Documentaries
Throughout the week BBC World Service offers a wide range of documentaries and other factual programmes. This podcast offers you the chance to access landmark series from our archive.
- Updated:
Daily - Average duration:
22 minutes
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All episodes (428)
Youssou N’Dour at 50
Thu, 5 Nov 09
Duration:
20 minsTo mark the 50th birthday of Youssou N'Dour, Robin Denselow travels to Senegal to profile the best known African musician of recent times.
Assignment - Guinea on the Brink
Thu, 5 Nov 09
Duration:
23 minsMark Doyle reports from Guinea in West Africa on the harrowing events of 28 September when government troops crushed an opposition rally in the centre of the capital, Conakry. This programme contains some graphic description of sexual violence.
A Dollar a Day - Part 1
Wed, 4 Nov 09
Duration:
24 minsWhat keeps a billion people trapped in the most persistent poverty? Mike Wooldridge travels to Nicaragua to meet Justa who hoped for a better life after the Sandinista revolution.
DocArchive:
Mon, 2 Nov 09
Duration:
23 minsThe extraordinary but little-known tale of Russia's three all-female regiments that flew more than 30,000 missions on the Eastern Front. At home they were celebrated as 'Stalin's Falcons' but terrified German troops called them the 'Night Witches'.
Public Places, Private Lives - Part Two
Fri, 30 Oct 09
Duration:
22 minsPublic Places, Private Lives is a series of portraits of well known places that reveal the lives and stories of those people who come to a famous spot not to gaze as tourists, but for work or for their own private reasons. The second programme is set in the Taj Mahal, where we hear the experiences of those people for whom one of the most important sites in India is part of their daily landscape.
Assignment - Dying to Give Birth
Thu, 29 Oct 09
Duration:
23 minsJill McGivering travels to Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, to meet a doctor who is battling against the odds to prevent women from dying in childbirth. Listeners may find parts of this Assignment programme distressing.
Rebranding Nigeria - Part Two
Wed, 28 Oct 09
Duration:
24 minsNigeria is campaigning for a new image and a new reputation in an effort to attract some much needed investment. Reporter Henry Bonsu follows the many steps of this charm offensive.
MI6 - A Century in the Shadows - Part Tree
Mon, 26 Oct 09
Duration:
24 minsThe head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service Sir John Scarlett, talks for the first time about the interrogation of terrorist suspects and MI6’s role in the run-up to the war in Iraq.
Public Places, Private Lives - Part One
Fri, 23 Oct 09
Duration:
23 minsPublic Places, Private Lives is a series of portraits of well known places that reveal the lives and stories of those people who come to a famous spot not to gaze as tourists, but for work or for their own private reasons.
Assignment - Protecting Britain's Children
Thu, 22 Oct 09
Duration:
24 minsWhen a 17 month-old London child died after horrific abuse by his family, it unleashed a barrage of criticism against British social services. For Assignment Catherine Miller gains rare access to the people whose job it is to protect Britain's vulnerable children.
Rebranding Nigeria - Part One
Wed, 21 Oct 09
Duration:
24 minsCan the home of 419 internet scams, corruption and voodoo ever transmit a positive image? Is changing Nigeria's image an impossible mission?
MI6 - A Century in the Shadows
Mon, 19 Oct 09
Duration:
24 minsIn Programme Two, we find out what were spies really up to behind the Iron Curtain. MI6 chief John Scarlett describes his clandestine meeting with an agent, and the Russian defector Oleg Gordievsky talks about his reasons for coming over to the other side.
Assignment Armenia: The cleverest nation on the planet
Thu, 15 Oct 09
Duration:
23 minsEvery two years teams from all over the world compete with one another in the Chess Olympiad. In the last two Olympiads, the winning medal has gone to a small country in the Caucasus. How has this nation done it? Gabriel Gatehouse investigates.
John Simpson Returns to 1989
Thu, 15 Oct 09
Duration:
24 minsThe BBC's World Affairs Editor John Simpson tells the story of 20 years of post-communist life. Through personal stories, he traces the different roads that East Germany, the Czech Republic and Romania have taken since 1989.
MI6 - A century in the shadows
Mon, 12 Oct 09
Duration:
24 minsAn unprecedented look inside MI6 - Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, which marks its centenary this year. Programme One - Gadgets & Green Ink explores the early years of MI6, set up by Sir Mansfield Cumming, a formidable figure known as 'C' who signed his name in green ink.
Memento, part two
Fri, 9 Oct 09
Duration:
23 minsImagine that conflict and violence force you to flee your country, leaving behind all that you know and love. In the chaos and panic, you have to choose a single object to take with you - something so full of resonance that it will always remind you of the life and people that you left behind. In the second part of Memento, we meet people who have fled to Britain.
Assignment - Three Strike Lifers
Thu, 8 Oct 09
Duration:
24 minsA life sentence for stealing a pair of socks. In California the tough 'three strikes' law is sending people to prison for life even if their third crime is a non-violent one. Now a group of law students is trying to change things. Rob Walker reports.
Yiddish - a Struggle for Survival - Part One
Wed, 7 Oct 09
Duration:
24 minsYiddish was the language of the Jewish Diaspora, the language of a people on the move across Europe. It has suffered a dramatic decline over the last century. What will become of it now?
The Crash: Back from the brink
Mon, 5 Oct 09
Duration:
24 minsThe third part of the BBC's definitive series on the banking crash tells the extraordinary story of how politicians reacted, and asks what has been learnt from the entire calamity. Could it happen again?
Memento, part one
Fri, 2 Oct 09
Duration:
23 minsImagine that conflict and violence force you to flee your country, leaving behind all that you know and love. In the chaos and panic, you have to choose a single object to take with you - something so full of resonance that it will always remind you of the life and people that you left behind.
Assignment - The Mystery of the Arctic Sea
Thu, 1 Oct 09
Duration:
23 minsIt's straight out of the pages of a thriller novel: a cargo ship, lost without trace; pirates working the seas at the heart of Europe; whispers of arms smuggling and the scent of international conspiracy. The mysterious disappearance of a Russian-operated cargo ship off the coast of Britain in late July sparked furious speculation that's never been resolved. For Assignment, Sarah Rainsford tries to shine a light on what really happened on board the vessel, the Arctic Sea.
Desperate Dreams - Part Two
Wed, 30 Sep 09
Duration:
24 minsPresenter Jenny Cuffe sets out to find Fereinatu, a teenage girl who was trafficked for sex. She had returned to her impoverished home in Benin City, but she is missing once more and relatives fear she may have been sucked back into prostitution.
Assignment - Chasing the Tax Cheats
Tue, 29 Sep 09
Duration:
23 minsThis week's Assignment looks at the much-vaunted crackdown on tax havens announced by the G20 earlier this year. The drive is aimed at getting tax havens to agree to yield up information on tax cheats. But is the G-20's weapon of choice, shooting blanks? Is its approach cumbersome and ineffective in the fight to get every dollar that's owed to tax authorities? Lesley Curwen investigates.
The Crash: The Age of Risk
Mon, 28 Sep 09
Duration:
24 minsThe second of this three-part series that examines the boom before the bust of 2008 looks at how our attitudes to risk and debt changed with disastrous consequences.
Building out of the Recession - part two
Fri, 25 Sep 09
Duration:
24 minsCan we build our way out of the recession? The Empire State Building was started just weeks after the Wall Street Crash, giving Americans hope in times of depression. Jonathan Glancey, architecture correspondent for the Guardian newspaper in London, looks at the economic and social policies of the 1930s and the parallels we can find today.
Desperate Dreams - part one
Tue, 22 Sep 09
Duration:
24 minsTwo years ago, Jenny Cuffe followed the journeys of migrants trying to leave Africa and find a better life in Europe. Innocent Akibor left Nigeria to get to Spain. As exploitation greets him at almost every step of his journey, listen to find out if he made his dream come true.
The Crash: The bank that busted the world
Mon, 21 Sep 09
Duration:
24 minsWhat were the key moments that led to financial meltdown, and what happened in the aftermath? The first of a three-part series that looks closely at the turbulent events in the autumn of 2008.
Assignment - Dog Fighting in Chicago
Thu, 17 Sep 09
Duration:
23 minsIf my dog is tough then I'm tough. Killer dogs give teenagers status in Chicago. For Assignment, Nina Robinson, goes right to the heart of the cruel sport of dog fighting that is attracting so many young people in the run down areas of Chicago's south side.
Building Out of the Recession
Thu, 17 Sep 09
Duration:
25 minsJust weeks after the Wall Street Crash in 1929, work began on the Empire State Building. The Guardian's architecture correspondent Jonathan Glancey assesses the economics of building out of a recession.
Dreams from my mother
Tue, 15 Sep 09
Duration:
24 minsPresident Barack Obama has famously written of the influence exerted on him by his father in his memoir Dreams of My Father, but what of his mother, Ann Dunham? Listen to Judith Kampfner as she unveils more about this unconventional and idealistic woman.
Benjamin Jealous - the future of the NAACP
Mon, 14 Sep 09
Duration:
24 minsenjamin Jealous is the leader of America's oldest and largest black civil rights group. In a USA fronted by Barack Obama, what are the future battlegrounds for African American human rights?
World Stories: Mexico's Missing Island
Fri, 11 Sep 09
Duration:
24 minsBermeja Island is missing. This strategically important island was clearly visible on maps of the Gulf of Mexico until the middle of the 20th century but it's now gone. BBC Mundo's David Cuen goes in search.
Assignment: Mastering Business
Wed, 9 Sep 09
Duration:
24 minsWhat role did the business schools play in last year's financial crisis? In this week's edition of Assignment, Ed Butler investigates whether, as the chair of Harvard's MBA programme insists, the schools were guilty only of teaching a deficient assessment of risk in the business world, or whether something more fundamental was at fault. Some inside the system tell Assignment that there had been a growing disconnect between the schools and society, with insufficient attention being paid to the ethics of the business world, and the sole focus of the programmes being on maximising shareholder value and personal enrichment.
Citizen Journalism - Part Two
Wed, 9 Sep 09
Duration:
24 minsn the second episode Michael Buerk visits Cairo and experience for himself how bloggers - arguably among the most hounded anywhere in the world - are taking on the Egyptian government.
Why is Africa poor? Part three
Mon, 7 Sep 09
Duration:
24 minsEnterprise, money, innovation are all there. Is tapping into a continent's optimism the key to Africa's future? Mark Doyles looks at the solutions to solve Africa's poverty.
World Stories: Israel's Muslim soldiers
Fri, 4 Sep 09
Duration:
23 minsRachid Sekkai from the BBC's Arabic Service talks to Muslims currently serving in the Israeli Defence Force and also to former soldiers and hears about the conflicts they face, at home and on duty, and the pride that military service sometimes brings them.
Assignment - China Saving's Habit
Thu, 3 Sep 09
Duration:
23 minsColin Yu is a teacher who lives in Shanghai. He has a job but still struggles to support his parents on his modest income. Colin would like to spend more money and the Chinese government is offering incentives to people like him to go out and buy Chinese goods. They're hoping that by doing so it will help the country to survive the current global economic downturn. Average savings rates in China stand at around 30% and, as Chris Hogg discovers, most of that money is spent on healthcare. For Assignment he follows the story of Colin's family as they face difficult decisions over how to spend their money and how to match their savings to their healthcare needs.
Citizen journalism - democracy or chaos?
Wed, 2 Sep 09
Duration:
24 minsMichael Buerk analyses the potential – and the dangers – of citizen journalism. In part one, he talks to bloggers and critics from Sri Lanka, Iran, Burma, and Iraq.
Why is Africa poor? Part Two
Mon, 31 Aug 09
Duration:
24 minsAccusations of tribalism, corruption and complacency have all been offered as explanations to the question of Africa's poverty. Mark Doyle looks at each of these and asks why the status quo persists.
World stories: new media in Kashmir
Fri, 28 Aug 09
Duration:
23 minsViolent footage from the Kashmir conflict has been shared almost in real-time by citizen-journalists on video sharing websites. Suvojit Bagchi tells the story of the impact of new media communication in a conflict zone.
Assignment - Mutiny in Bangladesh
Thu, 27 Aug 09
Duration:
24 minsSix months ago there was a short military revolt in Bangladesh that threatened to push the country into nationwide armed conflict. But some things remain mysterious. Why was it so brutal? Who was really behind it? What did they hope to achieve? In this week’s addition of Assignment, Mark Dummett has tracked down key participants and eyewitnesses in search of some answers.
Gold - part three
Wed, 26 Aug 09
Duration:
23 minsNick Rankin explores how we assess the value of gold.
Why is Africa poor?
Mon, 24 Aug 09
Duration:
24 minsMark Doyle crosses the continent of Africa and finds a place rich in natural resources and human potential, which begs the question, why is Africa poor? Outsiders have been coming to Africa for centuries for its raw materials and potential. It was an exploitative relationship that has contributed to Africa's poverty, but can foreigners now turn the fortunes of a modern Africa?
World Stories: Fighting for Pao Culture in Burma
Fri, 21 Aug 09
Duration:
23 minsKo Ko Aung from the BBC's Burmese Service, travelled to Burma to find out why a rebel army of 100 men is taking on the 400,000 strong Burmese army.
Assignment: America's African Outpost
Thu, 20 Aug 09
Duration:
24 minsFran Abrams is given rare access to the US base in Djibouti questioning military chiefs, local leaders and ordinary Djiboutians as she explores the role and impact of America's African outpost.
Gold - part two
Wed, 19 Aug 09
Duration:
24 minsNick Rankin descends into the deepest goldmine in the world – Tau Tona in South Africa for part two of this series. Five thousand miners extract gold up to four kilometres under the surface but for every tonne of ore they take out, there is only 8 grams of gold to be found. Nick talks to miners about their lives underground and learns about the real price of gold.
Selling cheese to the Chinese
Fri, 14 Aug 09
Duration:
24 minsMukul Devichand tells the story of the Europeans who are trying to persuade China's expanding middle class to ditch their noodles and soya in favour of pricey European fine foods.
World Stories: Bombs, Stamps and Throat Singers
Fri, 14 Aug 09
Duration:
24 minsAmerican physicist Richard Feynman fell in love with the remote Russian region Tuva through his hobby of stamp collecting. He died just before his visitor's visa arrived but his daughter Michelle went to the land of throat singers in his honour.
Assignment - The Pardon Game
Thu, 13 Aug 09
Duration:
23 minsThe Afghan drugs mafia is rich, powerful and entrenched, with connections running into the heart of the Afghan state. But a new, multi-million dollar counter-narcotics justice system has started to get results and is putting senior traffickers in prison. So when people heard that the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, had pardoned five traffickers, they were stunned. This week’s Assignment looks into allegations that the pardons were part of a political deal, ahead of presidential elections on the 20th August. Kate Clark reports.
Gold - part one
Wed, 12 Aug 09
Duration:
20 minsMan's long-term obsession with gold and the lengths we have gone to to get it. From the ancient myth of King Midas, through Alexander The Great and the Spanish Conquistadors to the massive mines of South Africa, Nick Rankin unlocks the history and enduring fascination of the rare yellow metal that has been integral to economic exchange systems for millennia.
William Morris and the Muslims
Mon, 10 Aug 09
Duration:
22 minsNavid Akhtar examines the influence of Islamic design and values in the life of Victorian designer, poet, and craftsman William Morris.
Tracing the strain
Tue, 4 Aug 09
Duration:
24 minsThe World Health Organisation has warned that the worldwide spread of the so-called Swine Flu virus is now unstoppable. As cases continue to multiply, reporter Julian O'Halloran investigates the origins of the H1N1 virus and examines claims that it is linked to factory style pig farming.
Iran and the West - part three
Mon, 3 Aug 09
Duration:
26 minsIran in the post 9/11 era, a time of friction and unrest over its nuclear ambitions.
Global Perspective: Chungking Mansions
Fri, 31 Jul 09
Duration:
23 minsA slice of life at a shabby but popular tenement in Hong Kong's teeming commercial district.
Caribbean voices - Part two
Tue, 28 Jul 09
Duration:
24 minsColin Grant reflects on the BBC’s role in boosting Caribbean writing in the region 60 years on from the original broadcast of Caribbean Voices.
Iran and the West: From Khomeini to Ahmedinejad - part 2
Mon, 27 Jul 09
Duration:
26 minsThe inside story of Iran's war with Iraq, and how the US viewed the conflict - ultimately a battle for control and influcence in this most vital, but unstable, part of the world.
Global Perspective - Across the Water
Fri, 24 Jul 09
Duration:
24 minsNick Rankin travels to Fair Isle, one of the most remote inhabited islands in the British Isles, to see how newcomers find their place in a small and tight-knit community on a rocky island which is too windy for trees to grow on.
Assignment - Pakistan - Winning the Peace
Thu, 23 Jul 09
Duration:
23 minsIn this week's edition of Assignment, Jill McGivering travels through Pakistan, hearing the stories of some of the two million people who fled their homes as a result of the fighting between government forces and the Taliban in the country’s North West – and assesses the consequences of the humanitarian crisis for Pakistan and its people.
West African journeys - Part two
Wed, 22 Jul 09
Duration:
24 minsAward-winning journalist Sorious Samura drops into the middle of an undercover investigation of a Chinese brothel in Accra, Ghana, where 16 women have been trafficked to work as prostitutes.
Caribbean voices - Part one
Tue, 21 Jul 09
Duration:
24 minsColin Grant reflects on the BBC’s role in boosting Caribbean writing in the region 60 years on from the original broadcast of Caribbean Voices.
Iran and the West: From Khomeni to Ahmedinejad - part 1
Mon, 20 Jul 09
Duration:
27 minsFor the first time, the BBC tells the story of Iran's relationship with the West over the last 30 years - as seen by the key insiders on both sides.
Death Diminishes Me
Fri, 17 Jul 09
Duration:
24 minsA soundscape of memory, loss, regret and hope from men who have been living with HIV for over 20 years in New Zealand.
The Greening of the Deserts - part three
Wed, 15 Jul 09
Duration:
24 minsIn this series, Ayisha Yahya explores climate change issues in the African desert. In the final programme, she meets Egyptian scientists experimenting with techniques to make the desert bloom.
From Guantanamo to Paradise
Fri, 10 Jul 09
Duration:
24 minsThe story of four imprisoned Uyghur men transferred from Guantanamo Bay to the wealthy paradise of Bermuda.
Global Persepctive: Islands of Security
Fri, 10 Jul 09
Duration:
24 minsSouth Africa's wealthy are retreating to high-security gated communities to protect themselves from violent crime. In Islands of Security we explore why the issue of keeping people out is a sensitive one in post-Apartheid times.
Assignment - Land Grab Cambodia
Thu, 9 Jul 09
Duration:
24 mins150,000 Cambodians are reported to be facing eviction from their land. Huge tracts of the country have been granted to private companies for large scale agriculture or other purposes. Some of those who have tried to resist say they have been attacked or threatened. Rob Walker reports for Assignment.
The Greening of the Deserts
Wed, 8 Jul 09
Duration:
24 minsIn this three part series, Ayisha Yahya explores climate change issues in the African desert. In programme two she visits the Desert Research Station in Namibia. Can they increase the water available in arid areas such as the Namib?
Global Perspective: Alert Bay
Thu, 2 Jul 09
Duration:
25 minsTeenagers on the island of Alert Bay, British Columbia, talk openly about the beauty and frustration on living in a remote place.
Thembi’s Story
Thu, 2 Jul 09
Duration:
24 minsThembi Ngubane’s Radio Diary about living with Aids in a South African Township.
Assignment - The Opus Dei enigma
Thu, 2 Jul 09
Duration:
23 minsIt's widely regarded as one of the most secretive religious organisations in the world. It makes heavy demands on its members - and has been accused of cult-like practices. It's also an influential movement within Roman Catholicism. Opus Dei, made famous by Dan Brown's bestselling novel the Da Vinci Code, has many critics - but few have found out what life is like on the inside. The BBC's religious affairs correspondent, Christopher Landau, has been granted exclusive access to the movement's extensive headquarters in Rome. He meets both priests and lay people who devote their lives (and their money) to this movement which, though less than 100 years old, exerts powerful influence over both its members and the wider church.
The Greening of the Deserts
Wed, 1 Jul 09
Duration:
24 minsIn this three part series, Ayisha Yahya explores climate change issues in the African desert. In programme one she asks, what are the implications for traditional nomadic desert communities?
Assignment: Iran in crisis
Sat, 27 Jun 09
Duration:
24 minsIn this special edition of Assignment, John Simpson reveals how the protests, and the police reprisals that followed, are intricately linked to the rivalry inside the clique of clerics who created the Islamic state.
Blood and lava
Fri, 26 Jun 09
Duration:
24 minsWhen the dried blood of Naples' patron saint fails to liquefy, Neapolitans believe great misfortune will descend upon them. With Mount Vesuvius overdue for a major eruption, Malcolm Billings investigates if tragedy awaits this historic city.
Mubarak's Egypt - part two
Thu, 25 Jun 09
Duration:
24 minsAfter 28 years in power, President Mubarak's promise of shepherding his country into a stable democracy has all but dissipated.
Assignment - The Rich in Retreat
Thu, 25 Jun 09
Duration:
23 minsIn a programme first broadcast in April, Ed Butler reports from New York on how the super rich have been dealing with the impact of the financial crisis.
Farm Swap - part two
Wed, 24 Jun 09
Duration:
24 minsIn the final part of this series, Mike Gallagher meets a British farmer working vast landholdings in Hungary and Serbia. Does 'going global' in agriculture really offer a better future?
Mubarak's Egypt - part one
Mon, 22 Jun 09
Duration:
24 minsAfter 28 years in power, Mubarak's promise of leading Egypt into stable democracy has dissipated. Magdi Abdelhadi reports.
Dear Birth Mother
Thu, 18 Jun 09
Duration:
24 minsListen to the story of Suzanne, a single woman in her forties who opted for a trans-racial adoption and became the mother of an African-American baby.
Assignment - America's Somali Bantu
Thu, 18 Jun 09
Duration:
23 minsHundreds of thousands of people have fled from Somalia since civil war broke out there in the early 1990s. Many of them go to refugee camps in Kenya, others to Tanzania - and many have spent more than 15 years living in those camps. But one group has been more fortunate than others - the Somali Bantu, whose ancestors were taken to Somalia as slaves from southern Africa in the 19th Century. In 2001 the Somali Bantu were recognised as an especially vulnerable group by the United States and two years later 12,000 of them were airlifted out of the camps and flown to new, permanent homes in the United States. In this week's Assignment Tim Mansel visits one group of them in the western city of Boise in Idaho.
Farm Swap - part one
Wed, 17 Jun 09
Duration:
23 minsIn this series, Mike Gallagher meets two farmers working outside their own countries. In programme one, a young Ecuadorian visits Hawaii. What farming techniques can he take back to Ecuador?
Diabetes: The Silent Killer
Fri, 12 Jun 09
Duration:
24 minsJustin Webb goes beyond his role as a journalist to explore the issue from the perspective of a parent who is desperate to know what the future holds for his child.
My world: Thailand's Dr Death
Fri, 12 Jun 09
Duration:
24 minsThe final programme in the My World series explores the story of Pornthip Rojanasunan, Thailand’s leading forensic scientist who has turned a straightforward autopsy into a battleground for the truth.
The Cricket Revolution - part two
Wed, 10 Jun 09
Duration:
24 minsIn this series, David Goldblatt charts the rise of Twenty20 cricket. In the final programme he asks, can the Twenty20 revolution help to make cricket become a truly global game?
My World: Kades
Mon, 8 Jun 09
Duration:
23 minsA poetic story of survival set against the soundscape of the Mathare slums in Kenya. Meet Kades, a teenage poet who has escaped poverty.
The Economy on the Edge
Mon, 8 Jun 09
Duration:
24 minsMartin Wolf, of the Financial Times, predicted that the global downturn would be much worse than anyone had reason to believe.
Anatomy of a Hijack
Thu, 4 Jun 09
Duration:
23 minsSince the beginning of last year, pirates have succeeded in seizing more than 70 ships off the coast of Somalia. Hundreds of crew members have been held to ransom, and millions of dollars have been paid to the pirates to secure their release. For Assignment Rob Walker has gained exclusive access to the people involved in one of those hijacks – the captain, the ship owner and the mysterious middleman – the pirates negotiator.
The Cricket Revolution - part one
Wed, 3 Jun 09
Duration:
24 minsDavid Goldblatt charts the recent arrival and rise on the sporting scene of Twenty20 cricket. David meets those who run the game, former and current players, and seasoned commentators. Has Twenty20 changed cricket for ever?
Anatomy of a Car Crash
Fri, 29 May 09
Duration:
24 minsTracing the profound physical and emotional toll on all those involved in the wake of a single collision on a road.
My world: A different kind of stroke
Thu, 28 May 09
Duration:
23 minsEvery year, 15 million people will suffer from a stroke, five million of them will die and a further five million will be left permanently disabled. This documentary tells the story of Dr Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist who suffered a massive stroke 13 years ago. Knowing how the brain operates, she was able to observe and understand the deterioration that followed.
The Lost Voices of Tiananmen Square - part two
Tue, 26 May 09
Duration:
23 minsJames Miles, the BBC's China correspondent in 1989, was an eye-witness to the events leading up to the Tiananmen Square protests.
Lincoln and the World
Mon, 25 May 09
Duration:
24 minsAbraham Lincoln's legacy and political influence is more powerful today than it ever was. Allan Little looks at how movements and leaders from very different political perspectives have looked up to Lincoln.
My world: The homecoming
Fri, 22 May 09
Duration:
23 minsFollow the story of Gemma Tracee Apiku, a former refugee who spent her teenage years in the camps of Sudan, as she returns to Africa to become a relief worker herself.
Assignment - The Bad Samaritan
Thu, 21 May 09
Duration:
23 minsUntil the end of last year Bernard Madoff was a highly respected financial guru and long time advisor to America's rich and famous. Then on Thursday the twelfth December 2008 he was exposed as a major crook. His 'Ponzi' scheme is probably the largest ever pyramid fraud in US history. Amongst his victims there were not only individuals and banks but also charities. For Assignment, James Coomarasamy looks at the damage he has done to two charities in particular - The JEHT Foundation and the Picower Foundation.
The Lost Voices of Tiananmen Square - part one
Tue, 19 May 09
Duration:
24 minsJames Miles, the BBC's China correspondent in 1989, was an eye-witness to the events leading up to the Tiananmen Square protests.
Freedom from Slavery in Mauritania
Mon, 18 May 09
Duration:
23 minsMauritania is a country with a tradition of slavery, but in August 2007 owning slaves became a criminal act. David Gutnick visits Mauritania and finds out how entrenched the master/slave relationship still is.
Assignment - Killer Toxic Waste
Thu, 14 May 09
Duration:
23 minsAssignment this week investigates just who was responsible for the toxic dumping in Ivory Coast, and what it was that caused one hundred thousand people to become so ill there.
On the brink - part 2
Wed, 13 May 09
Duration:
24 minsContinuing his award-winning reports for the BBC World Service, Michael Robinson looks at the increasingly desperate efforts to stave off a global economic slump and depression. He visits Europe and Asia to identify the dangers that lie ahead and investigates how the present bail-out packages devised by leaders in rich countries will hit newly emerging nations.
My World - The Infidelity Agency
Tue, 12 May 09
Duration:
24 minsVivek Kumar runs India's number one detective agency and business - investigating marital infidelities - is booming.
West African Journeys - Part Four
Mon, 11 May 09
Duration:
24 minsIn the last of this four part series, Sorious Samura is in a fishing village near Freetown in Sierra Leone.
Friday Documentary: The Library Cart
Fri, 8 May 09
Duration:
24 minsExploring the world of an extraordinary individual. This week, we travel to Colombia to experience a day in the life of Cartagena’s Martin Murrillo – mobile cart librarian and self-taught teacher.
On the brink - part 1
Tue, 5 May 09
Duration:
23 minsContinuing his award-winning reports for the BBC World Service, Michael Robinson looks at the increasingly desperate efforts to stave off a global economic slump and depression. He visits Europe and Asia to identify the dangers that lie ahead and investigates how the present bail-out packages devised by leaders in rich countries will hit newly emerging nations.
West African Journeys - part three
Fri, 1 May 09
Duration:
24 minsAward-winning journalist Sorious Samura heads back to his native West Africa for a trip through his homeland of Sierra Leone and other neighbouring countries. In part three Sorious returns to Liberia to follow the journey of a 26-year old woman called ‘Black Diamond’ as she travels hundreds of miles across Liberia in search of the daughter she calls ‘Beloved’. The child was born after Diamond, then aged 15, was raped by government soldiers. During the rape her parents tried to defend her and were killed. Fuelled by anger, she joined the rebels to become one of Liberia’s most infamous child soldiers. She tells Sorious her version of the war.
Assignment - The Rich in Retreat
Fri, 1 May 09
Duration:
23 minsJust one year ago Wall Street bankers enjoyed widespread regard, even veneration, in American public life, respected as people who understood the world of money and finance. Twelve months on the story is very different with many of those bankers having experienced a meterioric fall from grace. So what's happened to our respect for the financial whizz-kids? And how do they now see the world, now that the world has disowned them? For Assignment, Ed Butler travels to Wall Street to hear their stories.
The Secret Scientists - part three
Wed, 29 Apr 09
Duration:
23 minsProfessor Jim Al-Khalili looks at the legacy of scientists from the Islamic world. In part three of The Secret Scientists, he talks about the work of Abu Rayhan Biruni, who calculated the Earth's circumference with an incredible degree of accuracy. Jim explores how the Christian Crusades, the invasion of the Mongols, the fall of the Abbasid dynasty and the discovery of the New World may have contributed to the decline of great scholarship in the 13th century. Finally he explores the status of science in the modern Muslim world and investigates recent developments in funding and research.
The Secret Scientists - part two
Tue, 21 Apr 09
Duration:
23 minsJim Al-Khalili looks at the scientists from the Islamic world who created a legacy for scientists in the European renaissance.
West African Journeys - Part One
Mon, 20 Apr 09
Duration:
24 minsSorious Samura takes four journeys that explore the challenges and contradictions of life in modern West Africa. In Part One, we hear about Cletus Anaaya and his efforts to stop the widespread killing of so-called 'spirit children' in northern Ghana.
The Secret Scientists
Fri, 17 Apr 09
Duration:
23 minsJim Al-Khalili looks at the scientists from the Islamic world who created a legacy for scientists in the European renaissance.
Keeping the Peace - part two
Fri, 17 Apr 09
Duration:
24 minsAfter one of Africa's most vicious conflicts - a war that claimed the lives of more than 200 thousand people and displaced a million others - can Liberia keep its peace?
Escape from Eritrea: Assignment
Thu, 16 Apr 09
Duration:
24 minsThe Eritrean government is turning its country into a giant prison, according to new report released by Human Rights Watch. For this week's Assignment Pascale Harter travels to Sicily, where thousands of Eritrean refugees arrive every year, to ask why they're fleeing their country.
The Atrocity Archives - part two
Mon, 13 Apr 09
Duration:
32 minsIn Guatemala four years ago, 80 million documents were discovered. They contained evidence of police atrocities during Guatemala's civil war. In programme 2 of this series, Gerry Northam continues his tour of the archives.
Keeping the Peace - part one
Fri, 10 Apr 09
Duration:
24 minsIn 2003 peace was declared between the Liberian government and rebel groups.
Kosovo's Disappeared
Wed, 8 Apr 09
Duration:
23 minsTen years after the war in Kosovo, Michael Montgomery returns to the region for Assignment. He investigates allegations of torture, kidnap and murder by the Kosovo Liberation Army both during and after the war.
The Atrocity Archives - part one
Mon, 6 Apr 09
Duration:
24 minsIn Guatemala four years ago, 80 million documents were discovered in a warehouse. They contain evidence of police atrocities during Guatemala's 36 year long civil war. Gerry Northam investigates the story of the archive’s chance discovery.
Culture Not Colour
Fri, 3 Apr 09
Duration:
22 minsJared Thomas is an Aboriginal Australian. Born of mixed race parents. We follow his search for the nature of identity and see how it relates to a generation of young Aboriginal Australian men.
Assignment - Turkey's Dirty War
Thu, 2 Apr 09
Duration:
23 minsFor twenty five years, Turkey fought a dirty war with Kurdish separatist insurgents. Atrocities were committed on both sides but most of the 40 000 people killed were Kurds. Many thousands of deaths remain unexplained. But now a high profile trial of suspected members of an alleged ultra nationalist gang has led some Kurds to believe there may finally be a chance for justice. Sarah Rainsford reports for Assignment.
Obama's Pentagon
Mon, 30 Mar 09
Duration:
24 minsMark Urban asks if Barack Obama's presidency will see substantial reform at the Pentagon.
Chinua Achebe: A Hero Returns
Wed, 25 Mar 09
Duration:
23 minsRichard Dowden joins the greatest of all African novelists, Chinua Achebe, on his first trip back to his homeland of Nigeria for many years.
Third Agers - Part Four
Mon, 23 Mar 09
Duration:
24 minsWhat is it really like to be old? In this four part series, Jane Little meets Third Agers from four continents to find out. In the final programme Jane hears from people who have dared to think the unthinkable in managing old age.
Third Agers - Part Three
Fri, 20 Mar 09
Duration:
24 minsWhat is it really like to be old? In this four part series, Jane Little meets Third Agers from four continents to find out. In programme three, Jane explores what happens when older people become frail or ill.
Yiddish: A Struggle for Survival - part two
Fri, 20 Mar 09
Duration:
24 minsWhat has become of Yiddish and how much of the language survives today?
Assignment - Falling in Love with the Stasi
Thu, 19 Mar 09
Duration:
23 minsDuring the cold war, more than thirty west German women were prosecuted after been tricked into handing over secrets to Romeo spies sent by the Stasi, the East German secret police. For Assignment, Angus Crawford asks if twenty years after the fall of the Berlin wall, they deserve to be forgiven.
Indonesian Journeys - Bali
Wed, 18 Mar 09
Duration:
24 minsIn the run up to the Indonesian elections in April, Anita Barraud explores how terrorism, tourism and globalisation is affecting Bali's local politics.
Third Agers - Part Three
Mon, 16 Mar 09
Duration:
24 minsWhat is it really like to be old? In this four part series, Jane Little meets Third Agers from four continents to find out. In programme three, Jane explores what happens when older people become frail or ill.
Yiddish: A Struggle for Survival - part one
Fri, 13 Mar 09
Duration:
24 minsYiddish was the language of the Jewish Diaspora, the language of a people on the move across Europe. It has suffered a dramatic decline over the last century.
Indonesian Journeys - West Timor
Tue, 10 Mar 09
Duration:
23 minsIn the run up to elections, Anita Barraud finds out why poverty and starvation are causing major problems for West Timor. Join her as she travels deep into the countryside and discovers malnutrition that rivals parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Third Agers - Part Two
Mon, 9 Mar 09
Duration:
24 minsWhat is it really like to be old? In this four part series, Jane Little meets people from four continents to find out. In part two, she hears from older people facing financial challenges in Kenya, Brazil, the UK and the US.
Assignment - Rating the Credit Ratings Agencies
Thu, 5 Mar 09
Duration:
23 minsWho’s responsible for our current economic meltdown? Financial institutions around the globe are now sitting on mega losses – they hold assets worth a fraction of what they paid for them. But one set of organizations – credit rating agencies - gave these institutions false confidence to buy these assets. So are the Credit Rating Agencies the real villains?
Public Places, Private Lives
Wed, 4 Mar 09
Duration:
24 minsTrafalgar Square is a must-see destination on any tourist map of the UK. But beyond the statues and clicking cameras are the lives and stories of those for whom this space exists as an everyday environment.
Indonesian Journeys - Aceh
Wed, 4 Mar 09
Duration:
23 minsAnita Barraud explores how peace and democracy is working in Aceh, a region that has endured dictatorship, decades of war and the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
Third Agers - Part One
Mon, 2 Mar 09
Duration:
24 minsWhat is it really like to be old? In this four part series, Jane Little meets Third Agers from four continents to find out. In programme one, Jane meets some extraordinary women who’ve given old age a whole new meaning.
Assignment: Kenya Reconciliation
Thu, 26 Feb 09
Duration:
23 minsIt's a year since Kenya's political rivals signed a power-sharing agreement to end the violence which broke out after presidential elections there. In this week's Assignment Pascale Harter travels back to the scene of some of the worst violence to see if the power-sharing government really has reconciled Kenyans.
Indonesian Journeys - Jakarta
Tue, 24 Feb 09
Duration:
23 minsIn the run up to the Indonesian elections in April, Anita Barraud travels to four different regions of the country to take a closer look at its politics and democracy.
Fresh Start - Part Three
Mon, 16 Feb 09
Duration:
24 minsLucy Ash looks at a successful prison reform scheme in Kansas that is turning crack dealers into respectable businessmen. She also visits Italy where a maximum security jail has become Tuscany's most exclusive eatery. Join Lucy on the final stop on her global journey looking at innovative ways to cut crime.
Beatles in the USSR
Fri, 13 Feb 09
Duration:
21 minsAs Beatlemania swept throughout the world in 1964, it seemed unable to penetrate the Iron Curtain. However, an underground culture grew which used ingenious ways to discover the Beatles' music. Paul Gambaccini reveals the extraordinary ways the Beatles' music was listened to in the Soviet Union during the 1960s. Did the music and spirit of The Beatles help to end communism?
Fresh Start - Part Two
Fri, 6 Feb 09
Duration:
24 minsLucy Ash looks at why allowing prisoners to raise puppies has proved to be a successful way of bringing out their caring, and more emotive side. Join her on her global journey as she looks at innovative ways of cutting crime.
The Wildlife Smugglers
Fri, 6 Feb 09
Duration:
22 minsWorldwide, the illegal trade in wildlife is worth up to $25 billion US a year. Australia is one of the countries counting the cost as its rare birds and reptiles are targeted by international criminal gangs. Sharon Mascall tracks this trade across Australia and speaks to investigators, customs officers and dealers, attracting the attention of smugglers along the way.
Assignment - Children for Sale
Thu, 5 Feb 09
Duration:
23 minsNadene Ghouri goes undercover to expose the trade in children by some charities registered in the United States and operating as businesses in Liberia.
Fresh Start - Part One
Fri, 30 Jan 09
Duration:
23 minsAs prison numbers in Britain continue to soar, what can be done to stop criminals re-offending? In part one, Lucy Ash finds out if creativity can help to cut crime.
The Bicycle Diaries - part three
Fri, 30 Jan 09
Duration:
24 minsThis three-part series looks at the impact the bicycle has had on people's lives. In programme three, two newspaper deliverers in New Delhi, India take us on their daily cycle route.
Assignment - A City Divided
Thu, 29 Jan 09
Duration:
24 minsAt the end of last year, violent clashes broke out in Jos in central Nigeria after a disputed local election. Christian and Muslim mobs took to the streets burning mosques, churches and homes. Hundreds were killed: in some of the worst incidents, children were burnt inside their schools. This is just the latest round in a cycle of sectarian violence that has killed at least ten thousand Nigerians over the past decade. Robert Walker travels to Jos, a town still under curfew, to find out what caused the clashes and to investigate why many residents believe more violence is likely.
The Legacy of George W Bush - Part Two
Mon, 26 Jan 09
Duration:
24 minsJustin Webb explores the domestic and international legacies of President George W Bush as he leaves office. In part two, he looks at how President Bush's failures paved the way for Barack Obama.
The Bicycle Diaries - part two
Fri, 23 Jan 09
Duration:
23 minsThis three-part series looks at the impact the bicycle has had on people's lives. Programme two visits Kampala, Uganda where the bicycle is being used as a wheelchair for disabled users.
Human Rights and Wrongs at the UN
Tue, 20 Jan 09
Duration:
24 minsIs the UN's Human Rights Council fulfilling its role to protect the most vulnerable from human rights abuses or a cabal fixated on protecting itself?
The Bicycle Diaries - part one
Fri, 16 Jan 09
Duration:
23 minsThis series features three portraits of the use of the bicycle around the world. The first programme looks at a new bicycle system in Paris, France called the Velib.
The Legacy of George W Bush - Part One
Thu, 15 Jan 09
Duration:
24 minsJustin Webb explores the domestic and international legacies of President George W Bush as he leaves office. In part one, he looks at how 9/11 changed American foreign policy and how the world viewed the US.
Obama: Professor President
Tue, 13 Jan 09
Duration:
24 minsKwame Anthony Appiah is one of America’s leading public intellectuals. In this investigative feature he is on a mission to find out what Barack Obama is like as an intellectual.
The Pardon Game
Thu, 8 Jan 09
Duration:
24 minsA US president has a constitutional and inalienable right to grant pardons. He usually does this just before he leaves office. It is a mysterious and controversial business - notorious past pardons include Jimmy Hoffa, Caspar Weinberger, Ford's pardon of Nixon, Patty Hearst and fugitive billionaire Marc Rich. Listen to Owen Bennett-Jones as travels to Washington to find out what the process involves and who might be getting one from President George W. Bush.
Brand Cuba - part two
Mon, 5 Jan 09
Duration:
24 minsOn 1st January 2009, Cuba marks the 50th anniversary of its revolution. All over the world, this Caribbean nation has cultivated a name-recognition and influence much greater than its size.
The Story of Braille
Fri, 2 Jan 09
Duration:
23 minsPeter White tells the story of Louis Braille, the founder of Braille, and the story behind his invention, in the light of new technology for the blind, which threatens to make it redundant.
The Rules of Risk
Mon, 29 Dec 08
Duration:
24 minsAs leaders in Europe and America struggle to re-write the rules of international finance following the credit crunch, we investigate the roots and role of risk.
Brand Cuba - part one
Mon, 29 Dec 08
Duration:
24 minsIn Brand Cuba, Allan Little analyses some of the factors that have kept Cuba alive in the public imagination over such a long period.
Too Many Santas
Fri, 26 Dec 08
Duration:
24 minsThroughout much of the Christian world Christmas is the time when Santa Claus dominates – a fat jolly chap who is our friend.
Assignment - In Exile
Thu, 25 Dec 08
Duration:
21 minsThere are more than 10 million Palestinians living around the world, more than half of whom are stateless. In this year when Israel has been marking its 60th anniversary many Palestinians have been reflecting on the event that for them meant exile. The 'naqba', or catastrophe, is how they describe the destruction of many of their villages and towns and their own dispersal following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. For Assignment Paul Adams spoke to four Palestinians in exile.
Return to White Horse Village - part three
Tue, 23 Dec 08
Duration:
24 minsWhile China's economy has boomed over the past 30 years, many of its 700 million farmers have been stuck in poverty. Their only hope of a wage has been far from home in the factories and building sites of the boomtowns.
Timeline - part three
Fri, 19 Dec 08
Duration:
24 minsTimeline is the programme where the past sheds light on recent events though use of archive material.
1968: The year that changed the world?
Fri, 19 Dec 08
Duration:
22 minsIn this four part series, using archive recordings and music from the time, Sir John Tusa examines what made 1968 such a climactic year. Programme four focuses on the Prague Spring and the subsequent Russian invasion, but also anti-communist rumblings in Poland and China.
Assignment - A Return to Helmand
Thu, 18 Dec 08
Duration:
23 minsLast year our correspondent Jill McGivering reported from Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan on the constant violence and the struggle to bring development to the region. Now she's returned, one year on, to see if there's been any progress.
Return to White Horse Village - part two
Wed, 17 Dec 08
Duration:
24 minsWhile China's economy has boomed over the past 30 years, many of its 700 million farmers have been stuck in poverty.
1968: The year that changed the world?
Fri, 12 Dec 08
Duration:
24 minsIn this four part series, using archive recordings and music from the time, Sir John Tusa examines what made 1968 such a climactic year. Programme three looks at how race and nationalism finally came to a head in 1968.
Timeline - part two
Fri, 12 Dec 08
Duration:
24 minsIn this topical and lively series, contemporary stories and events are explored through the examination of archive material of events that have gone before.
Assignment - Bolivia on the Brink
Wed, 10 Dec 08
Duration:
23 minsAnd now Assignment asks whether Bolivia is on the brink of civil war. In the run-up to next month’s crucial vote on a new constitution, Daniel Schweimler reports from the wealthy and white-dominated city of Santa Cruz, where the dispute over the policies of the country’s indigenous President Evo Morales are spilling over into racial violence.
Return to White Horse Village - part one
Wed, 10 Dec 08
Duration:
24 minsOver the past two-and-a-half years, former BBC Beijing correspondent Carrie Gracie has been witnessing the upheaval as White Horse village in rural China is turned into a city. In this series Carrie returns to find out how the residents feel about the changes. In the programme one, Carrie meets a young mother impatient for a new city life to find a way out of poverty for her children.
1968: The year that changed the world?
Fri, 5 Dec 08
Duration:
22 minsIn this four part series, using archive recordings and music from the time, Sir John Tusa examines what made 1968 such a climactic year. Programme two captures the student unrest around the world.
Assignment - Aids and the Caribbean
Thu, 4 Dec 08
Duration:
23 minsFive years after doing a series of reports on HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean, Emma Joseph retraces her steps for Assignment to find out whether the region still has one of the highest infection rates in the world, and to meet some of the people she first encountered in 2003.
Timeline - part one
Wed, 3 Dec 08
Duration:
24 minsIn this topical and lively series, contemporary stories and events are explored through the examination of archive material of events that have gone before.
The Priest of Pará
Wed, 3 Dec 08
Duration:
24 minsFather Henri Des Roziers is a Dominican priest and human rights lawyer working in Pará, one of Brazil's most violent regions. Nick Maes is given a privileged insight into the life of this man, his faith and the cause he would give his life for.
1968: The year that changed the world?
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Duration:
22 minsIn this four part series, using archive recordings and music from the time, Sir John Tusa examines what made 1968 such a climactic year. Starting with the Vietnam War and the assasination of Bobby Kennedy, this series reflects on why 1968 was significant in world history.
Street Art - Part Two
Fri, 28 Nov 08
Duration:
24 minsThis series looks at the growth of street art. Programme two focuses on Sao Paulo, Brazil through the eyes of a street artist, Nunca. Can Nunca transfer his counter-cultural message to the Tate Modern gallery in London?
Tired of Terror Part Two
Tue, 25 Nov 08
Duration:
24 minsRupa Jha explores what ex-militants in Kashmir and their families expect from the future.
Street Art - Part One
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Duration:
24 minsThis series looks at street art in two very different cities: New York and Sao Paulo. Each episode profiles a rising artist, and speaks to people on the street to discover how attitudes to graffiti and street art vary from city to city. Episode 1 looks at New York through the eyes of Elbow-Toe.
Dead by Christmas
Thu, 20 Nov 08
Duration:
23 minsThe Neapolitan crime syndicate, the Camorra, has said it wants a young writer dead by Christmas, because he has exposed how they really do business. Increasingly it's brave individuals - not the Italian state - who are taking on the Camorra, by breaking the code of silence and stripping away the glamour that surrounds organised crime in Italy. For Assignment, Pascale Harter travels to southern Italy to talk to the people caught up in the deadly battle against the Camorra.
Giving up the gun in Kashmir
Tue, 18 Nov 08
Duration:
24 minsRupa Jha talks to former militants in Kashmir and their families about why they took up arms and the reasons behind giving up violence. What are the challenges of returning to normal society?
The world without...copper
Fri, 14 Nov 08
Duration:
23 minsYou might think that copper is just another metal, but in fact it is a vital substance. Discover why, without this metal, even the evolution of life itself would be radically different.
Toxic Trailers - Assignment
Thu, 13 Nov 08
Duration:
24 minsHundreds of thousands of people were made homeless when Hurricane Katrina devastated parts of the southern coast of the United States in 2005. Many survivors were rehoused by the federal government in travel trailers which they claim made them sick. For Assignment, Rob Walker travels to Mississippi to hear their story.
Hard lessons from Afghanistan - Part Two
Wed, 12 Nov 08
Duration:
24 minsFormer Kabul correspondent Alan Johnston reflects on decades of turmoil in Afghanistan, from the Soviet invasion in 1979 to the intervention by the West.
Animal Migration in a Climate of Change - Part Four
Mon, 10 Nov 08
Duration:
27 minsAnimal Migration in a Climate of Change is a special four-part series that explores the way environmental change is affecting the natural movement of animals all around the world. In Part Four, In A Wild Goose Chase, the focus is on wild geese.
Animal Migration in a Climate of Change - Part Three
Mon, 10 Nov 08
Duration:
28 minsAnimal Migration in a Climate of Change is a special four-part series that explores the way environmental change is affecting the natural movement of animals all around the world. In Part Three, The Elephant's Journey, Brett Westwood looks at African elephant migration.
Animal Migration in a Climate of Change - Part Two
Mon, 10 Nov 08
Duration:
27 minsAnimal Migration in a Climate of Change is a special four-part series that explores the way environmental change is affecting the natural movement of animals all around the world. In Part Two, Silent Landscapes, focuses on how environmental change is affecting some popular bird species.
The world without...cows
Fri, 7 Nov 08
Duration:
24 minsDiscover just how important cows have been civilisation, all around the world.
Hard Lessons from Afghanistan - Part One
Wed, 5 Nov 08
Duration:
24 minsFormer Kabul correspondent Alan Johnston reflects on decades of turmoil in Afghanistan, from the Soviet invasion in 1979 to the intervention by the West.
Animal Migration in a Climate of Change
Tue, 4 Nov 08
Duration:
27 minsAnimal Migration in a Climate of Change is a special four-part series that explores the way environmental change is affecting the natural movement of animals all around the world. In Part One, The Mexican Wave, the focus is on sustaining the Orange Monarch butterfly.
The PR battle for the Caucasus
Mon, 3 Nov 08
Duration:
24 minsThe South Ossetian conflict not only sparked a military war between Russia and Georgia, but a propaganda battle. James Rodgers examines this ongoing media war between Georgia and Russia - featuring archive clips of key events and interviews.
Rat Attack
Fri, 31 Oct 08
Duration:
25 minsNeil McCarthy pieces together a story of rats, famine and insurrection from the 1950's to present day, in remote hills of North East India.
The Lost Veterans
Wed, 29 Oct 08
Duration:
24 minsAndrew Purcell investigates the growing homelessness crisis among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in the United States. The programme looks at how these 'lost veterans' struggle to reintegrate into civilian society, and how they feel abandoned by the US military.
America’s First Principles
Mon, 27 Oct 08
Duration:
24 minsAllan Little presents an appraisal of the man described as America's Apostle of Freedom: Thomas Jefferson, author of the founding document of the American Republic.
Failure or Fraud
Fri, 24 Oct 08
Duration:
22 minsAs the global banking crisis deepens, a flood of multi-million dollar lawsuits is beginning to shed light into some of the darkest corners of international finance. The BBC's Michael Robinson investigates these cases and what they reveal about the present disaster.
Is al-Qaeda winning? Part Four
Mon, 20 Oct 08
Duration:
24 minsThe Saudi Interior Ministry and the US Military in Iraq have offered al - Qaeda sympathisers and detainees therapy and job training. Owen Bennett-Jones asks if this can really prevent someone from supporting al-Qaeda.
Out of the Ghetto
Fri, 17 Oct 08
Duration:
24 minsThis special documentary exploring life in Chicago's inner city is based on Ghetto Life 101, an acclaimed 1993 documentary featuring LeAlan Jones and LLoyd Newman, two teenagers who brought US radio listeners face to face with life in of one of Chicago's worst housing projects. Jones has revisited the area to see how it has changed.
The View from Kashmir - Assignment
Thu, 16 Oct 08
Duration:
23 minsA series of protests against Indian rule in Kashmir has left more than 30 people dead since August. Thousands of people have died in the violence there since 1989. For Assignment George Arney travels to Kashmir to speak to young people caught up in the protests and discovers that for the first time the Muslim separatist struggle is embracing non-violence.
Is al-Qaeda Winning? Part Three
Fri, 10 Oct 08
Duration:
24 minsOwen Bennett-Jones tests the big promises governments have made about the financial war on terror.
The Italian Patient
Fri, 10 Oct 08
Duration:
23 minsWhat is the state of health of the Italian nation today? Is Italy in crisis or undergoing a new Renaissance? Italian journalist Annalisa Piras returns home to find out.
In the Shadow of the Cartel : Assignment
Thu, 9 Oct 08
Duration:
23 minsIn Mexico, the government has deployed thousands of troops in an attempt to break up the powerful drug cartels operating in the country. Emilio San Pedro travels to the border city of Tijuana and profiles a community under pressure from one of Mexico's most violent gangs.
Children of the Revolution - Part two
Wed, 8 Oct 08
Duration:
24 minsIn Iran, the constant drugs crisis and loss of skilled workers contrast with a lively internet scene which harbours poets, political dissidents and religious leaders.
Is al Qaeda Winning? - part two
Fri, 3 Oct 08
Duration:
23 minsOwen Bennett-Jones looks at al Qaeda's hard power and military capabilities in its chosen key battlegrounds: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
Tales from the Commonwealth - Part Four
Thu, 2 Oct 08
Duration:
25 minsThe Maldives, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius are all popular tourist destinations. Robin White tells the stories behind the tourist facades, visiting Mauritius for part four of this series.
Africa's Guantanamo - Assignment
Thu, 2 Oct 08
Duration:
24 minsIn Assignment, Robert Walker travels to East Africa to investigate a secret detention programme - involving the transfer of suspected terrorists across three countries: Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.
Children of the revolution - Part one
Wed, 1 Oct 08
Duration:
25 minsThis series explores what life offers to Iran's burgeoning young population who are trapped by conservatism and an ailing economy. In the first programme, we hear how the war with Iraq acted as a continuation of the Revolution.
Is al Qaeda Winning? Part one
Mon, 29 Sep 08
Duration:
23 minsSeven years into the global war on terror, is al-Qaeda winning? It's a deceptively simple question, one Owen Bennett-Jones asked in Riyadh, Peshawar and Baghdad, as well as London, Brussels and Washington for this series in four parts.
Tales from the Commonwealth - Part Three
Thu, 25 Sep 08
Duration:
25 minsThe Maldives, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius are all popular tourist destinations. Robin White tells the stories behind the tourist facades, visiting the Seychelles for part three of this series.
Pakistan's Tribal areas
Thu, 25 Sep 08
Duration:
23 minsPakistan's government is locked in an intense battle with Islamist militants for control of areas on its northern border with Afghanistan. For Assignment Owen Bennett-Jones visits the Khyber pass - the main supply route for the American and other western forces based in Afghanistan - and discovers that the insurgency has made it vulnerable.
My Senator, My Vote - Part Two
Wed, 24 Sep 08
Duration:
24 minsRobin Lustig travels to Phoenix, Arizona, the home of Senator John McCain, to ask two ordinary voters about their most pressing concerns in the forthcoming US presidential election.
Looted Art
Mon, 22 Sep 08
Duration:
24 minsA tale of a tiny painting, set against a large canvas of war, politics and looted art in Charle's Wheeler quest to solve a 50-year mystery.
Tales from the Commonwealth - Part Two
Thu, 18 Sep 08
Duration:
25 minsThe Maldives, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius are all popular tourist destinations. Robin White tells the stories behind the tourist facades, visiting Sri Lanka for part two of this series.
The Afghan Arms Bazaar Assignment
Thu, 18 Sep 08
Duration:
23 minsAs the insurgency in Afghanistan grows, Kate Clark travels undercover to investigate who's arming the Taleban. Meeting commanders and arms dealers, she finds the Taleban are getting their weapons from some suprising sources.
My Senator, My Vote: Part One
Wed, 17 Sep 08
Duration:
25 minsWe know the two US presidential candidates and what they would do in office, but what does the electorate itself want? Robin Lustig travels to the candidates' home states to meet four Americans to find out what issues have determined their choices.
The Desert Capitalists - Part Two
Mon, 15 Sep 08
Duration:
24 minsHow are the Marwari traders managing as India goes global? Can a business culture based on traditional values survive as India's economy changes?
Tales from the Commonwealth - Part One
Thu, 11 Sep 08
Duration:
24 minsThe Maldives, Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Mauritius are all popular tourist destinations. Robin White tells the stories behind the tourist facades, visiting the Maldives for part one of this series.
The Desert Capitalists - Part One
Mon, 8 Sep 08
Duration:
24 minsMukhul Devichand finds out how the Marwari trading caste from India's western deserts has become a major global economic and political force.
The 66 Club
Thu, 4 Sep 08
Duration:
24 minsRuth Evans tells the extraordinary story of 11 women brought together on the internet by one man's sperm.
Feeding Haiti: Assignment
Thu, 4 Sep 08
Duration:
23 minsHaiti, one of the very poorest countries in the world, has been hit hard by soaring food prices. Earlier this year riots led to the sacking of the prime minister. In Assignment, Orin Gordon looks at the ongoing struggle for Haitians to feed themselves.
The Presidential Contenders - Part Two
Mon, 1 Sep 08
Duration:
23 minsJohn McCain: a profile of the man who talks of honour and patriotic duty and admits having a legendary short fuse.
What Lies Beneath - Part two
Fri, 29 Aug 08
Duration:
23 minsWin Scutt finds out how the maritime treasure hunting industry has boomed in recent years.
Spain's Civil War - Breaking the Silence
Thu, 28 Aug 08
Duration:
23 minsFollowing recent legislation in Spain the government has agreed to offer support to families wishing to find the remains of their loved ones killed during the country's brutal civil war of the 1930s. For Assignment, Mike Williams travels to Spain to visit an exhumation of bodies and asks if the government's attempt to end the political silence of that period is working.
Al-Qaeda's Internal Debate
Tue, 26 Aug 08
Duration:
24 minsBBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner talks to former allies of Osama bin Laden who are now engaged in countering the terrorist leader's agenda.
The Presidential Contenders
Mon, 25 Aug 08
Duration:
22 minsBarack Obama:the profile of one of the two individuals who are the presumptive nominees in the US presidential election.
What Lies Beneath - Part One
Thu, 21 Aug 08
Duration:
26 minsInternational seas are largely unregulated, meaning most underwater archaeological wealth can be retrieved and sold without any obstacle. Can a new UNESCO convention bring some order?
A young life of crime: Assignment
Thu, 21 Aug 08
Duration:
23 minsThe experience of growing up in a socially deprived, inner city neighbourhood is a common one, no matter where you may live in the world. In Britain's main cities, police and politicians say a worrying trend has developed where some young people are now carrying and using both knives and guns at an ever younger age. The BBC's Nina Robinson takes a day out of the life of two youngsters in the English city of Birmingham to find out a little more about what it is that shapes their lives.
Why they're dying in the Congo - Part Two
Wed, 20 Aug 08
Duration:
24 minsBBC World Affairs correspondent Mark Doyle continues travelling from the west to the east of the DR Congo on a journey to find out why so many people have died and continue to die in that country.
Rehearsing for War
Mon, 18 Aug 08
Duration:
24 minsThe extraordinary US military base at the heart of a vast shift in American military strategy, aiming for nation-building and peacekeeping.
Your Right to Know - Part 2
Thu, 14 Aug 08
Duration:
23 minsWhat do Freedom of Information laws actually achieve? Are they sometimes more symbolic than practical in their impact?
Secrets in the Family - Assignment
Thu, 14 Aug 08
Duration:
23 minsDuring Argentina's Dirty War of the seventies and eighties thousands of leftists and dissidents vanished after being abducted by the security forces. Many of the women detained gave birth in detention centres before being killed and their babies were given to military families to bring up. Now, as Daniel Schweimler reports for Assignment, those babies have come of age in Argentina and some are trying to seek justice for what happened to them.
Why they're dying in the Congo - Part One
Wed, 13 Aug 08
Duration:
24 minsBBC World Affairs Correspondent Mark Doyle explores why over five million people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the past decade.
The Billion Dollar Election: Part 2 - Ambassadors
Fri, 8 Aug 08
Duration:
23 minsPrestigious job. Exotic location. Stately home, fine food and wine, and many other perks thrown in. Yours for only $200,000. The position a US ambassadorship. Around a third of all US ambassadors are not career diplomats; they're political appointees and almost all of them are major donors, wealthy businessmen. Is this really the way for the US to run its foreign policy?
The Right to Know - Part 1
Thu, 7 Aug 08
Duration:
24 minsFreedom of information is well on the way to being seen as an essential prerequisite for a modern democracy. But there's almost always a backlash from politicians and officials.
Soft Jihad: Assignment
Thu, 7 Aug 08
Duration:
23 minsIn the United States a small but increasingly vocal group of people believe that members of the country's Muslim community are working from within to turn America into an Islamic state. This group of right wing thinkers believe this so-called 'Soft Jihad' is being carried out in schools, universities and other institutions across the country and they want to put a stop to it. In Assignment, Pascale Harter travels to America to find out how this fear is finding a foothold in public opinion there and hears from some of those accused of being the 'soft jihadists'.
The Trouble with Money - Part Two
Wed, 6 Aug 08
Duration:
23 minsWill there be a return to the dreaded days of "stagflation" with weak growth and rising inflation. Can economic policymakers find a way to deal with this double danger? Or is further pain inevitable?
The Billion Dollar Election - Part One - 527s
Fri, 1 Aug 08
Duration:
24 minsThe United States is due to have the first billion-dollar election in its history. The BBC's Steve Evans presents this two-part investigation into election spending done in collaboration with the Centre for Public Integrity in Washington DC.
South Africa's Promised Land: Assignment
Thu, 31 Jul 08
Duration:
23 minsAfter the ending of apartheid in South Africa, the transfer of land from white to black was a key ANC promise - a proud calling card to correct the injustices of apartheid. But many critics argue that the reform programme has gone badly wrong. For Assignment Rosie Goldsmith reports on the struggle for South Africa's promised land, which is driving a political, economic and racist wedge down the middle of an already tense country.
The Trouble with Money - Part 1
Tue, 29 Jul 08
Duration:
24 minsWith the world's economy now threatened by what some believe is the most dangerous crisis since the depression of the 1930s, Michael Robinson looks at the deepening international financial turmoil.
Secrets in the Blood - Part Two
Fri, 25 Jul 08
Duration:
23 minsIn this two-part investigation, Matt McGrath sets out to expose corruption, drug use and cover-ups at the highest levels in sport.
Trouble in the Townships: Assignment
Wed, 23 Jul 08
Duration:
23 minsIn May violence against African immigrants exploded across South Africa. Two months on thousands are still displaced, living in camps and shelters. Robert Walker travels to one of the townships in Johannesburg where the attacks started and asks whether the violence could happen again.
Building Better Health - Part Two
Wed, 23 Jul 08
Duration:
24 minsJill McGivering explores whether China is doing enough to provide healthcare to 1.3 billion people and what it can learn from the struggles of the developed world.
Beijing Calling - Part One
Fri, 18 Jul 08
Duration:
24 minsRussell Fuller follows the difficult journeys of six hopefuls from around the world in the run up to the Beijing Olympics.
Secrets in the Blood - Part One
Fri, 18 Jul 08
Duration:
24 minsIn this two-part investigation, Matt McGrath sets out to expose corruption, drug use and cover-ups at the highest levels in sport.
Football's Conmen - Assignment
Thu, 17 Jul 08
Duration:
22 minsAn undercover BBC investigation has exposed how young African footballers are being defrauded by conmen posing as talent scouts from English Premiership clubs. Victims are duped into parting with thousands of pounds in the false belief that they are paying an official fee for a trial to play with their favourite teams. Gavin Lee reports from Nigeria for Assignment.
Building Better Health
Tue, 15 Jul 08
Duration:
24 minsPart One: Jill McGivering compares two very different free health systems in the developed world: the British NHS and that of the US state of Massachusetts.
Policing the Poppy Fields - Part Two
Fri, 11 Jul 08
Duration:
24 minsIn the second part of this series, Kate Clark reports from those provinces where an opium ban is in force, but farmers are feeling the pressure.
The World's Shifting Balance
Thu, 10 Jul 08
Duration:
24 minsThe dynamics of the old world and the new world are changing and the balance of economic systems is shifting. Martin Wolf of the Financial Times asks leading economists how important is the American financial cycle to the rest of the world now?
Congo's Contract of the Century
Thu, 10 Jul 08
Duration:
23 minsIn a multi billion dollar deal China has promised to rebuild DR Congo's crumbling infrastructure in exchange for a valuable slice of Congo's vast mineral wealth. What's being called the Contract of the Century was negotiated in secret and has left some people in the country wondering who stands to benefit most from the deal - for Assignment Tim Whewell travels to the DR Congo to find out.
Countdown to the Olympics: Part Two
Wed, 9 Jul 08
Duration:
24 minsChina says hosting the Olympics has accelerated national reforms, technological advances and greater freedoms overall but Gerry Northam investigates claims that life has gotten worse for China's poor.
Policing the Poppy Fields - Part One
Mon, 7 Jul 08
Duration:
24 minsKate Clark gains rare access to the fight against the Afghan opium trade and asks how effective attempts to control it have been.
Health for All
Fri, 4 Jul 08
Duration:
24 minsCampaigners for improving maternal health have been lobbying the G8 to get the topic on the agenda for the next meeting in Japan. In programme two of the series Health for All, Uduak Amimo asks is there enough political will to combat maternal mortality?
Countdown to the Olympics: Part One
Wed, 2 Jul 08
Duration:
24 minsAs the world counts down to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Gerry Northam investigates China's claims of 'vigorous growth in the public practice of religion' but he discovers people are still being persecuted and oppressed for practising religion.
Race and Reconciliation - Part Three
Fri, 27 Jun 08
Duration:
24 minsIn the third part of this series, Audrey Brown travels to Atteridgeville, a township outside the capital, Pretoria, to explore what really lay behind the recent attacks by South Africans on foreigners.
Health for All
Fri, 27 Jun 08
Duration:
24 minsIs health for all a fact or just fiction? Helen Sharp asks if the world has the will, people and money to deliver basic good health to everyone.
Burma - Reporting the Cyclone: Assignment
Thu, 26 Jun 08
Duration:
27 minsThis week's Assignment tells the story of the Burmese cyclone through the eyes and ears of the few BBC journalists who managed to get into the country after the disaster. Hear the story of the cyclone unfold told by those who witnessed it first hand. That's Reporting The Cyclone, from Assignment this week.
Age of Terror - part 4
Wed, 25 Jun 08
Duration:
24 minsIn 1998, a truck bomb exploded outside the American embassy in Nairobi. Over 200 people died and thousands were injured. It features an extraordinary interview with the FBI agent who tracked down and questioned a suspected al-Qaeda bomber. It was Osama Bin Laden's first major strike in his jihad against America.
Race and Reconciliation - Part Two
Mon, 23 Jun 08
Duration:
24 minsIn the second part of this series, Audrey Brown travels to South Africa to explore how privilege and access to resources is increasingly being seen as an issue of colour.
Feeding the Spirit of New Orleans
Fri, 20 Jun 08
Duration:
24 minsSheila Dillon reports on the work of restaurateurs, farmers, fishermen and activists to restore the culinary heritage of a devastated city.
The Baseball Factory
Thu, 19 Jun 08
Duration:
23 minsBaseball may be the United States' national sport - but this year, 2008, almost half of all its professional players come from overseas - and some 40 per cent of them from the Dominican Republic, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti. For Assignment David Goldblatt visits Haiti to report on what has become a significant export industry for this country of nine million people.
Age of Terror - Part 3
Wed, 18 Jun 08
Duration:
24 minsIn the third part of this series, Peter Taylor investigates The Paris Plot, the hijacking of a plane in Algiers on its way to Paris; a plan to use a plane as a weapon of mass destruction.
Race and Reconciliation - Part One
Fri, 13 Jun 08
Duration:
24 minsFourteen years after liberation and 60 years since the beginning of what was then 'apartheid', Audrey Brown explores and uncovers the extent to which race still plays a part in everyday life for those living in South Africa.
Bomb Hunters
Thu, 12 Jun 08
Duration:
24 minsMore than 30 years after the end of the Vietnam War, Bomb Hunters, tells the stories of the people living in Xieng Khuang in Laos and how they survive in a land still littered with unexploded ordnance.
Rome's New Wolf - Assignment
Thu, 12 Jun 08
Duration:
23 minsThe new mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno was once a so-called neo-fascist - a supporter of anti-democratic, right wing radicalism. And his election has come at a time of mounting ethnic tension in Italy. As Christian Fraser now discovers in Assignment, there are fears that Rome could be about to suffer the return of hard right, authoritarian rule.
Age of Terror - part 2
Wed, 11 Jun 08
Duration:
24 minsIn the second part of this series, Peter Taylor investigates how two events in 1987 contributed to the beginnings of the road to peace in Northern Ireland.
Leila's Story
Fri, 6 Jun 08
Duration:
24 minsThe powerful story of a young Iranian woman called Leila, sold into prostitution at the age of nine by her own family and sentenced to hang aged 18.
Argentina – Dancing To The Music Of The Mind
Thu, 5 Jun 08
Duration:
24 minsArgentinian film director, writer and tango enthusiast, Edgardo Cozarinsky, talks to artists, dancers, novelists and other Argentinians about why psychotherapy and tango have such a pervasive hold on the Argentine mind and soul.
Auroville - Assignment
Thu, 5 Jun 08
Duration:
23 minsThe town of Auroville in southern India was built in 1968 on the basis of a utopian ideal - that a community could live in peace and harmony without having to worry about food and shelter. But forty years on there are unsettling allegations of abuse emerging from the City of Dawn. For Assignment Rachel Wright visits Auroville and tells the disturbing story of a dream gone wrong.
Age of Terror Part 1
Wed, 4 Jun 08
Duration:
24 minsIn the first part of this series, Peter Taylor reveals how events unfolded in the 1976 hijacking of an Air France plane on a flight from Tel Aviv to Paris which ends with a bid to rescue hostages from Idi Amin's Uganda
Taxi to the Dark Side
Fri, 30 May 08
Duration:
24 minsIn Taxi To The Dark Side, American film-maker Alex Gibney reports on the use of torture by American soldiers in Afghanistan. Was the torture the work of a few rogue soldiers, or officially approved by the Pentagon?
Kidnapped - part two
Fri, 30 May 08
Duration:
24 minsDr Thomas Hargrove, an American scientist kidnapped by FARC, is reunited with the family's German neighbour, who was part of 'Team Tom' which organized the negotiations.
Assignment
Thu, 29 May 08
Duration:
24 minsLucy Ash finds out if new trade deals and diplomatic dialogue with Libya can encourage them to abandon torture and oppression for political reform and human rights improvements.
Assignment 22 May 08
Thu, 29 May 08
Duration:
23 minsThe Commodities Bubble: Michael Robinson investigates and reveals how the commodities markets are attracting major players now looking for somewhere to invest other than the dollar, banking or shares and how this has affected the price of food products around the world.
What Next For Kenya? - Part Two
Tue, 27 May 08
Duration:
24 minsIn this two-part series, former BBC East Africa Correspondent Mike Wooldridge travels from the bustling capital, Nairobi, to the Rift Valley to report on the issues behind the conflict that erupted in Kenya at the turn of the year.
Failure at the Central Bank
Fri, 23 May 08
Duration:
24 minsFor the last six decades, central bankers have run the international financial system with the aid of a powerful set of economic levers handed to them after the World War 2. Last year, these levers came off in their hands. In this two-part series Robert Peston examines how the former supermen of global financial economy became pathetic weaklings.
Kidnapped: Part One
Fri, 23 May 08
Duration:
24 minsPresenter Ritula Shah reunites former hostage Norman Kember - kidnapped in Iraq - with the people who were personally involved in negotiations to free him, and who put their lives on hold to get him back.
What Next For Kenya? - Part One
Tue, 20 May 08
Duration:
24 minsIn this two-part series, former BBC East Africa Correspondent Mike Wooldridge travels from the bustling capital, Nairobi, to the Rift Valley to report on the issues behind the conflict that erupted in Kenya at the turn of the year.
How Crime Took on the World
Fri, 16 May 08
Duration:
24 minsCyber-crime is the fastest-growing sector of global-organised crime, worth about US$100 billion a year. Misha Glenny travels to Sao Paulo to find out why Brazil is the cyber-crime capital of the world.
Escape from Time
Thu, 15 May 08
Duration:
25 minsWho wouldn't like to escape the relentless march of time? Find out about the routes from those who attempt to escape the tyranny of time.
Assignment - Beyond Mark Weil
Thu, 15 May 08
Duration:
23 minsLast September, Mark Weil, the radical theatre director of the Ilkhom theatre in Uzbekistan, was stabbed to death while returning home from a rehearsal. As the regime in Tashkent hardened it's line Mark Weil continued to challenge the authorities with his work. For Assignment Natalya Antelava asks whether this radical endeavour can survive without its director in an environment that is becoming more and more repressive.
Living With Chico Mendes
Tue, 13 May 08
Duration:
23 minsTo mark the 20th anniversary of his assassination, Nick Maes looks at the life of Chico Mendes, the highly significant green activist who helped to galvanise the race to preserve the Amazon. Nick investigates what Chico Mendes achieved and gains exclusive access to his family.
How Crime Took on the World: Part Three
Mon, 12 May 08
Duration:
24 minsIn the third part of this series on international crime, Misha Glenny is in South Africa where since the end of Apartheid, personal security has become almost a national obsession; the number of private security firms has mushroomed.
Where the Buffalo Roam
Fri, 9 May 08
Duration:
24 minsHow have non-native creatures - from birds to bovines, reptiles to rhesus monkeys - become unlikely, but permanent, residents of Hong Kong?
Philosophy in the Streets
Tue, 6 May 08
Duration:
29 minsNick Fraser looks at the intellectual revolution that spread from Paris throughout the world, particularly to America and then to Britain, in 1968.
How crime took on the world: Part two
Mon, 5 May 08
Duration:
24 minsIn the second of this series which charts the explosion of international organised crime, Misha Glenny goes to the Balkans to follow the trail of smuggled cigarettes.
Escape to New Zealand
Fri, 2 May 08
Duration:
23 minsEnvironmental refugees seek a home somewhere in the planet where the predicted global changes can, perhaps, be weathered.
Assignment: Football in the Holy City
Thu, 1 May 08
Duration:
23 minsIn this week's Assignment David Goldblatt travels to Israel to meet the fans of Beitar Jerusalem football club. As you'll hear in this programme the fans pride themselves on their extreme nationalist views and anti-arab chanting at matches. Beitar fans boast that an Arab never has and never will play for the club. Now under the ownership of flamboyant Russian Billionaire Arkadi Gaydamak Beitar is top of the Israeli league, but the behaviour of its hard-core fans continues to cause trouble. Since this programme was recorded, Beitar fans have been punished for a pitch invasion, and are now banned from their own stadium for the rest of the season. Beitar remain top of the Israeli league.
The My Lai Tapes - Part Two
Tue, 29 Apr 08
Duration:
24 minsForty years ago, 504 unarmed Vietnamese civilians were killed by US soldiers. It became known as ‘The My Lai Massacre' and was covered up by the army for almost a year. In the second part of ‘The My Lai Tapes’, presented by Robert Hodierne, you can hear for the first time, the taped recordings of the US Army’s internal inquiry into the massacre.
How Crime Took on the World: Part One
Mon, 28 Apr 08
Duration:
24 minsAs part of his investigation into global crime, Misha Glenny is in Canada, where the wholesale production of marijuana is posing a challenge to the US-led 'War on Drugs'.
Policing the UN
Mon, 28 Apr 08
Duration:
27 minsThe BBC's Africa editor Martin Plaut sets out to examine serious new allegations of corruption and wrongdoing within the United Nations' peacekeeping operations.
The Convict Streak
Thu, 24 Apr 08
Duration:
25 minsThe resourcefulness and resilience of prisioners fighting for freedom that make Australians today proudly boast of their own inherited 'convict streak'
Assignment - Granny Dumping
Thu, 24 Apr 08
Duration:
23 minsAbandonment, abuse and neglect of the elderly by their own children and grandchildren is at record levels in India. In a society where reverence and respect towards senior citizens has been a source of pride, Tinku Ray reports for Assignment on why things have changed in India.
The My Lai Tapes - Part One
Tue, 22 Apr 08
Duration:
22 minsForty years ago in the village of My Lai in South Vietnam, a massacre took place. The victims were innocent Vietnamese civilians – 504 mainly women, old men, children and babies. They were murdered, and in many cases, raped by US soldiers. This episode of the Vietnam War became known as 'The My Lai Massacre' and proved to be a turning point in the war. In the My Lai Tapes Robert Hodierne tells the story of what happened that day in interviews with the victims and the perpetraotors.
Strangers in Marseilles
Mon, 21 Apr 08
Duration:
23 minsLaurie Taylor explores Marseille's unique racial geography to find out what kept the peace during 2005 and 2007 when race riots tore at the fabric of French society.
Harare Festival
Fri, 18 Apr 08
Duration:
22 minsManuel Bagorro, the director of the Harare International Festival of the Arts, describes his efforts to bring a cultural highlight in the midst of the election chaos in Zimbabwe.
Assignment: Inside Somalia's Insurgency
Thu, 17 Apr 08
Duration:
23 minsThe last few weeks have seen an increase in violence in Somalia. Insurgents have stepped up attacks on the Ethiopian army and on the Somali transitional government it's backing. Ethiopia sent it's troops into Somalia at the end of 2006, to remove an Islamist movement - the Islamic Courts - from the capital. But now Ethiopia is bogged down and anger at its presence has boosted supported for the insurgents. In Assignment, Rob Walker goes in search of a radical Islamist movement which is playing an increasingly deadly role in the conflict.
Elegy for the Tech
Wed, 16 Apr 08
Duration:
23 minsAward winning poet Fred D’Aguiar is head of creative writing at Virginia Tech, the scene of a mass shooting of students and staff one year ago. He lost a student in the tragedy and had, in the past taught the shooter. In this documentary Fred reflects on the events of that day and the poetry both he and his students have written since.
A Dollar a Day - China
Fri, 11 Apr 08
Duration:
23 minsChina is on track to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of halving Dollar-a-day poverty. But what uncertainties lie ahead now the Iron Bowl has been smashed? Mike Wooldrige reports.
Call me Nana
Fri, 11 Apr 08
Duration:
23 minsMore than 65,000 grandparents in Canada are raising their grandchildren on their own, turning their lives upside down to raise a child for a second time.
The Message from China
Wed, 9 Apr 08
Duration:
22 minsDr Anne-Marie Brady from the University of Canterbury in New Zealand investigates how the Chinese Communist Party has adapted its propaganda methods to suit the 21st century.
Simpson Returns to China - part 2
Mon, 7 Apr 08
Duration:
23 minsJohn Simpson meets the ladies cracking down on spitting in Beijing before the Olympics and chats to the lady everyone's calling China's Oprah Winfrey on the set of the hit TV show Win in China
Simpson Returns to China - part 2
Mon, 7 Apr 08
Duration:
23 minsJohn Simpson meets the ladies cracking down on spitting in Beijing before the Olympics and chats to the lady everyone's calling China's Oprah Winfrey on the set of the hit TV show Win in China
The Grass is Greener
Fri, 4 Apr 08
Duration:
23 minsWhy do Ghanaians dream of living a better life abroad? What must change in Ghana for more Ghanaians to want to stay?
Assignment: The Most Dangerous Gang in America
Thu, 3 Apr 08
Duration:
24 minsThe United States has long been home to violent gangs, from the Mafia to the Bloods and Crips. But recently, US authorities have warned of the dangers of a transnational, ultra-violent gang with its origins in Central America. The FBI has now opened an office in El Salvador to deal with the threat of Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. For Assignment, Maurice Walsh travelled to Washington DC's suburbs and San Salvador to take a look at MS-13, dubbed "The Most Dangerous Gang in America."
Return to Kurdistan Part 2
Wed, 2 Apr 08
Duration:
22 minsFor Iraqi Kurds these are the best times they have ever known. But can the desire for full independence be contained? Michael Goldfarb goes to Kirkuk disputed heart of northern Iraq's oil industry and the future source of wealth.
Simpson Returns to China
Fri, 28 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsProgramme one: The Road From Tiananmen charts John Simpson's return to modern China 19 years after he witnessed the massacre of June 4 1989
No Way Out
Fri, 28 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsShazia Khan investigates the agony of forced marriages in the UK and the risks of trying to escape it.
Assignment: No more child witches in DRC?
Thu, 27 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsIs it possible to legislate against deeply held beliefs? That's what the authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo are hoping to do. They want to make it a criminal offence to accuse a child of being a witch. Many of the hundreds of children who are sleeping rough on the streets of the capital city Kinshasa have been accused of being witches. But can such a law be enforced and can it really make a difference in a country that has been so fractured by war? For Assignment Angus Crawford spends time with the street children of Kinshasa to see if they think the new law can work.
How Iraq's War Shaped Our World: Part Four
Wed, 26 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsJohn Simpson looks at the how the Iraq War has affected America's international role and reputation.
Return to Kurdistan - Part 1
Wed, 26 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsIn the first part of the series Return to Kurdistan, Michael Goldfarb follows the upheaval of Kurdistan through the eyes of his translator Ahmad Shawkat.
Escaping the Water Wolf
Fri, 21 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsWith climate change bringing new threats of rising sea levels and increased rainfall, will luck and ingenuity continue to save the Netherlands from submersion?
The Kids Who Ran Iraq
Thu, 20 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsAfter the invasion of Iraq in 2003 hundreds of young American recruits were sent by Washington to help run the Coalition Provisional Authority, the body set up to administer Iraq. The CPA's tenure was widely criticised, as were its staff who, critics say, were simply political appointees with little or no experience relevant to the massive task they faced. Five years on Pascale Harter speaks to some of the so-called Brat Pack of US recruits to find out if they feel proud of what they achieved.
Pirates Part Three
Tue, 18 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsNick Rankin enters cyber space to explore the world of intellectual piracy - the stealing of ideas.
How Iraq's War Shaped Our World: Part Three
Mon, 17 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsIn Programme Three, Lyse Doucet looks at how the Iraq War changed the regional balance of power.
Teacher Flower
Thu, 13 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsIn the 1980s Kathy Flower became the most famous face on Chinese television, as English teacher to millions of students long isolated from the outside world. Now she returns to a very different country as it prepares to host the Beijing Olympics.
Assignment: Afghanistan - Winning Hearts and Minds
Thu, 13 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsAccording to US intelligence the Afghan president Hamid Karzai controls only 30 percent of Afghanistan, with the Taleban holding 10 percent. Most of the country is under local tribal control. But building support among the tribes is now at the core of a new American counter-insurgency strategy. The Americans believe they've now got a blueprint for winning hearts and minds. The BBC's Alastair Leithead has been following US troops and their British allies to find out how the plan is working.
Pirates Part Two
Wed, 12 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsNick Rankin travels to Africa to find out how modern day pirates are ruling the high seas. From hijacking, kidnapping and ransoms, he finds out what is being done to combat the problem.
How Iraq's War Shaped Our World: Part Two
Mon, 10 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsMagdi Abdelhadi explores how the dream of a democratic Arab world was promoted then put in reverse as things went wrong in Iraq.
How Iraq's War Shaped Our World: Part Two
Mon, 10 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsIn Programme Two Magdhi Abdulhadi looks at how the neocon dream of a democratic Arab world was promoted then put in reverse as things went wrong in Iraq.
Boom or Bust
Thu, 6 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsSharon Mascall investigates the Australian mining industry where many inexperienced workers are lured by high wages but face harsh conditions, poor safety standards and an uncertain future.
Assignment Jacob Zuma: The Investigation
Thu, 6 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsJacob Zuma is one of the most powerful men in South Africa. He controls the ruling African National Congress and is poised to replace President Thabo Mbeki as head of state. But Jacob Zuma has a problem. Prosecutors say he's corrupt and hope to bring him to trial in August. Mr Zuma says the charges are political, designed to keep him from power. For Assignment Martin Plaut travelled to South Africa to investigate.
How Iraq's War Shaped Our World: Part One
Mon, 3 Mar 08
Duration:
23 minsProgramme One: BBC correspondent Jim Muir evaluates how war has changed Iraq from the beginning of the invasion to the handover of power.
Doc: After the KGB: Part Two
Fri, 29 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsMartin Sixsmith gets under the skin of the fastest growing and arguably most politically influential secret service in the world the "new KGB".
Doc: Assignment - Unknown Neighbours
Thu, 28 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsWhy are the British so scared of Islam? When the head of the Anglican church, Dr Rowan Williams, suggested that some aspects of Sharia law seemed unavoidable in parts of Britain, he prompted a storm of protest. For Assignment, Keith Adams explores what informs British public opinion about Islam.
Doc: The Kremlin and the World - Part 4
Wed, 27 Feb 08
Duration:
22 minsRussia has made more enemies than friends recently. Tim Whewell finds out where this new East, West confrontation is leading and why Russia is harking back to the days of the old Soviet Union.
Doc: The Kremlin and the World - Part 3
Mon, 25 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsTim Whewell investigates why a 'new' Cold War could be underway and if Russia and the US is embarking once again on a race for arms.
Doc: Friday Documentary: After the KGB - Part One
Fri, 22 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsMartin Sixsmith looks at Russia's fast growing and politically influential secret service.
Doc: The Danish Nazi
Thu, 21 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsSoeren Kam is a former Danish SS Officer and one of the most wanted Nazi war criminals still alive. Now 86 and living in Bavaria, Kam admitted taking part in the abduction and killing of an anti-Nazi newspaper editor in Copenhagen in 1943. For Assignment Steve Rosenburg goes in search of Soeren Kam and talks to the people who know his story.
Doc: The Kremlin and the World - Part 2
Tue, 19 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsPipeline Power: Could Russia's vast energy sources possibly be the missiles of the future? Tim Whewell investigates why Russia's state energy company, Gazprom fell out with Ukraine.
Doc: The Kremlin and the World - Part 1
Mon, 18 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsNearly twenty years after the Cold War, there’s a new chill in relations between Russia and the West. Tim Whewell finds out what has happened to Russia's historic partnership with the Western Europe and the US.
Doc: Uncovering Pakistan - Part 2
Thu, 14 Feb 08
Duration:
24 minsOwen Bennett-Jones examines the rise of Islamist militancy in Pakistan and the risk of the country being split apart.
Doc: Uncovering Pakistan - Part 1
Wed, 13 Feb 08
Duration:
24 minsWhy have so many of the hopes and aspirations of Pakistan's founders remained unfulfilled?
Doc: Pain: Episode Two
Wed, 13 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsIn this second programme on Pain, Andrew North explores the strategies we use to survive pain, through expressing and suppressing it.
Doc: Bangladesh Floods: Three Months On
Mon, 11 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsIt's been three months since cyclone Sidr struck Bangladesh. BBC reporter, Siobhann Tighe returns to speak to some of the survivors. She also talks to government advisers about the vulnerability of Bangladesh and what can be done to be better prepared.
Doc: Fading Traditions - part 3
Thu, 7 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsTemple prostitutes: The ancient Hindu tradition of dedicating young girls to the temple has come up against the modern horrors of AIDS.
Doc: Assignment - Kurdistan Corruption 05 Feb 2008
Thu, 7 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsWith its functioning parliament, a booming oil economy and a small but well-trained army, the Kurdish area of Iraq appears to offer a model for other areas of the country. But Kate Clark discovers growing corruption and dissatisfaction with the region's government.
Doc: Pain: Episode One
Wed, 6 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsIn this two part series, former BBC Iraq correspondent, Andrew North takes a personal journey through his own experience of pain and that of others.
Doc: Securing Pakistan's Bomb
Mon, 4 Feb 08
Duration:
23 minsWhat would happen if the government of Pakistan, one of the world's nuclear powers, were to collapse? Would extreme Islamist militants be able to get their hands on the country's nuclear weapons?
Doc: Fading Traditions - Part 2
Thu, 31 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsGeorgia, considered to be the birthplace of wine, risks losing its wine industry. How are the producers coping?
Doc: Assignment - Kenya violence 30 Jan 2008
Thu, 31 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsThis week's Assignment reports on the post election violence in Kenya which has claimed the lives of up to 900 people. The opposition claim that the poll was rigged and the violence, which began in Western Kenya, has spread to other parts of the country. Pascale Harter travelled to the town of Eldoret in western Kenya to trace the roots of the tribal violence that has pitted neighbour against neighbour.
Doc: A Dollar A Day - Part 4
Tue, 29 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsIn this four part series, Mike Wooldridge looks at what it's really like to have to live on one dollar a day. The third programme focuses on education in Ghana.
Doc: Fading Traditions - Part 1
Thu, 24 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsThe number of Moroccan story-tellers, known as halakis, is dwindling. Why is their art dying out?
Doc: Desperate Dreams Part 3
Thu, 24 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsThe final part of a three part series. Every year, thousands of young people from sub-Saharan Africa set off across the desert dreaming of a better life in Europe. Part two: Returning home.
Assignment - African Footballers 24 Jan 2008
Thu, 24 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsMillions of young African boys dream of following such football stars as Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Eboue to Europe to make their fortune. Only a handful succeed whilst many more fall into the hands of unscrupulous clubs and agents who exploit them. Henry Bonsu investigates the growth in what has been described as football slavery.
Doc: A Dollar A Day - Part 3
Tue, 22 Jan 08
Duration:
24 minsIn this four part series, Mike Wooldridge looks at what it's really like to have to live on one dollar a day. The third programme focuses on elder people in India.
Doc: Desperate Dreams - Part 2
Thu, 17 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsThe second in a three part series. Every year, thousands of young people from sub-Saharan Africa set off across the desert dreaming of a better life in Europe. Part two: The Journey.
Doc: Looted Art: Part II
Thu, 17 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsCharles Wheeler is on the trail of art seized by the Soviets at the end of World War II
Doc: Assignment - On the trail of spammers 17 Jan 2007
Thu, 17 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsSimon Cox tries to track down the criminals who plague us with spam emails offering everything from get rich schemes to products to improve our sex lives.
Doc: A Dollar A Day - Part 2
Tue, 15 Jan 08
Duration:
24 minsIn this four part series, Mike Wooldridge looks at what it's really like to have to live on one dollar a day. The second programme focuses on Peru.
Desperate Dreams Part 1
Fri, 11 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsEvery year, thousands of young men and women from sub-Saharan Africa set off across the desert dreaming of a better life in Europe. Part one: George from Cameroon starts his journey.
Friday Documentary - Looted Art: Part One
Thu, 10 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsAt the end of World War Two, as Nazi Germany lay in ruins, millions of works of art were secrety shipped back to Russia by the Soviet Army. Charles Wheeler now investigates their fate and the political row that still surrounds them in Looted Art.
Assignment - S Korea computer addiction 10 Jan 2008
Thu, 10 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsComputer gaming has become a national obsession in South Korea but there is a dark side. Gaming, like gambling, can become an addiction that has even led to death. Julian Pettifer reports.
A Dollar A Day - Part 1
Tue, 8 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsIn this four part series, Mike Wooldridge looks at what it's really like to have to live on one dollar a day. The first programme focuses on Kenya.
Debt Threat Part 2
Mon, 7 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsThe dangers of the present crisis turning into a full scale recession, and at the seemingly desperate attempts of bankers, regulators and politicians to prevent that happening.
Only One Bakira
Fri, 4 Jan 08
Duration:
19 minsBakira Hasecic is unrelenting in her pursuit of the war criminals of the Bosnian war. How does she and the members of the Association of Women Victims of War find the strength to talk about the rapes and other horrors they endured?
Assignment - Taxi to the Dark Side 3 Jan 2008
Thu, 3 Jan 08
Duration:
23 minsAmerican film-maker Alex Gibney tells the story of an Afghan taxi driver, tortured to death by American soldiers and military police in Bagram airbase. Were they rogue soldiers, or was the torture authorised at the highest levels of government?
Press For Freedom Part 4
Wed, 2 Jan 08
Duration:
24 minsIn the final part of the series Roy Greenslade profiles the head of News Corporation Rupert Murdoch.
Debt Threat
Mon, 31 Dec 07
Duration:
23 minsThe first programme will show how rapidly the shock wave of the credit crunch is spreading and why it is now moving far beyond the sub-prime homeowners where it began.
Assignment - Blackwater 27 Dec 2007
Thu, 27 Dec 07
Duration:
23 minsThere are now as many private security contractors in Iraq as there are US soldiers. To whom are they accountable when things go wrong? Steve Evans reports on the most controversial contractor, Blackwater, which has been criticised by the Iraqi government, American politicians and its own employees.
Quest for a Cure
Fri, 21 Dec 07
Duration:
24 minsPeter Day reports on whether the US Food and Drug Administration will licence the HIV/AIDS drug Maraviroc.
Global Account - Part 4
Thu, 20 Dec 07
Duration:
23 minsAllan Urry investigates links between the Pentagon, politicians and weapons manufacturers.
Assignment - Inside Uzbekistan
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Duration:
23 minsSince the Uzbek government put down an uprising in Andijan in 2005, the country has become more and more isolated from the west. But ahead of the country’s first Presidential election since 2000, our Central Asia correspondent Natalia Antelava made a secret trip across the state, recording her impressions.
Press for Freedom - part three
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Duration:
24 minsBuilding democracy: What is the role of radio in building democracy? In Papua, a new radio station is being installed as part of Indonesia's 68H network. 68H has introduced electricity by building a dam to power the station in the village. How did 68H get around censorship under Suharto? And why is radio such a key player in building civil society?
Press for Freedom - part two
Wed, 19 Dec 07
Duration:
24 minsFreedom of the internet:How do the motives of mainstream news websites compare with the agendas of blogs? In part two of 'Press for Freedom', we talk to Iraqi blogger Salam Pax and others who have delivered on-the-ground viewpoints in regions where the government would have otherwise silenced them. In Kuala Lumpur, we hear from the government-owned Bernama press, who also fund Nam News Network, supposedly the only unfiltered news wire in a non-aligned world.
Citizen Journalists
Mon, 17 Dec 07
Duration:
23 minsWhat is the future of news, when the internet may undermine the old-fashioned paternalistic precepts? BBC's Alan Little investigates.
Press For Freedom Part 1
Wed, 12 Dec 07
Duration:
23 minsBBC's Roy Greenslade looks at how far reporting 'the truth' can be endangered by governments, corporations and the new wave of internet publishing.
Making News Part 1
Mon, 10 Dec 07
Duration:
23 minsThe BBC and other international broadcasters boast "objective" news and impartial window onto the world, but is such a thing really possible? Alan Little investigates.
Assignment - Leila's story 6 Dec 2007
Fri, 7 Dec 07
Duration:
23 minsLeila is a young woman in Iran, sold into prostitution by her family at the age of 9, later forced into a temporary marriage, and then sentenced to hang at the age of 18. She was finally reprieved, but what does her story tell us about Iran's ability to legally protect its own children.
Global Account Part 2
Fri, 7 Dec 07
Duration:
23 minsAfrica's Cocaine Coast - Guinea-Bissau is awash with cocaine and is ranked by the United Nations as the fifth poorest country in the world. Grant Ferrett investigates.
Seeing Iraq, Thinking Vietnam Part 2
Mon, 3 Dec 07
Duration:
23 minsJonathan Marcus explores the impact of these two conflicts on the american political psyche.
Global Account - Part 1
Thu, 29 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsAngus Stickler travels into the disputed "Red Zone" of Southern Thailand to discover the victims of a brutal and under-reported war.
Assignment - Inside Gaza 28 Nov 2007
Thu, 29 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsSix months ago, the radical Palestinian faction Hamas took total control of the Gaza Strip. Israel and Egypt responded by closing their borders with Gaza. Magdi Abdelhadi travelled to the Gaza Strip to see how the 1.5 million Palestinians living there are coping.
Seeing Iraq, Thinking Vietnam Part 1
Mon, 26 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsCorrespondent Jonathan Marcus compares the impact of the two conflicts on American society and politics.
Jihad and the Petrodollar part 2
Fri, 23 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsRoger Hardy follows the money trail and looks at the case of two prominent Saudi charities.
Assignment - The internet chatroom murder 22 Nov 2007
Thu, 22 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsThis week on Assignment, a story of lust, deception and betrayal on the internet. It tells the extraordinary story of a middle-aged factory worker who undergoes a virtual and very real transformation after he goes online - a transformation which ends in murder.
Taxing Questions (part four)
Wed, 21 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsThe final part of a four part series in which Maurice Walsh discovers why globalisation and the black market have drastically undermined governments' ability to generate revenue in the form of tax.
Taxing Questions (part three)
Tue, 20 Nov 07
Duration:
24 minsIn the third of a four part series Maurice Walsh discovers why globalisation and the black market have drastically undermined governments' ability to generate revenue in the form of tax.
Can America Go Green? - Programme 3
Mon, 19 Nov 07
Duration:
24 minsThe BBC's UN correspondent Laura Trevelyan explores how the US could retreat from its role as the planet's biggest polluter. In the final part of the series, Laura explores the degree to which Americans are speaking out and altering their lifestyles in the face of global warming.
Taxing Questions (programme two)
Fri, 16 Nov 07
Duration:
21 minsIn the second of a four part series Maurice Walsh discovers why globalisation and the black market have drastically undermined governments' ability to generate revenue in the form of tax. Maurice visits Zambia to examine what has happened to the money generated by the country's booming copper industry.
Jihad and the Petrodollar - part 1
Fri, 16 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsHas Saudi Arabia fanned the flames of Muslim militancy by exporting its own puritanical form of Islam to every corner of the globe?
Assignment - The neglected thalidomiders 15 Nov 2007
Thu, 15 Nov 07
Duration:
28 minsFifty years ago, the drug thalidomide was introduced as a treatment for pregnancy sickness. The results for unborn children were devastating. Many of those affected have been compensated - but not thalidomiders in Spain. Geoff Adams-Spink investigates why.
Taxing Questions (programme one)
Mon, 12 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsThe first part of a four part series in which Maurice Walsh discovers why globalisation and the black market have drastically undermined governments' ability to generate revenue in the form of tax.
Can America Go Green? - Programme 2
Mon, 12 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsThe BBC's UN correspondent Laura Trevelyan explores how the US could retreat from its role as the planet's biggest polluter. In this episode: Laura reports on General Electric. Once pilloried as a polluter (and taken to court for dumping waste in the Hudson River), the industry giant, under the leadership of Jeffrey Immelt, has gone green and sees its future prosperity tied to developing green technologies.
In Search of a New Kyoto
Fri, 9 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsIn a special BBC WS One Planet debate, we bring together four people at the heart of their governments' response to climate change – from the USA, Indonesia, Brazil and the UK.
Inside the Climate Change Talks (part 3)
Wed, 7 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsThe final part in a three part series in which Mike Williams explores the complex web of negotiations to find a successor to the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012.
Inside the Climate Change Talks (part 2)
Mon, 5 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsThe second part in a three part series in which Mike Williams explores the complex web of negotiations to find a successor to the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012.
Inside the Climate Change Talks (part 1)
Mon, 5 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsThe first part in a three part series in which Mike Williams explores the complex web of negotiations to find a successor to the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012.
Can America Go Green? - Programme 1
Mon, 5 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsThe BBC's UN correspondent Laura Trevelyan explores how the US could retreat from its role as the planet's biggest polluter. In this episode: Laura finds out how the US could retreat from its role as the biggest polluter on the planet.
Assignment - Sexual violence in South Africa 1 Nov 2007
Thu, 1 Nov 07
Duration:
23 minsSouth Africa has one of the highest rates of sexual violence in the world. There are more than 54,000 reported rapes every year - and most rapes go unreported. David Goldblatt investigates what's behind this violence.
Wole Soyinka Returns to Biafra Part Two
Wed, 31 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsIn this part, Wole Soyinka travels back on a route he first took in 1967 at the beginning of the Biafran War, and speaks to two of the main protagonists.
Benazir Bhutto - The Investigation
Mon, 29 Oct 07
Duration:
22 minsIn Pakistan President Musharraf and the former Pakistani prime minister, Benazir Bhutto did a deal this month. She told her suppprters to support his bid for the Presidency. He in return dropped corrpution charges bought by his government against her. This paved the way to her return to Pakistan after almost a decade of self-imposed exile. In "Benazir Bhutto - The Investigation", Owen Bennett-Jones looks at the claims against her and whether she could still face corruption charges.
Benazir Bhutto - The Investigation
Mon, 29 Oct 07
Duration:
22 minsWe investigate the substance of the allegations against Benazir Bhutto and ask whether she could still face charges, despite the deal she has just struck with President Musharraf.
Wole Soyinka Returns to Biafra
Wed, 24 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsNigeria's Nobel Prize-winning author, Wole Sayinka travels back to Biafra and comes face to face with the military leader who imprisoned him 40 years ago.
Tales from the Commonwealth 4
Fri, 19 Oct 07
Duration:
24 minsIn the final part of this series Robin White visits Georgetown the capital of Guyana where he experiences the transport system and learns about the demise of the Amerindian culture.
Tales from the Commonwealth
Fri, 19 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsRobin White visits Maputo the capital city of Mozambique. After sixteen years of civil war how well is the city functioning?
Tales from the Commonwealth
Fri, 19 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsRobin White finds out about the disappearing Kweyol culture in St Lucia. Why is it too difficult to make Kweyol the island's official language?
China's Long Arm 4
Thu, 18 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsChina has turned its attention to the US in its search for natural resources, even enabling the re-opening of an abandoned iron mine in Minnesota.
China's Long Arm 3
Wed, 17 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsLucy Ash assesses the wider impact of China's insatiable appetite for natural resources, and focuses on the special relation with Angola and its oil.
China's Long Arm 2
Tue, 16 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsMaurice Walsh considers whether China might use its growing military power to reclaim Taiwan, possibly provoking a confrontation with the US.
China's Long Arm 1
Mon, 15 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsMaurice Walsh examines whether US government concerns about rising defence spending in China will fuel a new arms race in the Pacific.
Tales from the Commonwealth 1
Fri, 12 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsLocal broadcaster Eunis Taumomoa guides us through Papua New Guinea, a country that has more than 700 different languages and ethnic groups.
Assignment - Afghanistan's war crimes 11 Oct 2007
Thu, 11 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsAfghanistan's recent history has been a long list of human rights abuses and war crimes - yet many of those accused are now beyond the reach of prosecutors because of an amnesty the warlords themselves voted in. What impact is this having on the survivors?
Stem Cell Bazaar - Part 2
Wed, 10 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsMeet the doctors who are trying to introduce regulation of stem cell therapies in India, so that those vulnerable patients who can least afford to spend money on unproven therapies can have genuine grounds for hope.
The Land of the Mobile Millionaires
Mon, 8 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsMatthew Sweet presents the extraordinary story of Finland's Nokia Millionaires, and how the mobile phone industry prevented a severe recession in the country.
Life After Vietnam
Fri, 5 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsLance Corporal Baronowski's personal recordings, made in Vietnam shortly before he was killed in 1966, paint a vivid picture of the young soldier’s life. How do his experiences compare with soldiers in today's conflicts?
Assignment - Britain's gangmasters 4 Oct 2007
Thu, 4 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsAssignment reports on the fate of thousands of migrants from eastern Europe, who come to Britain to find work. Even though they are in the UK legally, they're often exploited by gangmasters who ignore employment laws, and sometimes don't even pay their employees.
Stem Cell Bazaar - Part 1
Wed, 3 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsDo stem cells really offer a miracle cure? Are the clinics offering genuine treatments at the cutting edge of science, or merely taking advantage of the vulnerable?
Assignment - Burma: the road to crisis 29 Sep 2007
Mon, 1 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsThe two week uprising in Burma has been ruthlessly put down by the Burmese military. The protests appear to be over. What lay behind the uprising, and why is the Burmese junta so resistant to pressure to reform?
Rebuilding Southern Sudan Part 2
Mon, 1 Oct 07
Duration:
23 minsDarfur has diverted attention from Southern Sudan, now emerging from civil war. Mike Wooldridge investigates its hopes for peace.
Assignment - Eritrea's persecuted Christians 27 Sep 2007
Fri, 28 Sep 07
Duration:
23 minsAssignment reports on the persecution of Christians in Eritrea - home to one of the oldest Christian churches in the world, dating back 1,600 years. Thousands have fled torture and arrest to take refuge in neighbouring Ethiopia.
The Boys from the Bush
Fri, 28 Sep 07
Duration:
1 minRobin Denselow tells the story of the Zimbabwean band The Bhundu Boys. From their triumphs in the charts to the tragedy of losing two members to HIV/Aids.
A Journey from Conflict to Brotherhood
Wed, 26 Sep 07
Duration:
23 minsJohn McCarthy looks at how the Kaduna Declaration in Kaduna, Nigeria, has had some success in bringing Muslims and Christians together amidst violence.
Rebuilding Southern Sudan Part 1
Mon, 24 Sep 07
Duration:
23 minsDarfur has diverted attention from Southern Sudan, now emerging from civil war. Mike Wooldridge investigates its hopes for peace.
We're No Angels
Fri, 21 Sep 07
Duration:
21 minsKarin Wells investigates controversial new laws in Poland that require over 35s to prove they never collaborated with Communists.
Top of the Class - Part 2
Wed, 19 Sep 07
Duration:
23 minsOwen Bennett-Jones visits two of the world's leading educational establishments - Harvard University and Westminster School - to ask how they get such good results.
Assignment - Liverpool's drug gangs 20 Sep 2007
Wed, 19 Sep 07
Duration:
23 minsAssignment reports on how a once model public housing project in Liverpool, has become terrorised by young criminal gangs - who are believed to be responsible for the murder of an 11 year old boy.
The Clinton Years Part 4
Mon, 17 Sep 07
Duration:
23 minsGavin Esler tells the story of Bill Clinton's controversial and colourful presidency, from epic victories to personal turmoil. The final part addresses the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
On the road in Iraq
Fri, 14 Sep 07
Duration:
22 minsMany ordinary people in Iraq continue to live in extraordianry circumstances. World Affairs coresspondent, Mike Woolridge follows the story of a taxi driver whose life has been turned upside down.
Assignment - Rough justice in Japan
Thu, 13 Sep 07
Duration:
23 minsWe report on a miscarriage of justice in Japan - a case which has opened a debate about how the police question suspects, and why more than 99 per cent of those charged with a crime are then found guilty.
Top of the Class - Part 1
Wed, 12 Sep 07
Duration:
23 minsEducation matters - Owen Bennett-Jones visits educational establishments which have been judged to be the bes. This week he visits Finland which has been judged to have the best educational system in the world.
The Clinton Years Part 3
Mon, 10 Sep 07
Duration:
23 minsHaving won a second term, Clinton found new confidence when dealing with foreign policy. But then came revelations about Monica Lewinsky. How did events unfold?
Heritage, The Balkans - Part Four: Butrint, Albania
Wed, 5 Sep 07
Duration:
22 minsMalcolm Billings explores the reconstruction projects slowly restoring the region's cultural legacy.
The Clinton Years - part 2
Mon, 3 Sep 07
Duration:
22 minsFrom authorising emergency bailout during the Mexican economic collapse to balancing the budget, Clinton's strategic use of the Presidential veto would enable his White House to start working again.
Mother's Mountain
Fri, 31 Aug 07
Duration:
23 minsIn August 1986 Julie Tullis became the first British woman climber to reach the summit of K2. The tapes she recorded reveal her adventure.
Heritage, The Balkans - Part Three: Bosnia
Wed, 29 Aug 07
Duration:
22 minsMalcolm Billings explores the reconstruction projects slowly restoring the region's cultural legacy.
The Clinton Years - Part 1
Mon, 27 Aug 07
Duration:
23 minsWhen William Jefferson Clinton was elected President of the United States on 3 November 1992, hope was in the air. Though the honeymoon did not last long, it was at moments of great adversity that his political skills were at their greatest.
Sudan: The Lost Boy Returns
Fri, 24 Aug 07
Duration:
23 minsJane Little follows one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan" who goes back to be reunited with his mother and to marry a girl from his own Dinka tribe.
Heritage, The Balkans - Part Two: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Wed, 22 Aug 07
Duration:
22 minsMalcolm Billings explores the reconstruction projects slowly restoring the region's cultural legacy.
Mexican Drugs: So Far From God
Fri, 17 Aug 07
Duration:
1 minNick Caistor investigates the causes and effects of drug violence in Mexico, which is reaching alarming proportions in parts of the country.
Zimbabwe Out of Control - Part 2
Thu, 16 Aug 07
Duration:
23 minsIn the second of these two programmes, Paul Bakibinga considers how Zimbabwe might become prosperous one more.
Malaria and Fake Drugs
Thu, 16 Aug 07
Duration:
23 minsJill McGivering follows the trail of fake drugs, from the marginalised communities at risk, to the country accused of being the main source.
Heritage, The Balkans - Part One: Kosovo
Tue, 14 Aug 07
Duration:
22 minsMalcolm Billings explores the reconstruction projects slowly restoring the region's cultural legacy.
Maids: The Untold Story Part 1
Fri, 10 Aug 07
Duration:
23 minsIt reads like a soap opera, but this is not fiction: round-the-clock confinement, crippling illness, rape, escape, suicide and murder - women who go overseas to work as maids often encounter unforeseen terror and tragedy.
Zimbabwe Out of Control - Part 1
Fri, 10 Aug 07
Duration:
23 minsIn the first of two programmes, Paul Bakibinga considers the causes behind the collapse of the once prosperous Zimbabwe.
Freetown Rap
Fri, 10 Aug 07
Duration:
1 minRappers from Freetown, Sierra Leone, perform and talk about their songs, background and dreams for their music.
Assignment: Ghanaian Drug Mules
Thu, 9 Aug 07
Duration:
23 minsGabby O'Donnell goes to Ghana to meet some convicted drugs mules, and hears how they, as much as the users, can end up being the biggest victims in the multi-billion dollar drug trade.
Maids: The Untold Story - Part Two
Wed, 8 Aug 07
Duration:
22 minsIn the second programme, Judith Kampfner looks at women who work as maids in their own countries. Children, sometimes as young as ten years old, are sent from villages to distant towns to be shut in as domestic servants.
Coming Out Part 2
Mon, 6 Aug 07
Duration:
22 minsIn South Africa, equality - on the basis of race, language, culture and sexual orientation - are central to the country's constitution.
The Generals Debate Iraq
Fri, 3 Aug 07
Duration:
23 minsOwen Bennett-Jones chairs a unique debate with some of the most senior and influential military figures responsible for the planning and execution of the war in Iraq.
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Play episodes
- Youssou N’Dour at 50
- Assignment - Guinea on the Brink
- A Dollar a Day - Part 1
- DocArchive:
- Public Places, Private Lives - Part Two
- Assignment - Dying to Give Birth
- Rebranding Nigeria - Part Two
- MI6 - A Century in the Shadows - Part Tree
- Public Places, Private Lives - Part One
- Assignment - Protecting Britain's Children
- Rebranding Nigeria - Part One
- MI6 - A Century in the Shadows
- Assignment Armenia: The cleverest nation on the planet
- John Simpson Returns to 1989
- MI6 - A century in the shadows
- Memento, part two
- Assignment - Three Strike Lifers
- Yiddish - a Struggle for Survival - Part One
- The Crash: Back from the brink
- Memento, part one
- Assignment - The Mystery of the Arctic Sea
- Desperate Dreams - Part Two
- Assignment - Chasing the Tax Cheats
- The Crash: The Age of Risk
- Building out of the Recession - part two
- Desperate Dreams - part one
- The Crash: The bank that busted the world
- Assignment - Dog Fighting in Chicago
- Building Out of the Recession
- Dreams from my mother
- Benjamin Jealous - the future of the NAACP
- World Stories: Mexico's Missing Island
- Assignment: Mastering Business
- Citizen Journalism - Part Two
- Why is Africa poor? Part three
- World Stories: Israel's Muslim soldiers
- Assignment - China Saving's Habit
- Citizen journalism - democracy or chaos?
- Why is Africa poor? Part Two
- World stories: new media in Kashmir
- Assignment - Mutiny in Bangladesh
- Gold - part three
- Why is Africa poor?
- World Stories: Fighting for Pao Culture in Burma
- Assignment: America's African Outpost
- Gold - part two
- Selling cheese to the Chinese
- World Stories: Bombs, Stamps and Throat Singers
- Assignment - The Pardon Game
- Gold - part one
- William Morris and the Muslims
- Tracing the strain
- Iran and the West - part three
- Global Perspective: Chungking Mansions
- Caribbean voices - Part two
- Iran and the West: From Khomeini to Ahmedinejad - part 2
- Global Perspective - Across the Water
- Assignment - Pakistan - Winning the Peace
- West African journeys - Part two
- Caribbean voices - Part one
- Iran and the West: From Khomeni to Ahmedinejad - part 1
- Death Diminishes Me
- The Greening of the Deserts - part three
- From Guantanamo to Paradise
- Global Persepctive: Islands of Security
- Assignment - Land Grab Cambodia
- The Greening of the Deserts
- Global Perspective: Alert Bay
- Thembi’s Story
- Assignment - The Opus Dei enigma
- The Greening of the Deserts
- Assignment: Iran in crisis
- Blood and lava
- Mubarak's Egypt - part two
- Assignment - The Rich in Retreat
- Farm Swap - part two
- Mubarak's Egypt - part one
- Dear Birth Mother
- Assignment - America's Somali Bantu
- Farm Swap - part one
- Diabetes: The Silent Killer
- My world: Thailand's Dr Death
- The Cricket Revolution - part two
- My World: Kades
- The Economy on the Edge
- Anatomy of a Hijack
- The Cricket Revolution - part one
- Anatomy of a Car Crash
- My world: A different kind of stroke
- The Lost Voices of Tiananmen Square - part two
- Lincoln and the World
- My world: The homecoming
- Assignment - The Bad Samaritan
- The Lost Voices of Tiananmen Square - part one
- Freedom from Slavery in Mauritania
- Assignment - Killer Toxic Waste
- On the brink - part 2
- My World - The Infidelity Agency
- West African Journeys - Part Four
- Friday Documentary: The Library Cart
- On the brink - part 1
- West African Journeys - part three
- Assignment - The Rich in Retreat
- The Secret Scientists - part three
- The Secret Scientists - part two
- West African Journeys - Part One
- The Secret Scientists
- Keeping the Peace - part two
- Escape from Eritrea: Assignment
- The Atrocity Archives - part two
- Keeping the Peace - part one
- Kosovo's Disappeared
- The Atrocity Archives - part one
- Culture Not Colour
- Assignment - Turkey's Dirty War
- Obama's Pentagon
- Chinua Achebe: A Hero Returns
- Third Agers - Part Four
- Third Agers - Part Three
- Yiddish: A Struggle for Survival - part two
- Assignment - Falling in Love with the Stasi
- Indonesian Journeys - Bali
- Third Agers - Part Three
- Yiddish: A Struggle for Survival - part one
- Indonesian Journeys - West Timor
- Third Agers - Part Two
- Assignment - Rating the Credit Ratings Agencies
- Public Places, Private Lives
- Indonesian Journeys - Aceh
- Third Agers - Part One
- Assignment: Kenya Reconciliation
- Indonesian Journeys - Jakarta
- Fresh Start - Part Three
- Beatles in the USSR
- Fresh Start - Part Two
- The Wildlife Smugglers
- Assignment - Children for Sale
- Fresh Start - Part One
- The Bicycle Diaries - part three
- Assignment - A City Divided
- The Legacy of George W Bush - Part Two
- The Bicycle Diaries - part two
- Human Rights and Wrongs at the UN
- The Bicycle Diaries - part one
- The Legacy of George W Bush - Part One
- Obama: Professor President
- The Pardon Game
- Brand Cuba - part two
- The Story of Braille
- The Rules of Risk
- Brand Cuba - part one
- Too Many Santas
- Assignment - In Exile
- Return to White Horse Village - part three
- Timeline - part three
- 1968: The year that changed the world?
- Assignment - A Return to Helmand
- Return to White Horse Village - part two
- 1968: The year that changed the world?
- Timeline - part two
- Assignment - Bolivia on the Brink
- Return to White Horse Village - part one
- 1968: The year that changed the world?
- Assignment - Aids and the Caribbean
- Timeline - part one
- The Priest of Pará
- 1968: The year that changed the world?
- Street Art - Part Two
- Tired of Terror Part Two
- Street Art - Part One
- Dead by Christmas
- Giving up the gun in Kashmir
- The world without...copper
- Toxic Trailers - Assignment
- Hard lessons from Afghanistan - Part Two
- Animal Migration in a Climate of Change - Part Four
- Animal Migration in a Climate of Change - Part Three
- Animal Migration in a Climate of Change - Part Two
- The world without...cows
- Hard Lessons from Afghanistan - Part One
- Animal Migration in a Climate of Change
- The PR battle for the Caucasus
- Rat Attack
- The Lost Veterans
- America’s First Principles
- Failure or Fraud
- Is al-Qaeda winning? Part Four
- Out of the Ghetto
- The View from Kashmir - Assignment
- Is al-Qaeda Winning? Part Three
- The Italian Patient
- In the Shadow of the Cartel : Assignment
- Children of the Revolution - Part two
- Is al Qaeda Winning? - part two
- Tales from the Commonwealth - Part Four
- Africa's Guantanamo - Assignment
- Children of the revolution - Part one
- Is al Qaeda Winning? Part one
- Tales from the Commonwealth - Part Three
- Pakistan's Tribal areas
- My Senator, My Vote - Part Two
- Looted Art
- Tales from the Commonwealth - Part Two
- The Afghan Arms Bazaar Assignment
- My Senator, My Vote: Part One
- The Desert Capitalists - Part Two
- Tales from the Commonwealth - Part One
- The Desert Capitalists - Part One
- The 66 Club
- Feeding Haiti: Assignment
- The Presidential Contenders - Part Two
- What Lies Beneath - Part two
- Spain's Civil War - Breaking the Silence
- Al-Qaeda's Internal Debate
- The Presidential Contenders
- What Lies Beneath - Part One
- A young life of crime: Assignment
- Why they're dying in the Congo - Part Two
- Rehearsing for War
- Your Right to Know - Part 2
- Secrets in the Family - Assignment
- Why they're dying in the Congo - Part One
- The Billion Dollar Election: Part 2 - Ambassadors
- The Right to Know - Part 1
- Soft Jihad: Assignment
- The Trouble with Money - Part Two
- The Billion Dollar Election - Part One - 527s
- South Africa's Promised Land: Assignment
- The Trouble with Money - Part 1
- Secrets in the Blood - Part Two
- Trouble in the Townships: Assignment
- Building Better Health - Part Two
- Beijing Calling - Part One
- Secrets in the Blood - Part One
- Football's Conmen - Assignment
- Building Better Health
- Policing the Poppy Fields - Part Two
- The World's Shifting Balance
- Congo's Contract of the Century
- Countdown to the Olympics: Part Two
- Policing the Poppy Fields - Part One
- Health for All
- Countdown to the Olympics: Part One
- Race and Reconciliation - Part Three
- Health for All
- Burma - Reporting the Cyclone: Assignment
- Age of Terror - part 4
- Race and Reconciliation - Part Two
- Feeding the Spirit of New Orleans
- The Baseball Factory
- Age of Terror - Part 3
- Race and Reconciliation - Part One
- Bomb Hunters
- Rome's New Wolf - Assignment
- Age of Terror - part 2
- Leila's Story
- Argentina – Dancing To The Music Of The Mind
- Auroville - Assignment
- Age of Terror Part 1
- Taxi to the Dark Side
- Kidnapped - part two
- Assignment
- Assignment 22 May 08
- What Next For Kenya? - Part Two
- Failure at the Central Bank
- Kidnapped: Part One
- What Next For Kenya? - Part One
- How Crime Took on the World
- Escape from Time
- Assignment - Beyond Mark Weil
- Living With Chico Mendes
- How Crime Took on the World: Part Three
- Where the Buffalo Roam
- Philosophy in the Streets
- How crime took on the world: Part two
- Escape to New Zealand
- Assignment: Football in the Holy City
- The My Lai Tapes - Part Two
- How Crime Took on the World: Part One
- Policing the UN
- The Convict Streak
- Assignment - Granny Dumping
- The My Lai Tapes - Part One
- Strangers in Marseilles
- Harare Festival
- Assignment: Inside Somalia's Insurgency
- Elegy for the Tech
- A Dollar a Day - China
- Call me Nana
- The Message from China
- Simpson Returns to China - part 2
- Simpson Returns to China - part 2
- The Grass is Greener
- Assignment: The Most Dangerous Gang in America
- Return to Kurdistan Part 2
- Simpson Returns to China
- No Way Out
- Assignment: No more child witches in DRC?
- How Iraq's War Shaped Our World: Part Four
- Return to Kurdistan - Part 1
- Escaping the Water Wolf
- The Kids Who Ran Iraq
- Pirates Part Three
- How Iraq's War Shaped Our World: Part Three
- Teacher Flower
- Assignment: Afghanistan - Winning Hearts and Minds
- Pirates Part Two
- How Iraq's War Shaped Our World: Part Two
- How Iraq's War Shaped Our World: Part Two
- Boom or Bust
- Assignment Jacob Zuma: The Investigation
- How Iraq's War Shaped Our World: Part One
- Doc: After the KGB: Part Two
- Doc: Assignment - Unknown Neighbours
- Doc: The Kremlin and the World - Part 4
- Doc: The Kremlin and the World - Part 3
- Doc: Friday Documentary: After the KGB - Part One
- Doc: The Danish Nazi
- Doc: The Kremlin and the World - Part 2
- Doc: The Kremlin and the World - Part 1
- Doc: Uncovering Pakistan - Part 2
- Doc: Uncovering Pakistan - Part 1
- Doc: Pain: Episode Two
- Doc: Bangladesh Floods: Three Months On
- Doc: Fading Traditions - part 3
- Doc: Assignment - Kurdistan Corruption 05 Feb 2008
- Doc: Pain: Episode One
- Doc: Securing Pakistan's Bomb
- Doc: Fading Traditions - Part 2
- Doc: Assignment - Kenya violence 30 Jan 2008
- Doc: A Dollar A Day - Part 4
- Doc: Fading Traditions - Part 1
- Doc: Desperate Dreams Part 3
- Assignment - African Footballers 24 Jan 2008
- Doc: A Dollar A Day - Part 3
- Doc: Desperate Dreams - Part 2
- Doc: Looted Art: Part II
- Doc: Assignment - On the trail of spammers 17 Jan 2007
- Doc: A Dollar A Day - Part 2
- Desperate Dreams Part 1
- Friday Documentary - Looted Art: Part One
- Assignment - S Korea computer addiction 10 Jan 2008
- A Dollar A Day - Part 1
- Debt Threat Part 2
- Only One Bakira
- Assignment - Taxi to the Dark Side 3 Jan 2008
- Press For Freedom Part 4
- Debt Threat
- Assignment - Blackwater 27 Dec 2007
- Quest for a Cure
- Global Account - Part 4
- Assignment - Inside Uzbekistan
- Press for Freedom - part three
- Press for Freedom - part two
- Citizen Journalists
- Press For Freedom Part 1
- Making News Part 1
- Assignment - Leila's story 6 Dec 2007
- Global Account Part 2
- Seeing Iraq, Thinking Vietnam Part 2
- Global Account - Part 1
- Assignment - Inside Gaza 28 Nov 2007
- Seeing Iraq, Thinking Vietnam Part 1
- Jihad and the Petrodollar part 2
- Assignment - The internet chatroom murder 22 Nov 2007
- Taxing Questions (part four)
- Taxing Questions (part three)
- Can America Go Green? - Programme 3
- Taxing Questions (programme two)
- Jihad and the Petrodollar - part 1
- Assignment - The neglected thalidomiders 15 Nov 2007
- Taxing Questions (programme one)
- Can America Go Green? - Programme 2
- In Search of a New Kyoto
- Inside the Climate Change Talks (part 3)
- Inside the Climate Change Talks (part 2)
- Inside the Climate Change Talks (part 1)
- Can America Go Green? - Programme 1
- Assignment - Sexual violence in South Africa 1 Nov 2007
- Wole Soyinka Returns to Biafra Part Two
- Benazir Bhutto - The Investigation
- Benazir Bhutto - The Investigation
- Wole Soyinka Returns to Biafra
- Tales from the Commonwealth 4
- Tales from the Commonwealth
- Tales from the Commonwealth
- China's Long Arm 4
- China's Long Arm 3
- China's Long Arm 2
- China's Long Arm 1
- Tales from the Commonwealth 1
- Assignment - Afghanistan's war crimes 11 Oct 2007
- Stem Cell Bazaar - Part 2
- The Land of the Mobile Millionaires
- Life After Vietnam
- Assignment - Britain's gangmasters 4 Oct 2007
- Stem Cell Bazaar - Part 1
- Assignment - Burma: the road to crisis 29 Sep 2007
- Rebuilding Southern Sudan Part 2
- Assignment - Eritrea's persecuted Christians 27 Sep 2007
- The Boys from the Bush
- A Journey from Conflict to Brotherhood
- Rebuilding Southern Sudan Part 1
- We're No Angels
- Top of the Class - Part 2
- Assignment - Liverpool's drug gangs 20 Sep 2007
- The Clinton Years Part 4
- On the road in Iraq
- Assignment - Rough justice in Japan
- Top of the Class - Part 1
- The Clinton Years Part 3
- Heritage, The Balkans - Part Four: Butrint, Albania
- The Clinton Years - part 2
- Mother's Mountain
- Heritage, The Balkans - Part Three: Bosnia
- The Clinton Years - Part 1
- Sudan: The Lost Boy Returns
- Heritage, The Balkans - Part Two: Dubrovnik, Croatia
- Mexican Drugs: So Far From God
- Zimbabwe Out of Control - Part 2
- Malaria and Fake Drugs
- Heritage, The Balkans - Part One: Kosovo
- Maids: The Untold Story Part 1
- Zimbabwe Out of Control - Part 1
- Freetown Rap
- Assignment: Ghanaian Drug Mules
- Maids: The Untold Story - Part Two
- Coming Out Part 2
- The Generals Debate Iraq
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