The Documentary Podcast: Archive 2015

Dawood Azami talks to some of the descendants of the thousands of Afghan pioneers in Australia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, who, with their camels, first arrived in Australia in the 1860s and criss-crossed the harsh interior of Australia for several decades. He explores the adventurist nature and the entrepreneurial spirit of the Afghans and discusses their ancient and unwritten code of life called – Pashtoonwali.

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.

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.

How did the disease originate & how was its deadly progress checked? Statistician Hans Rosling & the WHO's Margaret Lamunu discuss their experiences of fighting the disease.

Detroit Soup is an innovative crowdfunding dinner which has raised more than $85,000 for community projects in Motor City - but could it work elsewhere? The BBC takes Detroit Soup founder Amy Kaherl to Nepal, to inspire a new crowdfunding culture, Kathmandu-style.

Lyse Doucet talks to journalist Safa al-Ahmad about her recent reporting trip to Yemen to cover the takeover of the capital Sanaa by Houthi rebels from the north of the country.

Bhutan is a landlocked country in the eastern Himalaya, best known as a Buddhist kingdom where the policy of ‘Gross National Happiness’ replaced GDP. Anthropologist and linguist Mark Turin documents the country’s endangered oral traditions. Can Bhutan’s languages and cultures be preserved in the face global influences through television and the internet?

Journalist Rupa Jha travels to her own state of Bihar, where nearly 10% of the population now live, and who face many of the issues confronting the average citizen. In part two Dalit student Sunil hopes his exam results will help lift his entire family out of poverty.

Theo Leggett looks at our apparent addiction to economic growth as the secret to prosperity and cure for global poverty. In a finite world with limited resources, can economies continue to grow indefinitely, or will physical and environmental constraints have the final word?

Has Eritrea reached its Millenium Development Goals target early? BBC’s Yalda Hakim finds out in areas such as child mortality, maternal health and HIV/Aids and malaria.

In a rapidly changing Russia, Sasha Tsaliuk continues to fight for the existence of his beloved Moscow Acapella Jewish Choir. Formed as the Soviet Union collapsed around him, Sasha came to the choir as conductor when it was a potent, exciting and hopeful symbol of the new Russia. Here was music both sacred and folk that had been arrested, buried and silenced by Communism, anti-semitism and the hammer blow of war.

India is home to an extraordinary number of people, languages and religions, but one of the more surprising statistics is that hundreds of millions of people still live on, or below, the poverty line. Indian journalist Rupa Jha starts her journey in Patna, capital of the state of Bihar. She gets to know four local residents, who come from very different backgrounds, but are unified by their sense of ambition.

As evidence grows that major historical sites are being looted in Syria, how much are groups such as Islamic State profiting from the global trade in illicit antiquities?