The Documentary Podcast

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In the Studio: Jonny Banger Oct 21, 2024

Show notes

Sports Banger is a fashion house, rave organisation, and London community centre run by Jonny Banger. The cornerstone of their work is bootleg T-shirts which mix satire and humour with a sportswear aesthetic. One of Sports Banger’s best-known t-shirts features two very different and well-known brands - the Nike and the UK’s National Health Service. In 2020, this simple T-shirt became highly-coveted. Selling out in minutes on limited runs during the height of the UK’s Covid lockdowns, Jonny Banger used the proceeds to set up a food bank in his neighbourhood, feeding 160 families every week for two years. Poet Talia Randall meets Jonny in his studio - Maison de Bang Bang.

Caught at the helm Oct 20, 2024

Show notes

Katy Fallon tells the story of the refugees and other migrants ensnared in Greece’s legal crossfire. Greek authorities routinely prosecute those found near the controls of boats carrying people trying to reach Europe, but human rights monitors assert that it is vulnerable passengers, not real smugglers, who are ending up behind bars. Katy reveals a system where chaotic trials last a matter of minutes but can result in prison sentences of hundreds of years. And she meets Akif Rasuli, a young Afghan man compensated for wrongful imprisonment after spending almost three years behind bars. Amid Europe-wide efforts to clamp down on irregular migration, are tough people smuggling policies seeing the wrong people pay a heavy price?

The Fifth Floor: Who runs Russia's African Initiative? Oct 19, 2024

Show notes

What do a graffiti festival, a first aid training and a football match have in common? These are all events set up by African Initiative, a Russian media organisation which defines itself as 'an information bridge between Russia and Africa'. Olaronke Alo and Maria Korenyuk from the BBC Disinformation Unit have been investigating this organisation and its activities in the Sahel region in Africa.

Produced by Alice Gioia, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

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

BBC OS Conversations: Living alongside Mexico's drug gangs Oct 19, 2024

Show notes

When she was sworn in as Mexico’s new president, Claudia Sheinbaum pledged to tackle the country’s drug gangs. In the past couple of months, local civilian groups have reported hundreds of deaths and disappearances due to them. Hosts Mark Lowen and Krupa Padhy hear from those who just want to go about their lives and jobs in safety, but are being caught in the crossfire and sometimes even targeted. Rosa is a 15-year-old student and would like to leave it all behind but feels for now she must coexist with constant fear. We also hear from two women in Mexico’s Sinaloa state, whose loved ones are among “the disappeared”. And two journalists share the dangers and threats that go with reporting on organised crime.

Bonus: What in the World - Liam Payne Oct 18, 2024

Show notes

A bonus episode for The Documentary from the What in the World podcast.

The death of One Direction star Liam Payne has shocked the world, and there’s been a huge outpouring of grief. Many details about the British singer's death still remain unclear, but information from emergency services and other authorities has started to build a picture of the events. We know that he was in Buenos Aires, in Argentina, and died after falling from a hotel balcony.

Liam rose to fame after competing in the singing competition the X Factor. It was here that he first met fellow One Direction members Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik. Entertainment reporter Bonnie McLaren reminds us of his journey to fame, and his solo projects.

We also hear why he meant so much to fans globally, including 22-year-old Bintelmran in Pakistan. Plus Joshua Miles, a psychotherapist based in London, talks us through why we grieve celebs, even if we don’t know them directly.

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this episode please contact support organisations in your own country. Or, if you live in the UK, please check out bbc.co.uk/actionline.

What in the World helps you make sense of what's happening in your world. Big stories, small stories and everything in between. Understand more, feel better. Five days a week, Monday to Friday. For more episodes, just search What in the World wherever you got this podcast.

Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld WhatsApp: +44 0330 12 33 22 6 Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk Presenter: William Lee Adams Producers: Mora Morrison and Benita Barden Editor: Verity Wilde

Heart and Soul: The dead are not dead Oct 18, 2024

Show notes

In certain cultures in Uganda and across Africa, a belief exists where departed husbands return as ethereal entities to engage in intimate encounters with their living partners. To ward off this phenomenon, women are required to perform Enkumbi. Ugandan presenter Daniel Leinhardt sets out to investigate this belief and its impact, including the role it may play in subjugating women. He from couples who see the Enkumbi rituals as something they still must perform, and women who think it's old fashioned nonsense but who still harbour the doubt of 'what if it's not?'

The children's hospital of Entebbe Oct 17, 2024

Show notes

Until 2021, Uganda had only four paediatric surgeons and a just a few children’s hospital beds for the entire country. In 2020, the mortality rate for children under five was 43 per 1,000 births, compared to three per 1,000 in the UK. The Children’s Hospital of Entebbe, funded by the Italian NGO, Emergency, and designed by world famous architect Renzo Piano, was established in 2021 to change the situation. Ugandan Journalist Lulu Jemimah visits the hospital, on the shore of Lake Victoria, to ask whether one hospital is enough to reset the future for Uganda's children.

BBC Trending: Yami Baito - Inside Japan’s dark part-time jobs Oct 16, 2024

Show notes

A wave of criminal activity in Japan has been blamed on social media. Yami Baito – meaning “dark part-time jobs” in Japanese – refers to job ads posted by criminal gangs on social media and encrypted messaging platforms including Telegram. Jobseekers are blackmailed or enticed with the promise of getting rich quick to commit a range of crimes from scamming elderly people to, at its most extreme, armed robbery. Japanese police have attempted to crack down on Yami Baito by taking down these ads and launching public awareness campaigns. But BBC Trending explores evidence that these recruiters are still operating online. We hear from someone who got sucked into Yami Baito, and a criminal mastermind in charge of recruitment.

Assignment: Singapore – drugs, rehab, execution Oct 15, 2024

Show notes

Singapore’s drug laws are severe. The penalties for trafficking illegal narcotics range from a prison term to execution. And if you’re caught using any illicit narcotic, including cannabis, you may find yourself in compulsory rehab. In this double edition of Assignment for The Documentary, Linda Pressly’s given access to the state’s austere Drug Rehabilitation Centre. She also explores how the law on trafficking is applied, meets the sister of a man who was hanged after a heroin conviction, and learns that it’s also illegal for a Singaporean to consume drugs overseas.

In the Studio: Mia Lehrer and the LA River Oct 14, 2024

Show notes

The Los Angeles river has been a concrete channel since the 1930s, when the US Army Corps of Engineers decided to concrete over the original river for flood mitigation. Ever since then, the river has been regularly used as a symbol of dystopia and was the backdrop in a famous scene in The Terminator. However, landscape architect Mia Lehrer wants to transform its reputation and to revitalise the river, because it is still a waterway shared by millions. This will be not be an easy task, however, as the river itself is still the property of the US Army Corps, and the river course crosses numerous bureaucratic boundaries at both the local and state level. Presenter Alan Weedon meets Mia as she describes her vision to breathe new life into an American icon.

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