The Documentary Podcast

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Peanuts for the people Aug 26, 2026

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In the 30 years since its invention the ready-to-use therapeutic food Plumpy'nut has saved the lives of millions of children and protected countless others from the effects of malnutrition. Jewel Kiriungi explores its origins and ongoing legacy. The brainchild of two Frenchmen, Doctor Andre Briend and Michel Lescanne, a food processing engineer, they set out to put the power to feed children back into the hands of parents. With the help of organisations like Unicef they created a system of manufacture and distribution that would not only feed the hungry but benefit the economies of the countries where Plumpy'nut was needed.

Brazil’s gambling addiction Aug 25, 2026

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The figures are startling - 2.1 million Brazilians have a clinical addiction to betting and 7.5 million are problem gamblers. Women now comprise 40% of all gamblers, having been 25% just a decade ago. Online sports and casino betting have exploded in Brazil to make it one of the largest gambling markets in the world. The self-help group Gamblers Anonymous says it is receiving thousands of calls each month and millions of Brazilians are estimated be suffering financial, emotional or relationship problems as a result of betting. Camilla Mota talks to football fans in Sao Paulo about why they are gambling on their team’s result. She speaks to a man who gambled away $75, 000 on a corporate credit card, a businesswoman who locked herself in the toilet of her family home in order to bet in secret and meets two psychiatrists offering treatment to addicts at a special clinic. What can be done to protect problem gamblers and avoid driving legal gambling underground? **This edition of Assignment was updated on 25 August to correct the title**

Lucy Sparrow: Nostalgic supermarket made of felt Aug 24, 2026

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Lucy Sparrow stitches life into everyday objects, creating vibrant felt worlds that look just like the real thing. Following the success of her hand-stitched felt fish and chip shop, she has recreated a Walmart convenience store from the 1980s, complete with TV dinners and a felt photo booth. **This edition of In the Studio was updated on 25 August to reflect that the exhibition will no longer travel to Germany**

China: The rise of a science superpower Aug 23, 2026

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Roland Pease explores how decades of strategic investment and diligent educational reform have brought China to the brink of global scientific dominance. As the world’s other scientific superpowers seemingly retreat from their historical high ground, how has China achieved such remarkable progress, both in applied and fundamental sciences? And what might that mean for the rest of us?

Image: A humanoid robot competes in the 1500m final at the inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games, at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, China on 15 August 2025 (Credit: Tingshu Wan/Reuters)

Secret phone calls from a Saudi jail Aug 22, 2026

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In a sprawling prison in the Asir province of Southwestern Saudi Arabia, hundreds of young Ethiopian men are currently sitting on death row, not knowing when their name might be called and to be told that it's their turn. In the hope of getting their voices heard some of the prisoners managed to get hold of the phone number for the BBC's Tigrinya language service. One of the journalists working for the service is Aklilu Tsegay and he tells us what it was like to speak to those prisoners, sometimes multiple times a day, when reporting on the story.

In India, July saw some of the biggest protests in the country for many years. The protesters were young people, particularly students, and they came together under an unusual symbol, the cockroach. They call themselves the Cockroach Janta Party or CJP, and they are demanding change to the education system in the country. Starting as an online joke a couple of months ago, the CJP is now one of India's most visible youth movements. Sumedha Paal reports for the BBC in India, and brings us the story.

The Fifth Floor is at the heart of global storytelling on the BBC World Service, bringing you the best stories from journalists in the BBC's 43 language services. We're here to help you make sense of the stories making headlines around the world; to excite your curiosity and to get to grips with the facts. Recent episodes have investigated Russia’s youth armies and how they make soldiers of Ukrainian children; featured the BBC team who were the first journalists to the site of the Nigerian school kidnappings and reflected the effects of internet blackouts in Iran, Uganda and India. If you want to know more about Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, and the legacy of Hugo Chavez; or how Vladimir Putin’s network of deep cover spies operates; or why Donald Trump signed an executive order granting white South Africans asylum in the US, we have all those stories and more.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world.

Presented by Faranak Amidi.

Produced by Laura Thomas, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Flying with kids: Cabin chaos Aug 22, 2026

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Noisy and disruptive children can turn a normal flight into a living nightmare. Earlier this month, a flight in Canada was cancelled after a young child refused to wear a seatbelt. The incident has opened a debate about how airlines should deal with these situations and how parents should control their children. In our conversations we bring together three parents to share their experiences. We also bring together three flight attendants to share their experiences of dealing with disruptive passengers, while keeping everyone on board safe.

What in the World: Will AI make your degree pointless? Aug 21, 2026

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AI isn’t just occasionally going rogue…(Open AI and Meta we’re looking at you) it’s also changing the world of work. Nearly 70% of college students in the US said they thought AI would make it harder to find a job in a recent survey - and 22% said that they’ve changed what they’re deciding to study at university because of this. They’re not the only ones… students all over the world are thinking about how to AI-proof their future careers.

In this episode, we go to the University College London campus to speak to three students: Omer, who’s studying French and German, Zahra, who’s studying entrepreneurship, and Allie, who’s just graduated from Kings College after completing her law studies. They tell us how they think AI could change the course of their careers, how they’re adapting to the new technology, and if their degrees will still be helpful in the face of AI.

For more episodes, just search 'What in the World' wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.

The Vatican's AI battle Aug 21, 2026

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As Silicon Valley races to build machines that can think, create and perhaps surpass human intelligence, the Vatican has emerged as one of the most prominent global voices questioning the path the tech billionaires are setting for us. Pope Leo XIV, in his recent document on AI, warned of “the risk of dehumanisation.” Behind that warning lies a question that has occupied philosophers and theologians for centuries: what does it mean to be human?

In Rome, Isobel Cockerell explores whether the answer to that age-old question survives contact with the era of artificial intelligence. She turns to Father Michael Baggot, a Catholic priest and professor who teaches courses on AI, ethics and transhumanism at Vatican universities. A regular at meetings between clergy and tech leaders, he sees Silicon Valley’s vision of AI as quasi-religious in its claims to end uncertainty, suffering, and even death. “I also belong to a religion that believes in eternal life,” he says. He’s conflicted about the ambitions of the tech elite. He hopes AI can lead to “human flourishing” but sees, in his pastoral life, how AI can devalue the very human acts of caring and sacrificing for the good of others.

Isobel also speaks to tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, known for his radical efforts to defeat human ageing and live forever. He tells us that in building superintelligent AI, humanity may in fact be building God. He points to a future in which “this emergent structure of power is no longer human-centric.”

This episode of Heart and Soul examines whether an institution built on ancient tradition can meaningfully shape the direction of the most disruptive technology of our time. And it invites believers and sceptics alike to consider what impact artificial intelligence might have on humanity.

LA: Rising from the ashes Aug 20, 2026

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On 7th January 2025, the Altadena and Pacific Palisades neighbourhoods of Los Angeles suffered two of the most destructive fires in the city’s history. Twenty-one people died and 15,000 buildings were destroyed over a combined area the size of Paris.

The city is still reeling from the scale and intensity of the fires, and the challenge of rebuilding areas in which almost nothing remains standing. As the first tentative shoots of recovery begin to appear, Jonathan Glancey meets locals, including architects Scott Uriu and Michael Kovac. Like Dustin Bramell, co-founder of the Case Study: Adapt programme, they lost their own homes in the fires. Others, like architect and social justice advocate Steven Lewis, or Cynthia Siegler and Alex Athenson, founders of the Foothill Foundation Catalogue, saw their neighbours and communities displaced. Now they’re trying to help replace what has been lost while looking for better ways of building, in a land where earthquakes, drought and fire are an ever present threat.

As man-made climate change and urban growth worsen the risk and impact of fires, Jonathan asks experts including Dan Turner, a retired fire chief and executive director of Cal Poly’s Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Fire Institute, and architecture critic Frances Anderton if and how this city can reshape itself for a better future.

The Kansas City cycling revolution Aug 19, 2026

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When the BBC’s Richard Hollingham and his producer, Will Grant, arrived with their bikes in Kansas City, Missouri in 2008, it had just been named as the worst city for cyclists in the country. The resulting radio show became a “wake-up call” that has since inspired new cycling groups and millions of dollars of investment in cycling and walking initiatives. Now the BBC team is back to see what’s improved and what other communities around the world can learn from the city’s experiences. In their travels, Richard and Will join a group cycle, meet volunteers fixing bikes and find out about putting roads on "diets". The team also join a school cycling initiative in a deprived area of the city and learn how bicycles are giving students skills and mobility.

Kansas City has focused on easy to achieve, low-cost solutions that give quick results, but cars remain dominant. Can the city now get even more people on their bikes?

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