The Documentary Podcast: Archive 2010

The religious face of New York is being transformed. Once the preserve of the Irish Catholics, New York’s churches are now filled with Hispanic Catholics. The dominance of the Irish immigrant community has long been on the wane but not so the Irish leadership of the Catholic Church which is still led by an Irish American Archbishop. Maurice Walsh travels to New York to talk to Catholics about the leaders of their community.

The fabric of island life as described through the most non-instant of communication devices - the message in a bottle.

Every year thousands of asylum seekers are detained in Britain. They are held while the Home Office decides whether to grant their claim for asylum or to remove them from the country. Its part of what is supposed to be a faster and more effective system for dealing with asylum. But there are claims that the government is routinely breaching its own guidelines -- and detaining vulnerable asylum seekers unlawfully. Rob Walker investigates for Assignment.

Simon Schama examines some of the daunting challenges facing Barack Obama, both on the world stage and at home. In part one he considers potential strategies for the president's inherited conflict in Afghanistan.

Author and journalist Gary Younge tells the story of the other side of the Obama phenomenon, meeting people who think his presidency is nothing but bad news.

Zheng He was an epic seafarer who predates Columbus - and who symbolises China's martine supremacy. Why don’t more of us know more about him?

In Europe, school history textbooks are used to heal the wounds of conflict, overcome deep-seated antagonisms between neighbouring countries and achieve greater understanding among states that must work together politically and economically.

Author and journalist Gary Younge tells the story of the other side of the Obama phenomenon, meeting people who think his presidency is nothing but bad news.

Farayi Mungazi looks ahead to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and explores how racial politics have affected football's development in that country.

On 12th January a powerful earthquake struck Haiti in the Caribbean. As many as 200,000 people may have been killed and some 2 million are in need of aid. In this edition of Assignment the BBC's International Development Corrrespondent Mark Doyle reports on Ten days in Haiti.