The Documentary Podcast Podcast
Hear the voices at the heart of global stories. Where curious minds can uncover hidden truths and make sense of the world. Documentary storytelling from the BBC World Service.
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 conflict in the Middle East to the advance of AI, to the front line of the climate emergency, 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.
Episodes to download
-
![]()
Assignment: Border Stories, part one - Zero Tolerance
Thu 14 Mar 2024
The ongoing effects of Zero Tolerance, the policy that divided families on the US border
-
![]()
Running out of sand
Wed 13 Mar 2024
Sand mining is fuelling Cambodia's construction boom but at what cost to the environment?
-
![]()
-
![]()
In the Studio: Peter Beatty
Mon 11 Mar 2024
Artist and film-maker Peter Beatty turns his barge into a film studio
-
![]()
-
![]()
BBC OS Conversations: The cost of living crisis in Nigeria
Sat 9 Mar 2024
Daily experiences from the country’s worst economic crisis in a generation
-
![]()
Heart and Soul: I joined the Taliban after they kept me hostage
Fri 8 Mar 2024
Why Jibra’il Omar, formerly Timothy Weeks, joined the Taliban after they kept him hostage
-
![]()
Assignment: Educating Tibet
Thu 7 Mar 2024
Are Tibetans being forced into Chinese language schools, made to abandon their culture?
-
![]()
Diving With a Purpose
Wed 6 Mar 2024
Meet the young scuba divers of colour who are searching for sunken slave ships
-
![]()
Trending - The anti-vax candidate?
Wed 6 Mar 2024
Will Robert F Kennedy Jr’s views on vaccines help or hinder his bid for the White House?
-
![]()
Tumaini
Tue 5 Mar 2024
A unique refugee-led celebration of music and solidarity in Dzaleka Refugee Camp, Malawi
-
![]()
In the Studio: Ghawgha
Mon 4 Mar 2024
Singer Ghawgha from Afghanistan explores identity, displacement and her people's struggle
-
![]()
-
![]()
BBC OS Conversations: Beyoncé and the changing face of country music
Sat 2 Mar 2024
African-American musicians and fans around the world discuss why they love country music
-
![]()
Heart and Soul: The new iconographers
Fri 1 Mar 2024
How the ancient tradition of iconography is being translated for the 21st Century
-
![]()
Assignment: Botswana - living with elephants
Thu 29 Feb 2024
The battle to keep the peace between people and elephants in northern Botswana
-
![]()
Trending - The disinformation war in the Middle East
Wed 28 Feb 2024
Disinformation has erupted on social media in the battle between Israel and Hamas.
-
![]()
Storm over a teacup
Tue 27 Feb 2024
The farmers and industry leaders working to secure the identity and future of Nepali tea
-
![]()
-
![]()
Bonus: The Global Story
Sun 25 Feb 2024
Is #Me Too finally exploding in French cinema? – The Global Story
-
![]()
Bonus: Hardtalk - Defying Putin
Sat 24 Feb 2024
In 2017, Alexey Navalny spoke about the risks of being a prominent critic of Putin
-
![]()
BBC OS Conversations: Ukraine war babies and returning home
Sat 24 Feb 2024
Giving birth during a war and returning from a safe haven abroad to conflict
-
![]()
Three Million: 5. Ghosts
Fri 23 Feb 2024
Three million people died in the Bengal Famine. Why are they not better remembered?
-
![]()
Three Million: 4. The tapes
Fri 23 Feb 2024
The discovery of cassette tapes that throw new light on colonial responsibility
-
![]()
Three Million: 3. The f-word
Fri 23 Feb 2024
Famine grips Bengal, but publicly, no-one is calling it a famine
-
![]()
Three Million: 2. The cigarette tin
Fri 23 Feb 2024
The escalating food crisis forces people to make life and death decisions
-
![]()
Three Million: 1. War
Fri 23 Feb 2024
The story of the Bengal Famine of 1943, where at least three million people died
-
![]()
Heart and Soul: Ladino - Saving Greece’s ancient Jewish language
Fri 23 Feb 2024
How the language of Thessaloniki’s Jews disappeared
-
![]()
Assignment: Pakistan - journalists under fire
Thu 22 Feb 2024
Journalists in Pakistan speak of coming under threat for criticising the authorities
-
![]()
Trending: The new fight for land rights
Wed 21 Feb 2024
How indigenous Malaysians are using technology and social media to assert land rights
