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 China’s state-backed overseas spending, to on the road with Canada’s Sikh truckers, 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
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Archaeology and war
Yesterday
A Russian archaeologist has been imprisoned for his dig in occupied Crimea
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ICE in Minnesota
Yesterday
How life has changed since Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived
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Hungary: The alternative to Orban
Thursday
Can opposition leader Peter Magyar challenge Viktor Orban?
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Shepherd's Eye In The Sky
Wednesday
Bola Mosuro meets the nomadic herders feeding Africa and fighting climate change
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Nigeria: Killings, land and cattle
Tuesday
Inside a conflict that’s fuelled controversial claims of “Christian genocide”
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Mrinalini Mukherjee: Hemp sculptures
Last Monday
Indian sculptor Mrinalini Mukherjee and her delicate hemp sculptures
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US foreign policy in five doctrines
Last Sunday
From the Monroe Doctrine to Trump, we look back at five big US foreign policy shifts
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Living in Greenland
Last Saturday
What is it like to live in Greenland as the world debates your future?
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Daughters of thunder
Fri 23 Jan 2026
The transformative work and faith of black female pastors in the American south
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Bonus: Introducing: The History Bureau
Wed 21 Jan 2026
If journalism is the first draft of history, what happens if that turns out to be flawed?
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Greece: Rescuers on trial
Tue 20 Jan 2026
The aid workers put on trial for people-smuggling after saving migrants from drowning
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Black girlhood in photos and writing
Tue 20 Jan 2026
Sisters Salamishah and Scheherazade Tillet’s photos and words on the lives of Black girls
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New elements
Sun 18 Jan 2026
The search for element 120 begins at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
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Kenyans lured to Russia's frontline
Sat 17 Jan 2026
The promise of a good job has tricked some into fighting in the war in Ukraine
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Stories from the New Silk Road: The Bering Sea
Thu 15 Jan 2026
The China-Russia-US tensions in the Bering Sea and China’s push for wider influence
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Putin's foreign fighters
Tue 13 Jan 2026
Why are young men from around the world risking their lives fighting for Russia?
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The Netherlands: 10 new cities?
Mon 12 Jan 2026
The Netherlands is experiencing a housing crisis. Could 10 new cities be the answer?
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Bianca Raffaella: A world of blurred vision
Mon 12 Jan 2026
Sahar Zand meets partially sighted painter Bianca Raffaella in her studio in Margate
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Looking for No Man's Land
Sun 11 Jan 2026
Is there anywhere left on Earth that is unaffected by humans?
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Taraneh: Iran's defiant actress
Sat 10 Jan 2026
Why has a documentary about Taraneh Alidoosti been watched by millions in Iran?
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Life in Venezuela
Sat 10 Jan 2026
How has life changed for Venezuelans after the detention of Nicolas Maduro?
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Living side by side: Morocco’s Jews and Muslims
Fri 9 Jan 2026
How two Abrahamic faiths in Morocco have embraced peaceful coexistence
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Returned to sender
Thu 8 Jan 2026
The self-titled 'Message In a Bottle Hunter', who hunts for bottles on beaches all over
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World Questions - Greenland
Wed 7 Jan 2026
Jonny Dymond chairs a debate about the future of Greenland.
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Persian poetry and politics
Wed 7 Jan 2026
How poetry is used by Persian-speaking leaders to build legitimacy
