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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Childish Gambino: This is 2018
Sun 30 Dec 2018
How and why Childish Gambino’s This is America video echoed around the world in 2018
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Armenia: Return to a Town that Died
Thu 27 Dec 2018
Two British firefighters revisit the scene of Armenia's devastating earthquake in 1988.
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Carols of the Times
Sun 23 Dec 2018
Composer Bob Chilcott explores the history of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
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DNA, Me and the Family Tree
Thu 20 Dec 2018
How home DNA testing kits are revealing more than some people bargained for.
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Spy Ship: The Capture of the USS Pueblo
Tue 18 Dec 2018
The story of the US servicemen captured and imprisoned 50 years ago by North Korea
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Congo: A River Journey
Sat 15 Dec 2018
A sound-rich immersive journey along the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo
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China's Hidden Camps
Thu 13 Dec 2018
The BBC gains rare access to a region of China where Muslims are being held without trial
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Stories on the Rocks
Wed 12 Dec 2018
Exploring how ancient cave paintings in Somaliland can be protected from terrorists
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When you tire of tech
Tue 11 Dec 2018
Ana Matronic visits a retreat for people who have tired of tech
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India's battle with online porn
Sun 9 Dec 2018
Is the rise of online porn in India to blame for sexual violence against women?
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Inside Burundi’s Killing Machine
Thu 6 Dec 2018
An investigation into repression in Burundi, one of Africa's most secretive countries.
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Vicky Phelan: The Woman who Changed Ireland
Wed 5 Dec 2018
How one woman uncovered a medical scandal that rocked Ireland
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Radio La Colifata
Wed 5 Dec 2018
Radio La Colifata confronts prejudices by broadcasting from a psychiatric hospital
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A Stark Choice for Cambodia's Surrogates
Thu 29 Nov 2018
Locked up for renting out their wombs, mothers in Cambodia must make an agonising choice.
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Migrants Mean Business
Wed 28 Nov 2018
How migrants' food businesses have shaped communities in northern Britain
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The Surrogates Club
Tue 27 Nov 2018
Why do women in Canada women give birth to somebody else’s baby without getting paid?
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The Carnival: 50 Years in St Pauls
Sat 24 Nov 2018
Marking the 50th anniversary of Bristol’s cultural gem – the St Pauls Carnival
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Nigeria's Patient 'Prisoners'
Thu 22 Nov 2018
Nigerian patients held in hospital because they can’t pay their medical bills.
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The Number One Ladies’ Landmine Agency
Wed 21 Nov 2018
The Sahrawi women clearing up unexploded bombs left in the world's longest minefield
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Argentina’s Feminist Tango
Tue 20 Nov 2018
The feminist revolution taking place in the home of machismo and the Tango
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The Eternal Life of the Instant Noodle
Sun 18 Nov 2018
How instant noodles went global with the help of students, travellers and prisoners
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Everyday Americans 1: The Opioid ‘Demon’
Fri 16 Nov 2018
Exploring the real-time impact of the US opioid epidemic in Louisville, Kentucky
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Everyday Americans 2: Law and Order and Opioids
Fri 16 Nov 2018
How the police and courts deal with the opioid epidemic in one city—Louisville, Kentucky.
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Everyday Americans 3: Opioids and the Next Generation
Fri 16 Nov 2018
Babies addicted to opioids and the school kids caught up in the US addiction crisis
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The Last Long Journey of the Herero
Wed 14 Nov 2018
The African genocide that fed a gruesome trade in human body parts
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From Truman to Trump
Tue 13 Nov 2018
US politician Joe Tydings shares vivid memories of the Kennedys in his final interview.
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Saudi's Crown Prince in the spotlight
Thu 8 Nov 2018
Mohammed bin Salman is under intense scrutiny following the killing of Jamal Khashoggi
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George Ellery Hale: Prince of the Sun
Wed 7 Nov 2018
The amazing work of the little known astronomer George Ellery Hale
