The Documentary Podcast: Archive 2009

By BBC World ServiceSociety & Culture Personal Journals

The Documentary Podcast: Archive 2009 episodes

November 05, 2009 Youssou N’Dour at 50
To mark the 50th birthday of Youssou N'Dour, Robin Denselow travels to Senegal to profile the best known African musician of recent times.
20 min
November 05, 2009 Assignment - Guinea on the Brink
Mark 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.
23 min
November 04, 2009 A Dollar a Day - Part 1
What 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.
24 min
November 02, 2009 Russia's all-female military regiments
The 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'.
23 min
October 30, 2009 Public Places, Private Lives - Part Two
Public 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.
22 min
October 29, 2009 Assignment - Dying to Give Birth
Jill 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.
23 min
October 28, 2009 Rebranding Nigeria - Part Two
Nigeria 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.
24 min
October 26, 2009 MI6 - A Century in the Shadows - Part Tree
The 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.
24 min
October 23, 2009 Public Places, Private Lives - Part One
Public 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.
23 min
October 22, 2009 Assignment - Protecting Britain's Children
When 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.
24 min