The Documentary Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Global supply chain disruption Oct 02, 2021

Show notes

The UK and the US have been experiencing supply shortages across a number of industries. There are many factors involved, including the Covid-19 pandemic, which has had a knock-on effect on the global supply chain. Ros Atkins examines how policies, politics and uncertainties impact our daily lives.

Northern Ireland’s Ceasefire Babies Sep 30, 2021

Show notes

In the UK’s most disputed region, Northern Ireland, the Unionist community has long been known for tenacity and even, say its critics, inflexibility in its determination to maintain links with Britain. Yet a new generation now seem less interested in the sectarian politics of their parents and grandparents. Born after the 1998 ‘Good Friday’ peace agreement that ended the IRA’s armed insurrection against British rule, many so-called Ceasefire Babies say they have different priorities, including jobs, mental health, LGBT+ rights and tackling climate change. Some refuse to be defined by either British or Irish identity and simply describe themselves as ‘Northern Irish.’ However, sectarian flags and threatening murals on ‘peace walls’ still define the urban landscape in some parts of Northern Ireland. And now, following Brexit, the Westminster government has agreed to a protocol which effectively puts a customs border in the Irish Sea – angering other Unionists who say it means they are being separated from mainland Britain. For Assignment, Lucy Ash travels to Northern Ireland to find out if Unionism’s Ceasefire Babies can really escape the past.

Producer: Mike Gallagher Editor: Bridget Harney

(Image: Young female loyalist band prepares to take part in the annual Relief of Derry march on August 14, 2021. Credit: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Buy me love: Inside the world of love coaching Sep 28, 2021

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Love coaching is a multi-billion dollar global industry, and one of the fastest growing in the world. More single people than ever are looking for advice to find a lasting romantic partnership. The result has been an explosion of coaches who claim to guide you to love through viral videos and costly in-person seminars. The BBC attends one such seminar in Kenya, with one of East Africa’s most famous love and lifestyle coaches, Robert Burale. He says he can show women all the secrets and tricks to find love in days. But does it work? Is this really a route to buy love, or simply a way to sell a dream?

World of Wisdom: Successful relationships Sep 25, 2021

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To have a beautiful, strong, lasting, successful relationship at the core of our lives is an ideal that takes root at an early age. But do we always know what a successful relationship looks like? And can we sometimes hope and expect too much? Ferzeen is originally from India, now in the USA, and has had trouble building relationships. She thinks there might be something from her past that is standing in her way. Dr Shefali advises her on the most important step to take first.

Coronavirus: Vietnam and the Philippines Sep 25, 2021

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Vietnam was, until recently, one of the world’s Covid success stories. Its policy of early border closures, lockdowns and track and tracing ensured that fewer than 40 people had died from the disease since the start of the pandemic. This all changed in May and host Karnie Sharp talks to two journalists in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi about what happened and what went wrong. She also hears from three parents and their children in Manila on the effect of remote learning for over 18 months, with most children also unable to leave their homes.

Ros Atkins on: Germany’s election Sep 25, 2021

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Germany’s first female chancellor, Angela Merkel, is standing down after 16 years in office. This matters because a major figure is exiting the global stage. She has worked with four US presidents and been at the centre of European and global politics. As Germans head to the polls, Ros Atkins looks at the race to succeed one of Europe’s most influential leaders.

A long way from Vietnam Sep 23, 2021

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Vietnamese migration to the UK is the second highest after Albania and each year the numbers are rising. Not even the tragedy of the Essex lorry disaster in 2019 has been enough to put people off. Then 39 Vietnamese migrants suffocated in a container lorry as they came over the English channel. BBC journalist Nga Pham talks to people in Vietnam about their desperation to leave their country. Coming from some of the most economically deprived provinces, families pay between $30-45,000 to people smugglers to send hundreds of their children out each year in the hope of a better future. She meets people who are now working in the shadow economy in the UK, in nail bars, cannabis farms and restaurants, hiding in plain sight. She also talks to those who were caught up in trafficking networks, discovered by the police and deported back to Vietnam with nothing to show for their years of slave labour.

Reporter: Nga Pham Producer: Anna Horsbrugh-Porter A Just Radio production for the BBC World Service

(Image: A group of women harvest rice, Vietnam. Credit: BBC)

The Fake Paralympians: 6.Fallout Sep 21, 2021

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After years in the wilderness, athletes with a learning disability are back at the London 2012 Paralympics - and Dan is among them. There are new tests designed to stop cheating. Do they work? And why, 21 years on from the basketball scandal, are there still fewer medals for intellectual impairment athletes than there were at Sydney 2000? Plus Dan catches up one last time with Ray, the genuinely disabled captain of the infamous Spanish basketball team. The scandal has taken a big toll on his life.

Afghanistan and me Sep 18, 2021

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As Afghanistan reaches a turning point with American troops leaving the country, BBC Pashto presenter Sana Safi tells the story of how her own life has been intertwined with the fate of her country. She tells the story of what it was like for a child to survive in a country caught between the crosshairs of geopolitical conflict, of surviving religious fundamentalism, of growing up in a country without music or books. She describes how violence and conflict forced her family to move from Kandahar to Helmand, only to find themselves caught in the crossfire of a gun battle. How under Taliban rule she effectively became a prisoner in her own home. How the continuing decades of conflict brought tragedy to her own family – and how she could only find security by moving to the UK, where she suffered the pain of separation from her family and homeland.

World of Wisdom: Dreams Sep 18, 2021

Show notes

Can sticking to our dreams end up holding us back? Diane and her husband promised they would sell their home on retirement and travel the world. Sadly, he passed away before they could do that. Diane wants to carry on with that plan but the pandemic has made her realise the richness of her community and given her a sense that as she gets older she needs to make best use of the time she has. Perhaps she is wrong to turn her back on where she lives and what she has. Sister Dang Nghiem, a Buddhist Nun, offers gentle counsel and helps Diane towards a resolution. She discusses with the BBC's Sana Safi that the long-long dreams we hold may be found to actually be a distraction from what really matters.

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