The Documentary Podcast

BBC World Service
  • 4.3 (162)
  • DOCUMENTARY
  • UPDATED DAILY
The Documentary Podcast

A window into our world, through in-depth storytelling from the BBC. Investigating, reporting and uncovering true stories from everywhere. Award-winning journalism, unheard voices, amazing culture and global issues. From Trump’s new world order, to protests in Turkey, to the headphone revolution, The Documentary investigates major global stories. We delve into social media, take you into the minds of the world’s most creative people and explore personal approaches to spirituality. Every week, we also bring together people from around the globe to discuss how news stories are affecting their lives. A new episode most days, all year round. From our BBC World Service teams at: Assignment, Heart and Soul, In the Studio, OS Conversations, The Fifth Floor and Trending.

  1. 4 HR AGO

    In the Studio: Madeleine Thien

    In 2020, the Canadian writer Madeleine Thien was working on her next novel, the follow-up to her prize-winning 2016 book Do Not Say We Have Nothing. But it was difficult to find the internal peace and privacy to begin again, especially after being catapulted into the public eye by the previous novel’s success. Paul Kobrak followed her over several months as she created the first drafts of the new novel. It is a process which moves from Berlin to Brooklyn and finally to Portugal's capital city Lisbon. Five years later, the novel, called The Book of Records, is being published.

    26 min
  2. Bonus: Good Bad Billionaire: Minecraft’s maker

    1 DAY AGO

    Bonus: Good Bad Billionaire: Minecraft’s maker

    A bonus episode from Good Bad Billionaire - the award-winning podcast from the BBC World Service. You can find more episodes by searching for ‘Good Bad Billionaire’ wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Minecraft is the most successful computer game ever. It's sold 300 million copies, built an active community of fans and there's now even a Minecraft movie. So how did one man - Markus Persson - create it all by himself, before selling it for billions? BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng find out how a high school dropout, obsessed with Lego and gaming, became a computer game hero. The Swedish programmer, known by the nickname Notch, built a virtual 3D world where, with the help of a pickaxe, players could harness their creativity to build almost anything, one block at a time. Persson founded the video game development company Mojang Studios, before selling it to Microsoft, but then came a spectacular downfall. Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast exploring the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics and success. There are leaders who made their money in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and in high street fashion. From iconic celebrities and CEOs to titans of technology, the podcast unravels tales of fortune, power, economics, ambition and moral responsibility, before inviting you to make up your own mind: are they good, bad or just another billionaire?

    47 min

  3. 1 DAY AGO

    The Fifth Floor: Tackling Nigeria's skin bleaching problem

    According to the World Health Organisation, 77% of Nigerian women have used skin-lightening creams. When BBC Hausa’s Madina Maishanu decided to look into this, she uncovered an even more worrying trend: mothers using potentially harmful products on their babies. Madina spoke to the campaigners trying to stop these practices. Plus, how human activities and climate change are threatening shea trees in Uganda with Njoroge Muigai from BBC Africa. Presented by Faranak Amidi Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

    24 min

  4. 2 DAYS AGO

    BBC OS Conversations: Remembering the life of Pope Francis

    Mark Lowen in Rome brings people together to share their memories of the Pope, who died on Easter Monday. In our conversations, Mark hears from Catholics in Argentina, including one of Pope Francis’ friends who knew him when he was a priest in Buenos Aires. We also bring together three people from Northern Ireland who had a private audience with the Pope, and three women who describe how he changed their lives. Mark sits down with Iraqi-American Pilgrims in a café just outside the Vatican to chat about what the Pope meant to them.

    25 min

  5. 3 DAYS AGO

    Bonus: Bridgerton actor’s interview on Dear Daughter

    A bonus episode from Dear Daughter - the award-winning podcast from the BBC World Service. You can find more episodes by searching for ‘Dear Daughter’ wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Bridgerton actor Adjoa Andoh joins Namulanta in the studio to share the letter she’s written to her three children. She tells them the importance of trusting their bodies and following their instincts - a life philosophy which has sometimes led her into some unexpected situations, especially while pregnant… Dear Daughter is a podcast all about love, life, family, and raising children. It is the brainchild of Namulanta Kombo, a mother on a quest to create a ‘handbook to life’ for her daughter, through the advice of parents from all over the world. Each episode, a guest reads a letter they’ve written to their children (or their future children, or the children they never had) with the advice, life lessons, and personal stories they’d like to pass on. Expect extraordinary true stories, inspirational advice for parents, and moving accounts of families, relationships and raising daughters.

    27 min

  6. 4 DAYS AGO

    The call of Anastasia

    Members of the new age Anastasia movement espouse strong family values, farm small plots of land and try to educate their own children outside the public school system. Originating in Russia, the quasi-religious group has now spread to Germany, where there are more than a dozen ‘Anastasia’ rural settlements. But are they more than just a harmless fringe group? Reporter Johannes Dell goes back to his native Germany to discover what the group stands for. He speaks to a former Anastasia member and to a German journalist who spent two years tracking the group. A government intelligence officer tells him why three German states have designated the group as extremist.

    26 min

  7. 5 DAYS AGO

    Witness History: The Environment Movement

    To mark Earth Day, we bring you remarkable stories of the history of the environmental movement, told by the people who were there. Selected from the BBC’s Witness History program, we hear about the major moments that changed our understanding of the planet we live on.

    52 min

  8. 5 DAYS AGO

    Francis, the rebel Pope

    Following the death of Pope Francis, Edward Stourton looks at the life and legacy of the spiritual leader of more than a billion Catholics worldwide. He was elected at a time of crisis for his Church, but quickly transformed its reputation. He urged Christians to be less judgemental and more welcoming of gay and divorced people. And as the first Pope of Latin American identity and from the southern hemisphere, he put the poor at the heart of the Church’s mission, speaking up for migrants and refugees and those worst hit by the impact of climate change. Edward Stourton speaks to people inside and outside the Catholic Church, including those who worked closely with him.

    49 min
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    Hosts & Guests

    4.3
    out of 5
    162 Ratings

    About

    A window into our world, through in-depth storytelling from the BBC. Investigating, reporting and uncovering true stories from everywhere. Award-winning journalism, unheard voices, amazing culture and global issues. From Trump’s new world order, to protests in Turkey, to the headphone revolution, The Documentary investigates major global stories. We delve into social media, take you into the minds of the world’s most creative people and explore personal approaches to spirituality. Every week, we also bring together people from around the globe to discuss how news stories are affecting their lives. A new episode most days, all year round. From our BBC World Service teams at: Assignment, Heart and Soul, In the Studio, OS Conversations, The Fifth Floor and Trending.

    Information

    • Creator
      BBC World Service
    • Years Active
      2005 - 2025
    • Episodes
      2K
    • Rating
      Clean
    • Copyright
      © (C) BBC 2025
    • Show Website
      The Documentary Podcast
    • Provider

      BBC Studios Distribution Limited has identified itself as a trader for this podcast and confirmed that this product or service complies with European Union law. Address 1 Television Centre 101 Wood Lane London London W12 7FA United Kingdom Phone Number +44 7590176301 Email bbcstudiosaudiodistribution@bbc.com

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