Documentaries
An indepth look at stories and issues from around the world. This podcast offers you the chance to access landmark series from our archive.
Bonus: Lives Less Ordinary
A bonus episode from the Lives Less Ordinary podcast. Manni Coe’s brother Reuben has Down’s syndrome, and had become isolated and non-verbal in a UK care home during the Covid pandemic – so he decided to stage a lockdown rescue mission. For more extraordinary personal stories from around the world,…
Assignment: Return of the Benin Bronzes
In 1897 British colonial forces attacked and looted the ancient Kingdom of Benin in what is now southern Nigeria. Thousands of precious objects were taken, including stunning sculptures made of bronze, brass, ivory and terracotta. Some were decorative, some were sacred. Known collectively as the Benin Bronzes, they were famed…
Crime and punishment in South Africa
Outside of a war zone, South Africa is one of the most dangerous places in the world. The country’s murder rate is now at a 20-year high. With trust in the police falling, communities say they have no option but to defend themselves. BBC Africa Eye’s Ayanda Charlie joins two…
In the Studio: Cressida Cowell
Enter the magical world of children’s writer Cressida Cowell. She created the hugely successful How to Train Your Dragon series, which continues to excite children across the globe and has been turned into Oscar nominated animated films. For her latest series, Cressida explores teenage magic and Iron Age warriors. As…
The Fifth Floor: China’s global mining for green tech
The BBC's new Global China Unit tell Faranak Amidi about their investigation into Chinese mines overseas, and what it's like to work in them and live near them.Produced by Caroline Ferguson and Alice Gioia(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)
OS Conversations: Mass tourism
The pandemic stopped most of us travelling anywhere, but now the United Nations predicts that international tourism will soon return to pre-Covid levels. While that might be welcome if you’re making money from tourism, the number of visitors can also cause problems. Hosts James Reynolds and Lukwesa Burak discuss how…
Heart and Soul: A Colombian Christmas in February
In the heart of Colombia, very special Christmas celebrations take place not in December but in February. Its roots lie in the days of slavery when many Afro-Colombians were serving their masters' festivities during that time. In an act of cultural and racial resistance that has been preserved for nearly…
Twin towns
The small rural town of Igbo-Ora in south-western Nigeria proclaims itself to be the “twin capital of the world". It has an astonishingly high twin birth rate. Everyone here wants to have twins because in Yoruba culture they are believed to bring good fortune and are celebrated almost as deities…
The Evidence: Maternal Health in Malawi
The process of childbirth can be painful yet amazing, but at times and in some places, also very dangerous. Recorded in Malawi, East Africa, Claudia Hammond is joined by a panel of maternal health experts to figure out why it is that the equivalent of a large jumbo jet full…
Bonus: World of Secrets live
Hear from the journalists and whistleblowers behind the World of Secrets investigation, The Disciples, which tells the story of the cult of Nigerian prophet TB Joshua. Presenters Charlie Northcott and Yemisi Adegoke, producer Rob Byrne and whistleblowers Rae and Ajoke explain how the investigation came about. Plus, the presenter of…
Assignment: Italy's mafia whistleblower
Last year in Italy the biggest anti-mafia trial in 30 years reached a climax. On the stand were the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta: they are estimated to run 80 percent of Europe’s cocaine and to make more money in a year than McDonalds and Deutsche Bank put together.With access to mafioso-turned-collaborator Emanuele…
In the Studio: Abhishek Singh
Indian artist Abhishek Singh’s comic books have sold more than half a million copies and been translated into Italian, Spanish, French and English. His interpretation of the Indian myth, Krishna: A Journey Within, was the first graphic novel by an Indian writer and artist to be published in American comic…
The Fifth Floor: Love and politics in Russia
Nataliya Zotova of BBC Russian tells us how Yulia Navalnaya has stepped in for her husband since his death and how there is somewhat of a precedent for this in Russia. Plus Ikechukwu Kalu explains how the BBC Igbo social media team use proverbs to connect with their audience. Produced…
BBC OS Conversations: Student protests in the US
The war in Gaza has triggered demonstrations at dozens of universities thousands of miles away in the United States. There have been hundreds of arrests as police have gone in to break them up and remove the protest camps that have been set up. Amid the heightened tensions, three Jewish…
Heart and Soul: Jewish dating
Dating in the Jewish world can be a struggle - different denominations, beliefs, being Kosher or not Kosher, ideologies and geography makes navigating this world difficult to decode. Amie Liebowitz talks to matchmaker and dating coach Aleeza Ben Shalom from Netflix's Jewish Matchmaker and goes on her own quest to…
South Africa: The people shall govern!
South Africa is marking 30 years of democracy this year, reflecting on the remarkable transition from apartheid that captivated the world. While some South Africans are celebrating, others are questioning whether the promises of democracy have delivered. The BBC’s Nomsa Maseko embarks on a personal journey, starting from the polling…
Bonus: Lives Less Ordinary
A bonus episode from the Lives Less Ordinary podcast. Evy Mages grew up in and out of foster care in 1970s and 80s Austria. But even when she started a new life in the US, she was haunted by traumatic memories of a strange yellow house high up in the…
Assignment: Kosovo - euro or bust
It's a quarter of a century since Kosovo emerged from a brutal war, one which pitted local ethnic Albanians against Serbs. Twenty-five years on, the government in Pristina is pressing ahead with reforms that could reinforce its separation from Serbia. They include banning the use of Serb dinars and curbing…
In the Studio: Kenyan artist Wangari Mathenge
Wangari Mathenge used to be a high-flying corporate lawyer before turning to her first love of art. She likes to express herself through her colourful palette, large-scale figurative paintings and immersive installations of places she has lived and worked. For this In The Studio, arts journalist Anna Bailey follows Wangari…
The Cultural Frontline: Exposing the fake Russian modern art collection
Over the past twenty years, paintings from a private collection of Russian and Ukrainian modern art have been sold to museums and private collectors around the world. Paintings were sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds from the Zaks collection, as it’s known. It was said to include over 200…