The Documentary Podcast

A brand new season of the BBC’s space podcast explores the story of the revolutionary Hubble Space Telescope and the tiny flaw that almost destroyed the dream. This is the first episode in the season, to listen to more just search 13 Minutes wherever you get your BBC podcasts. In this episode, our view of the universe could be transformed by one of the most ambitious scientific instruments ever bu...

Two rivers helped build civilisation. Now they are at the centre of a geopolitical struggle that casts a shadow over the future of the Middle East. For centuries, the Tigris and Euphrates carried goods, armies and ideas, shaping some of history's greatest empires. But today, a toxic mix of climate change, outdated irrigation methods and conflicting national interests is pushing these rivers to the...

The President of Cornell University says it "must do better" after a woman alleged she was drugged and raped by a group of men at a fraternity – or frat – house. Fraternities are all-male social organisations where the students live, study and socialise, and many are known for their parties. But they are also controversial and have been criticised for elitism and dangerous initiation rituals, refe...

From historic buildings linked to emancipation to tiny village chapels, Jamaica is home to the world’s highest density of churches. The Caribbean Island faced a profound spiritual crisis after Hurricane Melissa devastated many of the 1600 sacred spaces where people gathered to worship. Journalist and presenter Nick Davis, who has returned to his family's roots and now lives on the island, takes us...

Electoral battle lines are being drawn and redrawn in the United States right now, as Republicans and Democrats up the ante in an electoral redistricting war that many fear is undermining democracy. BBC North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher looks at how a once-a-decade act of political admin has turned into a rolling process of political partisanship, as parties compete to redraw voting dist...

For International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (October 13th), we're finding out how technology can help prevent disasters, save lives and help rescuers. In Argentina, we’ll meet Franco Rodríguez Viau whose family friends lost their home in a fire, inspiring him to find a way of tracking wildfires. He was just a teenager when he began developing an app that combines NASA satellite imagery with...

British Psychiatrist Dr Gwen Adshead, who has spent a lifetime working with violence perpetrators, visits Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang rehabilitation in the world. It offers, training, education, therapy and other services, was set up by a Jesuit Priest, Father Gregory Boyle. It was his response to the so-called “decade of death,” in the late 1980s, as his neighbourhood was...

With the cost of Government debt hitting its highest for many decades across the world, we explore how the world became so dependent on bonds, those IOUs from governments and firms that helped build the modern economy. Bonds are often dismissed as a dull corner of finance, but behind the scenes they have played a central role in major economic dramas around the world. We hear about their history,...

With perpetrators in exile, closure is out of reach. As Syria’s new authorities seek to hold figures of the former regime accountable, questions remain over the fate of Bashar al-Assad. The former president and members of his inner circle were granted asylum in Russia after a rebel offensive drove him from power in 2024. The transition ushered in a new chapter for Syria, raising hopes for justice,...

We bring people together from around the world who are struggling to find somewhere affordable to live. We hear from Spain where the eviction of an 87-year-old woman has led to widespread protests, highlighting the country’s housing crisis. Young people in Ireland, Nigeria and India share their experiences of the difficulties they face finding a home, and 26-year-old Adam in the UK tells us about...

The French town of Lourdes is a place of pilgrimage for Catholics – this year even welcoming the Pope. This shrine in the Pyrenees Mountains is the site of miracles and Christian fervour, where the young shepherdess Bernadette Soubirous saw 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary and where many people believe they have been miraculously healed. The Feast of the Assumption is the most important date in t...

Ten years on from the Ebola outbreak which tore through West Africa, journalist Tulip Mazumdar reconnects with survivors, healthcare workers and volunteers she met when reporting extensively from the frontline. The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak killed over 11,000. The epidemic exposed how unprepared the world was for fast-moving outbreaks - and how quickly they could spiral out of control. Ordinary peo...

How something as simple as a walk can improve our wellbeing, sharpen our thinking and bring communities closer together. We try out an innovative walking map of the UK on a journey through London, then head to the United States and Hungary, where doctors are leading walks to build stronger relationships with their patients.

As Nepal deals with the aftermath of devastating floods, there have been renewed warnings about the impact of climate change on the Himalayas. As temperatures have risen, glaciers across the region have shrunk and the landscape has become more unstable. Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent reports from one remote Nepalese mountain community that faces an existential threat from a melting glacier. The ancient...

We head west along America's famed Route 66. As the road celebrates its 100th birthday, Victoria Craig finds out whether the pull of neon-drenched nostalgia is still attracting visitors and whether new investment can secure the future of the towns that depend on it.

India is undertaking the biggest population count the world has ever attempted - a digital census designed to capture the lives, identities and realities of more than 1.4 billion people. With three million field staff, self‑enumeration in 16 languages, and real‑time monitoring across cities, forests, floodplains and megacities, the operation is both a national ritual and a vast technological exper...

Warning: contains description of domestic violence In the last few months, nine women – including a young mother out jogging – have been murdered near Johannesburg. South Africa has one of the highest levels of violent crime against women in the world and the deaths have sparked an outcry across the country that more needs to be done. In our conversations we bring together survivors of domestic ab...

Over the last 10 years, Dr Jane Orton has visited the remote Spiti Valley in the Himalayas to speak to the local Bhoti people about their lore and spiritual beliefs. In the many villages across the valley, stories about the deities are consistent from place to place but also transfigured. She hears about deities like Lhas, powerful beings that have been incorporated into Buddhism. Lhas serve many...

A national debate over sexualised violence online has erupted in Germany, and been seized on by Germany's feminist movement. As AI-generated deepfakes and other forms of online abuse against women become increasingly widespread, young activists are demanding stronger legal protections and putting violence against women at the centre of the political agenda. Reporter Jeanny Wasielewski meets the ca...

Wular and Dal lakes are among Kashmir's most famous natural treasures, but decades of pollution, encroachment and neglect have taken their toll. Chhavi Sachdev follows conservationists, farmers and local communities as they attempt an ambitious restoration effort. Along the way, she discovers migratory birds returning, lotus flowers reappearing, and a circular economy transforming ecological waste...

When President Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Poland opened its doors and their hearts to Ukrainian refugees. Millions of Ukrainians passed through Poland, getting all kinds of help from local people and from the Polish government. Many stayed. But there has been a dramatic change in feelings towards Ukrainians, particularly in recent months. From over 80% of Poles feel...

American journalist Austin Tice, vanished in Syria, but the US president says he’s alive. For more than a decade Austin's mother Debra has been leading the search for her son. As Josh Baker and Sara Obeidat travel to Syria to help Austin’s mother’s search, a source gives Josh information that might unlock where he is.

With Presidents Xi and Trump expected to meet in the United States this week, Will Bain looks back on the history of trade between the two great nations. It's always been fraught with controversy but there's also been a need or desire to get along. President Nixon was the first to visit China in 1972 and spoke with passion about the possibilities for the future between them. Trade then grew quickl...

Xi Jinping is known to be a ruthless leader. In the last five years alone, China’s richest man, Jack Ma, China’s defence minister and the country’s foreign minister have all abruptly disappeared - some never to be seen in public again. Millions of Communist officials have been purged since Xi came to power. But one man was thought to be untouchable: the head of China’s military forces, Zhang Youxi...

For many of us, our phones are the first thing we look at in the morning and the last thing we put down at night. But with growing pressure over screen time and concerns about the impact of social media, tech companies like Meta have agreed to restrictions. In our conversations, we bring together three people who have received treatment for tech addiction. We also hear from those have decided not...