The Documentary Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Heart and Soul: After Francis, what do Catholics want next? May 02, 2025

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Following the death of Pope Francis, Catholics around the world look to Rome and the Vatican as the Church prepares to elect its next leader. But what do Catholics around the world hope to see in their future pontiff? Colm Flynn is in Rome to speak to Catholics gathered from different corners of the globe. From pilgrims in St Peter's Square to others from the US and Africa, Colm explores the diverse expectations, aspirations, and concerns they hold for their new spiritual leader.

BBC Trending: From a suspected smuggler’s TikTok to tragedy Apr 30, 2025

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In January a boat carrying migrants across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe was miraculously rescued by a fishing trawler after two weeks lost at sea. At least 20 people died from starvation, dehydration and hypothermia. Many of those on the boat - Pakistani men - were promised safe, legal routes to Europe by the smugglers but that was far from their reality.

BBC Trending tracks the digital footprint of one of the suspected smugglers wanted for deaths on this very migrant boat. On TikTok, trivial videos depict his lifestyle - one of money, nice restaurants and a lot of travel. But these videos reveal much more about the smuggler’s operations.

Presenter/producer: Reha Kansara and Shruti Menon Producer: Mohammad Zubair Khan

Assignment: Leaving Israel for Cyprus Apr 29, 2025

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Increasing numbers of Israeli people are moving to the nearby island of Cyprus. Sky high property prices, disillusion with domestic politics and security concerns following the Hamas attacks of 7th October have led several thousand families to leave. They’re building on a rich history of Cypriot hospitality towards Jews. But in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus, huge luxury developments built by Israeli companies are causing controversy.

In the Studio: Madeleine Thien Apr 28, 2025

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In 2020, the Canadian writer Madeleine Thien was working on her next novel, the follow-up to her prize-winning 2016 book Do Not Say We Have Nothing. But it was difficult to find the internal peace and privacy to begin again, especially after being catapulted into the public eye by the previous novel’s success. Paul Kobrak followed her over several months as she created the first drafts of the new novel. It is a process which moves from Berlin to Brooklyn and finally to Portugal's capital city Lisbon. Five years later, the novel, called The Book of Records, is being published.

Bonus: Good Bad Billionaire: Minecraft’s maker Apr 27, 2025

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A bonus episode from Good Bad Billionaire - the award-winning podcast from the BBC World Service. You can find more episodes by searching for ‘Good Bad Billionaire’ wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

Minecraft is the most successful computer game ever. It's sold 300 million copies, built an active community of fans and there's now even a Minecraft movie. So how did one man - Markus Persson - create it all by himself, before selling it for billions?

BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng find out how a high school dropout, obsessed with Lego and gaming, became a computer game hero. The Swedish programmer, known by the nickname Notch, built a virtual 3D world where, with the help of a pickaxe, players could harness their creativity to build almost anything, one block at a time. Persson founded the video game development company Mojang Studios, before selling it to Microsoft, but then came a spectacular downfall.

Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast exploring the lives of the super-rich and famous, tracking their wealth, philanthropy, business ethics and success. There are leaders who made their money in Silicon Valley, on Wall Street and in high street fashion. From iconic celebrities and CEOs to titans of technology, the podcast unravels tales of fortune, power, economics, ambition and moral responsibility, before inviting you to make up your own mind: are they good, bad or just another billionaire?

The Fifth Floor: Tackling Nigeria's skin bleaching problem Apr 26, 2025

Show notes

According to the World Health Organisation, 77% of Nigerian women have used skin-lightening creams. When BBC Hausa’s Madina Maishanu decided to look into this, she uncovered an even more worrying trend: mothers using potentially harmful products on their babies. Madina spoke to the campaigners trying to stop these practices. Plus, how human activities and climate change are threatening shea trees in Uganda with Njoroge Muigai from BBC Africa.

Presented by Faranak Amidi Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean

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

BBC OS Conversations: Remembering the life of Pope Francis Apr 26, 2025

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Mark Lowen in Rome brings people together to share their memories of the Pope, who died on Easter Monday. In our conversations, Mark hears from Catholics in Argentina, including one of Pope Francis’ friends who knew him when he was a priest in Buenos Aires. We also bring together three people from Northern Ireland who had a private audience with the Pope, and three women who describe how he changed their lives. Mark sits down with Iraqi-American Pilgrims in a café just outside the Vatican to chat about what the Pope meant to them.

Bonus: Bridgerton actor’s interview on Dear Daughter Apr 25, 2025

Show notes

A bonus episode from Dear Daughter - the award-winning podcast from the BBC World Service. You can find more episodes by searching for ‘Dear Daughter’ wherever you get your BBC podcasts.

Bridgerton actor Adjoa Andoh joins Namulanta in the studio to share the letter she’s written to her three children.

She tells them the importance of trusting their bodies and following their instincts - a life philosophy which has sometimes led her into some unexpected situations, especially while pregnant…

Dear Daughter is a podcast all about love, life, family, and raising children. It is the brainchild of Namulanta Kombo, a mother on a quest to create a ‘handbook to life’ for her daughter, through the advice of parents from all over the world.

Each episode, a guest reads a letter they’ve written to their children (or their future children, or the children they never had) with the advice, life lessons, and personal stories they’d like to pass on.

Expect extraordinary true stories, inspirational advice for parents, and moving accounts of families, relationships and raising daughters.

The call of Anastasia Apr 24, 2025

Show notes

Members of the new age Anastasia movement espouse strong family values, farm small plots of land and try to educate their own children outside the public school system. Originating in Russia, the quasi-religious group has now spread to Germany, where there are more than a dozen Anastasia rural settlements. But are they more than just a harmless fringe group? Reporter Johannes Dell returns to his native Germany to discover what the group stands for. He speaks to a former Anastasia member and to a German journalist who spent two years tracking the group. A government intelligence officer tells him why three German states have designated the group as extremist.

Witness History: The Environment Movement Apr 23, 2025

Show notes

To mark Earth Day, we bring you remarkable stories of the history of the environmental movement, told by the people who were there. Selected from the BBC’s Witness History program, we hear about the major moments that changed our understanding of the planet we live on.

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