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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Iceland: The great thaw
Boxing Day 2019
Iceland's glaciers are melting and scientists predict they could be gone in 200 years.
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Ii: The greenest town in Europe
Christmas Eve 2019
The town of Ii in northern Finland is a green trailblazer
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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Sun 22 Dec 2019
Razia Iqbal speaks to US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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County lines: Girl drug runners in the UK
Thu 19 Dec 2019
The story of girls trapped in the violent world of cross-country drugs gangs in the UK
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Romania’s revolution 30 years on
Wed 18 Dec 2019
How has Romania moved on from its totalitarian past?
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The Rainbow Railroad
Tue 17 Dec 2019
A Canadian organisation is helping LGBT people escape persecution via a secret network.
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Judy Garland: The final rainbow
Sun 15 Dec 2019
The story of Judy Garland's last concerts in London at the Talk of The Town nightclub
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A fight for light in Lebanon
Thu 12 Dec 2019
How a corrupt system condemns Lebanese to the misery of constant power-cuts
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From Bude to Berlin
Wed 11 Dec 2019
GCHQ's listening station at Bude, its hidden past and how it was forced out into the open
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My Big Korean-Iranian Wedding
Tue 10 Dec 2019
What happens when an Iranian marries a South Korean and their families meet?
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The digital election: How social media is reshaping UK democracy
Sat 7 Dec 2019
US political media expert Travis Ridout assesses efforts to influence UK voters
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Sri Lanka: The new climate of fear
Thu 5 Dec 2019
Muslims in Sri Lanka are deciding whether to stay or leave amidst a new climate of fear
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How Scarborough saved the world
Wed 4 Dec 2019
GCHQ's Scarborough station and its role in WW2, the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis
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Giving peace a chance
Tue 3 Dec 2019
John Lennon and Yoko Ono's bed-in for peace protest and the people who witnessed it
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The man who laughed at al-Qaeda
Thu 28 Nov 2019
Remembering Raed Fares the Radio Fresh FM founder who fought hatred with humour in Syria.
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Emperor complex
Tue 26 Nov 2019
Huang built China’s first 'privatised city'. Is it utopia or his personal fiefdom?
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The Malawi tapes
Sun 24 Nov 2019
Preserving the treasure trove of traditional harmonies, rhythms and instruments of Malawi
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Russian women fight back
Thu 21 Nov 2019
Domestic violence is endemic and often deadly in Russia but some women are fighting back
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Sierra Leone: The price of going home
Thu 14 Nov 2019
What happens to migrants who give up trying to reach Europe – and go home as failures?
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Hong Kong: Love in a divided city
Tue 12 Nov 2019
How have the protests affected the married lives between Hong Kong and mainland Chinese?
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Comrade Africa
Sun 10 Nov 2019
How Communist East Germany tried to influence Africa via radio during the Cold War
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Moondog: Sound of New York
Wed 6 Nov 2019
Huey Morgan celebrates the life and work of blind musician Moondog
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Cameroon's MMA champion
Tue 5 Nov 2019
Francis Ngannou's odyssey from child labour in a sand quarry to superstardom in the UFC
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Northern Ireland 1969: The violence spreads
Wed 30 Oct 2019
Ruth Sanderson looks back at the Scarman testimonies and the violence in Belfast in 1969
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Uganda's war in the bush
Sun 27 Oct 2019
How the guerrilla war in Uganda led to the current leadership
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Being black in Italy
Thu 24 Oct 2019
Meet the black Italians fighting to claim their place in a nation that’s still very white
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Northern Ireland 1969: Battle lines
Wed 23 Oct 2019
How the violence of the Northern Ireland Troubles began in August 1969
