The Documentary Podcast

Why are millions of Afghans forced to go home and what awaits them in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan? In this series, The Global Jigsaw explores one of the world’s largest and longest running refugee crises - a story spanning decades, and affecting nearly half of Afghanistan’s population. Once welcomed as guests and embraced in the spirit of Islamic solidarity in neighbouring Iran and Pakistan, Afghan refugees now find themselves facing restrictions, discrimination and deportation. In the second part of this series, we explore rising anti-migrant sentiments in Iran and Pakistan, and the official narratives used to justify the mass deportations. Find out more about BBC Monitoring on our website: https://monitoring.bbc.co.ukContributors: Haroon Rahmani, Umaima Zia, Barry Sadid Producer: Kriszta Satori, Barry Sadid Presenter: Krassi Ivanova Twigg Music: Pete Cunningham

Two cases in recent weeks have reignited debate around capital punishment in the United States after the failed attempt to execute Christa Pike and controversy over – now abandoned – plans to live-stream another execution. We bring together three people who have witnessed prisoners being put to death to share their experiences. Retired Ghanaian army officer, Captain Budu Koomson says, “It has an eerie feeling of finality that something has been forever done and cannot be undone.” We also hear from chaplains who have counselled criminals before their executions. “We talk about everything from their case to what happens at the moment of death,” explains Father Dustin Feddon, a priest in Florida.

Sean Allsop has had insomnia for much of his adult life and now sees it as a problem he wants to understand. He explores what countries are doing to tackle poor sleep and he examines the financial strain sleepless nights place on a nation. At home in the UK, he visits the first helpline dedicated to poor sleepers, joining a call as staff help people find answers and navigate the often confusing world of sleep advice. He also spends a night at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience in Amsterdam, wired up with EEG electrodes as we discover what happens inside the sleeping brain and see first hand how scientists study sleep and investigate why some of us struggle to get it.

Hungary under Viktor Orban was a model for the populist right the world over. But in April 2026 he and the party he led, Fidesz, was decisively defeated in an election that brought an end to his 16 years in power. In the six months since the election some of what Viktor Orban had institutionalised has been rolled back. The state-funded media is no longer under government control. Hungary has a new president, a former judge who had been peremptorily swept from office under the previous government. Hungary has recovered billions of Euros from the European Union withheld because of what it saw as democratic backsliding under Orban. There is a new policy towards Russia, in which the 2022 invasion of Ukraine is explicitly condemned. In early September Hungary expelled 10 Russian diplomats accusing them of activities incompatible with their status, a move unthinkable under Viktor Orban.

A brand new season of the BBC’s space podcast explores the story of the revolutionary Hubble Space Telescope and the tiny flaw that almost destroyed the dream. This is the first episode in the season, to listen to more just search 13 Minutes wherever you get your BBC podcasts. In this episode, our view of the universe could be transformed by one of the most ambitious scientific instruments ever built but a terrible disaster strikes Nasa. After decades of meticulous planning, will the Hubble Space Telescope make it into space? Nasa believes the telescope is capable of doing the impossible: peering deeper into the universe than ever before and unlocking some of its greatest secrets. But Hubble is delicate and extraordinarily complex and it will be Astronaut Kathy Sullivan’s responsibility to help get it into space, no matter what. Archive: Mission audio and oral histories, Nasa History Office Theme music by Hans Zimmer and Christian Lundberg, and produced by Russell Emanuel, for Bleeding Fingers Music. 13 Minutes: Trouble with Hubble is a BBC Audio Science Unit production for the BBC World Service. Presenter: Dame Dr Maggie Aderin

The President of Cornell University says it "must do better" after a woman alleged she was drugged and raped by a group of men at a fraternity – or frat – house. Fraternities are all-male social organisations where the students live, study and socialise, and many are known for their parties. But they are also controversial and have been criticised for elitism and dangerous initiation rituals, referred to as hazing. “There’s a lot of forced drinking to get guys into a state of severe inebriation and if you weren’t participating you would be punished,” Mikey, a former President of a frat house tells us. “I did some things that I’m certainly not proud of.” Our guests share their experiences of secrecy, alcohol and discuss attitudes to women. They also describe working with young men today to help them understand consent.

Electoral battle lines are being drawn and redrawn in the United States right now, as Republicans and Democrats up the ante in an electoral redistricting war that many fear is undermining democracy. BBC North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher looks at how a once-a-decade act of political admin has turned into a rolling process of political partisanship, as parties compete to redraw voting districts, as they try to lock in near-guaranteed majorities. We look at the recent US Supreme Court ruling which has fuelled this growing political battleground and explore accusations of racist bias behind the decision making. While many observers are focused on the impact this could have on the imminent midterm elections, we look beyond November to see how it could shape all future elections as political parties work to manipulate the system in order to leave nothing to chance.

British Psychiatrist Dr Gwen Adshead, who has spent a lifetime working with violence perpetrators, visits Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang rehabilitation in the world. It offers, training, education, therapy and other services, was set up by a Jesuit Priest, Father Gregory Boyle. It was his response to the so-called “decade of death,” in the late 1980s, as his neighbourhood was terrorised by gang violence. Today, 40 years on, it has been called one of the most successful gang rehabilitation organisations in the world. Talking to Father Boyle and several former gang members, Dr Adshead explores the Home Boy model of rehabilitation and asks if something similar could work in other parts of the world.

With perpetrators in exile, closure is out of reach. As Syria’s new authorities seek to hold figures of the former regime accountable, questions remain over the fate of Bashar al-Assad. The former president and members of his inner circle were granted asylum in Russia after a rebel offensive drove him from power in 2024. The transition ushered in a new chapter for Syria, raising hopes for justice, after decades of repression. The Global Jigsaw assesses the obstacles standing in the way of accountability, justice and closure. Can victims of Assad’s brutal reign find redress when some of the regime’s most notorious figures remain beyond the reach of Syrian courts? Find out more about BBC Monitoring on our website: https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/Contributors: Tess Mallinder Heron, Clare Denning, Feras Kilani, Amalia Zatari Producer: Clare Denning, Tess Mallinder Heron, Kriszta Satori Presenter: Krassi Ivanova Twigg Music: Pete Cunningham

The French town of Lourdes is a place of pilgrimage for Catholics – this year even welcoming the Pope. This shrine in the Pyrenees Mountains is the site of miracles and Christian fervour, where the young shepherdess Bernadette Soubirous saw 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary and where many people believe they have been miraculously healed. The Feast of the Assumption is the most important date in the Lourdes calendar, when tens of thousands travel from all over the world, to drink and wash in the shrine’s water, and sing and pray in huge candle-lit processions behind the white statue of the Virgin Mary. John Laurenson has joined them to hear stories of the faithful, and to meet a woman whose job description is unique in the world. Dr Giana Monami investigates miracles. Her ‘Bureau de Constatation’ brings the cold analysis of science to claims of instant, otherwise-inexplicable, permanent healings. There have been 72 so far. Dr Monami talks about her investigations and the other miracles that happen here. Those that are healed in their hearts. That find God. That end addictions. And there is another Lourdes miracle: the extraordinary solidarity shown by the thousands of mostly-very young ‘hospitalier’ volunteers who help the sick and disabled people who come – also in their thousands – to turn their pain into joy and their suffering into hope

How something as simple as a walk can improve our wellbeing, sharpen our thinking and bring communities closer together. We try out an innovative walking map of the UK on a journey through London, then head to the United States and Hungary, where doctors are leading walks to build stronger relationships with their patients.

We head west along America's famed Route 66. As the road celebrates its 100th birthday, Victoria Craig finds out whether the pull of neon-drenched nostalgia is still attracting visitors and whether new investment can secure the future of the towns that depend on it.