The Documentary Podcast Podcast
Hear the voices at the heart of global stories. Where curious minds can make sense of the world. Home of the best documentaries 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. Home of the best documentaries from the BBC World Service.
From the impact of drought on crops, tourism and trade, to Africa's first film city, to the Romanian teenagers who built a DIY internet...we go beyond the headlines.
Each week we look at the stories shaping our world and hear voices connecting people from across the globe, asking how news stories are shaping their lives. We also follow spiritual journeys, examine the world through the lens of its media and focus on solutions to global problems.
Episodes to download
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The Greening of the Deserts
Wed 8 Jul 2009
In this three part series, Ayisha Yahya explores climate change issues in the African...
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Assignment - The Opus Dei enigma
Thu 2 Jul 2009
It's widely regarded as one of the most secretive religious organisations in the world.
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Thembi’s Story
Thu 2 Jul 2009
Thembi Ngubane’s Radio Diary about living with Aids in a South African Township.
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Global Perspective: Alert Bay
Thu 2 Jul 2009
Teenagers on the island of Alert Bay, British Columbia, talk openly about the beauty a...
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The Greening of the Deserts
Wed 1 Jul 2009
In this three part series, Ayisha Yahya explores climate change issues in the African...
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Iran in crisis
Sat 27 Jun 2009
In this special edition of Assignment, John Simpson reveals how the protests, and the...
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Blood and lava
Fri 26 Jun 2009
When the dried blood of Naples' patron saint fails to liquefy, Neapolitans believe...
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Mubarak's Egypt - part two
Thu 25 Jun 2009
After 28 years in power, President Mubarak's promise of shepherding his country into a...
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Assignment - The Rich in Retreat
Thu 25 Jun 2009
In a programme first broadcast in April, Ed Butler reports from New York on how the of...
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Farm Swap - part two
Wed 24 Jun 2009
In the final part of this series, Mike Gallagher meets a British farmer working vast...
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Mubarak's Egypt - part one
Mon 22 Jun 2009
After 28 years in power, Mubarak's promise of leading Egypt into stable democracy has...
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Assignment - America's Somali Bantu
Thu 18 Jun 2009
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled from Somalia since civil war broke out there...
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Dear Birth Mother
Thu 18 Jun 2009
Listen to the story of Suzanne, a single woman in her forties who opted for a adoption...
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Farm Swap - part one
Wed 17 Jun 2009
In this series, Mike Gallagher meets two farmers working outside their own countries.
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Diabetes: The Silent Killer
Fri 12 Jun 2009
Justin Webb goes beyond his role as a journalist to explore the issue from the of a is...
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My world: Thailand's Dr Death
Fri 12 Jun 2009
The final programme in the My World series explores the story of Pornthip Rojanasunan,...
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The Cricket Revolution - part two
Wed 10 Jun 2009
In this series, David Goldblatt charts the rise of Twenty20 cricket. In the final he a...
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My World: Kades
Mon 8 Jun 2009
A poetic story of survival set against the soundscape of the Mathare slums in Kenya.
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The Economy on the Edge
Mon 8 Jun 2009
Martin Wolf, of the Financial Times, predicted that the global downturn would be much...
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Anatomy of a Hijack
Thu 4 Jun 2009
Since the beginning of last year, pirates have succeeded in seizing more than 70 ships...
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The Cricket Revolution - part one
Wed 3 Jun 2009
David Goldblatt charts the recent arrival and rise on the sporting scene of Twenty20...
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Anatomy of a Car Crash
Fri 29 May 2009
Tracing the profound physical and emotional toll on all those involved in the wake of...
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My world: A different kind of stroke
Thu 28 May 2009
Every year, 15 million people will suffer from a stroke, five million of them will die...
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The Lost Voices of Tiananmen Square - part two
Tue 26 May 2009
James Miles, the BBC's China correspondent in 1989, was an eye-witness to the events...
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Lincoln and the World
Mon 25 May 2009
Abraham Lincoln's legacy and political influence is more powerful today than it ever was.
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My world: The homecoming
Fri 22 May 2009
Follow the story of Gemma Tracee Apiku, a former refugee who spent her teenage years a...
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Assignment - The Bad Samaritan
Thu 21 May 2009
Until the end of last year Bernard Madoff was a highly respected financial guru and to...
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The Lost Voices of Tiananmen Square - part one
Tue 19 May 2009
James Miles, the BBC's China correspondent in 1989, was an eye-witness to the events...
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Freedom from Slavery in Mauritania
Mon 18 May 2009
Mauritania is a country with a tradition of slavery, but in August 2007 owning slaves...
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On the brink - part 2
Wed 13 May 2009
Continuing his award-winning reports for the BBC World Service, Michael Robinson looks...
