The Documentary Podcast

Navanetham 'Navi' Pillay has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2026. The 85-year-old South African jurist and former UN Human Rights chief initially thought the news was a joke. Born in Durban, South Africa, to a Tamil family, her grandparents had come to South Africa as indentured labourers to work in the sugarcane fields. Born under apartheid rule neither of her parents were educated and her mother fought for her daughters to attend school where Navi's teachers saw her potential. The community then raised money enabling her to attend university. In 1967 she was the first woman to establish a law practice in Natal Province defending apartheid activists and political prisoners. She made international news in 1973 when she secured greater legal rights for the prisoners on Robben island including future president, Nelson Mandela. Once president, Mandela appointed Pillay the first non-white woman judge in the South African High Court. Soon after she was made a judge on the UN’s International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She became UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and then in 2021 she chaired a UN Commission which accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. Israel has said awarding Pillay the Nobel Prize legitimised "anti-Israel hatred" and and both the US and Israel have since issued sanctions on the International Criminal Court. Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes, said she had been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.

Russia's super-rich once ruled the country, holding deep influence over the country's politicians in the years immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They then gradually saw their power decline under the rise of Vladimir Putin, but could they - and would they - ever seek to restore their political influence Russia editor at BBC Monitoring, Vitaly Shevchenko, traces the origin story of Russia’s oligarchs and why the party is now over for Russia’s wealthiest men. From the chaotic post-Soviet days of the 1990s when they amassed vast fortunes and wielded immense power to today where their number has reached an all-time high - while their political influence has virtually disappeared. Vitaly asks what, if anything, might lead them to restore their political clout?

Deep in the Amazon jungle, pink river dolphins are under threat from pollution, deforestation, illegal mining and climate change. As a powerful El Niño looms, raising fears of drought and extreme heat, renowned Colombian scientist Fernando Trujillo is racing to protect them. His solution combines cutting-edge science with Indigenous knowledge, sustainable tourism and reforestation. We follow Fernando and his team into the rainforest to study these remarkable animals and discover why saving dolphins could also help protect rivers, forests and the communities that depend on them.

Journalist and author Paul Kenyon investigates rising suspicions over China’s presence in the UK. From shadow policing operations, to spies and the infiltration of universities and public bodies, Beijing is being accused by the UK’s domestic intelligence agency of posing a threat to national security. Yet, less than a decade ago, China and the UK had a flourishing relationship. So what has changed?

China's latest trade data show another huge surplus, putting the country on course for what could be a record $1.5 trillion trade surplus this year. In the first of two episodes examining China's export machine, we look at the country's massive solar panel industry. We hear from the so-called Sun King, Dr Jerry Shi, China's first solar billionaire, about the rise of solar power in China. Ed Butler also examines how solar power and other green technologies have helped drive the global response to climate change, while critics raise concerns about oversupply and its impact on industries and economies around the world.