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The Documentary Podcast: Daily Summaries Delivered
by BBC World Service
The best documentaries from the BBC World Service. Hear the voices at the heart of global stories. Where curious minds can uncover hidden truths and make sense of the world. From the Chinese export boom, to Malawi's food security, to the fading influence of Russia's oligarchs, we go beyond the headlines. Each week, all year round, we bring you the stories shaping our world. From the personal voices behind the headlines to perspectives on faith and spirituality and how work and money impact our lives. Discover how people find solutions to global problems and look at the world through the lens of its media. The Documentary Podcast is about the people living the story – helping you see the world with greater clarity.
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- Today26 min
River rebound
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.
- Yesterday23 min
Japan’s next meal?
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?
- 2 days ago24 min
Inheritance: Fiat
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.
- 3 days ago23 min
Can businesses trust AI?
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?(Picture: Conceptual image of a large glowing pink holographic cube with "AI" text, positioned as a central hub within a vast, sparse crowd of silhouetted human figures.)
- 4 days ago49 min
Unlikely: A love across the political divide
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.Their paths crossed at a karaoke party. What follows is an unlikely love story across a deep political divide.
- 5 days ago23 min
Rebranding sleep apnoea
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 perception. Enter, the ‘CPAP Baddies’, an informal online community who are on a social media mission to fight misconceptions around the condition and re-brand life with a CPAP machine.
- 6 days ago26 min
The right thing: Uganda’s fearless nun
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 the girls also bore the children of rebel leaders. As they started to return home, these children were often rejected by their families and communities, says Sr Rosemary. So she set about giving them a future and a hope: through enabling them to acquire skills like sewing, and by helping them see that God had not rejected them for the atrocities they had been forced to commit. More than once, Sr Rosemary put herself in enormous danger in order to fulfil her mission. But, she says, she also learnt that small acts of kindness can touch the hearts of even battle-hardened rebels.
- 1 weeks ago45 min
Good Bad Billionaire: Gautam Adani
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 the middle of nowhere, to owning 10 private jets as one of the richest billionaires on the planet.
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About The Documentary Podcast
The best documentaries from the BBC World Service. Hear the voices at the heart of global stories. Where curious minds can uncover hidden truths and make sense of the world. From the Chinese export boom, to Malawi's food security, to the fading influence of Russia's oligarchs, we go beyond the headlines. Each week, all year round, we bring you the stories shaping our world. From the personal voices behind the headlines to perspectives on faith and spirituality and how work and money impact our lives. Discover how people find solutions to global problems and look at the world through the lens of its media. The Documentary Podcast is about the people living the story – helping you see the world with greater clarity.
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