The Documentary Podcast

Tim Mansel on the lives of people in Sierra Leone as they face a three day "lock-down" designed to counter Ebola which has already killed nearly 500 of their compatriots.

In the late 1930's a young Mildred Cummings from Dayton, Ohio is barefoot, standing in the spotlight on stage, wearing that same old shabby dress and a broken straw hat. This is Little Miss Cornshucks and she has the audience in the palm of her hand, a unique act and larger than life personality. By the 1940's she made top-billing at nightclubs across America, performing heartbreaking ballads. But who remembers her now?

Music from the most promising bands of the Mexican music scene. Hear rapper Eptos One, the rock anthems of Zoé, Mexico’s biggest rock band, and happy-go-lucky artist Caloncho. Plus, we talk to the diva of Mexican pop, Julieta Venegas, Centavrus, Hello Seahorse and Little Jesus.

In Ivory Coast, men are going back to the classroom. It's an innovative project dubbed the 'school for husbands' - and designed to save the lives of mothers and children.

The legacy of jazz pianist James Booker. Classically trained in piano and a child prodigy, Booker toured with Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin and played on sessions with Fats Domino and Little Richard. But, gay at a time when homosexuality was a huge taboo and black in a divided America, Booker died alone, aged 43, after a life of drug and alcohol abuse.

After becoming a Paralympics champion, Oscar Pistorius rose to fame as the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics. He became a hero to millions – until the fateful night when he shot dead his girlfriend, the model Reeva Steenkamp.

Hilary Andersson investigates the more than one million mentally ill prisoners held in US jails and prisons, most of whom are incarcerated for relatively minor offences.

Tim Whewell meets the dynamic young women in Turkish Kurdistan who are defining the future of their society.

Theatre director Mehmet Ergen guides us through the politically charged arts scene of his native homeland Turkey, as he negotiates national and cultural borders to stage work that is as unpretentious as it is provocative.

Ahead of sporting mega-events such as the Olympic Games, local people are being given a "clean-up" and training. For this summer's Commonwealth Games, 10,000 Glaswegians are getting tutoring how to speak 'properly', project positive body language and maintain eye contact whilst talking to visitors.