Anatomy of a scene

In March 2022, the senior pastor of The Redeemed Christian Church of God - Jesus House Parish, Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye, resigned from his position at a church in Washington D.C., to ascend a traditional throne as Soun of Ogbomoso kingdom of Oyo state, in south-west Nigeria. His decision sent shock waves in the community as the role is considered part of traditional African spirituality - something an evangelical pastor is not expected to be linked with. But Ghandi insists that the same God who called him as a young man to become a pastor has called him now to become a king. Since ascending the throne, he has been drawn into a legal process by some of his cousins, who argue the throne is not for a pastor. There’s also pressure from local traditionalists, who are asking that the new king converts from Christianity to their traditional African religion. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from Heart and Soul, exploring personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.

13 Kesä 26min

Every year the UK produces around 50 million tyres for disposal. They are supposed to be sent for recycling. Instead, big money is being made by diverting tyres to illegal and dangerous 'pyrolysis' plants where they are melted down to extract oil and steel. Together with a team of journalists from Source Material, a not-for-profit group specialising in climate and corruption, we follow the tyres from the UK to India using tracking devices. The team discovers just how large scale this largely illicit business has become. Earlier this year, a makeshift pyrolysis plant exploded near Mumbai, killing four people. It had been processing tyres from abroad. Reporter Paul Kenyon confronts a tyre trader in the north of England who admits to shipping his waste tyres to India for pyrolysis.

12 Kesä 27min

On 12 May, 59 Afrikaners arrived in Washington to receive “refugee” status. At a press conference, President Trump said he had acted because Afrikaners - the white minority community that ruled South Africa during apartheid - face an existential threat. His words echoed the views of his South African born former adviser, Elon Musk, who has repeatedly used his X platform to amplify false claims of a “white genocide”. Many South Africans, including several Afrikaners that we have spoken to, dismiss the idea that they are under attack as wild misinformation. So where does the idea that white South Africans are being uniquely targeted come from? And what impact is it having on the diplomatic relationship between the White House and Pretoria? This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from BBC Trending in-depth reporting on the world of social media.

11 Kesä 20min

In the last two decades thousands of men have disappeared in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest region. Activists and some of their families accuse the Pakistani authorities of enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings. The government is fighting an insurgency in the region, but denies any involvement in the disappearances. It says some of the missing men have joined militant groups or have simply left the province. Mutilated bodies have continued to turn up, including in mass graves.Farhat Javed reports on Balochistan’s Women of the Vanished - the mothers and daughters left behind who are still searching for their missing loved ones.This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from Assignment.

10 Kesä 26min

Brian D’Souza, aka Auntie Flo, is a Scottish musician, DJ and sound recordist who has played at some of the biggest festivals and clubs around the world. His compositions fuse field recordings from around the globe with cutting edge production techniques to transport the listener to different places and states. He has spent the last few years trying to bring together the natural and electronic worlds, experimenting with a complex setup of sensors and synthesisers to create music from plants. Last year he released an EP called Mycorrhizal Funghi that sampled the sounds of four different mushroom species and a full-length album called In My Dreams (I’m A Bird And I’m Free), built from field recordings and genres from across the world. Tom Raine follows Brian on a trip to Kenya and Goa to conduct field recordings and create plant music for a brand-new album and a listening app he is developing. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from In the Studio, exploring the processes of the world’s most creative people.

9 Kesä 25min

Moldova is a country torn between pro-Western and pro-Russian factions. In September this year, Moldovans will vote for a new leadership, and pro-European observers are worried that Russia will try to influence the outcome of these elections. Why? Natasha Matyukhina from BBC Monitoring explains.This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world. Presented by Faranak Amidi Produced by Alice Gioia and Caroline Ferguson(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

7 Kesä 17min

For well over a decade, civil war blighted the lives of Syrians, as rebel forces battled against former President Bashar al-Assad and his brutal regime. More than 600,000 people were killed and 12 million others were forced from their homes during this time. In December last year, everything changed when Assad’s dictatorship was abruptly overthrown by his opponents. We hear from a range of people living and working in Syria as they describe how life was for them under the old regime, and how they have been affected by the country’s new leadership. They also discuss how the lifting of international sanctions has started to improve their ailing economy. Hoteliers describe how their hotels are now fully booked, and they are able to maintain and upgrade their buildings again. And three artists exchange views on organising performances now and their hopes for the future. Three students describe how having freedom of speech has transformed university life. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from BBC OS Conversations, bringing together people from around the world to discuss how major news stories are affecting their lives

7 Kesä 23min

In the wake of the Assad regime’s fall in Syria, thousands of Alawites, a minority Shia sect historically linked to the former regime, have fled to Lebanon. They are seeking refuge from discrimination and sectarian violence that has left over 1,000 civilians dead, including women and children. The late Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, became the most powerful Alawite when he seized control of Syria in a coup in 1970. Under the rule of Hafez al-Assad and then his son Bashar - the ruling Assad’s recruited heavily from the Alawite community placing them in top posts in state, security and intelligence branches. Syria’s new President Ahmed al-Sharaa, promised to protect Syria's minorities, but has struggled to contain a wave of violence directed towards the Alawite community. Emily Wither travels to the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli to meet with Syrian Alawite refugees and a new youth movement. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from Heart and Soul, exploring personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.

6 Kesä 26min