The Documentary Podcast: Archive 2015

A fuzzy team photo from the 1980s sends Tim Whewell on a journey to track down football players from a small town in northern Syria who were once the champions of Aleppo province. In the last four years of war their hometown, Mare'a, has become a war zone – bombed by the Assad regime, besieged by Islamic State, subject even to a mustard gas attack. And the civil war has torn through what was once a band of friends – some now pro-rebel, some pro-regime. They’re scattered across Syria and beyond, some fighting near Mare'a, some in refugee camps abroad. What have they gone through since they won that cup? And do they think they can ever be reunited?Shabnam Grewal producing.

The Dhnie family find themselves sleeping rough, getting caught up in riots and being detained as they try to reach Europe after their flight from Syria.

Shahidha traces the story of the sari, explores how it feels to wear one and asks what it meant for women like her mother. She discovers the unexpected ways in which clothing can be imprinted with feelings of nostalgia, love and loss.

Twenty three of Libya's finest technology graduates plan to rebuild their country

Meet the Dhnie family in Turkey as they prepare to make the journey to Greece, along with thousands of others, from Syria.

Marc Almond travels to Moscow in search of the marvelous Russian tenor Vadim Kozin, tango-singer and superstar. The darling of the Soviet Union, Kozin melted hearts by the tens of millions in the 1940s, playing to packed concert halls and rallying Red Army troops in World War Two. But he vanished one day in 1944 when the secret police arrested him and sent him to the Gulag for homosexuality

This year, the number of migrants reaching Europe has reached unprecedented levels. It is a crisis with roots in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, with many people heading from sub-Saharan Africa, Eritrea, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to European shores. Paul Adams takes a look back at some of the key moments of 2015 that have shaped the situation facing Europe today.Produced by Nina Robinson

The deaths of five school children in Malaysia have provoked an anguished debate about education and what it means to be Malay. The children ran away from their boarding school in Kelantan State and died of starvation in the jungle. They were afraid of harsh punishment from their teachers. Two girls survived eating grass and wild fruits but were found emaciated and close to death 47 days later. The children came from the Orang Asli community, one of the poorest and most marginalised in the country. For Assignment, Lucy Ash travels to the remote region where the children came from and talks to their bereaved parents. Many families are now refusing to send their children to school and campaigners accuse the government of not doing enough to protect rights of the Orang Asli community. Jane Beresford producing.Produced by Jane Beresford

Amidst the slums of Kampala, MLISADA (Music, life skills and arts for destitution alleviation) is a success story. It is a children's home giving street kids a chance of a musical future. Sarah Taylor visits this remarkable children's home in Kampala, Uganda, to speak to teachers, former pupils and international brass players that help support it.

Shopping in India is traditionally an intensely hands-on experience, but many are now embracing the online shopping revolution. From motorbike delivery couriers to Amazon India, and bringing online shopping to rural towns, Mukti Jain Campion discovers how Indian businesses are innovating to meet the new challenges.

This summer, as Greece and its creditors argued over the terms of a bailout, the fate of nations – and perhaps the whole European project – was held in the hands of just a few people. This original drama, tells the inside story of those extraordinary months.

Why war in space is not just Hollywood fantasy but a fast-approaching threat

A recent health scandal in Cambodia has prompted the government to clamp down on unlicensed doctors. But these 'doctors' are often the preferred option for many in the countryside

How dance during the Cold War was designed to challenge America's military image with The Martha Graham Dance Company’s US State Department tour of South East Asia, 1974.

Akwasi Sarpong visits Uganda’s thriving coding scene, to find out if home-grown, technology-based solutions can help tackle some of the country’s big development challenges.

European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is back on Earth after 200 days in space. She tells the full story of the International Space Station, in orbit 400 km above our planet.

Ben Hammersley meets creators and fans to investigate how extended fictional universes, from Star Wars and Harry Potter to Game of Thrones, took over global culture.

Aleem Maqbool investigates New Orleans’ justice system to find out how Robert Jones spent 23 years in jail for crimes another man had already been convicted of.

The world of in-game betting where gamblers test their skill and luck almost as the action happens is growing fast as the lucrative new frontier for the betting world, and is particularly popular in the huge Asian market. Does it pose a threat to the integrity of some our most popular sports?

Bola Mosuro travels to Ghana to meet the women who are making their mark in the male dominated world of technology, and inspiring young girls to follow in their footsteps.

Maria Margaronis explores the debris of Albania's past —the prisons, concrete bunkers and secret police headquarters - as the country attempts to deal with its troubled history.

James Fletcher travels to one of America’s poorest cities to meet a passionate group of people working hard to get young, black women into technology and tech jobs.

So often climate conferences have ended in chaos and dispute but in the run up to Paris there has been something alien to climate talks - hope. A remarkable number of governments have agreed plans to cut emissions. China and the USA appear to be walking hand in hand. But will they arrive at an agreement?

Greek cemeteries have run out of space so the dead are exhumed after just three years. In the only EU country without a crematorium the cash strapped population has few options.

Roger Harrabin looks at the solutions to the emissions problem. He travels to Malawi, one of the world’s poorest nations, where the energy crisis is about access to energy. He looks at the solar revolution being driven by the falling costs of photovoltaic panels, and visits a huge power plant at the cutting edge of solar technology in Morocco.

The story of Peru's drug 'mules' - the youngsters who hike cocaine from a tropical valley up to highland towns in the Andes, and out towards the border with Brazil.

Roger Harrabin examines the science behind climate change. Predicting the future climate is a pretty tricky business and over the last 25 years or so it has had a chequered history. Roger talks to the scientists about their models and asks if they are accurate enough or should they just be consigned to the dustbin.

Pope Francis has brought together nearly 300 bishops from all over the world for a special Synod on the Family. He has asked them to speak frankly and with courage about his Church’s most divisive teachings – those that affect the sex lives of more than billion people. Liberal Catholics would like Rome to relax its teachings on homosexuality, birth control and divorce and remarriage but in Africa many believers want their bishops to uphold tradition and doctrine.

Aasmah Mir hosts an intimate and revealing discussion between three women from the Bangladeshi diaspora in east London about the changes within their community.

In Norway, the sacking of a newspaper editor, allegedly after pressure from Russia, has caused a political storm over media freedom, and raised questions over what price the country should pay for good relations with its powerful eastern neighbour. Thomas Nilsen is a veteran environmental activist who edited a paper in the far north of Norway, in a region which has enjoyed a unique cross-border relationship with Russia. Now that’s threatened by rising tension between Russia and NATO. And relations have been further strained by the flow of refugees, now coming through Russia into the far north of Norway. Tim Whewell reports on what it means for the Norwegian outpost of Kirkenes, where Norwegians and Russians work closely together in the oil and fishing business and where cooperation and friendship go back decades.Produced by John Murphy(Photo: Norwegian Lion and a Russian Bear - A delicate Dance)

Why are children hooked on the game Minecraft? Even when they are not playing the game themselves, millions of children enjoy watching other people playing in YouTube videos. Parents worry that their children find the Minecraft universe so rewarding that they are losing interest in the real world, in face-to-face contact, or in non-screen-based play. Rather than having a moral panic about it, should we be harnessing children's enthusiasm and taking Minecraft into schools, as some educationalists propose?

Known by many simply as 'The Lady', Aung San Suu Kyi has become one of the world's most famous politicians. And yet she has never exercised any power in her country Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Under the current constitution, she is forbidden from becoming president. But will she find a way of ruling the country if, as is expected, her party The National League for Democracy has won this weekend's elections?

Lyse Doucet visits Cairo’s presidential palace for an exclusive interview with Egypt’s new strongman, President Abd-al-Fattah al-Sisi.

The US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico could be slipping into an economic “death spiral”, according to its Governor. Ten years of recession have led to deep cuts in services and more are on the way, as the government accepts it can’t pay its massive debts. Unemployment and poverty are spiralling, and younger citizens on this Caribbean island of 3.5 million are leaving in their droves, seeking jobs in New York or Miami. We meet some of them literally as they head to the airport, and meet some of the super-rich Americans coming the other way. Randy and Laura are two new arrivals, taking advantages of newly introduced tax breaks for those earning more than $200,000. Ed Butler looks at the contrasting life-styles of these two worlds, hears from property developers cashing in, and one man who may have lost all his savings investing in the island’s debt. And he examines the curious polarisation that’s developing as thousands of ordinary, working age employees head for the exit. Produced and presented by Ed Butler(Photo: Yachts in Palmas Del Mar Marina in Puerto Rico)

Musician Philip Glass revisits his parallel lives in 1970s New York - as a taxi driver and an emerging composer in Manhattan's arts scene.

Pope Francis has opened up debate about his Church’s most controversial teachings - on sex and the family. He’s raised hope among those who’d like the Roman Catholic Church to change its stance on issues like homosexuality, divorce and birth control. But can he meet their expectations? In the first of a three-part series, Helen Grady reports from Austria, where priests and ordinary Catholics are already pushing the boundaries of doctrine. In Vienna, she meets Clemens Moser and Charlotte Leeb, a young couple who, although devout Catholics, are breaking Church rules by living together as an unmarried couple. And Wolfgang, a gay man who spent six years training to be a Roman Catholic priest, tells Helen about his decision to leave the Church he loves because of its opposition to homosexual relationships. In the village of Bad Mittendorf, deep in traditionally-conservative Alpine Austria, Helen meets parish priest Fr Michael Unger, who’s proud of his most famous parishioner, the openly-gay performer Thomas Neuwirth - better known to millions as Conchita Wurst, who won the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest sporting a glamorous evening gown - and a beard. And another of Fr Michael’s parishioners, Andrea Strimizer, explains how her decision to divorce and remarry means that she’s officially barred from receiving Holy Communion, the central rite of the Catholic faith. Back in Vienna, Helen visits the city’s seminary, where trainee priest Johannes Eibensteiner explains how he’s preparing to minister to Austria’s largely liberal flock with gentleness and pragmatism. And she meets the city’s Archbishop, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn. A charismatic and influential figure, seen by many as a future Pope, Cardinal Schonborn has developed a special ministry for divorced and remarried Catholics. He says the Church must not lose faith in the traditional Catholic family, but meet people where they are and help them to inch gradually closer towards doctrinal ideals.

Stories of the pioneers who came to post war Britain from the Indian subcontinent. By the early 1970s the numbers from the Indian subcontinent had increased with family reunions and people fleeing Bangladesh following the war of Independence in 1971. Racist abuse became commonplace as immigration became a charged political issue

Tim Franks travels to South Sudan to find out why the world's youngest nation has failed to deliver on the hopes placed in it at independence.

During the conflict in Syria, it seems incredible that there are still writers expressing their experiences through poetry. News journalist Mike Embley meets and speaks to Syrian poets, writers and academics about how their work has reflected the emotions and humanity in a seemingly impossible situation.

Forty Five percent of the population of Myanmar is 25 or under. This gives young adults a key role in the country’s first open election in 25 years, to be held on 8 November. Nomia Iqbal finds out how youth radio is helping to shape Myanmar's shift from military rule by spending time with producers at youth radio programme Lin Lat Kyair Sin or Bright Young Stars.

From workaholics to submissive women and bizarre crazes, Dr Christopher Harding explores Western media representations of Japan and asks if these stereotypes have led to the country being misunderstood in West.

Lucy Ash reports on the controversial mayor in charge of Beziers, the largest French city controlled by the Far-Right. Is Robert Menard a pioneer or a provocateur?

Virtuoso percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie explores the story of the Hang - the tuned metal pan that's become a global success.

Homosexuality in Namibia and the LGBT community's struggle for social acceptance

In the aftermath of 9/11, the United States approved ‘enhanced’ interrogation methods that have been condemned as torture. The most notorious was controlled drowning, known as waterboarding. For Assignment, Hilary Andersson hears from those who approved, ran and suffered the programme in secret CIA prisons around the world. And she experiences some of the techniques herself. Does harsh interrogation yield reliable intelligence in the fight against terror? And what impact has the interrogation programme had on on-going conflicts – did it fuel support for ISIS? Produced by Linda Pressly(Photo: A man sits in a prison cell. Credit: Shutterstock)

Nearly 40 years ago, French polymath Jacques Attali wrote a book called Noise which predicted a "crisis of proliferation" for recorded music – in which its value would plummet. As music sales went into freefall at the turn of the century, his prediction seemed eerily resonant. Singer-songwriter Sam York, now struggling to earn a living as a musician, visits Attali to help get an insight into his own future, and learns that music itself may hold clues to what is about to happen in the wider world.

In 2005 a plan was launched to improve education, health, housing and jobs for the Roma – Europe’s poorest minority. But did it succeed? Ten years later Delia Radu travels across Eastern Europe to find the Roma she spoke to when the plan was launched, to see if it has delivered its promise.

Why Edward Snowden exposed the mass surveillance by American and British intelligence

Two pioneers in AI discuss their work and describe the way in which machine led intelligence is set to remake our world. Eric Horvitz, managing director of Microsoft Research and Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist of the Robotics firm Jibo join the BBC’s Rory Cellan Jones to discuss the rewards and challenges of AI with an audience in Silicon Valley.

India Rakusen travels to the city of Hamburg to find out why Germany has become the destination of choice for so many of the thousands of refugees heading across Europe.