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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The Greatest Hits of the World - Part 2
Fri 16 Jul 2010
The song Wimoweh, or The Lion Sleeps Tonight has been exposed to a mass audience with...
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China Shaking the World - part one
Mon 12 Jul 2010
Michael Robinson examines the political, economic and cultural mechanisms of China's -...
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Stand By Me
Fri 9 Jul 2010
Ben E King says of his song Stand By Me "It tends to fall in place for someone who it...
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Assignment: The Families of Manshiyet Nasser
Thu 8 Jul 2010
Catherine Miller reports from one of Cairo's biggest slums where - in 2008 - a massive...
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Caribbean voices - Part one
Wed 7 Jul 2010
The BBC's seminal role in launching Caribbean writing in the region is remembered 60...
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Every Picture Tells A Story
Mon 5 Jul 2010
"A good photograph has an emotional component, the iconic photos hit you right away it...
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Assignment: Arizona's Immigration Law SB1070
Thu 1 Jul 2010
Arizona has passed a law cracking down on illegal immigrants -- the toughest of its in...
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Tiger v Dragon: China's String of Pearls (part two)
Wed 30 Jun 2010
Mukul Devichand explores the rising Asian giants, China and India. How will the old of...
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The Power and the Passion - Part Four
Mon 28 Jun 2010
With the World Cup underway, many fans will be avidly debating the fate of their in it...
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Home from Home Part One
Fri 25 Jun 2010
How does one's family history alter one's sense of sefl? Nihal Arthanayake - a London...
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Assignment: Spain's Hard Times
Thu 24 Jun 2010
Pascale Harter reports from Spain for Assignment to see how families there are coping...
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Tiger v Dragon: The Power of the Poor (part one)
Wed 23 Jun 2010
Mukul Devichand explores the rising Asian giants, China and India. In the churn and of...
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The Power and the Passion - Part Three
Mon 21 Jun 2010
With the World Cup underway, many fans will be avidly debating the fate of their in it...
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Aung San Suu Kyi: Freedom from Fear
Fri 18 Jun 2010
Aung San Suu Kyi leads the pro-democracy movement in Burma. She has been under house...
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South Africa's Path to Freedom - Part Two
Wed 16 Jun 2010
Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian author Wole Soyinka travels to South Africa to assess the...
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The Power and the Passion - Part Two
Mon 14 Jun 2010
With the World Cup underway, many fans will be avidly debating the fate of their in it...
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Crime, Scene, Insects
Fri 11 Jun 2010
Amoret Whitaker is a forensic entomologist. She is called in to help on cases where it...
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Assignment: India's Maoist Insurgency
Thu 10 Jun 2010
The Indian government is engaged in its biggest ever offensive against Maoist in state...
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South Africa's Path to Freedom - Part One
Wed 9 Jun 2010
Nobel Prize-winning Nigerian author Wole Soyinka travels to South Africa to assess the...
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The Power and the Passion - Part One
Mon 7 Jun 2010
With the World Cup fast approaching many fans will be avidly debating the fate of in...
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In the Shadow of the Stadium
Fri 4 Jun 2010
What is the mood of South Africa ahead of the 2010 World Cup? Audrey Brown talks to to...
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Assignment: Thawil - the Red Shirt protestor
Thu 3 Jun 2010
When Thai soldiers stormed an anti-government protest in Bangkok last month more than...
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The Travelling Electric
Tue 1 Jun 2010
In 1951, a black man named Willie McGee was executed in Mississippi's travelling chair...
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Thank You for My Freedom
Mon 31 May 2010
Former Beirut hostage John McCarthy has never thanked Giandomenico Picco, the United...
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Nightingales and Roses
Fri 28 May 2010
Iran has an enthralling literary landscape. Poetry extends to all areas of Iranian and...
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Assignment: Jamaica's 'Godfather'
Thu 27 May 2010
This week's Assignment comes from Jamaica where there have been pitched street battles...
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The Art of War
Wed 26 May 2010
The Chinese general Sun Tzu wrote a treatise called The Art of War over 2,500 years ago.
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Soft Power - Part Two
Mon 24 May 2010
The ability to get what you want by attracting and persuading others to adopt your is...
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Global Perspective - Wedge Island
Fri 21 May 2010
Wedge Island is located in a secluded spot on the rugged, windswept Indian Ocean off...
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Assignment: Swine Flu: Panic or Pandemic
Thu 20 May 2010
In June 2009 the head of the World Health Organisation declared swine flu a global...
