The Documentary Podcast

BBC
BBC
  • 3.0 (2)
  • Documentary
  • Updated daily

Hear the voices at the heart of global stories. Where curious minds can uncover hidden truths and make sense of the world. The best of documentary storytelling from the BBC World Service. From Sierra Leone's cocaine trail, to victims' voices in Europe's wildfires, to the extremist "Jihadi cool" content spreading on social media...we go beyond the headlines. Each week we dive into the minds of the world’s most creative people, take personal journeys into spirituality and connect people from across the globe to share how news stories are shaping their lives.

  1. 14 hr ago

    The sound of soft power

    In 2025, Voice of America was thrust into the spotlight when the bulk of its funding was taken away. But in an era shaped by the internet and social media revolutions and with the West's funding priorities changing, it was not the first international broadcaster to go quiet. The soft power war of the airwaves has now moved to a decisive phase. Josephine McDermott traces the start of international radio and its heyday through World War Two and the Cold War as a tool of soft power. Hear the hosts of shortwave radio, from the Nazi propagandists Lord Haw Haw and Mildred Gillars to Doris Maxina, the presenter of Soviet radio's Moscow Mailbag, plus June Taylor, the New Zealander who became the global voice of communist Albania. Tune in to the sounds lost to time from Radio Netherlands' Happy Station Show to Radio Berlin International, and the Russian version of the British institution, The Archers, which came about following the collapse of the USSR. Featuring Thomas Witherspoon, creator of the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive; Jamie Shea, Nato spokesperson from 1993 to 2000; Sir John Tusa, managing director of the BBC World Service from 1986 to 1992; Ivana Stradner, research fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies in the United States and Nic Newman, senior research associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University, UK. With archive from the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, including recordings from Thomas Witherspoon, Paul Watson, Greg Shoom, Mark Hirst, Tom Gavaras and Keith Perron. Moscow Mailbag recording from KSN's Tech Topics on YouTube.

  2. 1 day ago

    Ukraine and Russia’s recruitment war

    More than four years after Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022, the war continues to shape almost every aspect of life in both countries, including the challenge of finding enough people to serve on the front line. In Ukraine, videos showing violent confrontations between recruitment officers and members of the public have sparked angry debate about how the country's draught system is working. In Russia meanwhile, the authorities have tightened conscription rules and introduced new digital tools aimed at successfully recruiting more young Russians. With BBC Monitoring's Vitaly Shevchenko and BBC Russian's Yaroslava Kiryukhina.  A new kind of spirit, very similar to tequila, is gaining popularity across India, thanks to the unassuming-looking agave plant. Unlike in Mexico, where agave is grown on a commercial scale for tequila production, in India, it grows wild and until recently, its only use was for farmers to make fences from its thorny trunk. But it is slowly transforming the lives of farmers across the country, as Priti Gupta, reporting for BBC Gujarati, has been finding out. This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world. Presented by Faranak Amidi. Produced by Laura Thomas, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

  3. 1 day ago

    Experiences of drought

    It’s been several weeks since there has been any significant rainfall in many parts of the world. Across Europe, a prolonged heatwave and little rain have dried-up waterways, hit crop production and have contributed to the wildfires that continue to burn in many areas. In our conversations we hear from Germany and Hungary – areas where low water levels are impacting transport and tourism - and we speak to Austin from Florida who used to run fishing tours. We are also joined by farmers in India, France and the UK, where the lack of rain has hit crop production, which will affect the quality and cost of food.

  4. 2 days ago

    The creator of France's 'Untouchables' houses

    Laurent de Cherisey was fresh out of business school and looking forward to earning a lot of money when his sister had a car accident that left her severely disabled. This led him to rethink everything. Including finding faith. He founded what has become a string of houses where accident victims and non-accident victims live side by side. They’re called the Simon of Cyrene houses, named after the man Jesus chose to help him carry his cross. The project was financed in part by the box office receipts for the hit comedy Untouchable at the request of the aristocratic tetraplegic accident victim whose story inspired the film. We talk to Laurent about his journey and to some Simon of Cyrene house-dwellers about what’s good about these places - why it works bringing together people of very different social classes, ethnic and religious backgrounds and, above all, very different physical and mental capacities. Producer/presenter: John Laurenson Series producer: Rajeev Gupta Editor: Chloe Walker Production coordinator: Mica Nepomuceno

  5. 3 days ago

    Tree of diplomacy

    How has botany been able to function as one of the longest-lasting soft powers between the two world powers - China and the US? Journalist and producer Finn Aberdein has been focused on China for over two decades. He hears from policy analysts, supply chain diplomats and leading Chinese and US botanists working tirelessly to keep their boots on the ground trips operating. From the secretive walled-gardens of China’s communist elite, to the gingko picnic spaces of Bostonian college lawns, and ancient forest canopies of the Sichuan basin, a portrait emerges - one of a borderless community of plant specialists practising a special kind of soft power. How has the quiet work of botanists helped weather political storms?

  6. 4 days ago

    The world's largest wildlife crossing

    When it opens in December, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will be the largest in the world. Stretched over a 10-lane freeway, it is intended to help save California's mountain lion population, which has become fragmented by the highway. It could also serve as a model for other projects, as crossings of this kind have often been viewed as too large to be effective. But will the crossing work? We examine the construction and the existing scientific data to find out.

  7. 5 days ago

    Victoria Falls: An environment on the edge

    The Victoria falls, on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, is considered one of the natural wonders of the world. But as Isa Jacobson reports, there is concern that development around the waterfall could threaten the delicate ecosystem and exacerbate conflict between humans and wildlife.

  8. 6 days ago

    Special forces on trial

    South African police detective Frans Mathipa told his boss he feared that he would be killed by the country’s military. Two days later he was found shot dead in his car by the side of a motorway. At the time of his death, Mathipa had been investigating whether special forces soldiers were behind the disappearance of Abdella Abadigga, a suspected member of so-called Islamic State or ISIS, and his bodyguard. So was Mathipa killed, as his colleagues believe, because of fears about what his investigation threatened to reveal? Dino Mahtani and Yeshiel Panchia investigate an extraordinary case that sets one arm of the South African state against another. Presenter: Dino Mahtani Producer: Ed Main Executive editors: Nick Norman-Butler and Andy Bell Editor: Rebecca Henschke Studio manager: Sam Dickinson Archive: SABC and Facebook

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About

Hear the voices at the heart of global stories. Where curious minds can uncover hidden truths and make sense of the world. The best of documentary storytelling from the BBC World Service. From Sierra Leone's cocaine trail, to victims' voices in Europe's wildfires, to the extremist "Jihadi cool" content spreading on social media...we go beyond the headlines. Each week we dive into the minds of the world’s most creative people, take personal journeys into spirituality and connect people from across the globe to share how news stories are shaping their lives.

Information

  • Channel
    BBC
  • Creator
    BBC World Service
  • Years Active
    2005 - 2026
  • Episodes
    2k
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) BBC 2026
  • Show Website
    The Documentary Podcast
  • Provider
    BBC Studios Distribution Limited

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