The Documentary Podcast

Nine Yards, the designers behind the Paris 2024 Olympic skatepark, get to work on their next big challenge: the rebuild of Olympiaplein, one of Amsterdam's oldest and most cherished skating spots. Sean Allsop joins designers Jesper Kuipers and Jeroen Van Eggermond in the Netherlands, as they work through sketches and plans before presenting their vision to local skaters for crucial feedback. Then...

The extremist content quietly spreading on TikTok and Instagram, targeting unsuspecting young people. Through what is disguised as innocuous lifestyle content, supporters of jihadist groups like IS and al-Qaeda reach audiences outside their echo chamber. This is a recruitment drive that signals a move from direct operational instructions to “do-it-yourself jihad", with the aim of potentially inspi...

When Chinese policeman Dong Guangping wrote an article commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing, it kicked off a chain of events that led to him serving jail time and losing his job. But it also sparked the beginning of a deep desire to live more freely. So Dong began planning how he might escape China. Just a few weeks ago, back in l...

Wildfires continue to burn across the continent. Thousands of people have been evacuated on the Greek island of Crete, as well as in western France, Spain, Portugal and Turkey. A blaze in central Spain has burned almost 80,000 hectares over the last week and is now considered the largest recorded wildfire in Spanish history. With temperatures hitting more than 40 degrees Celsius in south-western F...

What does it mean to inherit a faith that served as a fortress for your father, but feels like a contradiction to you? Throughout his childhood in Oxford, Silas Gray was surrounded by the sights, sounds, and symbols of his father’s Rastafarian identity. He was even named after the Rastafarian spiritual figurehead, Emperor Haile Selassie I. But this legacy weighs heavily. It anchors him to a comple...

The 1st of July 1916 is still one of the deadliest days in the history of warfare. Nearly 20,000 men from the British Army and 6,000 German soldiers were killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The World War One battle would last another four months and was one of the first examples of industrial warfare; three million men fought in it, over a-million soldiers were wounded, missing or...

Ed Butler investigates how one of Europe’s most wanted drug smugglers, Jos Leijdekkers, ended up in Sierra Leone while evading justice. He also explores reports linking Leijdekkers to the family of Sierra Leone’s president, including claims that he has married the president’s daughter. for more programmes like this search Business Daily wherever you get your BBC Podcasts Presenter/producer: Ed But...

In Kenya, a young lawyer is bringing a legal case against the Kenyan government, regulator, and several multinational agrochemical companies. He’s working alongside activists and health practitioners, and they claim that hazardous pesticides and herbicides, designed to make farming for efficient, are damaging the health of farmers in Kenya. They are demanding changes to regulation, as well as incr...

The American artist James Turrell is famous for his Skyspaces. A Skyspace is chamber with an opening to the sky. Turrell bathes the roof with light that subtly changes colour, which affects our perception of the colour of the sky itself. Julian May travels to ARoS, the Art Museum in Aarhus, Denmark to meet James Turrell as he prepares his latest SkySpace, entitled As Seen Below – The Dome. It is a...

Cars driven by Israeli volunteers wait at check points to give lifts to sick Palestinians to their hospital appointments - what the volunteers call “one hour of peace”. Since Hamas’s attacks on 7 October, it has become an increasingly rare space for Israelis and Palestinians to speak and build trust and connection amid the trauma of war. Most Palestinians from the occupied West Bank are prevented...

When it comes to conservation, adorable and majestic animals often attract the most concern for their plight. It's not so easy to get the public's attention when it comes to animals that are perceived as weird or creepy or downright unpleasant. The vulture, traditionally associated with death and carrion, falls into this unlucky group. Globally, around 70% of vultures are now under threat of extin...

It has been a month since the twin earthquakes in Venezuela, estimated to have killed more than five thousand people. But there have also been some remarkable stories of rescue with people being pulled alive from the rubble many days after the disaster. In our conversations, we bring together people who survived disasters to discuss the long-term impact the events have had on their lives. Marinel...

When her mother dies, Rimi Tanaka regrets that she never truly got to know her. And so when her mother’s literary agent calls Rimi out of the blue, and asks her if she wants to write the book Akemi was writing when she died, Rimi seizes the opportunity. Akemi was researching her samurai ancestry, learning more about their philosophical code, and how it can teach us to live a fuller life today. Can...

In 2014, Tonga had no national netball team, coach, squad, or training facilities. Determined to change that, former television news anchor Salote Sisifa became CEO of Tonga Netball and promised the board that within five years she would build a team capable of competing internationally and reaching the world’s top 10 by 2025. If she failed, she would resign. Alongside, Head Coach Jaqua Pori-Makea...

Why I don’t hate the person who tried to kill me in Norway’s worst terror attack from a far-right extremist. Bjorn Ihler speaks to Lives Less Ordinary, the podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Fifteen years ago today, on 22 July 2011, Bjorn Ihler was a 20-year-old performing arts student and a member of the youth division of the...

Children who are so obese they’re banned from their local gyms. Two and three year olds who are so used to juice and fizzy drinks they find it difficult to drink water. This is the child obesity epidemic hitting Italy. The country is often considered the spiritual home of the fabled mediterranean diet, celebrated as the secret to a long, healthy life. But Italy’s children are now the second most o...

Can a trek become a work of art? As British artist and theatre-maker Tom Bailey starts his 600km on skis, Jo Morris tracks his progress through the borderlands of the Arctic where he encounters communities under threat from the climate crisis. As melting ice opens up new shipping routes, sparking debates over sovereignty Tom's ultra-slow journey will also examine the future of cultural tourism.

Set against the backdrop of one of the world’s toughest child protection laws, Brishbhanu Baruah explores how India’s landmark Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (Pocso) is reshaping the lives of young people. Introduced after the 2012 Delhi gang rape, Pocso has been praised for exposing hidden abuse, trafficking, and child marriage. But as reported cases surge into the tens of thousa...

In Belarus, new legislation from the government of President Alexander Lukashenko targets anyone who might be regarded as an opponent with charges of being ‘extremist’. Dozens of independent media outlets have recently been designated as ‘extremist organisations’ in the country, as the government cracks down on dissent. But the Belarus government isn’t only targeting media outlets. It’s taking aim...

Over the past five decades, it is estimated that around 13 million babies have been conceived thanks to IVF. The fertility treatment has helped families around the world have children. But new research suggests that older women face a significantly lower chance of conceiving, even when donor eggs are used from a younger woman. This challenges the idea that donor eggs can “reset” an individual’s re...

Harry Haft was forced to fight in more than 70 death matches inside Nazi concentration camps - not against soldiers but against other prisoners. After the war, Harry carried that violence into America’s boxing rings, facing some of the era’s top fighters. Through the eyes of his son Alan, this documentary reveals the deeper cost of survival - a legacy shaped by trauma, rage, and the loss of faith...

Why have US beef prices risen around 13% over the past year? Who is making money from the burgers and steaks Americans eat? Presenter Sam Fenwick speaks to a cattle rancher in South Dakota, an agricultural economist in Wisconsin, a meat packer in North Carolina and a restaurant owner in Nebraska to find out what is happening in this quintessentially American corner of the food market. We unpack th...

“Perfidious Albion” - how Britain replaced the US as Russia’s top nemesis and the villain at the heart of its war narrative. Since the re-election of Donald Trump, Russian propagandists have softened their tone on the US, while intensifying their rhetoric against the UK. They have unleashed a wave of elaborate insults, accusations and threats against Britain, amounting at times to a full-blown cha...

In March this year, 25-year-old Noelia Castillo died by lethal injection. Her father had fought in the courts for nearly 2 years to stop her euthanasia, but failed in the attempt. And the debate about who has the right to challenge an adult’s decision to have euthanasia hasn’t gone away. In May, the Supreme Court ruled that those with, ‘a particularly close connection’ to the person wanting to die...

The BBC investigates Zhang Zhidong, also known as “Brother Wang”, a Chinese national described by US law enforcement as one of the most significant drug traffickers in the world. He is now awaiting trial in the US and has pleaded not guilty. He is accused of building a criminal empire connecting China's chemical factories to the Mexican cartels flooding the US with fentanyl. The BBC investigates h...