The Documentary Podcast

To celebrate 10 years of People Fixing the World, Myra Anubi sits down with three regular contributors to talk about the ways the world has changed for the better over the last decade. While rarely making the headlines, huge improvements in healthcare, sanitation and the protection of the environment have taken place since 2016. The group also make their predictions for what positive shifts the world is likely to see in the next 10 years.

How was Jeffrey Epstein able to continue abusing young women for years after he became a convicted sex offender? BBC Eye has been speaking to survivors and analysing emails and documents in the Epstein Files to build up a picture of how a network of contacts in the modelling industry made it possible for the millionaire financier to groom and traffick victims. But will those who helped facilitate Epstein’s crimes ever face justice?

Derna, in eastern Libya, was devastated three years ago by the world’s deadliest flood disaster this century. About 4,000 lives were lost. Now, the historic Mediterranean port famous for its fragrant jasmine flowers has been rebuilt, with new roads, bridges, housing blocks, schools and medical facilities. Families that lost their homes have been rehoused, many in spacious apartments. The work’s been planned and paid for by a reconstruction fund with a budget of $2bn, headed by Belgacem Haftar, a son of the military strongman who rules eastern Libya. Reporter Tim Whewell visits Derna to talk to survivors about thei...

Europe has long relied on America's tech giants to power its digital economy. Now, as geopolitical tensions rise, it is seeking greater control over its digital future through a push for digital sovereignty. We examine what is driving the push and what it could mean for businesses and consumers.

After the Democratic Party swept to victory in the US midterm elections, we bring people together to share their experiences of one of the major issues for voters - the cost of living. When he was elected as president two years ago, Donald Trump pledged to reduce prices. But the opposite has happened. Household costs have gone up, especially for food and fuel. His decision to impose tariffs on some imported goods has made them more expensive. But much of the increase has been driven by a jump in the price of petrol and diesel due to America and...

In 2005, Michelle Vanek, a 35-year-old mother of four, disappeared on Colorado's Mount of the Holy Cross, a rugged peak so steeped in symbolism that its snow-filled cross has become both landmark and legend. She was hiking with a friend when the pair split up and she vanished. Despite one of the largest search operations in state history, involving helicopters, dogs and hundreds of rescuers, no trace of her was found. But in 2024, an unexpected new chapter unfolded. Pastor Scott Beebe, an experienced search-and-rescue volunteer, dreamt that Michelle came to him, asking to be found "by women." Taking the dream...

When cities industrialise the rivers they were built around are first polluted, then turned into sewers and finally built over. It’s a pattern that’s repeated itself for 250 years from 18th century Paris to 21st century Manila. But across the world the fight is on to release and revive our urban rivers. They provide a cooling effect for overheated neighbourhoods, space for wildlife and a welcome place to swim or just dip your toes. Wild swimmer, rower and physicist, Helen Czerski meets the river lovers and the natural life that returns once the light is let back in.

What will the food of the future taste like? In Japan, we discover a fungus turning waste into a high-protein alternative to meat. Then we visit a bedroom where amateur scientists are growing chicken cells. And a restaurant with its very own cultured-meat laboratory upstairs. Could these ideas eventually change the way Japan - and the world - eats food?

Gianni Agnelli is the head of the family that controls Fiat, and the vast business empire beyond the carmaker that helped shape modern Italy. Charming, charismatic and powerful, he's regarded by many as Italy’s unofficial king, and his family de facto royalty. When he dies the country is plunged into mourning and fear for its economic future. But Gianni’s death also triggers an inheritance dispute that will shake his family to its core.

Why does artificial intelligence sometimes make things up? From law firms to consultants, businesses are grappling with the risks of AI hallucinations. What's causing them, and can they be prevented?

Catalina and Jorge were born on the same day - 14 June. They also share a surname and, at one point, attended neighbouring schools. But that is where the similarities end. They hold radically different political views in a country that has endured Latin America's longest running and most violent internal conflict. Catalina, 36, was born in Bogotá. She is a right-wing influencer and a staunch admirer of former Colombian president Álvaro Uribe. Jorge, 42, was born in a guerrilla camp. He is the son of Mono Jojoy, one of the FARC's most senior commanders, and spent 16 years fighting in the jungle.Th...

Obstructive sleep apnoea is a condition where a person’s breathing stops and starts repeatedly while they sleep, possibly over 30 times an hour, leaving them exhausted on waking. It affects millions around the world and can lead to serious health problems if left untreated. Patients are often given a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) breathing device to keep air flowing into their lungs through the night. But the mask that covers the face can look and feel a bit strange. And there is stigma too because although anyone can be affected by sleep apnoea, this is not the public pe...

Rosemary Nyirumbe became a nun when she was just in her mid-teens – and she felt her true vocation lay in rehabilitating children who had been through some of the worst trauma imaginable. So that’s what she did. In this episode Mike Wooldridge hears Sr Rosemary’s astonishing story.

The feared rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army, started to terrorise the north of Uganda in the 1980s. Many children, girls as well as boys, were abducted and forced to become child soldiers. In many cases, the LRA forced them to commit atrocities, leaving them deeply traumatised. Many of...

Gautam Adani’s businesses span almost every part of life in India. From energy to food, ports to mining, and drinks to weapons, the Adani group has widespread influence over millions of people day to day. From his early career as a diamond trader, Gautam built a reputation as always looking for the next opportunity. But as well as a huge pyramid of business interests, he also has cultural and political power, leading to a close relationship with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Simon and Zing chart Adani’s journey from 1960s Gujarat to opening his first port in t...

A new farming method is having a dramatic effect on maize crops in Malawi, and assistance is coming from a solar-powered tractor. In the last of her visits to Malawi, Myra goes to a village where they are using a new method called Deep Bed Farming. It has more than doubled the yield of some of the farmers and improved their standards of living. The method involves digging deep into the hard earth. This can be tough work but a new solar-powered tractor designed in the UK called Aftrak is helping the farmers. Malawi has been hit hard by...

Els and Jan have fewer than three days left on Earth. Childhood sweethearts who met in kindergarten more than six decades ago, they know precisely when they will die. And how. On an early summer’s Monday morning they will travel to a nearby hospice. Some of their family and friends will accompany them. And then precisely at 10.30am - holding hands, they hope - two doctors will administer lethal medication to each of them. In the Netherlands, euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal if someone is suffering unbearably with no prospect of getting better. The suffering can be ph...

China's booming export figures, driven in part by demand for AI-related products, suggest a high-tech economy that's thriving. Yet many consumers at home continue to face economic pressures. Ed Butler asks whether there's a link between weakness at home and strength abroad, and what China's export surge could mean for other countries and trading partners.

On location in Dortmund, in Germany's Ruhr region, historian and author Katja Hoyer reports on the dramatic transformation that has taken place in the city in the last 20 years. Once known for its heavy industry, especially steel production, Dortmund realised the future lay elsewhere. The city would instead become a centre for hi tech industries, for start-ups, for logistics and it would attract talent to make that happen. Investing in two world class technical universities was a huge help together with the efforts of local government to support new businesses with access to workspace and useful contacts. The city...

A major new international study predicts that the number of people diagnosed with dementia will more than double by 2050. Researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia, who led the study, predict that new cases worldwide will rise from some 11 million each year to around 25 million. That increase will not only have an impact on the families affected but also on health and care services. We bring together people with dementia to share their experiences. “If I say I have Alzheimer’s, it’s like the end of the world but it’s not the end of the worl...

As a young missionary priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli left his native Argentina to work in the Middle East. He went out of a passion for bringing Christ to the people wherever he was called. He became Gaza’s only Catholic parish priest at the Holy Family Church in Gaza City. Life in the territory was never easy, but it became extraordinarily challenging after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 when around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israel's Foreign Ministry. The Gaza Hamas-run Health Ministry has put the number killed since the start of the war at...

Navanetham 'Navi' Pillay has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2026. The 85-year-old South African jurist and former UN Human Rights chief initially thought the news was a joke. Born in Durban, South Africa, to a Tamil family, her grandparents had come to South Africa as indentured labourers to work in the sugarcane fields. Born under apartheid rule neither of her parents were educated and her mother fought for her daughters to attend school where Navi's teachers saw her potential. The community then raised money enabling her to attend university. In 1967 she was the first woman to establish a...

Russia's super-rich once ruled the country, holding deep influence over the country's politicians in the years immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They then gradually saw their power decline under the rise of Vladimir Putin, but could they - and would they - ever seek to restore their political influence Russia editor at BBC Monitoring, Vitaly Shevchenko, traces the origin story of Russia’s oligarchs and why the party is now over for Russia’s wealthiest men. From the chaotic post-Soviet days of the 1990s when they amassed vast fortunes and wielded immense power to today where thei...

Deep in the Amazon jungle, pink river dolphins are under threat from pollution, deforestation, illegal mining and climate change. As a powerful El Niño looms, raising fears of drought and extreme heat, renowned Colombian scientist Fernando Trujillo is racing to protect them. His solution combines cutting-edge science with Indigenous knowledge, sustainable tourism and reforestation. We follow Fernando and his team into the rainforest to study these remarkable animals and discover why saving dolphins could also help protect rivers, forests and the communities that depend on them.

Journalist and author Paul Kenyon investigates rising suspicions over China’s presence in the UK. From shadow policing operations, to spies and the infiltration of universities and public bodies, Beijing is being accused by the UK’s domestic intelligence agency of posing a threat to national security. Yet, less than a decade ago, China and the UK had a flourishing relationship. So what has changed?

China's latest trade data show another huge surplus, putting the country on course for what could be a record $1.5 trillion trade surplus this year. In the first of two episodes examining China's export machine, we look at the country's massive solar panel industry. We hear from the so-called Sun King, Dr Jerry Shi, China's first solar billionaire, about the rise of solar power in China. Ed Butler also examines how solar power and other green technologies have helped drive the global response to climate change, while critics raise concerns about oversupply and its impact on industries and economies around...

A network of Russians say they are secretly fighting their own country. They claim armed resistance to stop Russia winning in Ukraine is the best way to undermine Putin’s regime. BBC Eye investigates.

Presenter: Monica Garnsey Reporter: Marcin Mamon

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 now find themselves facing restrictions, discrimination and deportation. In part three, we try to understand the reality awaiting the returnees amid the information black hole surrounding their story back home.

Find out more...

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 themselves facing restrictions, discrimination and deportation. In the second part of this series, we explore rising anti-migrant sentiments in Iran and Pakistan, and the official narratives used to justify the mass depo...

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 themselves facing restrictions, discrimination and deportation. In the first part, we go back to the geopolitics of the Cold War to see how the mix of Soviet tanks, American money and tribal warfare created the...

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 finality that something has been forever done and cannot be undone.” We also hear from chaplains who have counselled criminals before their executions. “We talk about everything from their case to what happens at the moment of...

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 fire and creation and a living ancestor whose presence is felt in the lava, in the steam and in the volcanic rock itself. Her p...

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 a night at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam, wired up with EEG electrodes as we discover what happens...

We travel to the Italian island of Sicily to see how Palermo residents are fighting back against the influence of the mafia. Presenter Myra Anubi meets people from the charity Addiopizzo, which encourages residents to stop paying protection money known as "pizzo." Meanwhile we visit a neighbourhood regeneration scheme which encourages young people to get involved and resist the temptation of joining the mafia.

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 been peremptorily swept from office under the previous government. Hungary has recovered billions of Euros from the European Union withheld because of what...

Birth rates are falling across much of the world, raising questions about the future of ageing populations and economies. We look at why people are having fewer children, from the financial pressures facing couples in the US to changing social attitudes. We also examine government efforts to reverse the trend, including Finland's generous family support system and Hungary's costly incentives for larger families.

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 strikes Nasa. After decades of meticulous planning, will the Hubble Space Telescope make it into space? Nasa believes the telescope is capable of doing the im...

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 projects reduce downstream flows, Iraq is being forced into negotiations that go far beyond water, touching on security cooperation, trade routes and energy. The Global Jigsaw tells the story of...

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. “There’s a lot of forced drinking to get guys into a state of severe inebriation and if you weren’t participating you would be punished,” Mikey, a former President of a frat house...

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 to Black River and Lacovia, in the heart of the hardest-hit areas. Nearly six months on from one of the worst storms in living memory, Nick joins volunteers as they continue to...

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-guaranteed majorities. We look at the recent US Supreme Court ruling which has fuelled this growing political battleground and explore accusations of racist bias behind the decision making. While many...