The Documentary Podcast: Archive 2011

China's economy depends on a system regulating workers from around China and beyond. In Guangzhou, the migrant metropolis, Mukul Devichand hears stories of anger and reform.

John Tusa presents memories and archive about the BBC World Service in Bush House, from 1941 to leaving Bush House in 2012.

Allan Little investigates allegations of NGO inefficiency, political bias and lack of transparency in India. Who really benefits from the work of NGOs?

The Children's Choir of the USSR sang to their leaders, they sang to their people, and through their songs projected a bright, happy dream of the Soviet Union to the furthest reaches of the Red Empire. Then, in 1991, the world they had sung about ceased to exist and the Soviet Union passed into memory. Monica Whitlock goes in search of The Children's Choir of the USSR.

France has long been a country with a reputation for some of the best food in the world. But in recent years, many critics have argued that French cuisine has lost its way. Now there's a new generation of food-lovers hoping to change that. But what do the traditionalists make of it all? Robyn Bresnahan reports.

The BBC's Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen looks back over a momentous year in the Middle East and hears from those who witnessed events at first hand.

The BBC's Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen looks back over a momentous year in the Middle East and hears from those who witnessed events at first hand.

Allan Little investigates allegations of NGO inefficiency, political bias and lack of transparency in Haiti, Malawi and India.

The BBC's Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen looks back over a momentous year in the Middle East and hears from those who witnessed events at first hand.

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

A hard hitting Assignment from Mark Doyle who reports on the massive cholera outbreak in Haiti and the controversy that surrounds it.

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

In Assignment Ed Butler investigates reports that some orphanages in Bali are being run as commercial rackets and that children there are being exploited for the owners' benefit.

Richard Coles confronts accusations that the West is attempting to force gay rights on Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Knitting in Tripoli tells an intimate story of life during the Libyan war through the eyes of people who battled their own fears to step out of Gaddafi's dark shadow. Rana Jawad became the BBC website's Tripoli Witness and took up knitting and baking to cope with the strains of living in hiding and secretly gathering information.

Was the economic crisis caused by fundamental problems with the system rather than a mere failure of policy? This two-part series investigates two schools of economics with radical solutions. In part two Paul Mason asks whether the expansion of credit created a new form of worker exploitation.

A dark secret lies beneath the earth in Indian Kashmir. Bodies - thousands of them. Who are they and how did they die? Jill McGivering reports for Assignment.

Richard Coles confronts accusations that the West is attempting to force gay rights on Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Around one million people around the world are infected with a sexually transmitted disease every single day. Yet even those with easy access to condoms often choose not to use them. Paul Bakibinga sets out to discover why.

Was the economic crisis caused by fundamental problems with the system rather than a mere failure of policy? This two-part series investigates two schools of economics with radical solutions. In part one, Jamie Whyte looks at the free market Austrian School of F.A. Hayek.

A Dagestani billionaire, Suleiman Kerimov is bankrolling a football club and building new sports facilities across the country in the hope of encouraging the young to turn away from militant Islam. Lucy Ash reports.

Martin Wolf, Chief Economic Commentator of The Financial Times, examines how the world has changed since the beginning of the financial crisis four years ago, and asks if the pre-2007 era might be the high point for free market capitalism.

The BBC's Priyath Liyanage searches for a boy who was carrying a violin case when he was used as a human shield by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.

Mark Gregory examines the legacy of Steve Jobs. How will he be compared to the great American entrepreneurs of the past, such as Rockefeller, Ford and Carnegie?Did he invent a new way of doing business?

Rupa Jha reports for Assignment on India's whistleblowers - the people who find themselves on the frontline of the country's anti-corruption struggle.

Noah Richler traces the development of storytelling from the earliest creation myths through to today's online gaming and the recording of our personal lives by way of social media.

Diplomacy is often presented as an artform, the peak of civilisation in a barren political world. But what happens when it is conducted with torturers, murderers and serial human rights abusers? Lyse Doucet asks diplomats, politicians and activists how we should engage with brutal regimes.

Tim Franks reports from Israel for Assignment on how the country now sees itself as political upheaval in neighbouring countries continues to change long held perceptions and alliances.

Noah Richler traces the development of storytelling from the earliest creation myths through to today's online gaming and the recording of our personal lives by way of social media.

Katya meets the heartbroken families in Spain searching for their children and the trafficked babies, now grown up, searching for their biological relatives and their true identities.

Diplomacy is often presented as an artform, the peak of civilisation in a barren political world. But what happens when it is conducted with torturers, murderers and serial human rights abusers? Lyse Doucet asks diplomats, politicians and activists how we should engage with brutal regimes.

As Libyans absorb the impact of the death of Gaddafi, Owen Bennett-Jones presents a special programme exploring what happens after dictators leave power.

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

For Assignment, Bill Law paints a portrait of one day in the Syrian revolution, talking via the internet and phone to people across the country.

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

Portraits of people who relocated to other lands, influenced by music. In part two, Jesse Lee Jones explains how his love of country music took him from Brazil to Nashville.

Portraits of people who relocated to other lands, influenced by music. In part one Pedro Carrillo from Venezuela fell in love with Italian opera and moved to Milan.

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

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

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

In Lebanon many people fear that another war between Hezbollah and Israel is just over the horizon. But what exactly is Hezbollah and why do people support it? For Assignment Owen Bennett Jones reports from southern Lebanon on the nature and structure of the Shia movement that is so difficult to define.

The story of modern population control, and why it didn't work. Matthew Connelly on a campaign that began with the best ideals.

Some 80 years after George Orwell chronicled the lives of the hard-up and destitute in his book Down and Out in Paris and London, what has changed? Retracing the writer's footsteps, Emma Jane Kirby finds the hallmarks of poverty identified by Orwell - addiction, exhaustion and, often, a quiet dignity - are as apparent now as they were then.

Facing old age presents its challenges where ever you come from. Nina Robinson travels to Wales in the United Kingdom to talk to members of an all male choir as their numbers decline and their voices fade.

The story of modern population control, and why it didn't work. Matthew Connelly on a campaign that began with the best ideals.

A series that invites close, unhurried listening to the stories of individuals. In part two, we hear the story of 84 year-old Sybil Phoenix, who 50 years ago started fostering. She has cared for countless children and was awarded an MBE in 1973 for her involvement in community relations - making her the first black female recipient.

Fenerbahce fans are angry. Their club is at the centre of a match fixing scandal and they've suffered the humiliation of being banned from the first game of the season. Tim Mansel went to meet them.

The story of modern population control, and why it didn't work. Matthew Connelly on a campaign that began with the best ideals.

A series that invites close, unhurried listening to the stories of individuals. In part one we hear the story of Yusef Shakur, who in 1992 at 19 was about to start a prison sentence of five to 15 years. Now almost two decades on, he has managed to turn his life around.

Strong views and language from the fans of Scotland's top football clubs - Rangers and Celtic. But how sectarian is their rivalry? Rob Walker reports for Assignment.

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

How Cambodia's contemporary music scene is creating a new golden era for a country recovering from the dark years of Pol Pot's rule.

Mukul Devichand goes on the road with young children travelling alone on a journey of desperation, danger and hope - south from Zimbabwe and across the border to South Africa.

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

eading structural engineer and designer Cecil Balmond goes beyond the well known histories of three celebrated monuments: Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramid, to reveal the hidden geometry at their cores.

As the Greek government struggles to tackle it's massive debt crisis, Ed Butler travels to Athens for Assignment to investigate the so-called Indignants - the popular protest movement gathering pace across the country.

The Secret War On Terror reveals the astonishing inside story of the intelligence war which has been fought against al-Qaeda over the last decade since 9/11.

Leading structural engineer and designer Cecil Balmond goes beyond the well known histories of three celebrated monuments: Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramid, to reveal the hidden geometry at their cores.

Gabriel Gatehouse investigates the mysterious disappearance of Dirar Abu Sisi. He vanished from a train in Ukraine in February and turned up in an Israeli prison nine days later. Is he really the brains behind Hamas' missile programme, as Israel claims?

The Secret War On Terror reveals the astonishing inside story of the intelligence war which has been fought against al-Qaeda over the last decade since 9/11.

Leading structural engineer and designer Cecil Balmond goes beyond the well known histories of three celebrated monuments: Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramid, to reveal the hidden geometry at their cores.

Events in Libya have reached a dramatic conclusion. After a six month uprising, rebel forces have swept into the capital Tripoli. The Leader Colonel Gaddafi, after almost 42 years in power, has been forced from power. James Reynolds reports how this happened and what were the key turning points in Libya's conflict.

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

Warning: This documentary contains conversations about sexual experience. Disabled people are rarely touched in a loving way or thought of as sexually desirable yet they have the same need for a sex life as everyone else. John Blades, who has a major disability himself, takes a look at the importance of touch to every human being.

Linda Pressly follows the migrants heading north through Guatemala into Mexico – despite the dangers of kidnap by the notorious Zetas gang.

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

Can a young Canadian man with Down's Syndrome get a university degree? Alisa Siegal follows the story of Ashif Jaffer who wants to fulfil his dream for a university education and the degree that goes with it.

Have you bought a diamond recently? Would you really know where it came from? Assignment goes into Zimbabwe's Marange diamond fields and uncovers evidence of torture camps and wide-scale killings.

BBC Security correspondent Gordon Corera tells the untold tale of how the Americans hunted their most wanted man - from the caves of Tora Bora in Afghanistan through to his stronghold in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

Nina Robinson reports from India where the booming economy has fuelled a demand for cheap domestic labour. She finds that children are filling the gaps, with evidence of trafficking and youngsters being set to work in households, where they are open to abuse with little hope of ever going to school.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is Iran's Supreme Leader, a position he has held since 1989. Ayatollah Khamenei is the most powerful man in Iran, though one of the country's least scrutinised politicians. So who is this man? And how has he consolidated the Revolution? The BBC's Iran correspondent, James Reynolds, charts the Ayatollah’s reign and, through a number of interviews with relatives, biographers and politicians, builds a profile of Iran's most powerful man.

Ten years after foreign forces invaded Afghanistan, they've begun to hand full responsibility back to Afghans. Lyse Doucet, who's been covering Afghanistan for more than 20 years, travels around Afghanistan to meet the Afghans in charge.

To mark ten years since the invasion of Afghanistan, key decision-makers reveal the inside story of how the West was drawn ever deeper into the Afghan war. John Ware charts the history of a decade of fighting and looks at when the conflict may end.

A medium tells Colette Kinsella what it's like to have a life like the film, The Sixth Sense, how bored spirits play havoc with her love life, and why grocery shopping is a challenge.

Cuba and Venezuela describe Luis Posada Carriles as the Bin Laden of the Americas. Rob Walker goes on the trail of the man who for 50 years has opposed Cuba’s Fidel Castro and who leaves in his wake intrigue, alleged terrorist plots and assassination attempts.

BBC Environment Correspondent Richard Black explores the history and likely future of the nuclear energy industry. In part two, Richard compares how the world's nations are having very different approaches to the nuclear landscape in the wake of Fukushima.

Is outsourcing pregnancy to India exploitative or mutually beneficial? Over the course of nine months, we follow two women, who in each other seek solutions to the problems of poverty and infertility.

In this week's Assignment the BBC's State Department correspondent Kim Ghattas has gained rare "behind-the-scenes" access to one of Hillary Clinton's recent overseas trips. Join her on "special air mission 883" as it heads from the U.S. to the Middle East and Africa.

BBC Environment Correspondent Richard Black explores the history and likely future of the nuclear energy industry. Did the first atomic nations develop the best and safest technologies possible, or have they left the world with a ticking bomb?

Sharon Mascall follows 18 young Aboriginal men through a new rehabilitation programme at Port Augusta prison in South Australia.

Defecting from North Korea is a dangerous business. It comes at a high price and there's no guarantee of success. Many make the journey to South Korea with the help of brokers who smuggle people along the illegal overland route known as the "Underground Railroad". For Assignment Lucy Williamson meets the brokers who make a living helping people escape North Korea.

BBC Washington Correspondent Jonny Dymond, investigates why America is facing a resurgent threat from violent right-wing groups.

Sharon Mascall follows 18 young Aboriginal men through a new rehabilitation programme at Port Augusta prison in South Australia.

Who was Rafiq Hariri and who might have wanted to kill him. Owen Bennett Jones reports on the life of the man they once called Mr Lebanon.

BBC Washington Correspondent Jonny Dymond, examines why some native born American Muslims are becoming radicalised, and turning their sights on their own country.

This year Russia is marking the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the USSR. Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg took a walk down his favourite street to find out how Russians view the past and to hear their hopes for the future.

An extended family in Colombia struck by hereditary and very early onset Alzheimer's is taking part in a new drugs trial that doctors hope will lead to a cure for sufferers worldwide. Bill Law reports.

Will Taiwan's new rapprochement with China bring opportunity, or hand Beijing control over what it sees as a renegade province? Chris Hogg reports.

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

Emma Joseph reports for Assignment from Antigua on how people are rebuilding their lives two years on from the collapse of Allen Stanford's business empire.

Will Taiwan's new rapprochement with China bring opportunity, or hand Beijing control over what it sees as a renegade province? Chris Hogg reports.

Soldiers who have killed in war at close quarters talk about how it affects them today. They talk frankly about their feelings before, during and after. And they reflect on whether humans are "natural" killers or whether they have to be trained to go against their instinctive repulsion.

Shaken baby syndrome - the sudden and violent shaking of an infant which often results in death - was once believed to be virtually a medical diagnosis of murder. But as Linda Pressley reports from the United States for Assignment, there's now growing disquiet about miscarriages of justice after such deaths.

Across the world the cost of basic commodities is soaring. Endless demand from China is blamed for the record price of copper; flood, fire and drought for boosting the cost of food; and political tension in the Middle East for the sharply-rising price of oil. But are such fundamental forces the whole story? Michael Robinson asks whether investors and speculators are making prices more volatile and examines the role of the giant traders, banks and companies which now increasingly dominate the world's commodity markets.

Soldiers who have killed in war at close quarters talk about how it affects them today. They talk frankly about their feelings before, during and after. And they reflect on whether humans are "natural" killers or whether they have to be trained to go against their instinctive repulsion.

California is the world's largest producer of commercial pornographic movies. But, as Ed Butler reports for Assignment, the billion dollar industry is in trouble. The programme begins on the film set of a porn movie in Los Angeles.

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

Across the world the cost of basic commodities is soaring. Endless demand from China is blamed for the record price of copper; flood, fire and drought for boosting the cost of food; and political tension in the Middle East for the sharply-rising price of oil. But are such fundamental forces the whole story? Michael Robinson asks whether investors and speculators are making prices more volatile and examines the role of the giant traders, banks and companies which now increasingly dominate the world's commodity markets.

The pressure on Lesego Mangwanyane - a South African journalist - to become a sangoma, or traditional healer. Does she have a choice?