Documentaries & Specials
Each month, the BBC World Service offers new documentaries and specials selected specifically for U.S. audiences, with in-depth, relevant reporting. Typically one-hour, or two half-hours on a similar topic, they offer great content for any time of day, and satisfy audiences' needs for deeper narratives and more reflective listening.
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How does the heat affect our health?
Air window: May 24, 2025 - June 20, 2025
One hour
What effect will warming temperatures have on health?
One place to look for answers is Bulgaria. In the summer of 2023, Bulgaria experienced numerous heatwaves, leading to the country experiencing one of the highest rates of heat mortality in Europe. But how are these numbers calculated? How exactly does heat affect us? Who is most likely to suffer from ill health due to heat? And how can we protect ourselves in an increasingly warming world? Along with a panel of experts, Claudia Hammond will explore these questions and more with a live audience at the Sofia Science Festival in Bulgaria. Are we prepared for how rising temperatures will affect our health?
Nostalgia - A bittersweet emotion
Air window: May 31, 2025 - June 27, 2025
One hour
Nostalgia is one of those complicated emotions: we long to be transported to a place or moment in the past that we have loved, but at the same time feel sad that it has gone forever. Beyond personal recollections, business uses it to sell all manner of things and some politicians skillfully deploy it to hide their real objectives. So what actually is nostalgia?
Iszi Lawrence explores the past and present of nostalgia with Dr. Agnes Arnold-Forster, author of Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion, Prof. Krystine Batcho who devised the Nostalgia Inventory and Dr. Tobias Becker author of Yesterday, A New History of Nostalgia. We also hear WS listeners’ views on nostalgia.
Witness History: Pride Month
Air window: June 1, 2025 - June 30, 2025
One hour
A new collection of remarkable stories of LGBT+ rights, told by the people who were there.
World Book Club: N.K Jemisin
Air window: June 7, 2025 - July 12, 2025
One hour
In this episode of World Book Club, Harriet talks with one of the world’s best-loved sci-fi and fantasy authors, the four time Hugo award winner N.K Jemisin.
Which of her plethora of books did we choose? Her 10th novel, and love letter to New York, The City We Became. The story takes place in a world in which major cities become conscious, living beings. After New York is attacked by an otherworldly enemy, five people, champions representing each of the city’s five boroughs, must band together to save the city, but also humanity itself. Rich with sharp social commentary, vibrant characters, and breathtaking world-building, it’s a gripping, imaginative tale of identity, belonging, and the power of unity in the face of otherworldly, eldritch chaos.
N.K Jemisin answers questions from our World Book Club - including how she created characters that embody each of New York’s five boroughs, what makes a city ‘alive’, and how she confronted, and subverted, Lovecraftian tropes to create the enemy of all humanity, the woman in white.
World Questions Malaysia
Air window: June 14, 2025 - July 11 2025
One hour
Corruption, tariffs and Malaysia's balancing act between China and the US.
US tech money is pouring into the country, but as President Trumps tariffs prepare to bite, should Malaysia look to China or to the West as its key strategic partner? The former Prime Minister is in jail for corruption; the new PM has promised an ethical society but does Malaysia have the institutions to deliver that? Jonny Dymond is joined by a panel of political leaders to debate important questions raised by an audience in Kuala Lumpur.
Australia’s Extinction Crisis
Air window: June 21, 2025 - July 18, 2025
One hour
Why are so many of Australia’s unique animals now under threat of extinction? Ruth Evans investigates Australia’s extinction crisis, and explores what can and should be done to prevent further casualties and turn things around.
Roughly a third of all global mammal extinctions in the last 500 years are thought to have occurred in Australia. At least 34 species have now gone extinct since European colonization, and over 2,000 species of mammals, birds and invertebrates are now listed as critically endangered or threatened. Without substantial and rapid change, this list is almost certain to grow.
World Questions: Serbia
Air window: July 12 - August 8, 2025
One hour
Allan Little is joined by a panel of the leading Serbian politicians and activists to discuss the country's most pressing issues. Student protests, the status of Kosovo, the EU and relations with Russia - will all be up for debate. With questions put to the panel from the public, from across the country.
Dying for a Transplant
Air window: July 19 - August 15, 2025
One hour
In 2019 British-Nigerian comedian Emmanuel Sonubi suffered heart failure whilst on-stage during his set at a comedy club in Dubai. When he returned to the UK, he was told that he might need a heart transplant, but that there's a severe shortage of donors for people from his background. In Dying for a Transplant, Emmanuel explores the varying attitudes to organ donation and transplantation around the world and asks what different nations and cultures can learn from each other.
The Thirst for Water
Air window: July 19 - August 15, 2025
One hour
On this episode of The Evidence, Claudia Hammond discusses all things hydration with a panel of experts. Where do our hydration guidelines come from? How do we determine the perfect amount of water we should drink? What are the issues with water access that people and populations face around the globe? And how will climate change affect the amount of water we need, and our access to it.
The Forum: Movie Theatre Magic
Air window: July 26 - August 22, 2025
One hour
From the picture palaces of the 1920s to the multiplexes and intimate art-house cinemas of today, the evolving design of movie theatres reflects the changes in our film viewing habits. And even though television has long since become the dominant family entertainment technology, cinema audiences in the West have increased since the low point in the 1970s and 80s. Some of that is down to innovation: you might be able to find baby or dementia-friendly screenings near you or a cinema that relays cricket matches or opera performances.
Iszi Lawrence explores the 120-year development of movie theatres with film historian Professor Ross Melnick from the University of California, Daniela Treveri Gennari, Professor of Cinema Studies at Oxford Brookes University and World Service listeners.
Broadcast Rights
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