The Documentary Podcast

Why are millions of Afghans pushed into circular migration and what awaits them in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan? In this series, The Global Jigsaw explores one of the world’s largest and longest-running refugee crises - a story spanning decades and affecting nearly half of Afghanistan’s population. Once welcomed as guests and embraced in the spirit of Islamic solidarity in neighbouring Iran and Pakistan, Afghan refugees no...

Why are millions of Afghans forced to go home and what awaits them in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan? In this series, The Global Jigsaw explores one of the world’s largest and longest running refugee crises - a story spanning decades, and affecting nearly half of Afghanistan’s population. Once welcomed as guests and embraced in the spirit of Islamic solidarity in neighbouring Iran and Pakistan, Afghan refugees now find thems...

Why are millions of Afghans pushed into circular migration, and what awaits them in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan? In this series, we explore one of the world’s largest and longest-running refugee crises - a story spanning decades and affecting nearly half of Afghanistan’s population. Once welcomed as guests and embraced in the spirit of Islamic solidarity in neighbouring Iran and Pakistan, Afghan refugees now find themselv...

Two cases in recent weeks have reignited debate around capital punishment in the United States after the failed attempt to execute Christa Pike and controversy over – now abandoned – plans to live-stream another execution. We bring together three people who have witnessed prisoners being put to death to share their experiences. Retired Ghanaian army officer, Captain Budu Koomson says, “It has an eerie feeling of f...

After 23 years in the US military left him broken, Native Hawaiian park ranger Keoni Kaholoaʻā finds healing in Kīlauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, and in Pele, the elemental deity who lives within. Kīlauea, on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, sometimes erupts as often as every few weeks. New land is still being constantly made. For Native Hawaiians, this is not geology, this is Pele, the volcano deity, elemental force of ...

Sean Allsop has had insomnia for much of his adult life and now sees it as a problem he wants to understand. He explores what countries are doing to tackle poor sleep and he examines the financial strain sleepless nights place on a nation. At home in the UK, he visits the first helpline dedicated to poor sleepers, joining a call as staff help people find answers and navigate the often confusing world of sleep advice. He also spends...

Hungary under Viktor Orban was a model for the populist right the world over. But in April 2026 he and the party he led, Fidesz, was decisively defeated in an election that brought an end to his 16 years in power. In the six months since the election some of what Viktor Orban had institutionalised has been rolled back. The state-funded media is no longer under government control. Hungary has a new president, a former judge who had ...

A brand new season of the BBC’s space podcast explores the story of the revolutionary Hubble Space Telescope and the tiny flaw that almost destroyed the dream. This is the first episode in the season, to listen to more just search 13 Minutes wherever you get your BBC podcasts. In this episode, our view of the universe could be transformed by one of the most ambitious scientific instruments ever built but a terrible disaster s...

Two rivers helped build civilisation. Now they are at the centre of a geopolitical struggle that casts a shadow over the future of the Middle East. For centuries, the Tigris and Euphrates carried goods, armies and ideas, shaping some of history's greatest empires. But today, a toxic mix of climate change, outdated irrigation methods and conflicting national interests is pushing these rivers to the brink. As Turkey’s vast dam ...

The President of Cornell University says it "must do better" after a woman alleged she was drugged and raped by a group of men at a fraternity – or frat – house. Fraternities are all-male social organisations where the students live, study and socialise, and many are known for their parties. But they are also controversial and have been criticised for elitism and dangerous initiation rituals, referred to as hazing. &ldq...

From historic buildings linked to emancipation to tiny village chapels, Jamaica is home to the world’s highest density of churches. The Caribbean Island faced a profound spiritual crisis after Hurricane Melissa devastated many of the 1600 sacred spaces where people gathered to worship. Journalist and presenter Nick Davis, who has returned to his family's roots and now lives on the island, takes us on an emotional journey back...

Electoral battle lines are being drawn and redrawn in the United States right now, as Republicans and Democrats up the ante in an electoral redistricting war that many fear is undermining democracy. BBC North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher looks at how a once-a-decade act of political admin has turned into a rolling process of political partisanship, as parties compete to redraw voting districts, as they try to lock in near-...

For International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (13 October), we are finding out how technology can help prevent disasters, save lives and help rescuers. In Argentina, we meet Franco Rodríguez Viau whose family friends lost their home in a fire, inspiring him to find a way of tracking wildfires. He was just a teenager when he began developing an app that combines Nasa satellite imagery with other data sources to identify and inte...

British Psychiatrist Dr Gwen Adshead, who has spent a lifetime working with violence perpetrators, visits Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang rehabilitation in the world. It offers, training, education, therapy and other services, was set up by a Jesuit Priest, Father Gregory Boyle. It was his response to the so-called “decade of death,” in the late 1980s, as his neighbourhood was terrorised by gang viol...

With the cost of Government debt hitting its highest for many decades across the world, we explore how the world became so dependent on bonds, those IOUs from governments and firms that helped build the modern economy. Bonds are often dismissed as a dull corner of finance, but behind the scenes they have played a central role in major economic dramas around the world. We hear about their history, how they have shaped companies and ...

With perpetrators in exile, closure is out of reach. As Syria’s new authorities seek to hold figures of the former regime accountable, questions remain over the fate of Bashar al-Assad. The former president and members of his inner circle were granted asylum in Russia after a rebel offensive drove him from power in 2024. The transition ushered in a new chapter for Syria, raising hopes for justice, after decades of repression....