The Documentary Podcast

The story of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s rise and fall has been gripping France. There are allegations of a secret pact with a dictator and unexplained meetings between figures close to government and a known terrorist. And so much cash that party workers do not know what to do with it.
The former French President was jailed last year for conspiring to fund his 2007 election campaign with money from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. He is currently appealing his sentence - and he has some powerful supporters. Tristan Redman tells the story of how he became the first former French head of state to end up behind bars since Nazi collaborator, Philippe Pétain. Featuring investigative journalist, Fabrice Arfi from Mediapart; Daniele Klein whose brother was killed in the ‘French Lockerbie’ and her niece Melanie who lost her father; Alain Minc, one of Nicolas Sarkozy’s closest friends and advisers; the British writer and academic Andrew Hussey and Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, who was Sarkozy’s finance minister.

'Virtual farewells' have become a trend on Russian social media. AI generated videos, depicting soldiers who have been killed in the war and paid for by their families, are being produced by AI artists. They show fantastical scenes of soldiers ascending to heaven; portrayals of their family members as guardian angels hovering over the front line; or sometimes little boys imagining a heroic future fighting in Putin's war in Ukraine. Liza Fokht of BBC Russian has been following the trend on social media/.
 A documentary about deforestation in the West Papua region has attracted criticism from Indonesia's army. Some reports suggest the film Pesta Babi, or Pig Feast, has been banned, but the government insists that any cancelled screenings were the result of 'administrative procedures' and not an official ban. All the same, the controversy around the film seems to have made Indonesians more eager to find ways to watch it. BBC Indonesian's Lesthia Kertopati had a ticket for a screening this weekend.
Since the military coup in 2021, both international and domestic tourism in Myanmar has dwindled as insecurity and unpredictability in the country has put people off travelling. Incidents of robbery and kidnapping of tourists have been reported in the ancient city of Bagan, one of the most famous tourist hotspots. Soe Win Tan of BBC Burmese explains why this is happening.
The Fifth Floor is at the heart of global storytelling on the BBC World Service, bringing you the best stories from journalists in the BBC's 43 language services. We're here to help you make sense of the stories making headlines around the world; to excite your curiosity and to get to grips with the facts.
Recent episodes have investigated Russia’s youth armies and how they make soldiers of Ukrainian children; featured the BBC team who were the first journalists to the site of the Nigerian school kidnappings and reflected the effects of internet blackouts in Iran, Uganda and India.
If you want to know more about Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, and the legacy of Hugo Chavez; or how Vladimir Putin’s network of deep cover spies operates; or why Donald Trump signed an executive order granting white South Africans asylum in the US, we have all those stories and more.
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.

Earlier this month, a volcanic eruption, which sent a plume of ash some 10km into the sky, killed three people hiking up Mount Dukono in Indonesia. The tourists had climbed the mountain despite official warnings. It is the latest incident in recent years where tourists have been killed visiting an active volcano. We explore the attraction of volcanoes, as well as hearing about the extreme danger they can pose to visitors and those living nearby. “I think it’s good in life to maybe do something that scares you and be humbled,” says photographer Demian in Hawaii. Plus, volcano guides share their experiences, and we speak to someone who has chosen to make his home on the slopes of an active volcano, and find out what it is i like to be a lava chaser.

Forty years ago, the world’s worst nuclear accident took place at Chernobyl, in what was then the Soviet Union. When news of the disaster began to emerge beyond the Iron Curtain, one of those paying close attention was Adi Roche in Ireland. At the time, Adi was working as a peace educator, teaching about nuclear weapons and Cold War tensions. She went on to found Chernobyl Children International, which became one of the most significant and sustained humanitarian responses to the disaster. Over the years, she brought aid and medical support to Ukraine, Belarus and other affected regions, established a paediatric cardiac programme for children born with heart defects, and helped arrange for children from Belarus to be adopted in Ireland.
Colm Flynn meets Adi Roche to hear about the work that has shaped her life, and the Christian faith that she says has sustained her through it.
This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from Heart and Soul, exploring personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.

A personal account of day-to-day life in Iran told through the conversations of two Iranian sisters – one in the UK, the other in the Iranian city of Shiraz. Since the outbreak of war at the end of February, a near total internet blackout and a shutdown of international phone lines by the Iranian authorities has meant limited information has got out of the country. But the sisters have made recordings of their conversations which have been shared with the BBC. They discuss when the bombs land, the destruction of places they love and the realities of an economy that’s being brought to its knees. They struggle to sleep at night. Salaries don’t come through. It’s a roller coaster of emotions. But there are also moments of calm and comfort, a spot of dark humour and the scent of hyacinths.