BBC OS Conversations: Colourism

Alan Dein connects via social media to absolute strangers and old friends to hear how Russia's invasion of Ukraine has blown away their old lives. Some, like Anna, have fled their home town of Dnipro. Others like Verena, from St Petersburg, have fled the secret police whilst in Odesa Roman awaits the fate of his city.

18 Mai 202227min

Sana Safi follows the stories of two Afghan women judges who have had to go into hiding after the Taliban takeover. Through encrypted networks and messages, Sana gets unprecedented access to the secretive operatives trying to get the women and their families out of the country. It is a race against time as the Taliban go door to door looking for the women.

17 Mai 202227min

James Montague, award-winning author of the The Billionaire’s Club, tells the story of how the super-rich bought English football and Chelsea FC became a sanctioned asset. From Putin’s oligarchs to hyper-capitalist Americans and oil-rich Middle Eastern royal families, James explores the concerns, crimes and crises that large waves of cash have brought to the home of the beautiful game.

14 Mai 202250min

Abortion is a deeply divisive issue in the United States that spans the law, religion and women’s rights. It has been a legal right for almost 50 years. Now, the Supreme Court – the top court in the country – is expected to overturn the law and rule that abortions can banned. It’s put abortion back towards the top of the political debate and we reflect some of the conversations taking place among those affected. Two women share their experiences and personal reasons for terminating their pregnancies, including one that resulted from sexual assault.

14 Mai 202224min

Kim Tserkezie meets Danny Hibbert, the mastermind behind Switch, a sport of sports consisting of football, basketball, volleyball, netball and handball. She learns how the game is crossing generational and cultural divides in White City, a fast-changing area of west London, and giving opportunities to many, where more established sports are failing. Through speaking to those who Switch has impacted, Kim comes to understand how important Switch, and Danny, are to this diverse community.

14 Mai 202218min

While some countries fight to reclaim antiquities that were stolen centuries ago, Cambodian investigators are dealing with far more recent thefts. Many of the country’s prized treasures were taken by looters in the 1980s and 1990s and then sold on to some of the world’s most prestigious museums, including the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert museum, in London. At the centre of many of the sales was a rogue British art dealer. Celia Hatton joins the Cambodian investigative team and gains unprecedented access to looters who have become government witnesses. The Phnom Penh government has now launched a legal campaign in the UK to get some of its most prized statues back. For many Cambodians these are not simply blocks of stone or pieces of metal, they are living spirits and integral to the Khmer identity. The Gods, they say, are cold and lonely in foreign collections and they want to come home. Producer: John Murphy(Image: Monks at Angkor Wat temple, Cambodia. Credit: BBC)

12 Mai 202226min

Alan Dein's series of global conversations is now a decade old. Via social media he has crossed the word and heard true stories of love, pain and downright craziness. In those 10 years many of those he first encountered have become digital friends. Now in this time of war and upheaval he reconnects with Daria in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, who has unexpectedly found love.

11 Mai 202227min

BBC World News anchor Laura Trevelyan discovered her family’s slave owning past only after the University College London database of slave ownership in the British Caribbean was published in 2013. Back in the 18th Century, the Trevelyan family were known as absentee slave owners on Grenada. The family never set foot on the island, but owned hundreds of slaves and profited for years from the sale of sugar harvested from five different sugar cane plantations. To try and learn more about the legacy of slavery on Grenada and her family’s involvement in the slave trade, Laura Trevelyan and her producer Koralie Barrau go to Grenada.

10 Mai 202227min