The Documentary Podcast

Alan Dein searches for the nspiring and moving stories of how the pandemic has changed people's lives on every continent. Today, airline pilot Peter in Australia talks about deciding to become a bus driver after the pandemic forced him to stop flying. And wedding planner Vithika in India discusses the dramatic impact of the pandemic on her industry. Plus, Chun Wing, a ballet dancer at the Paris Opera shares the frustrations of not being able to perform. Alan also speaks to Shira who lives in an orthodox community in Israel and he catches up with doctor Ahmed in Sudan who’s just made a major life decision.

For 100 days and counting protesters are calling for an end to the 26-year long rule of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus. Poet Valzhyna Mort records first-hand stories from her friends who are out protesting week after week; ordinary people making extraordinary choices. Obsessively, she reads the social media posts flooding her phone. In her hands, these tiny messages are poetry themselves, the oral history of our time captured on thousands of phones

Since November 2000, humans have been living in space on the International Space Station (ISS). Although the ISS is a remarkable engineering achievement, human space exploration has proven dangerous and costly. There is no air, gravity or food, and water has to be recycled from sweat, stale breath and urine. As we return to the Moon and aim for Mars, some argue that space colonisation is also immoral, psychologically and socially damaging and unnecessarily expensive. Beatriz De La Pava talks to astronauts, anthropologists, scientists, doctors and philosophers to investigate if it is time to abandon the dream of human space travel and come back down to Earth.

Nuala McGovern talks to Kerry. She has muscular dystrophy and has been shielding, or isolating, at home in England since March. We also hear from Dr Joseph Varon, Chief of Critical Care at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas. He has been working without a break for 258 days. A photo of him cradling an elderly man on a Covid ward went viral this week. He explains the picture and shares his experiences of working non-stop due to the virus. Joe Biden has this week called on Americans to wear masks for his first 100 days as US president. Nuala also talks to two campaigners in the US who are sceptical of face coverings and other coronavirus restrictions.

Internet trolls are harassing and bullying people like never before. That’s according to research carried out in the UK which found abuse rising as the world spends more and more time online thanks to the Covid pandemic. But who are the people behind these often anonymous attacks? How do they get involved in persecuting people they don’t even know? And what can their victims do about it? British Journalist, Sali Hughes, has been a target herself. In this edition of Assignment, she sets out to discover how trolls justify their actions, and what motivates them. She speaks to other women who have suffered online abuse and hears about the devastating impact it can have. And, she goes face to face with one of her own former tormentors to make a sobering discovery: those provoking conflict in cyberspace include the most normal people in real life.

Producer: Paul Grant

(Image: Anonymous internet-user in a mask. Credit: Peter Dazeley/Getty)

Ahead of a crucial year in the battle to control climate change, presenter Lucy Hockings is joined by the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. He is warning that "our planet is broken". We'll hear a live discussion as he answers questions from activists around the world and talks solutions to the problems we face.

Alan Dein searches for the stories that connect us in a changed world. Inspiring and moving stories of how the pandemic has changed people's lives on every continent. Today, Liana in Armenia celebrates her 30th birthday as her country finds itself at war with Azerbaijan - as well as Covid-19. We also catch up with 25-year-old entrepreneur Fahad in Bangladesh, who Alan first spoke to in March when it looked like he might lose his hard-earned fortune. Plus, Ugandan midwife Marion faces the toughest year of her career and Fish in China describes how lockdown is affecting her fellow students’ mental health

Lucy Ash explores the world of the security forces that keep Lukashenko in power, peeling back the ubiquitous balaclavas to find the men and women beneath. Minsk, early December. A wall of masked men in black body armour, beating their truncheons on steel shields. In front of them stand women bundled in winter coats and teenagers wrapped in red and white flags. They are singing a protest song once heard in the revolutionary shipyards of Gdansk a generation before - an anthem for democracy and change.

Mary Ann Sieghart asks what it takes to be a powerful woman and what holds so many back. Sexism, appearance and encouraging fathers are all up for discussion as Mary Ann talks to former Prime Ministers Jadranka Kosor and Julia Gillard, former Chair of the US Federal Reserve Janet Yellen, architect Yasmeen Lari, author Bernardine Evaristo and many others.

The arrival of winter for many countries brings the threat of increased infections as people gather indoors to escape the cold. It’s also a time for celebrating religious festivals and holidays. Host Nuala McGovern shares conversations with an American family in Indiana about Thanksgiving, and two young women in Gaza relate their experiences of curfew during the pandemic. Plus, three people living in Japan discuss why they think cases are rising, the implications for Japanese New Year and whether the Olympics should still go ahead in 2021.