The Documentary Podcast Podcast
Hear the voices at the heart of global stories. Where curious minds can uncover hidden truths and make sense of the world. Documentary storytelling from the 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 conflict in the Middle East to the advance of AI, 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 share how news stories are shaping their lives.
Episodes to download
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Drugs, Overdose, Hope - North Carolina and Nevada
Tue 14 Oct 2025
Drug overdose deaths in the US have fallen dramatically. What’s going on?
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Alexey Seliverstov: Bionic birdsong
Mon 13 Oct 2025
Transforming mountain bird chirps into an interactive sound installation
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Brazil's Miracle: an Indigenous disaster
Sun 12 Oct 2025
Do Indigenous people in Brazil still suffer the impacts of the military dictatorship?
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Tackling loneliness in India
Sat 11 Oct 2025
We live in an ultra-connected world, but does that mean we’re less lonely?
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Trump and autism: People affected speak out
Sat 11 Oct 2025
People with autism react to President Trump’s recent comments
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Searching for hope as a hostage in Gaza
Fri 10 Oct 2025
How being held captive in Gaza tested Israeli hostages and their families.
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Global dancefloor: Saigon
Thu 9 Oct 2025
Young Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh City are changing perceptions through music and fashion
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The biker gang ‘securing’ deadly Gaza aid sites
Wed 8 Oct 2025
How did an anti-Islamic biker gang end up running security at GHF aid sites?
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Bolivia’s Cholitas – From Outcasts to Icons
Tue 7 Oct 2025
How Bolivian women are reclaiming their cultural heritage
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Stephen Jones’ hats: A party on your head
Mon 6 Oct 2025
From the new wave club scene to the catwalk, Stephen Jones on the enduring appeal of hats
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Nuclear tensions in the Middle East
Sun 5 Oct 2025
The narratives and the doctrines built on ever-growing suspicions and fears
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The Kremlin’s reporter
Sat 4 Oct 2025
Pavel Zarubin is a journalist following President Putin's every move
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Conversations from a year in Gaza and Israel
Sat 4 Oct 2025
People in Israel and Gaza share their experiences of the past year of the war
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Orthodoxy or death: The fight for Mount Athos
Fri 3 Oct 2025
Nikos Papanikolaou meets monks at the heart of a rift in Eastern Orthodox Christianity
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Powering Nigeria
Thu 2 Oct 2025
Can Nigeria solve its electricity crisis and power a more reliable future?
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Deepfaking disability
Wed 1 Oct 2025
We investigate how creators are deepfaking disability to fuel the AI adult industry
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Haitians living in fear in the Dominican Republic
Tue 30 Sep 2025
How Haitians in the Dominican Republic are being targeted for expulsion
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Emilia Wickstead: London Fashion Week
Mon 29 Sep 2025
Next spring's collection from New Zealand designer Emilia Wickstead
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Bonus: The Global Story
Sun 28 Sep 2025
Can Apple cut ties with China? Apple has pledged $600bn to return manufacturing to the US
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Social media influencers and politics
Sat 27 Sep 2025
Food, fashion and politics - how social media influencers are shaping global politics
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Living with the threat of drone attacks
Sat 27 Sep 2025
Ukrainians living with the threat of drone attacks
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Finding my Sikh faith against the odds
Fri 26 Sep 2025
A British Sikh’s journey from gambling addiction and shame to ultimate spiritual renewal
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Bonus. 13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle
Thu 25 Sep 2025
Can Nasa build the most complex flying machine in space history?
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Goodreads’ ‘unfair’ rating problem
Wed 24 Sep 2025
How ‘unfair’ Goodreads ratings are leaving writers and readers mystified
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‘A new foe’: Conscripting women in Denmark
Tue 23 Sep 2025
18-year-old girls in Denmark are facing the draft, as the military boosts its numbers.
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Lesia Khomenko: Art and war
Mon 22 Sep 2025
Artist Lesia Khomenko has been documenting how the war has transformed Ukrainian society
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Will a fugitive oligarch sway Moldova’s election?
Sat 20 Sep 2025
The BBC goes undercover, exposing a disinformation campaign ahead of Moldova’s election.
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Charlie Kirk and free speech
Sat 20 Sep 2025
Kirk’s supporters and other activists discuss the future for freedom of speech in the US
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Digital Dolittles: Talking to the animals?
Fri 19 Sep 2025
Technology allows new ways of listening to the animals. Will we become digital Dolittles?
