The Documentary Podcast

The United States is the only country to sentence children to full life terms in prison. In many states, until recently, under-18s convicted of certain crimes were automatically locked up for life without the possibility of parole. But the US Supreme Court has now banned those mandatory sentences – and the approximately 2,000 Americans who were given them stand a chance of getting out. Elizabeth Davies travels to the United States to meet some of those given life sentences as teenagers. How are they dealing with the prospect of freedom after believing they’d spend their entire lives in prison?

Panama’s idyllic islands are threatened by a rising sea, but one community has a plan. Could their efforts provide a model for other communities?

In 2015 Liz Parrish performed a risky experiment - on herself. She took a gene therapy entirely untested on humans in the hope of “curing” what she says is a disease: ageing. Her gamble was criticised by some in the scientific community, but she is not the only one that thinks scientific advances will help humans live longer healthier lives.

Periods are a taboo subject in many parts of the world. But for some Tanzanians, like BBC reporter Tulanana Bohela, a girl’s first period is celebrated. When she got her first period her female relatives gathered round to shower her with gifts. They sat her down and gave her life lessons on how to be a woman. One of those lessons was that she must keep her periods secret.

MC and producer Ryan Burvick takes us behind bars on Rikers Island, New York’s largest and troubled Jail. He leads a music production programme there called Beats, Rhymes and Justice, which helps inmates write rhymes, make music and imagine their future off the island in a different light. We hear from three of its students, all aged between 18-21 and awaiting trial.

Last year Uganda took in more refugees than any other country. But how do the South Sudanese, fleeing civil war, transform the African Bush into a new home? Ruth Alexander reports

Colombia is a country of passionate cyclists. The first bike races took place in Bogota in 1894 and by 1898 it was one of the first countries to have two purpose built velodromes. In the 1950s the great Vuelta a Colombia, a tour of Colombia, was born - 35 cyclists covered an extraordinary 779 miles in 10 stages. All over the country people listened to the commentary on radios and it began to link up Colombians in a common cause.

We are all familiar with the picture of the Afghan man with his large beard and Kalashnikov rifle - now meet the men with secateurs and watering cans. Gardening is in their blood and it has been forever. You can see this in Babur’s Garden, which was laid out in the early 16th Century by the man who established the Mughal dynasty in India. Largely destroyed during the civil war of the 1990s, the garden is once more a notable feature of the city, its largest public space.

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, refugees and undocumented immigrants, already scared about deportation and the risks of interacting with government, must seek help from the same authorities they fear might seek to look into their immigration status. As Houston comes together, the city’s mosques and Islamic centres have opened their doors to all who need shelter. Volunteers from all backgrounds have been helping those who need rescue and immediate relief. For a brief moment, prejudices seem to melt away. But can it last through what will be a long process of rebuilding?

Poet and journalist Wana Udobang travels round her home city, Lagos, speaking to people who are lonely and isolated in Africa's most populous city. She meets a young gay man who opens up about his feelings of isolation in the light of strict laws on homosexuality, meets a group of displaced women who are coming together to combat loneliness in poverty, and visits a cycling club and an elderly community centre.