The Documentary Podcast

Born into a Bosnian Muslim family, Salih Hardaga grew up knowing that his family had done a very courageous thing. During the Nazi occupation of Sarajevo, his parents, Mustafa and Zeinaba, sheltered their Jewish friends, the Kabiljos, even though their home stood opposite a Nazi headquarters. After World War Two, the Kabiljos moved to Israel, but the families kept in touch - and in the early 1990s, the tables were turned. When war broke out in the former Yugoslavia in 1992, the Kabiljos were horrified to see that their former hometown of Sarajevo came under siege. They decided to try to rescue their old friends. Alex Strangwayes-Booth tells the story of the two families, meeting Salih Hardaga, now in his 80s and hearing his memories of his parents’ brave actions. She finds out how the Kabiljo family in Israel enlisted the help of the authorities to rescue Salih’s mother, husband and daughter from the Siege of Sarajevo. And Alex meets younger members of the Hardaga family who lived through the events, and reflects on the offer of rescue they received. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from Heart and Soul, exploring personal approaches to spirituality from around the world.

Ballet, a centuries-old form of European dance, is flourishing in one of Africa’s largest informal settlements. In Kibera, Kenya, we follow aspiring young dancers as they prepare for their biggest performance yet. Amid the pirouettes, jumps and lifts, Carolyne Kiambo discovers how ballet is helping these young Kenyans beyond the stage.

A raw and intimate perspective on the terror, anger, and hope of living through war.As bombs hit ever closer to her home in central Gaza, Hanya Aljamal spots her elderly neighbour tending to his garden. “He's been raking the earth,” she says, “prepping the soil for new seeds. Given everything that's already happening, it's quite interesting seeing him do that right now. I mean, if grandpa thinks it's a good time to put seeds in, then I don't know, maybe there's hope.”In audio diaries sent from her balcony over four months, Hanya sees impromptu volleyball matches, flying shrapnel, and a hastily constructed tent village as Israel expands its military action. But after she questions whether she will live to see the end of the conflict, a fragile peace is finally agreed and Hanya’s personal situation changes dramatically.This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.

People in Gainesboro, Tennessee, have some new neighbours. A conservative developer has bought land just outside the tiny rural Appalachian town, with the aim of forging an “aligned” community based on shared values like “faith, family, and freedom“. Two of the first people to come to town are controversial Christian nationalists who talk about civilisational collapse and the “imperative for like-minded Christians to gather and fight”.Their extreme views on women, civil rights, and the role of the Church have attracted the attention of critics both locally and further afield. In Gainesboro itself, a resistance movement has formed and the battle lines have been drawn.This small town of 900 people has become a symbol of the next frontier of America’s political warfare. Is the new development a haven for hate and extremism, with the newcomers looking to take over local power? Or are they just conservative businessmen catering to a renewed demand for the rural, traditional lifestyle? What actually is Christian nationalism? And what is it like for the locals, whose little town has been thrust into the spotlight? Ellie House reports from Gainesboro, Tennessee.This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.

Following his time at Cern, Haroon Mirza has been creating a major installation based on his research there. The piece, made with his collaborator Jack Jelfs, is a sculptural art work which uses a circle of eight speakers, a large screen and an octagonal chandelier sculpture of LEDs to compose light, sound and video. Combined with a careful manipulation of spatial acoustics, the viewer is cocooned in a truly immersive experience. Oonagh Cousins joins Haroon in his studio as he and Jack work on the installation, to discover the creative processes behind his art. What are the technical challenges in creating this kind of piece, which has to be reassembled in different spaces? And will the final installation and rehearsals go according to plan? This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from In the Studio, exploring the processes of the world’s most creative people.