The Documentary Podcast

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World of Wisdom: Opening up again Sep 04, 2021

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When Covid restrictions are lifted, the effort to return to our former lives can present unexpected personal trials. Shops, restaurants and offices have re- opened in Detroit, USA but Alex is finding it very hard to go back into the outside world and start socialising again. Dr Shefali helps him find a way forward and discusses the challenges of leaving home and re-entering the public world in places that have started opening up again, with presenter Sana Safi.

Women of Afghanistan Sep 04, 2021

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The last US soldier has left Afghanistan, leaving the Taliban in control of the vast majority of the country. Working women have been told to stay at home for now, for their own safety. Host Nuala McGovern hears from two sisters, who say they feel trapped in their family home in Afghanistan, unable to set foot outside and terrified of the Taliban. She meets Afghan women, who are volunteering at a community centre in London, helping those who have fled their country. They share their own stories of anguish, while helping hundreds of people a day, who continue to try to get their relatives out of the country. Nuala also catches up with a young woman who managed to flee the country on one of the last planes out. She's now in the US - but is still feeling pursued by the Taliban, who are sending her threatening messages in the middle of the night.

Moria - after the fire Sep 02, 2021

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The fire that destroyed the sprawling Moria asylum seekers’ camp on the Greek island of Lesvos last September made headlines around the world. For the asylum seekers who lost their makeshift home and most of their possessions, it was a devastating setback. For Greece, still hosting thousands of migrants Europe won’t take in, the fire intensified a determination to move them on elsewhere. What’s happened to some of Moria’s former residents since then? Working with Athens-based journalists Katy Fallon and Stavros Malichudis, Maria Margaronis follows a few of them - all Afghans - as they negotiate the search for safety and stability some migrants call “the game.” After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, tens of thousands of Afghans are trying to leave their country. These are the stories of some who had already made the journey.

Presented and produced by Maria Margaronis Special thanks to Lighthouse Reports for their support in gathering this material

(Image: Refugee girl playing in the ashes of the ruined Moria camp. Credit: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The Fake Paralympians: 3. Lost Aug 31, 2021

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The cheating is now out in the open and the players - including genuinely-disabled captain Ray - have to hand back their gold medals. But how and when did the cheating start? An ex-coach of the team, who was in charge until just two years before the scandal, says he began to suspect something was wrong way before Sydney 2000. Plus Dan tries to find an answer to one of the biggest questions of all - why did the cheats do it?

The world according to search Aug 28, 2021

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What can we learn about a culture from what they search online? From xenophobia in Nigeria, shut-in teenagers in Japan, India’s biometric identity card, and the creation of viral TikTok slang, we look at the search trends that have come to define us. Ben Arogundade investigates what the most popular searches reveal about our approach to death, dating, and digital identity. Tech journalist Nilesh Christopher tell us that India’s pandemic searches may be more complicated than they first appear, and Peruvian writer María José Osorio muses on a strangely nostalgic query that was among one of Peru’s most frequently probed questions online.

World of Wisdom: Peace of mind Aug 28, 2021

Show notes

Keeping some peace of mind when the world around you is in turmoil is a great challenge. Mohammed finds it hard to maintain concentration, he sleeps 12 hours a night but awakes exhausted. He lives in Afghanistan, which is in a state of conflict, and spends a lot of time on social media. Sister Dang Nghiem offers advice on how to make your mind a beautiful refuge from the chaos and insecurity in the outside world. She discusses the North Vietnamese communists taking over Saigon when she was a child and the BBC’s Sana Safi compares her own experience of life in Afghanistan under the Taliban.

Chaos in Afghanistan Aug 28, 2021

Show notes

Despite terror warnings, Afghans continued to gather at Kabul’s airport, desperate to get onto a plane. What was feared, and what is sadly familiar in Afghanistan, happened - bomb blasts brought further devastation. Around 100,000 people have been flown out of the country though since the Taliban takeover. We hear stories from two women who have been at the airport and managed to get a flight. Also, two students in Kabul and Herat share their fears about being unable to continue their education at present. For one, an encounter with a member of the Taliban on the streets brought both physical and mental pain. Host Nuala McGovern also connects two sportswomen, who have represented their country. They share their concerns about the future of female footballers and athletes in Afghanistan.

Catalonia: Squatters, eviction and extortion Aug 26, 2021

Show notes

How Catalonia’s housing crisis spawns opportunities for organised crime… Spain has a history of squatting. After the property crash of 2008 many families were forced to occupy homes that did not belong to them because they could not pay their mortgages. Now a darker side to ‘okupacion’ has emerged. Organised crime has seen an opportunity. Some flats in Barcelona have become ‘narcopisos’ - properties used to process or sell drugs. Other empty properties have been ‘sub-let’ by gangs to families who cannot afford a commercial rent. And the pandemic has spawned a new commercial model – extortion. These are cases where squatters occupy a property and demand a ‘ransom’ from the owner of several thousand Euros before they will leave. Enter the controversial ‘desokupa’ companies – firms run by boxers and bouncers who will evict unwanted 'tenants.'

Producer / Presenter: Linda Pressly Producer / Presenter in Spain: Esperanza Escribano Editor: Bridget Harney

(Image: Jorge Fe, director of FueraOkupas – a company dedicated to evicting squatters and unwanted tenants. Credit: BBC/Esperanza Escribano)

Archiving Black America Aug 25, 2021

Show notes

"We are our history," said James Baldwin. But how history is remembered depends on what materials survive, and who deems those materials worthy of preserving. Maya Millett - a writer, editor and founder of Race Women, an archive project dedicated to honouring early Black American feminists - speaks to the archivists who are working to ensure the voices and stories of African-Americans are not forgotten. As racism and violence against African-Americans continues, collecting, cataloguing, and preserving the truth has never been so vital in preventing the distortion of history.

The Fake Paralympians: 2. Caught Aug 24, 2021

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A basketball journalist in Spain recognises three of the players in the gold-medal-winning intellectual disability basketball team - and they are not disabled. He has even played on the same team as one of them. But when he publishes his story in a national basketball magazine, the team’s organisers show certificates supposedly proving the players’ disability status. The denials continue until another of the players - who turns out to have been a journalist - publishes his own article exposing the fraud.

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