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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Two smiley faces: Episode five
Sun 1 Aug 2021
How emojis have come to define us, and what they tell us about global communication
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Beijing: Beyond the masks
Sat 31 Jul 2021
Liyang Liu explores her home city Beijing in the wake of the pandemic
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Rebuilding Beirut’s village in a city
Thu 29 Jul 2021
Can Beirut’s unique Karantina district survive after the blast that rocked the city?
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A tale of two Tokyos
Tue 27 Jul 2021
Ken Nishikawa and Nick Luscombe take inspiration and hope from the Tokyo Olympics of 1964
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Two smiley faces: Episode four
Sun 25 Jul 2021
How emojis have come to define us, and what they tell us about global communication
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The road to rock'n'roll
Sat 24 Jul 2021
How a network of black performance venues in a segregated USA shaped music history
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Dangerous liaisons in Sinaloa
Thu 22 Jul 2021
The impact of Mexican 'narco cultura' on the women of Sinaloa...
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Lex Gillette: A leap in the dark
Tue 20 Jul 2021
Paralympian Lex Gillette and guide coach Wesley go for Gold in 2021
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Two smiley faces: Episode three
Sun 18 Jul 2021
How do the Unicode Consortium decide what is included in the official emoji keyboard?
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China in slogans
Sat 17 Jul 2021
How Communist Party slogans reveal a turbulent century of Chinese history
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Breaking through
Sat 17 Jul 2021
How breaking went from the inner city streets of New York City to the Olympic Games
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Coronavirus: England Unlocking
Sat 17 Jul 2021
Reflecting the conversations ahead of the lifting of legal Covid restrictions
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Finding Grace
Wed 14 Jul 2021
James Clayton on a new technique for solving cold case murders using ancestry websites
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Sporting heroines of history
Tue 13 Jul 2021
Paralympian Tanni-Grey Thompson explores the role of women in sport through history
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Two smiley faces - part two
Sun 11 Jul 2021
How emojis have come to define us, and what they tell us about global communication
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The mixed beat
Sat 10 Jul 2021
Nora Fakim takes a look at mixed identity and how it’s evolving over generations
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Coronavirus: Refusing the vaccine
Sat 10 Jul 2021
We hear from countries struggle with vaccine hesitancy among their populations
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Missing from Manhattan
Thu 8 Jul 2021
As America’s biggest city emerges from the pandemic, Lucy Ash asks what’s changed
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Bats: Friend or foe?
Tue 6 Jul 2021
They are both feared and revered but what can we learn about bats?
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Two Smiley Faces
Sun 4 Jul 2021
How emojis have come to define us, and what they tell us about global communication.
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Coronavirus: Face masks
Sat 3 Jul 2021
We hear from Israel, Italy and Russia as the debate around mask-wearing continues
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The runaway maids of Oman
Thu 1 Jul 2021
Tricked, abused and trapped in a foreign land. Who will rescue the African maids of Oman?
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Guru: Who knew what and when?
Tue 29 Jun 2021
Ishleen Kaur investigates abuse allegations at a yoga organisation she once called home
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Coronavirus: Survivor's guilt
Sat 26 Jun 2021
We hear how some Covid-19 survivors are struggling with guilt
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Nigeria’s kidnapped children
Thu 24 Jun 2021
How armed gangs are inflicting terror upon schools in northern Nigeria
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Guru: A dark legacy
Tue 22 Jun 2021
Ishleen Kaur investigates abuse allegations at a yoga organisation she once called home