The Documentary Podcast podcast

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 China’s state-backed overseas spending, to on the road with Canada’s Sikh truckers, to the frontline of the climate emergency, we go beyond the headlines. Every week, we take you into the minds of the world's most creative people and explore personal approaches to spirituality. And we 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 and The Fifth Floor.

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 China’s state-backed overseas spending, to on the road with Canada’s Sikh truckers, to the frontline of the climate emergency, we go beyond the headlines. Every week, we take you into the minds of the world's most creative people and explore personal approaches to spirituality. And we 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 and The Fifth Floor.

 

#2000

Introducing The Bomb: Kennedy and Khrushchev

As the USA and Soviet Union race for supremacy in the 1960s, Premier Khrushchev sizes up h... more

19 hrs Ago

38 MINS

38:13

19 hrs Ago


#1999

Stolen brides of Kazakhstan: The fightback

In plain sight, in a modern city, a colleague offers to drive you home after work. How wou... more

Yesterday

27 MINS

27:49

Yesterday


#1998

Jim Henson's Creature Shop: Back to Fraggle Rock

Sean Allsop goes behind the scenes inside the legendary Jim Henson's Creature Shop in New ... more

15 Dec 2025

29 MINS

29:58

15 Dec 2025


#1997

A makeover for Syria's interim leader?

One year after the fall of Syria's dictator, Bashar al-Assad, interim president Ahmed al-S... more

13 Dec 2025

26 MINS

26:28

13 Dec 2025


#1996

Somalis in America

Donald Trump says Somali immigrants in the US should “go back to where they came from.” Th... more

13 Dec 2025

23 MINS

23:20

13 Dec 2025


#1995

The divine gift of sex

Sex therapist Dr Rica Cruz is on a mission to destigmatise sex in the deeply Catholic Phil... more

12 Dec 2025

26 MINS

26:30

12 Dec 2025


#1994

Surgery in a backpack

In some places, the nearest safe operating room can be hours or even days away. We find ou... more

11 Dec 2025

23 MINS

23:46

11 Dec 2025


#1993

The struggle of Israel's peace movement

Two years ago a group of Jewish and Palestinian peace activists stood almost alone in Isra... more

09 Dec 2025

29 MINS

29:10

09 Dec 2025


#1992

Anna-Karin Karlsson: Sunglasses made for icons

From a quiet forest outside Stockholm to the world’s most glamorous runways, Swedish desig... more

08 Dec 2025

29 MINS

29:36

08 Dec 2025


#1991

Steel from shipwrecks

In recent years component parts of historic shipwrecks have started to disappear, with rep... more

07 Dec 2025

26 MINS

26:29

07 Dec 2025


#1990

Reporting the Nigerian school kidnappings

More than 300 children were kidnapped from a school in the Western Nigerian village of Pap... more

06 Dec 2025

26 MINS

26:28

06 Dec 2025


#1989

Australia’s under-16 social media ban

From 10 December, Australian children under 16 will be banned from most social media platf... more

06 Dec 2025

23 MINS

23:59

06 Dec 2025


#1988

The mosque for Bangladesh’s transgender women

On the banks of the Brahmaputra River, a remote village in northern Bangladesh serves as a... more

05 Dec 2025

26 MINS

26:30

05 Dec 2025


#1987

Made in Russia: The Kremlin’s economic rebrand

How Moscow is working around international sanctions: promoting self-sustainability, eleva... more

04 Dec 2025

34 MINS

34:36

04 Dec 2025


#1986

From rocks to riches

Meteorites are pieces of space rocks, which having survived a fiery journey through the at... more

03 Dec 2025

26 MINS

26:31

03 Dec 2025


#1985

Joana Vasconcelos: Mask of mirrors

The Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos is renowned for her large-scale sculptural pieces ... more

01 Dec 2025

26 MINS

26:28

01 Dec 2025


#1984

Young and stateless

What does it mean to belong nowhere? Across the world, millions of people are denied citiz... more

30 Nov 2025

55 MINS

55:27

30 Nov 2025


#1983

Ireland's new alcohol warning

Ireland has become the first country in the world to introduce labels linking alcohol with... more

30 Nov 2025

27 MINS

27:07

30 Nov 2025


#1982

What is the 'Shadow Fleet'?

Around one fifth of the world's oil tankers now belong to the 'shadow fleet', more than a ... more

29 Nov 2025

26 MINS

26:28

29 Nov 2025


#1981

Brain fog and perimenopause

BBC Tech Editor Zoe Kleinman was about to go live on TV to explain a global outage affecti... more

29 Nov 2025

23 MINS

23:10

29 Nov 2025