Documentaries & Specials
Each month, the BBC World Service offers new documentaries and specials selected specifically for U.S. audiences, with in-depth, relevant reporting. Typically one-hour, or two half-hours on a similar topic, they offer great content for any time of day, and satisfy audiences' needs for deeper narratives and more reflective listening.
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World Questions: Greenland
Air window: November 8 - December 5, 2025
One hour
What’s next for Greenland? Jonny Dymond brings together a panel of leading politicians and academics to discuss the big issues facing the territory.
The Global Jigsaw: Jihadists and AI
Air window: November 15 - December 12, 2025
Half hour
Supporters of the Islamic State group tend to be early adopters of new tech, and some have already experimented with Artificial Intelligence. But that has exposed deep divisions in jihadist circles.
In this edition of The Global Jigsaw we get inside the mindset of hardcore supporters of jihadist ideology - weighing up their enthusiasm for this powerful tech against their fears about the damage it could do to their image and reputation.
People Fixing the World: Helping and healing in Sierra Leone
Air window: November 15 - December 12, 2025
Half hour
An in-depth look at the rehabilitation of the west African nation of Sierra Leone.
Thousands of people in Sierra Leone lost limbs during the brutal civil war, and many more have struggled to overcome the mental as well as physical burdens of the conflict. We visit the Farming on Crutches program where amputees are trained in agricultural skills which they can use to start their own farms and teach others in their communities their skills.
Plus, how former addicts are helping others in their communities to stop using kush, a deadly blend of addictive substances that has become a scourge of parts of West Africa.
Discussion and Documentary: The Great Hunger - Stalin's famine in Kazakhstan
Air window: November 22 - December 19, 2025
One hour
Few people outside Kazakhstan know of the famine that left nomadic life destroyed in the 1930s. Even within Kazakhstan you can meet people who have no idea that a third of their population perished just within the living memory. Why is the cloak of silence around this calamity - in contrast to the well-known Holodomor in Ukraine during the same period? Rose Kudabayeva's grandparents didn't breathe a word. Now she travels through Kazakhstan trying to piece together what happened.
World Book Club: Philippa Gregory
Air window: December 6 - January 4, 2026
One hour
Harriett Gilbert welcomes bestselling author Philippa Gregory into the World Book Club studio to discuss her celebrated historical novel, The Other Boleyn Girl.
This novel, about to celebrate its 25th anniversary, is a vivid portrayal of ambition, love, and betrayal in the Tudor Court, told from the perspective of Mary Boleyn, sister to the ill-fated Anne. As Mary becomes the mistress of King Henry VIII, Anne sets her sights on the throne. Set against the splendor and peril of sixteenth-century England, Philippa Gregory’s masterful novel explores power, desire, and the price women paid in a world where one man’s whims were considered sacrosanct.
Philippa Gregory answers readers’ questions on what drives her fascination with women’s untold histories, the clash between love and ambition in the fraught world of the English court, and whether sisterhood can survive when the ultimate prize is the crown of England.
World Questions: Kenya
Air window: December 13 - January 9, 2026
One hour
Kenya gets ninety percent of its energy from renewables, its tech sector is one of the biggest in Africa and its economy is growing fast. The country has a strong role to play diplomatically, promoting climate action worldwide, hosting the only UN Head Quarters in Africa and deploying its police offers to support security as far away as Haiti.
But it faces many challenges: Nearly half of young Kenyan adults are unemployed and mass youth protests have rocked the government and led to multiple deaths. Crime is a growing problem, violence against women has surged and corruption at all levels continues to be a scourge. Can Kenya provide stability and protect civil liberties at the same time? Can it tackle corruption and reform its institutions? Whatever the issue, World Questions puts people and their questions at the heart of the debate. The BBC’s Jonny Dymond and a panel of Kenyan political leaders debate questions from an audience in Nairobi.
Discussion and Documentary: United in Space – How we Built the ISS
Air window: December 20 - January 16, 2026
One hour
Personal tales of bravery, tragedy, daring and triumph, United in Space unveils the remarkable story of one of humanity’s greatest ever feats – building a home among the stars – the International Space Station.
Celebrating 25 unbroken years of humans living in space, former international director of the UK Space Agency, Dr Alice Bunn charts how nations put aside differences to create the ultimate symbol of human ingenuity and collaboration – a space station orbiting our planet that has been home to over 300 people from 24 different nations.
Looking into the future, Alice explores how the legacy of the ISS will be carried on by a new generation of private space stations, which have the power to push back the boundaries of science for the good of all humanity. The reduced gravity offers enormous possibilities from creating materials impossible to create on Earth - these range from ultrafast semiconductors for use in computing, to life-saving vaccines, and most remarkably of all entire human organs for life-saving transplants.
BBC Correspondents' Look Ahead to 2026
Air window: December 27 - January 23, 2026
One hour
Join BBC correspondents and editors from across the globe as they peer into their crystal balls to predict what 2026 might hold.
Broadcast Rights
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