The Documentary Podcast BBC World Service

Female genital mutilation affects around 230 million women and girls globally, with rates highest in Africa. FGM is considered a human rights violation and has no health benefits. That’s according to World Health Organisation. Hibo Wardere, a survivor from Somalia, recounts her ordeal and discusses the importance of education in ending the practice.
The Gambia banned FGM in 2015, but it could be about to reverse this. BBC journalist Esther Ogola, who’s based in Nairobi, explains why. We also hear how Kenya has more than halved its victims - and discuss the likelihood of the practice ending by 2030, which is the UN’s goal.
To find out more of what is going on in the world search for "What in the World" wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.
Note: This episode contains some graphic descriptions of FGM.

Attacked on social media - how Nobel Prize laureate Maria Ressa came under fire for doing her job as a journalist in the Philippines, covering the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. She talks to Babita Sharma about the fight to stop social media being used to spread lies and hate against powerful women. Babita also speaks to two female digital pioneers. Lucina Di Meco is the co-founder of the California-based group She Persisted, which addresses the digital threat faced by women in politics. Audrey Pe is founder of the non-profit organisation WiTech, which aims to inspire young people to use technology to bring positive change.
This content was created as a co-production between Nobel Prize Outreach and the BBC.
Image of Maria Ressa: Getty Images

Nobel Prize laureate Sir Paul Nurse wants science, not politics, to guide the debate surrounding climate change. But how do you convince the denialists? Babita Sharma takes us through the evolving strategies of those who claim climate change isn’t real, and speaks to two young people who are trying to make a difference. UK climate activist Phoebe L Hanson founded Teach the Teacher, which gives school children the resources to engage with their teachers on climate change. Ugandan Nyombi Morris set up a non-profit organisation, Earth Volunteers, to mobilise young people like him who wanted to promote the fight against the climate crisis.
This content was created as a co-production between Nobel Prize Outreach and the BBC.
Image credit: Francis Crick Institute

Can information become a weapon of war? Oleksandra Matviichuk, whose organisation was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, is documenting alleged Russian war crimes against Ukraine. She talks to Babita Sharma about how she uncovers the evidence. Babita also speaks to Anastasiia Romaniuk, a young Ukrainian digital platforms analyst, who is exposing disinformation around the war, and to Lisa Kaplan, founder and CEO of a US company which helps organisations protect themselves from social media manipulation.
This content was created as a co-production between Nobel Prize Outreach and the BBC.
Image: Courtesy of Oleksandra Matviichuk

How Nobel Prize laureate Katalin Kariko got caught up in the Covid vaccine disinformation wars. What was it like - as someone behind one of the vaccines – to be in the eye of the false information storm? Katalin tells her story to Babita Sharma. And US educator and artist Young Elder tells Babita how she helped to build trust in the vaccine among Baltimore’s black community. She works with Hip Hop Health, an organisation combating health and vaccine disinformation, started by rapper Doug E Fresh.
This content was created as a co-production between Nobel Prize Outreach and the BBC.
Image: Courtesy of Katalin Kariko

Farmers' protests have been erupting across Europe, and on 20 February one image from a protest in Poland went viral. It showed a tractor carrying a soviet flag and bearing a slogan calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to ‘bring order to Ukraine, Brussels and our rulers’. The man driving the tractor was arrested and is currently awaiting trial. After the image was released Poland’s foreign ministry spokesperson released a statement warning of attempts to take over the country’s agricultural protest movement by extreme and irresponsible groups ‘possibly under the influence of Russian agents.’ We attempt to track down the man behind the banner. Who is he? And what is the evidence for Russian involvement in, or amplification of, farmers’ protests in Poland and beyond?