The Documentary Podcast: Archive 2010

In the midst of a financial crisis, Maywood, a small city near Los Angeles, took the radical step of firing all city employees. Policing in Maywood is now handled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and many of the other city's services in operation are being handled by the nearby city of Bell. Mayor Ana Rizo claimed that it was either this or declaring bankruptcy. Simon Pitts discovers what went wrong in Maywood and explores why this decision was taken, and whether Maywood might be a model for other city governments facing financial hardship.

It’s halfway through the European ‘Decade of Roma inclusion’ but millions of euros in EU funding have failed to make a dent in Roma exclusion. Nick Thorpe travels to Romania, home to an estimated 2 million Roma – 10 % of the population - to find out why.

Can oral history challenge or alter the official past of a nation? History is often said to be written by the victors, but oral history has been strongly associated with the voices of the 'ordinary' citizens. Be it war, revolution or dictatorship, these accounts often offer different versions of the past. Alan Dein explores how this oral history can sometime collide with the official version committed to the history books - particularly in nations where the outcome is still bitterly contested.

"I have to choose between the fruit salad and the cream cake. Rationally, I know what I should do. I should choose the fruit salad. But will I?" How do our brains work in everyday life? In the third of a four-part series examining the mind’s complexities, Professor Barry Smith looks at how the brain makes decisions.

As a 23-year-old, young British colonial officer John Smith was put in charge of the vast area of Kano in Nigeria. In his position, he represented the might of the British Empire. Now 82, Smith returns to see how the country has fared after 50 years of freedom and to renew a remarkable friendship.

There's a tough marriage market in the US for single, college educated, black women. For Assignment Nina Robinson travels to New York to find out why.

Can oral history challenge or alter the official past of a nation? History is often said to be written by the victors, but oral history has been strongly associated with the voices of the 'ordinary' citizens. Be it war, revolution or dictatorship, these accounts often offer different versions of the past. Alan Dein explores how this oral history can sometime collide with the official version committed to the history books - particularly in nations where the outcome is still bitterly contested.

“When I wake up in the morning I think I’ve still got two normal arms and I have to look to see which one is not there.” How do our brains work in everyday life? In the second of a four-part series examining the mind’s complexities, Professor Barry Smith explores the link between the body and the brain.

Writer Cathy FitzGerald explores the past, present, and very real future of the magic carpet and wonders what our desire to defy gravity tells us about ourselves. We dream of flying and often long to fly unaided - is that part of it?

With anti-Islamic sentiment on the rise in America, Claire Bolderson reports for Assignment on what it is like to be a young American muslim in America and explores what is being done to stop them becoming alienated.