Hear the voices at the heart of global stories. Where curious minds can uncover hidden truths and make sense of the world. The best of documentary storytelling from the BBC World Service.
From conflict in the Middle East to the advance of AI, to the front line of the climate emergency, we go beyond the headlines. Each week we dive into the minds of the world’s most creative people, take personal journeys into spirituality and connect people from across the globe to share how news stories are shaping their lives.
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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 killed in clashes with the police, and human rights groups say many activists have been abducted and tortured by agents of the states. Michael Kaloki meets the young Kenyans who are ...
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 the sea washes it away, but his sculptures are not meant to last; his art is a testament to the beauty found in the ephemeral moment. Jon’s work is not defined by meticulous planning,...
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 examine the complex character of the language and how it’s put to use by the CCP to understand why its message can get lost on the outside world. Contributor: Tom Lam Produ...
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 to Europol, the European law enforcement agency, this theft was part of a criminal operation that targeted national libraries in 12 countries, including the ...
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? We bring together two women in Australia, Janet and Myfanwy, with a combined age of 202. One of them still drives. The other stopped getting behind the wheel at 96. They say they both enjoy busy lives. Jane...
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 can help you get pregnant. Now, they're being promoted heavily on social media and beyond. What is the science behind some of the claims? And what does this say about regulation of the su...
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 festival, and to work with governments, universities, NGOs and researchers all over the world. To many, Rodrigo IS the "bat man." Like many Mexicans, he is also fiercely proud of the country’s native spirits: tequila ...
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 himself what set this teenager apart from the rest. In Assisi, William meets Carlo’s mother Antonia Salzano Acutis who reveals how her son showed an unusual generosity for a teenager. He visits Carlo’s tomb, where Domenico...
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. Amid the death and destruction of the war, the BBC’s Middle East Correspondent Yolande Knell meets the Palestinians who’ve desperately tried to save what remains of Gaza’s past. This episode of The Docu...
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 war. Reporter Albina Kovalyova follows the stories of people who have nevertheless chosen to continue to live in Kharkiv. One, Adela Knapova, a writer from the Czech Republic who unexpected...
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, devises and builds houses, community centres, saunas and whole neighbourhoods on water. While many of their projects can be seen on the waters of Copenhagen, the team i...
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 recruiting highly specialised scientists. Reporter José Carlos Cueto of BBC Mundo has been investigating the new trends and technologies used by cartels...
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 the US - there’s some evidence that rising numbers of people are deciding to go their separate ways later in life. We hear from three Americans, including 65 year-old Laura in Virginia. Her immediate feelings...
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. Australian-Japanese food writer Emiko Davies takes a tasty journey into the spiritual significance of bread in Italy, her adopted home. In the west of Sicily, residents honour Saint Joseph by constructing intricate sculptural breads, adorning altars with baked symbols, and staging a ritualised f...
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 to find out where they've come from, and if they’re suspect. Berlin based environmental journalist Becca Warner explores the ongoing problem of illegal deforestation. Why is it proving so hard to tac...
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 somehow man-made, with many users blaming Rainmaker, a weather modification company based in California. These baseless claims were quickly debunked by scientists. And yet, online, calls for the company’s CE...
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 and the threat from their main predator, wolves. There are also legal demands imposed by the regional government which have placed added financial burdens on the local people who, in effect, “own” these horses. A...
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 also been made water and raccoon-proof. Presenter Jeff Lunden has been following its progress – from a hard-hat tour in freezing February to the summer previews of a n...
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 Beat; the rise of the Fab Four to 1960s icons; and Wings’ 1970s success. Susanna learns how The Beatles could only have come from Liverpool, and how a visit to McCartney’s old grammar school led to a ...
Russian soldiers were told that they would be the country's 'new elite' by President Putin. But many of them have reported being robbed and scammed out of the money that they earned fighting on the Ukrainian front lines. They also face mental health problems, and post-traumatic stress disorder after months or years at war, but suitable treatment is scarce and hard for them to find. BBC Russian's Sergei Goryashko has been looking into the soldiers who have been robbed and scammed, whilst Sofya Vo...
Many parts of Pakistan have been experiencing intense rainfall in recent weeks. Since June, at least 800 people have been killed, homes and businesses lost, and thousands forced to evacuate their communities. In our conversations, we bring together people affected by this year’s monsoon to share their experiences. They include Saad, from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northern Pakistan, who lost his family home and business: “Many of the houses of the people are completely destroyed and those re...
In the ancient Yererouk Basilica in Armenia, near the border with Turkey, young engineers are using 3D digital technology to scan every part of the building. The aim is to recreate the church on a screen, in full-colour and in three dimensions. This is the digital preservation initiative, created by TUMO, the Center for Creative Technologies, based in Armenia’s capital Yerevan. It is training young Armenians to use new technology and also to connect them to their their 2000-year-old Armenian Chr...
The podcast investigates the shocking case of Zhenhao Zou, a Chinese student convicted of multiple rapes in the UK and China, dubbed one of Britain’s most prolific sexual predators. It features the harrowing testimony of "Rachel," one of Zou’s victims, describing how she was drugged and assaulted. The episode also highlights the crucial support provided by a volunteer translator, Lily Sun, who helped Chinese victims report their crimes, revealing the immense cultural and linguistic barriers survivors faced while showcasing the resilience and collective strength of women supporting each other.
In Early June, the Auschwitz Memorial posted a warning about AI-generated Holocaust victims flooding Facebook. BBC Trending has since tracked several accounts pushing these false narratives and other pages posting so-called ‘AI slop’. The investigation has uncovered how these “digital creators” in Pakistan are just one part of a global economy of deception and emotional manipulation exploiting Meta payment models to profit from dubious content.
President Trump has called illegal immigration an “invasion” and what has followed is a huge rise in the arrest and detention of migrants. Some have ended up in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ - an immigration detention centre that was speedily constructed in June, deep in the Florida swampland. ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ is now subject to a number of lawsuits. Immigration attorneys say they have not been granted proper access to clients inside; environmentalists claim the detention centre is harming the protect...
Adeju Thompson, the founder and creative director behind the Nigerian fashion label Lagos Space Programme, attempts to establish the label on the global fashion scene. Lagos Space Programme blends Yoruba heritage (notably Adire dyeing) with queer and futurist aesthetics, taking inspiration from Lou Reed, traditional Ife sculptures, and the photography of Rotimi Fani-Kayode and Robert Mapplethorpe. Thompson talks about his dedication to slow fashion, gender-fluid creations, and detailed artisan c...
The incredible true story of how The Avontuur was locked down at sea for 188 days during the Covid-19 pandemic, with 15 people on board. The journey begins for ship’s cook Giulia Baccosi when she accepts a last-minute job aboard the sailing cargo ship The Avontuur. She tells the captain that she will stay with the ship until it reaches Mexico, in about three months’ time. After saying goodbye to her partner, Giulia settles into life on board and the responsibilities of feeding the Avontuur’s cre...
We take a look at some of the more unusual sports practiced on the African continent. Kelvin Kimathi recently travelled to Uganda where a muddy version of entertainment wrestling is becoming increasingly popular. Marcia Veiga discovered Capoeira Angola whilst finding a way to connect with her own Angolan heritage. Eshlin Vedan met the only black teenager in South Africa competing in tent pegging- a cavalry sport of ancient origin. Nitin Sultane reports for BBC Marathi and recently travelled to a...
While US President Donald Trump spearheads efforts to halt the conflict in Ukraine, Russian drones and missiles continue to kill and injure civilians, invaders control around a fifth of the country, and many Ukrainians fear that any peace agreement could result in a permanent loss of territory. Away from the international diplomacy, we wanted to give a sense of how life has changed in Ukraine over the past three and a half years of war. We bring together three soldiers who share their experience...
In one of his final official acts before he died, Pope Francis put Antoni Gaudí, Spain’s most famous architect, onto the path to sainthood. Gaudí's masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia, is a towering basilica, strangely designed and bursting with colour. It stands in the heart of Barcelona and its walls recount the entire story of the Catholic religion. After 140 years, having survived wars, arson attacks and dictatorship, it is still under construction. As Gaudí worked on it throughout his life, he...
