The Documentary Podcast

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Bonus: What in the World - Why are so many young people leaving Nigeria? Jun 30, 2024

Show notes

Nigeria is Africa’s economic powerhouse - so why are so many young people trying to leave and find opportunities in other countries? It’s become so common there’s even a word for it: Japa, Yoruba for escape.

Last year, Nigeria’s immigration service issued a record number of passports - almost 2 million.

So when we were in Lagos we spoke to the BBC’s Faith Oshoko, who explained what drives young professionals to move abroad.

And we chatted to students - would they ever Japa? And would they come back?

To find out more of what is going on in the world search for "What in the World" wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.

The Fifth Floor: India's deadliest scam Jun 29, 2024

Show notes

Instant loan apps promise easy money. But what's the catch? Investigative reporter Poonam Agarwal and filmmaker Ronny Sen take us behind the scenes of their award-winning documentary The Trap: Inside the blackmail scam destroying lives across India.

This programme contains discussion of suicide and suicide attempts. If you feel affected by this topic, you could speak to a health professional or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at: www.befrienders.org

Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)

BBC OS Conversations: Hajj pilgrims Jun 29, 2024

Show notes

The annual pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, is something millions of people look forward to as an immensely spiritual experience. A main pillar of Islam, Muslims try to do it at least once in their lives, if they are physically and financially able. Saudi Arabia says 1.8 million people took part in Hajj this year. It coincided with a heatwave where temperatures reached more than 50C. Some 1,300 people died, many of those due to the intense heat. Three Muslims - from Kenya, the United States and Saudi Arabia – share their experiences of Hajj, including spiritual enlightenment, overcrowding, bereavement and sexual harassment.

Saint Sara: Patron saint of the Romani people Jun 28, 2024

Show notes

Roma photographer Artúr Čonka joins the annual Romani pilgrimage to Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the south of France. Thousands of Romani from across western Europe gather in the small town in Provence each year to honour their patron saint, Sara-la-Kâli, who represents motherly love, is a protector of the oppressed, and is even said to help couples conceive. It is Artúr's first time on the pilgrimage and is keen to uncover the legends behind this enigmatic saint and what she represents to the Romani community today. The streets are packed with musicians playing rumba, flamenco and manouche jazz. Artúr meets writer and scrap metal dealer Kerensa Smith, film-maker and journalist Jake Bowers and Dutch pilgrim Kali Van Esch who has been coming every year since she was a baby.

The West Indies’ first black captain: Sir Frank Worrell Jun 27, 2024

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The brilliant cricketer Frank Worrell became the first permanent Black captain of the West Indies team in 1960 – but he had to wait for a decade to get the job, denied by the elitism, insularity and racism of Caribbean cricket's rulers. BBC producer and cricket author Simon Lister travels to Barbados to find out how Worrell's upbringing, his cricketing adventures and his determination not to be cowed by the powers that ran island cricket, shaped a man who changed the West Indian game for ever. Simon Lister also considers Frank Worrell's legacy for today, speaking to Ebony Rainford-Brent, England's women's first Black cricketer who discovered that she had a unique connection to Frank Worrell that changed her life. ***This programme contains outdated and discriminatory language***

Trending: The American pushing Russian disinformation Jun 26, 2024

Show notes

The websites have names like DC Weekly and Chicago Crier. They are filled with thousands of legitimate-looking stories, plucked from real news websites and rewritten by artificial intelligence. But BBC Trending has found that these sites are part of a wide-ranging operation designed to insert false stories into political debates, over Ukraine and now gradually shifting to the US election campaign. One of the people involved is John Dougan, a former Florida police officer now living in Moscow. Online evidence links him to the network of sites, which reference American cities and are populated by fake journalists. Experts believe they are part of a wide effort to influence American public opinion in advance of November’s presidential election.

Assignment: Germany’s AI detectives Jun 25, 2024

Show notes

In late 2023 a group of German journalists released a podcast series, Legion: Most Wanted. It described their ultimately unsuccessful search for a terrorist suspect, Daniela Klette, using an AI facial recognition tool. She had been on the run for more than 30 years, together with two accomplices. The trio are believed by the police to have been members of the Red Army Faction, the RAF, an anti-imperialist terrorist group, often referred to as the Baader Meinhof gang. The RAF claimed responsibility in the late 1980s and early 1990s for the assassination of a number of prominent Germans. None of these crimes has ever been cleared up.

In the Studio: Hanna Harris Jun 24, 2024

Show notes

Hanna Harris is Helsinki’s chief design officer and the second person in the job since the role was created in 2016. But why does a city need a chief design officer? And, what can design do to boost wellbeing? Erika Benke joins Hanna as she searches for new pioneering opportunities that have the potential to change people’s lives. They visit a vast decommissioned power plant, inviting local people to share their views on how to give an industrial facility that has served its purpose, a new lease of life. They also go to an old playground that is about to be transformed into a new themed playground where children can learn about computing, algorithms and AI. As Hanna travels a cross the city, we hear her plotting, planning and exploring ideas and infecting others with her passion for design.

The Global Jigsaw: The evolution of the Islamic State Group Jun 23, 2024

Show notes

After a lull in activities, in 2024 the Islamic State Group claimed to be behind several major attacks, showing the world they have not gone away. Among them was the storming by gunmen of a Moscow concert hall. Ten years after the Islamist extremists declared the establishment of a caliphate, our Jihadist Media Monitoring Team considers the current capabilities and ambitions of the group that once ruled over a large territory in Iraq and Syria.

Producer: Kriszta Satori Presenter: Krassi Twigg

Alvin Hall's other America Jun 23, 2024

Show notes

Writer Alvin Hall returns to Wakulla County, Florida, the world he grew up in, to shed light on the political present and share a haunting portrait of a disappearing way of life. It has long been deeply rural, a place of unspoilt wilderness and incredible natural beauty. But it has also been a place with a violent history of racial segregation and oppression. But change is coming. Since Alvin’s last visit almost 10 years ago, unprecedented development has swept the county and it seems as if decades of racial division might really be starting to wear away. Is this really the beginning of the end?

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