The Radio 3 Documentary Podcast
In-depth documentaries which explore a different aspect of history, science, philosophy, film, visual arts and literature. The Sunday Feature is broadcast every Sunday at 6.45pm on BBC Radio 3.
Episodes to download
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Sunday Feature: The Ancient Algorithm
Sun 24 Apr 2022
Exploring different aspects of history, science, philosophy and the arts.
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Tchaikovsky's Island of Inspiration
Sun 2 Jan 2022
How a trip to a remote island monastery inspired Pyotr Tchaikovsky's First Symphony
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Then there was Light - Stockhausen and LICHT, his opera cycle based on the seven days of the week
Mon 12 Jul 2021
How famous German avant-garde composer Stockhausen wrote an opera for each day of the week
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Even more Kershaw Tapes
Sun 9 May 2021
Andy Kershaw introduces his own cassette recordings of music from his travels.
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More Kershaw Tapes
Tue 4 May 2021
Andy Kershaw introduces his own cassette recordings of music from his travels.
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New Generation Thinker short feature: Hilltop Histories
Sun 14 Mar 2021
Archaeologist Seren Griffiths tells the multiple stories of a Sandstone ridge in Cheshire
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NGT The Balcony
Sun 28 Feb 2021
Dr Islam Issa celebrates the importance of Balconies, from Cairo to the Capulet's garden.
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The Apple and the Tree
Sun 17 Jan 2021
Carlo Gébler, son of Edna O’Brien, asks why the children of writers often become writers
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Sunday Feature - Dissecting Beethoven
Tue 15 Dec 2020
An exploration of Beethoven’s music through the body that gave him so much trouble.
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Sunday Feature: The Fake Poet
Sun 29 Nov 2020
Why does the image of the forlorn and abandoned poet Thomas Chatterton haunt us today?
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The Silence of My Pain
Sun 8 Nov 2020
Hannah French explores a hidden disability for many musicians: pain.
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New Generation Thinker short Feature: COVID and The Black Death, an imperfect fit.
Sun 18 Oct 2020
Medievalist Dr Seb Falk questions the comparisons between COVID19 and The Black Death.
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Silent Witness: John Cage, Zen and Japan
Wed 15 Jul 2020
How experimental composer John Cage came to write his infamous silent piece, 4’33”
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The Crankiness of C.W.Daniel
Sun 26 Apr 2020
New Generation Thinker Elsa Richardson on the radical 20th century publisher C.W.Daniel.
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The Queen Of Technicolor
Fri 13 Mar 2020
Maureen O’Hara’s journey from Dublin's suburbs to star of the Golden Age.
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The East Speaks Back
Thu 12 Mar 2020
We are used to getting a worldview from the west, but what did the east make of us?
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Ken Campbell as Never Heard Before
Sun 19 Jan 2020
David Bramwell with actors whose lives were transformed by director Ken Campbell.
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Glitter and Villainy
Sun 29 Dec 2019
Daisy Black, Radio 3 New Generation Thinker, investigates the camp villain in history.
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Rewiring Raymond Scott
Sun 22 Dec 2019
Ken Hollings assesses the legacy of the American electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott.
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Poles Apart
Fri 15 Nov 2019
The unknown tale of cold war communist Poland’s love affair with electronic music
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The Hidden Reservoir
Fri 15 Nov 2019
Carlo Gebler on the role of art in remembrance and reconciliation in Northern Ireland
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Power Plays
Sun 3 Nov 2019
How theatre challenged the East German government - but was swept aside as communism fell
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Al Andalus - The Legacy
Thu 24 Oct 2019
Andrew Hussey journeys through Andalusia searching for the legacy of Muslim Spain
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Plot 5779: Unearthing Elizabeth Siddall
Wed 16 Oct 2019
Actor Lily Cole plays Elizabeth Siddall who climbs out of her grave to tell her story.
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Cold War in Full Swing - Louis Armstrong in the GDR
Sun 14 Jul 2019
Kevin Le Gendre discovers how Louis Armstrong came to play jazz in communist East Germany
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Sir Isaac Newton and the Philosopher's Stone
Sun 30 Jun 2019
Dafydd Mills Daniel investigates Isaac Newton's more obscure studies in Alchemy.
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A Unicorn Quest
Thu 27 Jun 2019
Hetta Howes sets off to find the unicorn of myth in 21st century Britain.
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Literary Pursuits: Lord of the Flies
Sun 2 Jun 2019
Golding's classic novel was saved from being rejected by Faber by the luckiest chance.
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Robinson Crusoe Road-Trip
Sun 26 May 2019
300 years since Robinson Crusoe was published, Emma Smith traces it across the centuries
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Alexander Korda: Producer, Director, Exile, Spy
Sun 19 May 2019
Matthew Sweet unearths the film-maker Alexander Korda's wartime role as a British agent.
