Documentaries
An indepth look at stories and issues from around the world. This podcast offers you the chance to access landmark series from our archive.
Faith on the Russia-Ukraine frontline
Tens of thousands of Ukrainian army personnel have been killed since the Russian invasion of their country. Russian casualties could be as high as 250,000. But who rallies the troops when morale crumbles and fear creeps in? How important are religion and faith in the war effort? Lucy Ash hears…
Kenya: A Battle For Gen Z
Over the past year, Kenya has been rocked by anti-government protests. What started as a demonstration over proposed tax increases soon turned into a nationwide, youth-led protest over the state of the economy, alleged political corruption and police brutality. But it's come at a cost. Dozens of protestors have been…
Jon Foreman: Art that goes out with the tide
Jon Foreman is a Land Artist. He creates work in natural spaces using natural materials like stones, sand, leaves and driftwood. Known for his mesmerising sculptures that harmonise with nature, Jon’s work has captured the imagination of art enthusiasts worldwide. His artwork may last as little as ten minutes before…
Decoding China’s doublespeak
How the Chinese Communist Party gets lost in translation and whether it’s accidental or intentional. “The Belt and Road Initiative”, “community with a shared future for humankind”, “socialism with Chinese characteristics in a new era” - the slogans and proclamations coming out of Beijing can sound abstract and bewildering. We…
Who's behind Europe's largest rare book heist?
The University library in Tartu, in Estonia, is a large brutalist complex, surrounded by concrete water fountains and futuristic steel sculptures. But inside this unassuming building lies a hidden treasure: rare books worth thousands. In April 2022, some of these books were stolen, including historic editions by Alexander Pushkin. According…
Would you want to live until 150?
During an unguarded conversation between President Putin and President Jinping in Beijing, the Chinese leader suggested that scientific developments meant that by the end of the century people might live until 150. So, what is it like to live to an old age and will 150 years ever be possible?…
Selling misleading fertility hope
The global fertility supplements industry has an estimated worth of over 2 billion dollars, and it’s growing. Some experts have raised the alarm around poor regulation of companies and the products they sell. In this episode of BBC Trending we investigate Pink Stork and other supplement companies which say they…
Tequila with the bat man
Rodrigo Medellin loves bats. The Mexican conservationist has been obsessed with the often maligned creatures for over six decades. As a child, he kept blood in ice cube trays in his parents' freezer, to feed to his pet vampire bats. He went on to create Mexico City’s first ever bat…
My blessed boy: The millennial saint
How does a seemingly ordinary boy prove to be so extraordinary that he’s given a halo by the Catholic Church? Saint Carlo Acutis was just 15 years old when he died in 2006. William Crawley travels through Italy to the places most associated with the young Carlo to discover for…
Saving Gaza's past
The history of Gaza dates back more than 5000 years. In antiquity, it was a key port on the Mediterranean coast. Assyrians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and the Ottomans have all left their mark on this small territory. This rich history is seen by Palestinians as central to their identity…
Kharkiv: Love in a warzone
Over the past year, BBC Eye has documented life in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, helping to capture the deeply personal stories of those living under the continuing shadow of war. Just 30 kilometres from the Russian border, this Russian-speaking city has sustained some of the heaviest attacks of the…
MAST: Architecture on water
Rising sea levels and a worldwide shortage of buildable land make the prospect of floating buildings and infrastructure more beneficial than ever. MAST is an architectural firm based in the southern harbour of Copenhagen in Denmark. Surrounded by shipbuilders and workshops, the MAST studio, run by two young passionate architects,…
Colombia's cocaine submarines
Deep inside the Colombian Amazon hi-tech submarines are being built. When it comes to making the cocaine trade more profitable, there’s nothing narco-traffickers aren’t willing to try. Some of the solutions they’re reportedly employing sound like something out of the American TV series Breaking Bad: GPS-trackers, remotely operated submarines and…
Grey divorce
There’s plenty of chat on social media about so-called ‘grey divorce’. But are older people around the world really splitting up in record numbers? The truth is it’s hard to be sure, because reliable figures on global divorce rates don’t exist. Where research has been done - most notably in…
Blessed with bread
To Italians, bread is life. With 250 varieties across the country, it’s eaten with almost every meal. Its importance speaks to national values of community, tradition, quality and - above all - religion. In this edition of Heart and Soul, Australian-Japanese food writer Emiko Davies takes a tasty journey into…
Germany's timber detectives
On the outskirts of Hamburg, Dr Gerald Koch is surrounded by wooden objects - chairs, board games, paint brushes - ready for inspection. His team of scientists at the Thünen Institute of Wood Research are known as the timber detectives. They spend their days putting wood samples under the microscope…
Floods hit Texas, then came the cloud talk
BBC Trending: Why are some Americans yelling at clouds? On 4 July, just hours after flash floods hit the US state of Texas, killing more than 130 people, social media was inundated with unfounded theories about the causes of this tragedy. The main allegation was that the extreme rainfall was…
Galicia’s wild horses in peril
Europe’s largest herd of wild horses, in north-west Spain, is under threat. Numbers have halved in the last fifty years. Now around ten thousand wild horses roam freely in the hills and mountains of Galicia. But they are facing a number of challenges, not least the loss of their habitat…
The Delacorte Theater
The Delacorte Theater, home to New York's beloved free outdoor Shakespeare performances in Central Park, has undergone an $85 million refurbishment. Now clad in redwood timber from disused water tanks from each of New York’s boroughs, the structure has been made accessible for disabled audiences, actors and backstage workers. It's…
Paul McCartney: Beatles and beyond
The Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs celebrates the life and legacy of Sir Paul McCartney, from his Liverpool roots to Beatlemania and beyond. It is a journey that moves from the late 1950s spanning McCartney’s skiffle start with John Lennon in The Quarrymen, through to his long solo career, taking in Mersey…