BBC Radio Podcasts from The Documentary Podcast: Archive 2011

The Documentary Podcast: Archive 2011

Goodbye To Bush House: Part Two

John Tusa presents memories and archive about the BBC World Service in Bush House, to...

Guangzhou - China's migrant metropolis

China's economy depends on a system regulating workers from around China and beyond.

Goodbye To Bush House: Part One

John Tusa presents memories and archive about the BBC World Service in Bush House, to...

The Truth About NGOs - India

Allan Little investigates allegations of NGO inefficiency, political bias and lack of...

The Songs of Comrade Time

The Children's Choir of the USSR sang to their leaders, they sang to their people, and...

Assignment - France Food Fights

France has long been a country with a reputation for some of the best food in the world.

Tales From The Arab Spring: Whose Tomorrow? (Syria)

The BBC's Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen looks back over a momentous year in the East...

Tales From The Arab Spring: Counter Revolution (Libya)

The BBC's Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen looks back over a momentous year in the East...

The Truth About NGOs - Malawi

Allan Little investigates allegations of NGO inefficiency, political bias and lack of...

Tales From The Arab Spring: Revolution (Egypt)

The BBC's Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen looks back over a momentous year in the East...

Boundaries Of Blood: Part Two

Shahzeb Jillani explains how the 1971 war over Bangladesh shaped modern Pakistan.

Assignment Cholera in Haiti

A hard hitting Assignment from Mark Doyle who reports on the massive cholera outbreak...

Boundaries Of Blood: Part One

Shahzeb Jillani explains how the 1971 war over Bangladesh shaped modern Pakistan.

Exposing Bali's Orphanages

In Assignment Ed Butler investigates reports that some orphanages in Bali are being as...

Out In The World: Part Two

Richard Coles confronts accusations that the West is attempting to force gay rights on...

Knitting In Tripoli

Knitting in Tripoli tells an intimate story of life during the Libyan war through the...

A New Global Economics: Radical Economics - Part Two

Was the economic crisis caused by fundamental problems with the system rather than a...

The Missing in Kashmir

A dark secret lies beneath the earth in Indian Kashmir. Bodies - thousands of them.

Out In The World: Part One

Richard Coles confronts accusations that the West is attempting to force gay rights on...

The Trouble With Condoms

Around one million people around the world are infected with a sexually transmitted...

A New Global Economics: Radical Economics - Part One

Was the economic crisis caused by fundamental problems with the system rather than a...

Assignment - Roubles & Radicals in Dagestan

A Dagestani billionaire, Suleiman Kerimov is bankrolling a football club and building...

New Global Economics: The Shock & the Shift

Martin Wolf, Chief Economic Commentator of The Financial Times, examines how the world...

The Boy With The Violin

The BBC's Priyath Liyanage searches for a boy who was carrying a violin case when he a...

Upsetting The Apple Cart - The Genius of Steve Jobs

Mark Gregory examines the legacy of Steve Jobs. How will he be compared to the great a...

Assignment - India's Whistleblowers

Rupa Jha reports for Assignment on India's whistleblowers - the people who find on the...

A Short History Of Story: Part Two

Noah Richler traces the development of storytelling from the earliest creation myths...

The Dark Side Of Diplomacy: Part Two

Diplomacy is often presented as an artform, the peak of civilisation in a barren world...

The state of Israel

Tim Franks reports from Israel for Assignment on how the country now sees itself as in...

A Short History Of Story: Part one

Noah Richler traces the development of storytelling from the earliest creation myths...

Assignment: Spain's Stolen Babies

Katya meets the heartbroken families in Spain searching for their children and the now...

The Dark Side Of Diplomacy: Part One

Diplomacy is often presented as an artform, the peak of civilisation in a barren world...

After The Dictators

As Libyans absorb the impact of the death of Gaddafi, Owen Bennett-Jones presents a...

Musical Migrants: Zanzibar

Meet Yusuf Mahmoud, who swapped Cheltenham for Zanzibar because of his love of African...

One Day In Syria

For Assignment, Bill Law paints a portrait of one day in the Syrian revolution, via to...

The British Establishment: Who For? - Part Two

Why does Britain's narrow and elite establishment keep stumbling from crisis to crisis?

Musical Migrants: Nashville - Episode 2

Portraits of people who relocated to other lands, influenced by music.

Musical Migrants: Milan - Episode 1

Portraits of people who relocated to other lands, influenced by music.

Assignment Ivory Coast: A family divided

Robyn Bresnahan reports on how politics is dividing families in Ivory Coast.

The British Establishment: Who For? - Part One

Michael Goldfarb looks at why Britain's narrow and elite establishment keeps stumbling...

Lives In Landscape

Alan Dein explores the impact of last summer's riots on a London man and his friends...

Defining Hezbollah

In Lebanon many people fear that another war between Hezbollah and Israel is just over...

Controlling People: Part Three

The story of modern population control, and why it didn't work. Matthew Connelly on a...

Down and Out in Paris and London

Some 80 years after George Orwell chronicled the lives of the hard-up and destitute in...

Fading Voices

Facing old age presents its challenges where ever you come from. Nina Robinson travels...

Controlling People: Part Two

The story of modern population control, and why it didn't work. Matthew Connelly on a...

Listening Post - Episode Two

A series that invites close, unhurried listening to the stories of individuals.

Assignment - Supporting Fenerbahce

Fenerbahce fans are angry. Their club is at the centre of a match fixing scandal and...

Controlling People: Part One

The story of modern population control, and why it didn't work. Matthew Connelly on a...

Listening Post - Episode One

A series that invites close, unhurried listening to the stories of individuals.

Assignment - Rangers v Celtic

Strong views and language from the fans of Scotland's top football clubs - Rangers and...

The Future of Amnesty International: Part Two

Matthew Bannister tells the story of Amnesty International at 50, and discusses its on...

Always Hope: Cambodia's New Music

How Cambodia's contemporary music scene is creating a new golden era for a country the...

Assignment - Zimbabwe's Migrant Children

Mukul Devichand goes on the road with young children travelling alone on a journey of...

The Future of Amnesty International: Part One

Matthew Bannister tells the story of Amnesty International at 50, and discusses its on...

Iconic Geometry - The Great Pyramid

eading structural engineer and designer Cecil Balmond goes beyond the well known of to...

Assignment - The Indignants of Greece

As the Greek government struggles to tackle it's massive debt crisis, Ed Butler to for...

The Secret War On Terror: Part Two

The Secret War On Terror reveals the astonishing inside story of the intelligence war...

Iconic Geometry - The Taj Mahal

Leading structural engineer and designer Cecil Balmond goes beyond the well known of...

The Mystery of Dirar Abu Sisi

Gabriel Gatehouse investigates the mysterious disappearance of Dirar Abu Sisi.

The Secret War On Terror: Part One

The Secret War On Terror reveals the astonishing inside story of the intelligence war...

Iconic Geometry - Stonehenge

Leading structural engineer and designer Cecil Balmond goes beyond the well known of...

The Road To Tripoli

Events in Libya have reached a dramatic conclusion. After a six month uprising, rebel...

The Day the Wall Went Up: Part Two

On the Berlin Wall's 50th anniversary, Gerry Northam looks at its political context...

The Too Hard Basket

Warning: This documentary contains conversations about sexual experience.

Assignment - August Central America

Linda Pressly follows the migrants heading north through Guatemala into Mexico – the...

The Day the Wall Went Up: Part One

On the Berlin Wall's 50th anniversary, Gerry Northam looks at its political context...

The Education of Ashif Jaffer

Can a young Canadian man with Down's Syndrome get a university degree? Alisa Siegal of...

Assignment: Zimbabwe's Diamond Fields

Have you bought a diamond recently? Would you really know where it came from? goes and...

The Story of the Hunt for Bin Laden

BBC Security correspondent Gordon Corera tells the untold tale of how the Americans -...

India's Working Children

Nina Robinson reports from India where the booming economy has fuelled a demand for...

Ruling Iran: A Profile of the Supreme Leader

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is Iran's Supreme Leader, a position he has held since 1989.

Assignment: The Afghan Governors

Ten years after foreign forces invaded Afghanistan, they've begun to hand full back to...

Afghanistan: War Without End?

To mark ten years since the invasion of Afghanistan, key decision-makers reveal the of...

The Dead News Network

A medium tells Colette Kinsella what it's like to have a life like the film, The Sixth...

Assignment: Luis Posada Carriles

Cuba and Venezuela describe Luis Posada Carriles as the Bin Laden of the Americas.

Atomic States - Part Two

BBC Environment Correspondent Richard Black explores the history and likely future of...

Womb For Rent

Is outsourcing pregnancy to India exploitative or mutually beneficial? Over the course...

Assignment: On the road with Hillary

In this week's Assignment the BBC's State Department correspondent Kim Ghattas has to...

Atomic States - Part One

BBC Environment Correspondent Richard Black explores the history and likely future of...

The Big House: Part Two

Sharon Mascall follows 18 young Aboriginal men through a new rehabilitation programme...

Assignment - Korea's People Smugglers

Defecting from North Korea is a dangerous business. It comes at a high price and no of...

America's Own Extremists - Part Two

BBC Washington Correspondent Jonny Dymond, investigates why America is facing a threat...

The Big House: Part One

Sharon Mascall follows 18 young Aboriginal men through a new rehabilitation programme...

The story of Rafiq Hariri

Who was Rafiq Hariri and who might have wanted to kill him. Owen Bennett Jones reports...

America's Own Extremists - Part One

BBC Washington Correspondent Jonny Dymond, examines why some native born American are...

Picturesque Street

This year Russia is marking the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the USSR.

Assignment: Alzheimer's in Colombia

An extended family in Colombia struck by hereditary and very early onset Alzheimer's a...

Embracing The Dragon - Part Two

Will Taiwan's new rapprochement with China bring opportunity, or hand Beijing control...

Dot.Com Camps

Ruth Evans reports on a unique dot.com venture providing jobs for the poor.

Antigua beyond Stanford

Emma Joseph reports for Assignment from Antigua on how people are rebuilding their two...

Embracing The Dragon - Part One

Will Taiwan's new rapprochement with China bring opportunity, or hand Beijing control...

The Kill Factor: Part Two

Soldiers who have killed in war at close quarters talk about how it affects them today.

Assignment - Shaken Babies

Shaken baby syndrome - the sudden and violent shaking of an infant which often results...

Bubble Trouble? - Part Three

Across the world the cost of basic commodities is soaring. Endless demand from China...

The Kill Factor: Part One

Soldiers who have killed in war at close quarters talk about how it affects them today.

Assignment Inside California's Porn Industry

California is the world's largest producer of commercial pornographic movies.

Fifa - Football, Power and Politics

David Goldblatt tells the turbulent story of Fifa, international football's governing...

Bubble Trouble? - Part Two

Across the world the cost of basic commodities is soaring. Endless demand from China...

The Ancestors Are Calling

The pressure on Lesego Mangwanyane - a South African journalist - to become a sangoma,...

Assignment - Stalin's Toxic Legacy

Twenty years on from the collapse of the Soviet Union the toxic legacy of its still on...

Bubble Trouble? - Part One

Across the world the cost of basic commodities is soaring. Endless demand from China...

Assignment Calling for Change in Yemen

For months Yemen has been the scene of widespread unrest and anti-government protests.

Wars of Diplomacy: Part Two

In the space of just over ten days in March 2011, the United Nations Security Council...

Assignment - The Pakistan Connection

The killing of Osama bin Laden has stirred deep suspicions about whether the Pakistani...

Wars Of Diplomacy: Part One

In the space of just over ten days in March 2011, the United Nations Security Council...

Building on Sand: Part Two

Jonathan Glancey looks at whether Dubai has a sustainable policy towards building in...

Assignment - Mission Bin laden

On a moonless night on Sunday May 1st, four American military helicopters descended on...

Alive In Chernobyl: Part Two

On the 25th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl power plant, Olga to...

Building on Sand: Part One

Jonathan Glancey looks at whether Dubai has a sustainable policy towards building in...

Assignment - A Matter of Life and Death

Jill McGivering reports from Pakistan where calls for debate about the country's laws...

Alive In Chernobyl: Part One

On the 25th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl power plant, Olga to...

After the Crash - Part Two

On the anniversary of the Smolensk air crash, writer and historian Adam Zamoyski how a...

Assignment: Trafficked from Uganda to Iraq

Anna Cavell tells the extraordinary story of a rescue of a group of Ugandan women who...

Who Says I Can't Fish?

Restrictions on commercial fishing in Europe were put in place to aid sustainability,...

After the Crash - Part One

One year on from the Smolensk air crash, writer and historian Adam Zamoyski examines...

Assignment - Louisiana Deep Water

A year ago, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico creating a huge...

Pomp and Matrimony

From the news coverage of the 1923 wedding of the future King George VI to Elizabeth...

Great Expectations

In dense blocks of flats and social housing, just 10 minutes away from the Olympics to...

Assignment - Jos: A City Still Divided

Assignment reports on the shocking sectarian violence in the Nigerian city of Jos.

For King or Country? Part Two - America

A committed republican and ardent monarchist examine the case for and against monarchy...

Great Expectations

Great Expectations follows the lives of people who live in the diverse ethnic mix of...

Assignment - Speaking up in Saudi Arabia

In this week's Assignment Sue Lloyd Roberts reports from Saudi Arabia where custom and...

For King or Country? Part One - Sweden

A committed republican and ardent monarchist examine the case for and against monarchy...

How My Country Speaks - Part Two

"It just takes 26 letters to create the universe, the word is dismantled and then the...

Assignment - Somaliland - Going it Alone

It’s twenty years since Somaliland declared itself independent but it still remains...

The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan

In a society where the sexes are strictly segregated, it is common for boys to dance...

Family Matters - Part Two

Lucy Williamson reports on why Mexico, a developing Catholic nation, is the latest to...

How My Country Speaks - Part One

"I was sentenced to 12 years for writing poetry. " Russian poet and dissident, Irina of...

Albania's Munitions Mountain

Albania's paranoid Cold War dictator stockpiled vast amounts of ammunition to threaten...

Animals on Trial

Throughout history donkeys, pigs, dogs, rats, even insects have been put on trial and...

Family Matters - Part One

Why is the nuclear family model so successful across the developing world? Lucy from -...

The Changing Worlds Of Formula One

From Italy to India, David Goldblatt examines the ever changing face of Formula One.

Assignment - Oil City Takoradi

What happens when you take a run down African city and introduce a brand new oil worth...

What Can I Say? Singapore

The government behind the economic powerhouse that is Singapore guards its reputation...

The Silent War

Why has India's north-east insurgency lasted so long, and is there any hope of a The...

The Changing Worlds Of Formula One

From Italy to India, David Goldblatt examines the ever changing face of Formula One.

Assignment - Imam of Peace

John Mohammed Butt travelled to Kabul in the 1960s. Rather than finding drugs and he a...

What Can I Say? Thailand

In Thailand, what part have - illegal - community radio stations had to play in the by...

Revolutions in Iran

How does the spread of ideas impact individual lives, shape millions of minds, fuel is...

The Short History of Five Notes

Dancehall singer Sean Paul, Hip hop star Missy Elliot and Malian singer Habib Koite a...

Assignment: Depicting Detroit

Nina Robinson goes to Detroit where police have killed a seven-year-old girl while a a...

What Can I Say? - Part Two

In this four-part documentary, Gary Bryson travels across South East Asia to explore...

Ship of Spies

After allegations of torture and targeted killings, how can the CIA hope to repair its...

Tahrir Square

The BBC's Magdi Abdelhadi - himself Egyptian-born - relives the drama on the final of...

Assignment: Europe's New Politics - Part Two

In part two of Europe's New Politics, the BBC's Chris Bowlby travels to Austria and to...

What Can I Say? - Part One

In this four-part documentary, Gary Bryson travels across South East Asia to explore...

Shaking the World - Part Four

This series has shown how China is barrelling ahead with new infrastructure and new to...

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

"Mosquito one, mosquito two, mosquito jump in a hot callaloo. " What are the world's do...

Assignment: Europe's New Politics

Chris Bowlby investigates for Assignment how the far right is influencing mainstream...

One Block in Harlem - Part Two

Michael Goldfarb traces the iconic neighbourhood's story by telling the history of a...

Shaking the World - Part Three

Michael Robinson examines the social tensions within China that threaten the growth of...

Profile: Mohamed ElBaradei

Mukul Devichand tells the story of Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel Laureate and former to...

Assignment - Palliative Care in India

As part of the BBC's Extreme World coverage Linda Pressly reports from India on care -...

One Block in Harlem - Part One

Michael Goldfarb traces the iconic neighbourhood's story by telling the history of a...

Shaking the World - Part Two

As China's role has become the world's banker, Michael Robinson looks at the clash of...

Japan: A Friend In Need

Would you still walk down the aisle if you found out that you're prospective in-laws,...

Assignment - India's Microcredit Meltdown

Why is there a crisis in India's microcredit industry? For Assignment Madeleine Morris...

Open Eye: Part Two

Why are racial tensions increasing in one of the most progressive countries in Europe?...

Shaking the World - Part One

This documentary series examines the political, economic and cultural mechanisms of...

Lost Voices of Afghanistan

"My mind is unhinged and I'm sick of the smell of blood / it's hard to stay human in a...

Assignment: Baghdad International Airport

A snapshot of Iraq as seen through the prism of its main airport. For Assignment, to...

Open Eye: Part One

What sort of relationships do photojournalists form with the people that are the of of...

Inside the IMF - Part Two

In the past two years the International Monetary Fund has come out of the shadows to a...

Wikipedia at 10

As it enters its tenth year, we look at the history and evolution of Wikipedia, which...

Assignment - Cyber Bullied

For Assignment, Nina Robinson reports on how teenagers are navigating their online in...

Blind Man Roams the Globe - Part Two

Peter White is blind, but travels all over the world for his job. By listening to the...

Inside the IMF - Part One

In the past two years the International Monetary Fund has come out of the shadows to a...

Terra Madre

The world’s disappearing food tribes and how their traditional food production may a...

Assignment: The Rise and Fall of Wikileaks

The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, is currently in England fighting extradition...

Blind Man Roams the Globe

Peter White is blind, but travels all over the world for his job. Though listening to...

Brazil: Lula's Legacy - part two

In this two-part series, the BBC’s Paulo Cabral looks at Brazil’s investment fever...