The Documentary Podcast

Latest Episodes:

A Wish for Afghanistan: The Talib and the president Dec 26, 2021

Show notes

A chance to hear once again from the BBC's acclaimed series examining the seismic events shaping Afghanistan before and after this year's return to power of the Taliban. The BBC's chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet, hears from two key players who have shaped the country's recent history: Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, a former Afghan diplomat and co-founder of the Taliban movement; and Hamid Karzai, the country's first elected president. Both talk in detail about the events that shaped their lives, their thinking and what they make of the collapse of the US-backed government in the country.

Hear the whole series at bbcworldservice.com/afghanistan

A Pyrotechnic History of Humanity: Fossil fuels Dec 25, 2021

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Justin Rowlatt looks at the bonanza provided by coal, oil and gas in just the last two centuries. Our modern comfortable way of life is only made possible by burning through a finite stock of fossilised chemical energy. Today we are a fossil fuel society, according to the noted energy historian Vaclav Smil. Fossil fuels underpin everything we take for granted – our long leisurely lives, our material goods, even the crops needed to feed our gigantic populations. Justin takes a tour through the history of the engine with Prof Paul Warde at London’s Science Museum. He explores the dark library of hydrocarbon fuels with chemist Andrea Sella. And he discovers how coal and natural gas created the materials that built our modern urban worlds.

MTV@40 Dec 25, 2021

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In the early '80s the idea of a television channel showing nothing but music videos 24 hours a day was completely revolutionary. It posed the first real threat to the dominance of Top 40 Radio across America and went on to completely redefine how artists marketed themselves and the way popular music was consumed by the fans. The arrival of MTV in 1981 quickly led to an explosion in the production of music videos in both Europe and the US, many of which went on to define the decade. From Thriller to Live Aid, Britney to Beyonce; MTV has been the soundtrack to some of the biggest moments in popular culture for the last 40 years.

Coronavirus: Reporting Covid Dec 25, 2021

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Vaccines, vaccine hesitancy, Delta and Omicron – what is it like reporting on the pandemic? Host Nuala McGovern links up with journalists in Brazil, the United States and Germany to hear how they have been covering the coronavirus pandemic over the past year. How have things changed, and what are their predictions for 2022? Barbara Carvalho, from Globo News in Brazil, explains why vaccine take-up is high in a country where the national leadership has been sceptical of vaccination. We are also joined by Kathrin Wesolowski, a reporter and fact-checker in Germany, who warns of the dangers of misinformation around the pandemic. And Apoorva Mandavilli, Global Health and Science Reporter for the New York Times, tells us how her feelings go from despair to optimism.

World of Wisdom: Happiness in a hard situation Dec 25, 2021

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How do you find inner happiness when life in your home country is very hard? Eduardo is a young man in Venezuela facing daily struggles in his life. He finds it difficult to accept he cannot leave his country. Sister Dang Nghiem, is an Amerasian Buddhist nun, born during the Vietnam war. She talks to him about how we might find happiness and personal fulfilment wherever we are.

Afghan girls given a sporting chance Dec 24, 2021

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Female athletes faced brutal choices as allied forces withdrew from Afghanistan - to flee their homes and country or to stay and possibly abandon all hope of pursing their sporting dreams. Some made it onto those final flights out of the country, others faced dangerous journeys across borders with their friends and families. BBC journalist Sue Mitchell examines what has been happening to those who escaped and to the team mates they have left behind. Sue has been following the fortunes of teenage football players settling into new lives in the UK and female athletes stuck in limbo in Pakistan. When the UK Government announced it was granting asylum to the Afghanistan girls development youth football team there was relief that the teenagers could continue to play. Weeks on from that decision the girls are still in Pakistan awaiting visas, new homes and training opportunities. The uncertainty is compounded by stories of brutal acts committed against female athletes still in Afghanistan and worries about family members they have left behind. Kashif Siddiqi, the co-founder of charity Football for Peace, played a leading role in helping the girls flee Afghanistan. He said their perilous journey involved traveling in small groups and crossing the border wearing burqas. He is optimistic that sport can help them rebuild their lives and settle in communities linked by football. In Portugal a group of girl soccer players who were part of the Afghanistan under 15 and under 17 programs are already adjusting to their new lives. They are being helped by the former captain of the Afghanistan women’s soccer team, Farkhunda Muhtaj, who was already acutely aware of how difficult things were for the girls even before the Taliban returned to power. She fears that girls left behind will never play again. Those fears have recently been compounded by reports that a member of the Afghanistan women’s youth volleyball team has been beheaded by the Taliban in Kabul. Former team player, Zaharia Fayazi, relays the increasing anxiety she and others feel about those left behind.

The runaway maids of Oman Dec 23, 2021

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Hundreds of young women from Sierra Leone, West Africa, have been trapped in the Arabian sultanate of Oman, desperate to get home. Promised work in shops and restaurants, they say they were tricked into becoming housemaids, working up to 18 hours a day, often without pay, and sometimes abused by their employers. Some ran away, to live a dangerous underground existence at the mercy of the authorities. Now, they are being rescued with the help of charities and diplomats. Back home, some have empowered themselves for the first time, joining a women’s farming collective. But others can’t easily recover from the ill-treatment and isolation they suffered in Arabia. (Updated version of a programme first broadcast earlier this year.)

Reporter: Tim Whewell.

(Photo: Sierra Leonean women hoping for repatriation after leaving their employers in Oman. Credit: Do Bold)

CODA: I'm the thumb in my family Dec 21, 2021

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Humera Iqbal enters the remarkable world of Children of Deaf Adults, or CODAs. At a young age they take on the mighty responsibility of interpreting for their mums and dads outside the home…in a world built for the hearing. That means they are often emotionally switched on, assiduously punctual, confident and super-organised. Humera, associate professor of psychology at University College London, meets CODA children as they chat and translate while their parents are out and about getting things done.

Agriculture: The solar energy revolution Dec 19, 2021

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Justin Rowlatt explores what was the original solar energy revolution – harnessing the sun’s rays to grow food. Some 10,000 years ago our ancestors began to till the soil, producing the energy surpluses needed to feed the first cities and civilisations. Growing crops was gruelling work, as Justin discovers at Butser Ancient Farm, when he tries to till some soil himself with a replica Stone Age mattock. But what first prompted our ancestors to take up such an arduous way of life in the first place?

Parcels of CARE Dec 18, 2021

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Seventy-five years ago, when aching hunger dominated people’s lives in post-war Europe, a food parcel seemed like a miracle. Particularly when it had come all the way across the Atlantic from the United States. And there is one type of parcel that changed people’s lives across continents: The CAR.E parcel. In 1945, the American relief organisation CARE set out to ease the suffering of starving Europeans after World War Two.

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