a demon hunter girl-group Huntrx against a would be soul-stealing boy band, Saja Boys. It's an

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22:58

Trump and autism: People affected speak out

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/11

President Donald Trump recently addressed what he described as the “horrible crisis” in autism, and rapid rise in reported cases over the last two decades. Previously, he has suggested a link between some vaccines and autism, and in his latest remarks, he warned pregnant women to avoid taking the painkiller Tylenol, or Paracetamol as it is known in many countries. Scientists around the world have condemned his remarks. They say the rise in reported cases of autism is due to increased understanding

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26:29

Searching for hope as a hostage in Gaza

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/10

After two long years President Trump has announced a ceasefire agreement which should see the remaining hostages returned home in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners. How have the families of Israeli hostages and their loved ones, held captive in dark tunnels for hundreds of days, managed to hold onto hope? Do people deepen their faith during periods of immense suffering, or turn away from religion? For this edition of Heart and Soul, Naomi Scherbel-Ball explores how, two years on

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36:35

Global dancefloor: Saigon

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/09

Frank McWeeny heads to the dancefloors of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) to uncover what Vietnamese alternative culture looks and sounds like today. With 70% of the country under 35, young people are the driving force behind a different image of Vietnam, far away from poverty and war. They are asserting their identity through music, fashion and their own take on traditional values. They are changing perceptions of what it means to be Vietnamese in 2025.We hear from DIY music collective Dismal,

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22:25

The biker gang ‘securing’ deadly Gaza aid sites

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/08

We have identified seven members of an anti-Islamic biker gang who oversaw security teams at aid sites for starving Palestinians, run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Correspondent Andy Verity unearths who they are, what they believe and how their ideology may have fuelled their trips to Gaza. Presenter: Andy VerityProducers: Reha Kansara, Tom Beal and William Dahlgreen Editors: Flora Carmichael and Anisa Subedar

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27:21

Bolivia’s Cholitas – From Outcasts to Icons

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/07

With their pleated skirts and bowler hats the “cholita” women are a common sight in Bolivia’s administrative capital La Paz. They’re often from indigenous Aymara and Quechua cultures. Until recently cholita was used as a derogatory term to talk about their distinctive traditional clothing and they were discriminated against.Jane Chambers travels to Bolivia to find out how these women are reclaiming their cultural heritage and going from outcasts to icons and what it says about society. Join her to

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26:30

Stephen Jones’ hats: A party on your head

The Documentary Podcast ·

2025/10/06

After growing up in the north of England British milliner Stephen Jones went on to become a pioneering British hat maker working in Paris. He has been creating avant-garde designs for the last 45 years, inspired by Surrealist art, trailblazing fashions at New Romantic club nights, and cinema. He was friends with pop star Boy George who wore his hats, and he famously created a tweed crown for Vivienne Westwood. Rather than a mere accessory, he aims to transform a hat into a statement of identity, and

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2,151 results

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