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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Heart and Soul: Ticket to Taiwan
Fri 12 May 2023
How the Chè-lâm Presbyterian Church is helping Hong Kong activists who’ve fled to Taiwan
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Searching for my son
Thu 11 May 2023
Omar’s son was pulled alive from the rubble of Turkey’s earthquake, but where is he?
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BBC OS Conversations: Escaping from Sudan
Sat 6 May 2023
The anguish, fear and important practicalities of escaping war
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Heart and Soul: Will the real Shaman stand up?
Fri 5 May 2023
How can followers of the UK’s fastest growing religion prove their beliefs are sincere?
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Kenya's Free Money Experiment
Thu 4 May 2023
Why thousands of Kenyan villagers are being given free cash
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In the Studio: Tinuke Craig
Mon 1 May 2023
Director Tinuke Craig embarks on her opera debut, Blue, at the English National Opera
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The day I met the King
Sun 30 Apr 2023
People across the world recall their meetings with King Charles III of the United Kingdom
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BBC OS Conversations: Fentanyl in the United States
Sat 29 Apr 2023
Families share their stories of losing a loved one and the stigma around the drug
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Heart and Soul: The Church's slave plantation, part two
Fri 28 Apr 2023
Professor Robert Beckford explores the Christian understanding of reparations
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Laos: the most bombed country on earth
Thu 27 Apr 2023
50 years since the last US bombs fell on Laos, they’re still killing and maiming.
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After the earthquake: Turkey’s election
Tue 25 Apr 2023
Will February's deadly earthquake change Anatolia's support for President Erdogan?
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4. Murder in Mayfair: The home front
Sun 23 Apr 2023
“He’s a coward, he’s not a man.” Martine’s mum passes judgement on Farouk
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3. Murder in Mayfair: The flight
Sun 23 Apr 2023
“He won’t wake up...I think he’s dead.” What Farouk did in the hours after Martine died
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2. Murder in Mayfair: Martine
Sun 23 Apr 2023
Friends panic when "street-smart" Martine fails to come home
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1. Murder in Mayfair: Finding Farouk
Sun 23 Apr 2023
The hunt for the suspected killer of 23-year-old Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen
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Caught in Sudan's conflict
Fri 21 Apr 2023
Three women, a doctor and a nurse discuss the impact of fighting on families and patients
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Heart and Soul: The Church's slave plantation, part one
Fri 21 Apr 2023
How have the Church of England's historic slave plantations affected Barbados?
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Leaving Sri Lanka
Thu 20 Apr 2023
Record numbers are fleeing the island in the wake of a brutal economic crisis.
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Introducing: Murder in Mayfair
Tue 18 Apr 2023
Coming soon: The hunt for the suspected killer of Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen
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The hidden caste codes of Silicon Valley
Tue 18 Apr 2023
Indian workers are thriving in Silicon Valley but some say they face caste discrimination
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In the Studio: Erica Whyman: Directing Hamnet
Mon 17 Apr 2023
The RSC stages the world premiere of Maggie O'Farrell's award-winning novel
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The ghost ship
Sat 15 Apr 2023
A tanker drifts, unmanned, onto an Indian beach - like a ghost. What really happened?
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BBC OS Conversations: Living with multiple sclerosis
Sat 15 Apr 2023
As new research promises hope, people with MS share their experiences
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Heart and Soul: Sikhism’s lost song
Fri 14 Apr 2023
How a new generation of Sikhs are decolonising their sacred music
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Gran Chaco - Paraguay’s vanishing forest
Thu 13 Apr 2023
A massive new road across Paraguay threatens a fragile eco-system and two communities.
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In the Studio: Telling the John Hume story
Wed 12 Apr 2023
A new musical marking 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement
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Deep Waters: Container ships
Mon 10 Apr 2023
Container ships carry everything we buy - but those giant boxes hold secrets too
