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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BBC Trending: Passport bros
Wed 22 Jan 2025
The impact that young digital nomads known as 'passport bros' are having on Medellín
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Assignment: Death marches - uncovering the truth beneath the soil
Tue 21 Jan 2025
How a town in Poland – once in Germany - is discovering its troubling past
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In the Studio: Michael Visocchi
Mon 20 Jan 2025
Michael Visocchi’s sculpture Commensalis, celebrates the whales of Antarctica
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The Coming Storm: Inauguration
Sun 19 Jan 2025
Gabriel Gatehouse follows the characters who have propelled Trump into the White House
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The Fifth Floor: IVF and me
Sat 18 Jan 2025
BBC journalist Ana Maria Roura shares her experience of undergoing fertility treatments
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BBC OS Conversations: Living through the Los Angeles fires
Sat 18 Jan 2025
Survivors share their experiences of escaping the flames
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Heart and Soul: Kaddish - why we pray for the dead
Fri 17 Jan 2025
Michael Goldfarb looks at the origins of Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead
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Solutions Journalism: Prison of the mind
Wed 15 Jan 2025
Dr Jenny Okolo asks if a mental-health-first approach to justice can reduce crime rates
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BBC Trending: The chatbot bridging an aid gap
Wed 15 Jan 2025
The female engineer who has created a chatbot on WhatsApp to help deliver aid in Lebanon
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Assignment: The Gambia - when migrants are forced to go home
Tue 14 Jan 2025
The young Gambians who had to give up on their journey to Europe
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In the Studio: Madame Gandhi
Mon 13 Jan 2025
Musician, artist and activist Madame Gandhi makes music from the sounds of the Arctic
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Paths of return: A special homecoming to Sierra Leone
Sun 12 Jan 2025
A group of African Americans are in Sierra Leone for a very special homecoming
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The Fifth Floor: China's empty maternity wards
Sat 11 Jan 2025
How falling birth rates led to the closure of over 400 maternity wards in China
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BBC OS Conversations: Dealing with trauma after vehicle-ramming attacks
Sat 11 Jan 2025
Survivors, relatives and counsellors share their experiences of vehicle-ramming attacks
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Heart and Soul: The plight of Hindus in Bangladesh, part two
Fri 10 Jan 2025
Sahar Zand investigates the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh
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Licence to operate a space object
Thu 9 Jan 2025
The night sky holds so much power - why are we not fighting harder to protect it?
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Child soldiers and capoeira
Wed 8 Jan 2025
In the city of Goma, former child soldiers are being rehabilitated using capoeira
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BBC Trending: Were Valencia's floods engineered weather?
Wed 8 Jan 2025
The conspiracy theories that swirled around Valencia's floods
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Assignment: South Korea - the feminist hunters
Tue 7 Jan 2025
How feminists in South Korea are being hunted down, attacked and sacked
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In the Studio: Dan Perri
Mon 6 Jan 2025
How Dan Perri created title sequences for some of cinema's most famous films
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The Fifth Floor: Fighting crime with kitchen spoons
Sat 4 Jan 2025
How a group of Nigerian women came together to protect their community from violence
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BBC OS Conversations: How going viral changed my life
Sat 4 Jan 2025
Megan Boni, actor Kirsty Paterson, Kelley Heyer, and Auri Kananen on going viral
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Heart and Soul: The plight of Hindus in Bangladesh: Part one
Fri 3 Jan 2025
Sahar Zand investigates the plight of Hindus in Bangladesh
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The dogs of Palermo
Thu 2 Jan 2025
In Palermo, neighbourhood dogs roam freely and are embraced by locals, protected by law
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Built different: Why women athletes suffer ACL injuries more than males
New Year's Day 2025
Lianne Sanderson explores the science and solutions for ACL injuries in female athletes
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Assignment: The human cost of developing Cambodia's Angkor wonder
Tue 31 Dec 2024
Changing the temple complex of Cambodia's '8th wonder of the world'
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Bonus: Americast - Former US President Jimmy Carter has died aged 100
Mon 30 Dec 2024
Justin Webb looks at Jimmy Carter's journey from peanut farmer to the White House
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In the Studio: Tomás Saraceno
Mon 30 Dec 2024
Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno on his hot air balloon creation, Aerocene
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Bonus: HARDTalk - Past Notes
Sun 29 Dec 2024
A special programme remembering some past HARDtalk guests who died in 2024
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The Fifth Floor: Bollywood binge
Sat 28 Dec 2024
Old hits and horror movies: what is trending in Bollywood right now
