The Documentary Podcast

Are international regulations designed to stop money and equipment reaching terrorist organisations curtailing vital aid programmes in some of the world's most troubled regions?

As Ukraine prepares for elections amid rising tension, Tim Whewell travels there to meet the nationalist militiamen who are determined to secure a strong and united country.

Four teenage girls from the BBC World Service programme All That Stands In The Way, meet for the very first time. Lulu from London, Shoeshoe from Lesotho, Vigdis from Iceland and Mira from Jordan discuss what choices and freedoms they have and how they see gender equality, as they stand on the threshold of adulthood.

Simon Cox investigates a notorious miscarriage of justice in Iceland which many see as a stain on the country's justice system.

As the World’s media prepares to descend on Brazil for the 2014 World Cup, Julia Carneiro presents the first programme which gets to the heart of Brazilian identity.

Lu Olkowski reports on New York's growing 'prepper' movement - people who are fearful of the future and who are preparing for the next disaster that will strike the city. They train in self-defence, plan ways to escape, store food and water in their houses and have 'bug out' bags ready at a moments notice if they have to flee. Are these people simply paranoid? Or do they have genuine concerns that all of us should take heed of?

How does being on a map affect your work, education and rights? Meet the The volunteers who are mapping the world's unmapped places and people - in the aftermath of natural disasters, and in areas of political unrest and civil war.

The number of families in India employing detectives to spy on future brides and grooms is on the rise. Many dozens of premarital investigations happen each week, it’s now reported. Ed Butler has been finding out why.

They are Asia’s economic giants - yet the historical record of Japan and China continues to cause tensions. China’s leaders accuse Japan of failing to apologise for its wartime aggression – while Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, talks of rewriting the country’s pacifist Constitution. Tensions are rising in the South China seas.

Japanese journalist Mariko Oi and Chinese journalist Haining Liu, visit each other's country to explore the intertwineed histories of their two nations and what they mean today.

For centuries, Turkish traders have exploited their location on the historic Silk Road between east and west, selling to merchants travelling in both directions. And, as Jim O'Neill reports Turkey's geography remains important to this day as the country becomes an aviation hub, a conduit for gas and oil, and a unique visitor destination. Yet Turkish plans go much further too. So can this ambitious country combine its deep-rooted trading skills with ultra modern technology to develop world-beating manufacturers? Or will its much lauded potential remain just that?