The Documentary Podcast13 Touko 2025

Assignment: Syria - return to ruins

Thirteen million Syrians - half the population - left their homes during their country's 13-year civil war. Seven million were internally displaced. Six million fled abroad. Bringing them home is perhaps the biggest challenge facing Syria's new rulers. But many can’t return, because their homes are in ruins, and jobs and essential services are lacking. Tim Whewell follows a variety of returnees back to Homs, Syria’s third city, which saw some of the worst destruction of the war. A private charity organises convoys of families wanting to return from camps in the north of the country. But once returnees like Fatima Hazzoura get back, they're left to cope on their own. Some who came back earlier have managed to repair their homes. But others find their houses are just empty, burnt-out shells. Meanwhile, some in Homs who stayed throughout the war - members of the Alawite minority, whose neighbourhoods remained intact - are thinking of leaving now, fearful that the new government of former Islamist rebels will not protect them. And Homs people who made new lives abroad are hesitant to return permanently while the situation is so unstable, and the economy still crippled by international sanctions. Can the fabric of an ancient and diverse city be rebuilt? Tim finds grief and fear among the ruins - but also laughter, and flashes of Homs's famous humour.

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Jaksot(2000)

Getting the homeless homed

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Ukraine's 'hell jumpers'

The rescuers who dodge drones and bombs to evacuate from frontline areas in Ukraine, known as the “kill zone”. More than four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, thousands of civilians still liv...

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Nepal floods: 'It was like a tsunami'

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Fred Hammond

Fred Hammond is one of the biggest names in Gospel music, with 15 Grammy awards, and a career that spans over 40 years, from playing bass in The Winans to more recently his Tiny Desk Concert. His song...

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A23a: Biography of an iceberg

Forty years ago, an iceberg broke away from the Antarctic ice shelf. But this was no ordinary iceberg. A colossal chunk of ice which covered an area twice the size of London, it was as deep as the Emp...

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Fighting the silent killer

Presenter Becky Green lost one of her twins to sepsis in 2018. It is a condition that, according to the World Health Organization, is implicated in one in five deaths worldwide - more than bowel, pros...

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Big surveillance, Flock and ICE

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Is Turkey's clothing industry unravelling at the seams?

The Made in Turkey label found in so much of our clothing could disappear as the industry faces competition from countries like Egypt. Turkey is battling huge inflation and hundreds of clothing factor...

31 Elo 17min