The Documentary Podcast

Zohran Mamdani catapulted on to New York’s political scene this summer when he captured the Democratic nomination to run for Mayor this fall. A young politician, Mamdani campaigned on issues that mattered to New Yorkers including lowering the cost of living, but unlike other candidates, was not shy about making his Muslim faith a central talking point on the campaign trail. We explore how a single...

More than a third of Ukraine’s scientific institutions have been damaged or destroyed by Russian bombing. Many scientists have either fled the country or are internally displaced, and that Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences is trying to operate on half its pre-war budget. The funding may be reduced but the science still matters, even in wartime. Perhaps especially in wartime. It is something t...

Ukrainian teenagers are being recruited online to carry out sabotage against their own country in return for cryptocurrency, and for some the consequences are deadly. Ukraine accuses Russia of using Telegram to offer minors large sums of money to plant bombs or stage arson attacks. There have even been allegations that some recruits have been blown up while transporting explosive devices. This epi...

Drug overdose has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans. Fentanyl – a synthetic opioid mass produced in Mexico and smuggled across the border – drove the increasing number of fatalities ever higher. But there’s a good news story that hasn’t been widely reported… Drug-related deaths fell year on year from 2023 to 2024 by around 25%. In some states, the decline was even more dramatic - North Car...

How fixed is the borderline between human music and the sounds of nature? That is a question that guides the work of Los Angeles-based composer Alexey Seliverstov. In this programme, Regan Morris follows Alexey’s creative process from recording the dawn chorus in the Santa Monica mountains, through the ingenious transformations of the field recordings to the finished multi-channel and multi-sensor...

During the Brazilian military dictatorship, the Krenak indigenous people were banned from speaking their language, imprisoned in reformatories and forcibly displaced from their land. In 2024, the State asked them for forgiveness. Can it be granted? Journalist Pūlama Kaufman travels to the remote city of Resplendor in the south-east of Brazil to meet up with Brazilian environmental journalist, Cris...

India is known for its close knit families and communities, but modern work practices mean more and more people are living far from home, and suffering from loneliness. Reporter Sumedha Pal in Dehli shares the stories of some of the people in India who are trying to find creative solutions to connect with others. Animated film 'K-pop Demon Hunters' has topped streaming and music charts globally, p...

President Donald Trump recently addressed what he described as the “horrible crisis” in autism, and rapid rise in reported cases over the last two decades. Previously, he has suggested a link between some vaccines and autism, and in his latest remarks, he warned pregnant women to avoid taking the painkiller Tylenol, or Paracetamol as it is known in many countries. Scientists around the world have...

After two long years President Trump has announced a ceasefire agreement which should see the remaining hostages returned home in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners. How have the families of Israeli hostages and their loved ones, held captive in dark tunnels for hundreds of days, managed to hold onto hope? Do people deepen their faith during periods of immense suffering, or turn awa...

Frank McWeeny heads to the dancefloors of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) to uncover what Vietnamese alternative culture looks and sounds like today. With 70% of the country under 35, young people are the driving force behind a different image of Vietnam, far away from poverty and war. They are asserting their identity through music, fashion and their own take on traditional values. They are changing pe...

We have identified seven members of an anti-Islamic biker gang who oversaw security teams at aid sites for starving Palestinians, run by the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Correspondent Andy Verity unearths who they are, what they believe and how their ideology may have fuelled their trips to Gaza. Presenter: Andy Verity Producers: Reha Kansara, Tom Beal and William Dahlgreen Editors:...

With their pleated skirts and bowler hats the “cholita” women are a common sight in Bolivia’s administrative capital La Paz. They’re often from indigenous Aymara and Quechua cultures. Until recently cholita was used as a derogatory term to talk about their distinctive traditional clothing and they were discriminated against. Jane Chambers travels to Bolivia to find out how these women are reclaimi...

After growing up in the north of England British milliner Stephen Jones went on to become a pioneering British hat maker working in Paris. He has been creating avant-garde designs for the last 45 years, inspired by Surrealist art, trailblazing fashions at New Romantic club nights, and cinema. He was friends with pop star Boy George who wore his hats, and he famously created a tweed crown for Vivie...

The narratives and the doctrines built on ever-growing suspicions and fears that are once again stirring the Middle East. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has not just threatened to redraw the map of Europe - it has transformed the global security landscape. The ripple effects have been felt way beyond the continent, reigniting fears not felt since the Cold War - of a new nuclear arms race. In this ep...

Pavel Zarubin has access to President Putin that other journalists can only dream of. He interviews him regularly, and travels around the world covering huge geopolitical meetings, even posting to his vast social media audience from Putin's meetings with Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, and even from under the table of Putin's meeting with Kim Jong Un. BBC Russian's Elizaveta Fokht traces his career from...

We look back over the past 12 months of the conflict between Israel and Hamas through the conversations we have recorded. It is almost two years since Hamas militants attacked Israel – killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostage. In response, the Israeli government vowed to destroy Hamas. Since then – according to the Hamas-run health ministry – more than 60,000 people have been killed in air and g...

**This programme contains discriminatory language** On Greece’s Mount Athos, the most holy site in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, lies a rift in the faith. For more than 20 years, a banned monastery has operated illegally and at times violently towards their sacred community. Nikos Papanikolaou visits these excommunicated monks ready to become martyrs in order to protect their ultra-orthodox way o...

According to the World Bank, more than 80 million people in Nigeria still lack access to electricity, making it the country with the largest energy access deficit in the world. But even among those connected to the grid, many struggle daily to keep the power going. Blackouts are frequent, infrastructure is fragile, and generators have become a lifeline for homes and businesses alike. Journalist an...

A growing industry of content creators is teaching people how to make money from AI models, promising quick profits. Their strategy: steal content, alter faces with AI, and funnel users from Instagram to adult platforms. And one trend has caught the internet’s attention - Down’s Syndrome deepfakes. Rowan Ings and Nathalie Jimenez dive into the growing world of AI deepfakes, how it works, and hear...

The Dominican Republic is the Caribbean’s number one tourist destination. Last year 11 million visitors came here, many enjoying the five star resorts that skirt the island’s coast. Much of the construction work building those tourist facilities is in fact done by Haitians, and many of the staff who work in them are from Haiti, which occupies the western half of this island of Hispaniola. Over rec...

Inspiration for Emilia Wickstead’s luxury fashion brand comes from her childhood home in New Zealand, her adolescence in Italy’s most fashionable city Milan, but also from her hard-working fashion designer mother. Her feminine silhouettes and creative use of colour and textiles have made her a popular choice among members of the British Royal Family and Hollywood celebrities. Belinda Naylor has ha...

Can Apple cut ties with China? Apple is promising to make more products in the US, backed by a $600bn investment over the next four years. But after decades of relying on Chinese manufacturing that promise is going to be tough to keep. We’re joined by journalist and author Patrick McGee. With hosts in Washington DC and London, The Global Story tells the intertwined story of America and the world.

What happens when social media influencers join forces with politicians to promote their messages? Around the world political parties are switching from mainstream media to influencers to amplify their voices, in some cases even putting them on the official government payrolls. To find out what impact this is having on politics we've brought together Luis Fajardo from BBC Monitoring in Miami, who'...

There are now more Russian drone attacks on Ukraine than ever before in the conflict. On some nights, hundreds are targeted at the country. In one raid this week, Ukraine's air force says Moscow launched 619 drones and missiles, killing at least three people and injuring dozens more. In our conversations we bring together Kateryna who has lost her home twice to Russian drones, Kamila, whose aunt w...

Harj Gahley is a Sikh who began gambling when he was just 23. What started as a ‘fun’ night out with friends at a casino spiralled out of control, nearly costing him his life. For over a decade, Harj kept his addiction a secret, living a double life that led him to borrow, steal and defraud from family and friends. His addiction pushed him to the edge of personal and financial ruin. Eventually, hi...