The Documentary Podcast

The World Health Organisation has been sounding the alarm about the path of the pandemic in Europe, as Covid infections and deaths continue to rise across parts of the continent. Affected countries are listening and responding: mandatory vaccines, vaccine passports and movement restrictions on the unvaccinated are dominating the debate in several European countries. In this episode we bring togeth...

France and Britain are caught up in disagreements over who needs to do what to stop any more people dying on small boats crossing between the two countries. 27 people were killed in the English Channel on Wednesday, hoping to migrate to the UK. Even after the tragedy, people continue to attempt the dangerous journey in unsafe dinghies. Ros Atkins looks into this political and humanitarian issue

Memory Sidira is buzzing with excitement as she talks about what she is learning during her course at Malawi’s Drone and Data Academy - the first of its kind in Africa. The Academy’s aim is to build local expertise for Malawi’s expanding drone industry and to teach young Africans from across the continent 21st Century skills in drone flight and data analysis. Ruth Evans hears how drones are inspir...

BBC special correspondent Allan Little addresses the gulf between the reality of war and our ability to comprehend it from afar. His mission as a reporter has been to convey the experiences of people in the midst of war, to draw attention to injustices; to celebrate acts of heroism. So what stops us the listener or viewer, from engaging? Inspired by the philosopher Susan Sontag's essay.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that Europe is once again “at the epicentre” of the Covid pandemic. The WHO reported that deaths from coronavirus in the continent have increased by 5% - making it the only region in the world where the numbers are going up. Host Nuala McGovern hears from doctors in Romania, The Netherlands and Austria about what is happening in their country, the con...

President Putin has said that the West was taking Russia's warnings not to cross its ‘red lines’ too lightly. This comes amid rising tensions between Russia and the West. Ros Atkins has been looking into it.

Sockeye and Chinook salmon make one of the world's great animal migrations, swimming 900 miles from the Pacific Ocean up 6,500 feet into Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, where they spawn and die - but that journey may not happen much longer. In addition to the gauntlet of predators the fish face, from orcas to eagles, they are also running into a man-made obstacle: huge concrete dams. Most scientists a...

New apps that provide access to stock markets are revolutionising the world of trading, but they are also creating problems. A new generation of traders are emerging, fuelled by social media and with dreams of earning a fortune. Seoul journalist Grace Moon visits the Korea Centre For Gambling Problems to explore if easily accessible trading apps are fuelling addictions, before hearing worldwide st...

In 2009, someone broke into the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in the UK and stole emails. The material was distributed online - mainly on blogs linked to climate change sceptics. It was used to make the case that scientists were surreptitiously twisting the facts to exaggerate climate change. That was not the case. But before that became clear, events would take on a life...

Frontline medical teams in the UK have fine-tuned the physical treatment of severely ill Covid patients. But one thing that has gone largely unnoticed is their efforts to help those patients – often on ventilators for weeks – keep up the will to live, and enable their families to stay connected with these patients.

Moving away from the use of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas has been a major talking point at the COP 26 climate conference. Two coal mine workers in the United States and Canada discuss their concerns for their jobs, families and businesses within their communities. They are unhappy that coal is being painted as the “evil thing” and that all will be better if you get rid of it. They tell us a...

The husband of a British-Iranian charity worker held in Iran since 2016 has been on hunger strike again to push for her release. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been held there on spying charges, which she denies. Ros Atkins looks at how her story is part of a complicated history between Iran and the UK.

With the UN climate conference in Glasgow drawing to a close Assignment brings us the final programme in a series which has been telling the story of three places devastated by extreme weather events. In this final edition, Maria Margaronis travels to the Greek island of Evia. Here vast areas of centuries old forests, olive groves and houses were burnt by a week-long inferno. And now come the rain...

This year Zimbabwe has had a bumper crop of the staple food, maize. It is only the second time in two decades that it has grown enough food for the whole population. Last year they barely had half of what was needed and 7.7 million people went hungry. Better rainfall is largely to thank, but a new farming technique, called Pfumvudza is also being celebrated as having a dramatic impact on the amoun...

Usually protests against climate change take the form of marches or protests but for some activists this is not enough. Host Nuala McGovern hears from three people in Malaysia, France and Germany about why they have taken their fears about the climate much further - from interrupting a fashion show to risking their lives. For others, their concerns about the climate provoke emotional and mental ch...

Trees absorb carbon dioxide - the main gas heating the planet - so planting more of them is seen by many as a possible climate change solution. But how impactful is it? This week, Ros Atkins, looks at why vast tree-planting initiatives are concerning some experts

The worst effects of climate change are often framed as a problem for the future. But for some, the worst has already happened. As world leaders gather in Glasgow to talk about how to bring down emissions, Assignment tells the story of three places which have been at the sharp end of extreme weather events. Germany's Ahr Valley was a picturesque chain of ancient towns and villages along a small, b...

Could human engineering stabilise the Earth's climate and chemistry in the long term? Tim Lenton of Exeter University explains why the Gaia hypothesis is the key to understanding the future of life on Earth. But what about life beyond Earth? Justin Rowlatt speaks to astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger - a hunter and explorer of planets outside our solar system - and to the science fiction author David Bri...

When President Thabo Mbeki came to power in South Africa in 1999, the country was gripped by an HIV-Aids epidemic - and the president's decision to question scientific evidence, and reject the use of life-saving drugs only made the situation even more dire. But activists and medical staff were ready to fight the government's position by any means.

The changing planet is threatening a number of vulnerable and endangered species, and host Nuala McGovern hears from three experts on polar bears, snow leopards and bumble bees on why we should all care about what is happening to all animals. We learn about the importance of pollinators to healthy ecosystems. We also hear from a sheep farmer in Australia and a vegetable and fish farmer in Nigeria...

Ahead of COP26, the big climate change summit in Glasgow, Ros Atkins looks at the climate promises of two of the world’s biggest polluters – the US and China.

The worst effects of climate change are often framed as a problem for the future. But for some, the worst has already happened. As world leaders prepare to gather in Glasgow to talk about how to bring down emissions, Assignment tells the story of three places which have been at the sharp end of extreme weather events. In June, the Canadian village of Lytton smashed national heat records three days...

Justin looks at the period since the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs, which had seen a steadily cooling climate - until we humans turned up. What can the last 66 million years teach us about the likely consequences of climate change? And can our species make the next big evolutionary leap needed to tackle it? Adrian Lister of the Natural History Museum gives Justin a fossilised tour of how the...

When Aids began to emerge in the USA and Europe in the 1980s, South Africa was a fractured country, divided by Apartheid. During this time, the ruling National Party seemed disinterested in preventing a disease which was mainly affecting black people and gay men. The fall of Apartheid and the inauguration of President Nelson Mandela didn't improve the situation - the country's first black presiden...

As world leaders, scientists and activists prepare for the UN climate change conference in Scotland, host Nuala McGovern hears how sea level rise is affecting islands in the Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. People from the Bahamas, the US Florida Keys and a beach restaurant owner in Jamaica share their experiences of disappearing landscapes and their concerns for the future.