The Documentary Podcast

Tuan Andrew Nguyen, who was born in Vietnam in 1976, was only two years old when his family were made refugees by the war. They ended up in Texas, in the US and in his early twenties, he decided to return to the city his parents had once fled. Here in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, Tuan has become an artist of many mediums. Telling stories through film, sculpture and installations, his work often explores how memories haunt the present and the power of art to heal. Reporter Eliza Lomas joins Tuan in his home studio and workshop, as he shares his process for creating an ongoing series of resonant mobile sculptures. Made from once highly explosive bomb material left over from the war, Tuan reflects on how beliefs in animism and reincarnation inform his work, and why he’s drawn to transforming these objects of war, which are still excavated on a daily basis in Vietnam, into resonant sculptures of peace.

A bonus episode from the Lives Less Ordinary podcast. In 1982 Mississippi, two boys, Chris Strompolos and Eric Zala, aged 10 and 11, embarked on a crazy mission: to remake Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark, shot-for-shot in their back garden - and the long-forgotten tape that resulted would decades later end up bringing them face-to-face with one of their heroes. For more extraordinary personal stories from around the world, go to bbcworldservice.com/liveslessordinary or search for Live Less Ordinary wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Edgar Maddicott

Why are people in Pakistan struggling to use messaging apps and social media? BBC Urdu's editor Asif Farooqi explains why this might be more than just a simple internet glitch. Plus, we hear from colleagues who speak Spanish, Arabic and Bulgarian about their favourite filler words and sounds. Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean. (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Mpox causes a headache, fever and a blistering rash all over the body. There have been more than 1,200 cases in parts of Central and West Africa since the start of this year. The milder version is now circulating in other parts of the world but the much stronger, possibly deadlier strain, called Clade 1b is also on the rise. A few weeks ago, the World Health Organisation announced that mpox constituted a public health emergency of international concern after an upsurge of cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and other countries in Africa. Host Luke Jones brings together survivors from the UK and Nigeria to share their experiences. “I thought that I was dying,” said Harun in London. “Nobody knew what it was and I was getting worse every day. I remember looking at a bottle of water and I started crying because I wasn’t able to drink.” We also hear from three doctors about some of the challenges they face - from a mistrust in medical professionals, to a belief that mpox is not caused by a virus and so doesn’t require hospital treatment. “An elderly man started developing symptoms but felt his symptoms were not due to any pathogen but due to a spiritual attack,” said Dr Dimie Ogoina, from the Niger Delta Teaching hospital. A co-production between Boffin Media and the BBC OS team. (Photo: Elisabeth Furaha applies medication on the skin of her child Sagesse Hakizimana who is under treatment for Mpox, near Goma in North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo August 19, 2024. Credit: Arlette Bashizi/File Photo/Reuters)

Dr Aleksandra Janus is a Polish Cultural Anthropologist with a Jewish background from Warsaw, Poland. Living in the capital flattened by Nazi bombs and then recreated by Communism, her multi-layered identity has always conjured mixed feelings about former Jewish memory and cultural spaces. As President of the organisation, Zapomniane Foundation (which means forgotten in English), one of her jobs is to trace mass graves in forests, cityscapes and death camps across the country in cooperation with local villagers, WWII survivors and non-invasive scanning technologies. Alerted by her friend Karolina Jakoweńko, she's come across an interesting proposition – an historic synagogue in the area of Poland that belonged to Germany before WWII. Once owned by a thriving Jewish community who were exterminated by the Nazis, now decades later the synagogue is in the hands of a private owner and Jewish people no longer live in the village. Synagogues in Germany were at first destroyed by the Nazis but not this synagogue – it miraculously survived. So, she's trying to grapple with the idea - does she buy a synagogue back to revive it or leave it where it belongs - in the past. The BBC’s Amie Liebowitz travels across Poland to explore the daily life of Aleksandra and her quest to both bury the dead and re-sanctify spaces. Driving through cities, forests and villages in between, Amie and Aleksandra alongside her colleagues unpacks what this purchase could look like and what post-Jewish, post-German spaces represent in modern Poland. Presenter/ Reporter: Amie Liebowitz

In a bonus episode from CrowdScience - How do fish survive in the deep ocean? When listener Watum heard about the Titan submersible implosion in the news in 2023, a question popped up in his mind: if a machine that we specifically built for this purpose cannot sustain the water pressure of the deep ocean, how do fish survive down there? In this episode, we travel with marine biologist Alan Jamieson to the second deepest place in our oceans: the Tonga trench. Meanwhile, presenter Caroline Steel speaks to Edie Widder about the creatures that illuminate our oceans, and travels to Copenhagen to take a closer look one of the strangest deep sea creatures and its deep sea adaptations. But even fish have their limits! Scientist Paul Yancey correctly predicted the deepest point that fish can live, and it all comes down to one particular molecule. So is there anything living beyond these depths? Well, there is only one way to find out… CrowdScience takes your questions about life, Earth and the universe to researchers hunting for answers at the frontier of knowledge. For more episodes just search for CrowdScience wherever you got this podcast. Contributors: Prof Alan Jamieson, University of Western Australia Luke Siebermaier, Submersible Team Leader, Inkfish Dr Edie Widder, Ocean Research & Conservation Association Peter Rask Møller, Natural History Museum of Denmark Prof Paul Yancey, Whitman College Presenter: Caroline Steel Producer: Florian Bohr Editor: Martin Smith & Cathy Edwards Production Co-ordinator: Ishmael Soriano Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood (Image: Deep-sea fish - stock photo, Credit: superjoseph via Getty Images)

For more than six months, a BBC Eye team has been investigating extremist settlers establishing a new type of illegal settlement known as a “herding outpost”. Some have been sanctioned by the UK and US governments for forcing Palestinians from their homes as part of a “campaign of violence and intimidation”. In this documentary we tell the story of the Palestinian communities living on the frontline of their outposts. We expose how some of these settlers have been supported by two powerful organisations in Israel, one which describes itself as “an arm of the Israeli state”. Image credit: BBC Eye

The once glamorous Cypriot beach resort of Varosha has stood empty and frozen in time since war divided the island 50 years ago, but it is now partially open to tourists and there are hotly contested plans for its renewal. Maria Margaronis speaks to Varosha's former inhabitants - mostly Greek Cypriots - who fled in 1974 when Turkish troops invaded the island and have been unable to return ever since, after Turkey fenced off the town as a bargaining chip for future peace negotiations. Some of these Varoshians want to rebuild the resort together with the island's Turkish Cypriots - a potential model for diffusing hostilities across the whole island - and the UN says its original inhabitants must be allowed to return. But, following decades of failed peace talks, the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which controls Varosha, now says it intends to re-open and redevelop the entire town.

Frank McWeeny heads to Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, to meet the underground music community leading protests against government clampdown on freedom of expression and civil society groups. How vital is dancing in a country going through the biggest political and social crisis of its generation? We hear from the city most important techno club Bassiani, militant radio station and event space Mutant Radio, and members of the nightlife scene. Photo of Bassiani club main room, taken in 2019. Credit: Bassiani.

American artist Laurie Anderson is putting the finishing touches to her new album Amelia at Miraval Studios in southern France. This is Laurie's first record in six years, and she tells the story of renowned female aviator Amelia Earhart’s tragic last flight in 1937. Earhart’s plane disappeared without trace over the Pacific as she attempted to circumnavigate the globe. The fate of Amelia and her navigator Fred Noonan became one of the most enduring mysteries of the last century. This 22-track album has been almost 25 years in the making, and Laurie has come to Miraval Studios in southern France to work with Emmy-winning sound engineer Damien Quintard. We go behind the scenes as they collaborate on a complex mix, which includes the Filharmonie Brno orchestra, a string trio and other solo musicians.

Kavita Puri goes to India to meet the last survivors of the 1943 Bengal famine. She looks for traces of how war and famine impacted Kolkata and then travels from the city along the road to where the story of famine begins. Kavita goes deep into the countryside and the jungle in West Bengal to find people who lived through that devastating time more than 80 years ago. For the past year and a half Kavita has been asking why there is no memorial to the three million people who died. But then in the Bengal jungle she finally finds it – and it’s not what she expected.

Could a cup of coffee become an act of love and remembrance? BBC Ukrainian's Ilona Hromliuk speaks to the relatives of fallen soldiers who have opened 'memory cafés' to pay tribute to their loved ones. Plus, Alfred Lasteck from BBC Africa tells us about a pioneering conservation project that helped restore the coral reef around the Mnemba island in Zanzibar, and sports journalist Emmanuel Akindubuwa meets the power couple of Nigerian para table tennis. Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean. (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

The withdrawal of US troops in 2021 prompted the collapse of the Afghan military, an interim government and then a power grab by the hardline Islamist regime. Since then there have been increasingly harsh restrictions on everything from freedom of movement to clothing. Women and girls are now longer able to attend school after the age of 12 or university and must not speak in public. Host Luke Jones brings together three women in Kabul and in the nearby Ghazni province to hear about their lives, ambitions and how the latest laws make them feel.

Twenty years ago, reporter Julia Paul was teaching media to young women in an Afghanistan where the Taliban were in retreat, if only temporarily. Now she has tracked down two of them again to find out how their lives have fared in the decades since. Some have fled abroad while others are still in Afghanistan, imprisoned in their homes. But even for those who have escaped, life is far from easy. As one of the army of secular western aid workers that flooded Afghan society all those years ago, Julia discusses with the women whether or not the West should have intervened in the first place.

One of the highlights of the Paralympics is wheelchair tennis and one of its true champions is Kgothatso Montjane. KG, as she likes to be known, was born with amniotic band syndrome, a condition that prevents limbs from developing properly. It did not stop her from pursuing her dreams. In 2021 KG became the first black South African to compete at Wimbledon. She tells the story of her life and career, the big successes and the challenges she faced. She speaks to Brad Parks, who co-invented the game, and Shingo Kunieda, regarded to be the best male player of all time, former champion Jordanne Whiley, and KG’s hero Esther Vergeer.

Hezbollah has both political and military wings both of which are designated by several countries as terror organisations. It emerged several decades ago in Lebanon. Since Israel launched its war in Gaza in the wake of the Hamas attacks of October 7th, it has intensified its military activities along the border between Israel and Lebanon. The persistent question has been what is it trying to achieve? Are the attacks intended as a show of support for the Palestinians in Gaza or an attempt to take advantage of Israel’s diverted military focus? And could this dangerous front lead to an all-out war in the Middle East? This week on the Inquiry we are asking: What does Hezbollah want? For more, search "The Inquiry" whevever you get your BBC Podcasts. Contributors: Aurélie Daher, Associate Professor in political science at the University Paris-Dauphine Lina Khatib, Associate Fellow with the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House Dr Bashir Saade, Lecturer of Politics and Religion at the University of Stirling in Scotland Mehran Kamrava, Professor of government at Georgetown University in Qatar Presenter: Tanya Beckett

Why Armenians in Jerusalem say they are fighting an existential battle. Is the identity of the Old City of Jerusalem changing - house by house? This small patch of land is of vital importance to Christians, Muslims and Jews alike. But, amid accusations of dodgy deals, corruption and trickery, there are concerns that the Old City’s historic multi-ethnic and multi-religious identity is being altered. In the Armenian Quarter a battle is going on for the control of land which the local community says is essential to its well-being and even its survival. Emily Wither visits one of the most contested cities in the world.

Daniel Libeskind is one of the world's leading architects. Amongst his many projects, he devised the masterplan for the redevelopment of Ground Zero in New York and designed the Jewish Museum in Berlin. He tells Samira Ahmed about the Albert Einstein House in Jerusalem, a new building which will house Einstein's work and belongings, from his favourite novels, his letters as a peace campaigner, to his papers laying out his famous theory of relativity. He also talks Samira through the many other global projects he is working on, including a museum of anthropology in Iquique, Chile.

Deepthi Jeevanji grew up in a rural Indian village where she was bullied and mocked for being different. In Paris this summer, she will become India’s first ever Paralympian with an intellectual impairment. After winning 400m gold at this year’s World Para Athletics Championships, she may also come home with a medal. Dan Pepper, a British ex-Paralympic swimmer who has an intellectual disability, travels to India to meet Deepthi, her parents, and the team around her, as well as speaking to others across the world about the challenges facing athletes with an intellectual impairment.

In 2022, the city of Bakhmut in Eastern Ukraine was attacked by Russian forces. The fight for Bakhmut lasted over 10 months and claimed the lives of thousands of people on both sides, becoming the longest and bloodiest battle in this war so far. But why was this sleepy town such an important target for Russia? And what role did the mercenary Wagner group play there? BBC Russian’s Olga Ivshina and Ukrainecast presenter Vitaly Shevchenko investigate. Produced by Alice Gioia and Hannah Dean. (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)