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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In the Studio: TRIVAX
Mon 4 Nov 2024
TRIVAX on their mission to fight against oppression and totalitarianism through music
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Assignment: Denmark’s weight loss boom town
Sat 2 Nov 2024
Assignment visits the small Danish manufacturing town making the weight loss drug Wegovy
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The Fifth Floor: Ikat fashion and other Uzbek wonders
Sat 2 Nov 2024
Ibrat Safo explores Uzbekistan's love story with textiles
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BBC OS Conversations: US voters and the cost of living
Sat 2 Nov 2024
How major news stories are affecting the lives of people around the world
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Heart and Soul: How the war in Gaza helped me find God
Fri 1 Nov 2024
How the unshakeable faith of Palestinian Muslims in Gaza led Vanessa to embrace Islam
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The jaguar's last stand
Thu 31 Oct 2024
The Jaguar is the apex predator in the Pantanal, Brazil, but loss of habitat is a threat
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BBC Trending: The cost of an addiction to Somali TikTok battles
Wed 30 Oct 2024
Cash-strapped and verbally abused – players of the TikTok game taking Somalia by storm
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Assignment: Choosing race
Tue 29 Oct 2024
Stories of people fighting to claim their racial identity, and those looking to police it
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In the Studio: Ishmael Reed
Mon 28 Oct 2024
Legendary American author Ishmael Reed is 86 – how does he keep creating?
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The Fifth Floor: Where do vampires come from?
Sat 26 Oct 2024
Where did the vampire myth originate from?
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BBC OS Conversations: US black and Latino male voters
Sat 26 Oct 2024
We discuss if the male vote is a problem or opportunity ahead of the US election
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Heart and Soul: Seeking justice from Opus Dei
Fri 25 Oct 2024
Former assistant numeraries who worked in Opus Dei centres say they were abused
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Iraq's secret women's shelters
Thu 24 Oct 2024
The dangerous and secretive work of the Iraqi women helping victims of domestic violence
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BBC Trending: Meet the anti-witch hunter
Wed 23 Oct 2024
Meet the man who intervenes to protect people accused of witchcraft across Africa
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Assignment: Singing in Gaza
Tue 22 Oct 2024
Amid the rubble, children in Gaza are learning music. How and why do they go on singing?
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In the Studio: Jonny Banger
Mon 21 Oct 2024
Jonny Banger is an artist who blurs the lines between fashion, music and activism
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Caught at the helm
Sun 20 Oct 2024
Are Greece's tough people smuggling policies seeing the wrong people pay the price?
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The Fifth Floor: Who runs Russia's African Initiative?
Sat 19 Oct 2024
African Initiative claims to be a media organisation. Who's behind it?
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BBC OS Conversations: Living alongside Mexico's drug gangs
Sat 19 Oct 2024
Residents in Mexico on coping with crime, kidnappings and murders
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Bonus: What in the World - Liam Payne
Fri 18 Oct 2024
Liam Payne: Why One Direction fans are so heartbroken
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Heart and Soul: The dead are not dead
Fri 18 Oct 2024
What is Enkumbi, a ritual practised in certain cultures in Uganda and across Africa?
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The children's hospital of Entebbe
Thu 17 Oct 2024
A new free-to-access children’s hospital is revolutionising paediatric care in Uganda
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BBC Trending: Yami Baito - Inside Japan’s dark part-time jobs
Wed 16 Oct 2024
How job postings on social media are luring people into organised crime in Japan
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Assignment: Singapore – drugs, rehab, execution
Tue 15 Oct 2024
Singapore and drugs: compulsory rehabilitation, and traffickers paying the ultimate price
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In the Studio: Mia Lehrer and the LA River
Mon 14 Oct 2024
Mia Lehrer on the revitalisation of an American icon
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The Fifth Floor: The wolf salute
Sat 12 Oct 2024
Who are the Grey Wolves, and why is their salute controversial?
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BBC OS Conversations: Israelis remember the hostages
Sat 12 Oct 2024
Family members of hostages taken by Hamas discuss the agony of silence
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Heart and Soul: Reclaiming yoga
Fri 11 Oct 2024
Yoga is big business but has it become disconnected from its spiritual roots?
