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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Understand: The US election
Sun 28 Jan 2024
Justin Webb unpicks some of the terminology associated with the US election
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BBC OS Conversations: Life in Yemen
Sat 27 Jan 2024
A picture of Yemen through the words of its people.
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Heart and Soul: Religion in the 21st Century: Islam
Fri 26 Jan 2024
What does it mean to be a young Muslim in the world today?
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Assignment: American mercenaries - killing in Yemen
Thu 25 Jan 2024
Why former soldiers were hired to carry out assassinations in Yemen in 2015
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Solutions Journalism: Reducing risks in a risky world
Wed 24 Jan 2024
In Japan, drones are being developed to mitigate the risks from tsunamis and earthquakes
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Solutions Journalism: Ending homelessness the Finnish way
Tue 23 Jan 2024
What happens if you give a homeless person a house, with no strings attached?
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Paris: Football’s greatest talent factory
Sun 21 Jan 2024
What is it about Paris's banlieues that helps create such amazing football talent?
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Heart and Soul: Russia’s Africa crusade
Fri 19 Jan 2024
How Moscow is using divisions within Orthodox Christianity to extend its power in Africa
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Assignment: Bulgaria - the people smugglers
Thu 18 Jan 2024
The men who risk jail to help migrants across Europe
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Our House: Stories of the Holocaust
Tue 16 Jan 2024
Meet the Berliners tracing the plight of Jewish families who once lived in their flats
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In the Studio: Thelma Schoonmaker
Mon 15 Jan 2024
Thelma Schoonmaker reveals the secrets of the cutting room
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BBC OS Conversations on graduate unemployment
Sat 13 Jan 2024
Shared experiences of rejection, resilience and unexpected success.
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Heart and Soul: Facing death in Kenya
Fri 12 Jan 2024
Defying taboos to ease the passing of those with terminal illness in Kenya.
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Assignment: The struggle for Barbuda's future
Thu 11 Jan 2024
How a resort for millionaires sparked a battle for a Caribbean island paradise
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Building a future for cyclone-hit Mozambique
Wed 10 Jan 2024
Meet the people on the frontline of climate change
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The Return
Tue 9 Jan 2024
Promoted by the Ghanaian government, African-Americans are investing and settling in Ghana
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In the Studio: Poet Fred D’Aguiar
Mon 8 Jan 2024
Fred D’Aguiar on his collection For the Unnamed, inspired by a black jockey from 1852.
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BBC OS Conversations: Covid-19 four years later
Sat 6 Jan 2024
Burnt-out doctors, long Covid sufferers and positive stories from the pandemic
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Assignment: Bones that speak
Thu 4 Jan 2024
Thousands of people were killed in the 'war on drugs' in the Philippines
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An octopus's garden
Wed 3 Jan 2024
A pioneering closure system is enabling octopus to flourish in Madagascar
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In the Studio: Manal AlDowayan
New Year's Day 2024
How one of Saudi Arabia's most established artists navigates its changing society
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HARDtalk: Past notes
Sun 31 Dec 2023
A special programme remembering past HARDtalk guests who died in 2023
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Assignment: Bolivia’s giant fish intruder
Thu 28 Dec 2023
The giant freshwater fish that's invading Bolivia's Amazonian rivers
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HARDtalk: 2023 in review
Wed 27 Dec 2023
Stephen Sackur looks back at thought-provoking interviews from the past year
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In the Studio: Andrea Hernández
Christmas Day 2023
Documenting the political and economic crisis across the country
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Football and faith
Christmas Eve 2023
Mani Djazmi talks to current and former footballers about their faith.