The Documentary Podcast

World renowned DJ Edu, aka The ‘Afro Boss’, is on a journey across Africa to explore how the young generation are having fun from Friday to Sunday.

He starts in his hometown Nairobi and finds out how young, up and coming DJs, are making their mark on the music world by selling mixtapes on the public buses. In Morocco he finds a new music genre called ‘Afro-bian’ and in Botswana, an emerging outdoor festival culture is pushing back against government attempts to crackdown on anti-social behaviour. Moving to Central Africa and The Democratic Republic of Congo, DJ Edu meets the new generation of Sapeurs – Kinshasa’s gentleman dandies, now made famous by ad agencies around the world. He finishes in South Africa, whose native house music scene is taking the clubbing world by storm, and discovers a hipster’s paradise in Johannesburg, which has reformed a previously ‘no-go’ area to the ‘must-go’ area.

The story of a Tanzanian safe house, a place where girls find refuge from female genital mutilation - a bloody and life-threatening rite of passage.

Ahmed has spent much of the last three and a half years sleeping on London’s night buses. He fled to the UK from India in 2002 during the communal riots in Gujarat, fearing that he was going to be a target. He had his asylum application turned down but, still nervous about the situation at home, he stayed in the UK. Through Ahmed we enter a netherworld where many other failed asylum seekers like him exist.

Dawood Azami focuses on the life and legacy of the Afghan cameleers, who first arrived in Australia in the 1860s. They played a crucial role in the development of railway lines, overland Telegraph line and provided supplies to remote mission stations and farms. They became part of the pioneering legend of inland Australia by opening up the Australian deserts, exploring it and enabling the early white settlers to survive.

What’s in your fridge? That’s the question former BBC Africa Service editor Elizabeth Ohene has been asking as she opens fridge doors on three continents to find out how the fridge has changed – and continues to change – millions of lives around the world.

Edward Stourton looks back at the remarkable life of Lee Kuan Yew, who transformed Singapore from a backwater into one of the world’s richest nations. He talks to critics and admirers as he assesses the record of the man who laid down the blueprint for the modernisation of the island nation.

Tim Whewell tells the story of how Gaza's only grand piano is being restored and of how music - for so long played behind closed doors - is being re-introduced to school children.

Claire Bolderson reports on the tiny independent cities that make up St Louis County and how they stand accused of fuelling community tensions

Formerly known as Burma, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar is in a state of upheaval. Business is booming in Yangon, thanks to new access to international markets. And while the country is offering greater stability for investors, ethnic and political tensions still run high. Mark Turin explores what these transformations mean for the indigenous ethnic groups that make up much of the population, and specifically for their languages and cultures.

Indian Journalist Rupa Jha travels to her own state of Bihar, where nearly 10% of the population now live, facing many of the issues confronting the average citizen. It is the height of festival season and Patna is resonating to the sound of loud fireworks and blaring music. She speaks to four local residents from different backgrounds to understand how day-to-day life is for the majority of ordinary Indians.