The Documentary Podcast

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

Ten years on from the Ebola outbreak which tore through West Africa, journalist Tulip Mazumdar reconnects with survivors, healthcare workers and volunteers she met when reporting extensively from the frontline. The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak killed over 11,000. The epidemic exposed how unprepared the world was for fast-moving outbreaks - and how quickly they could spiral out of control. Ordinary people took action and managed to contain the virus.
In 2026, Ebola is back in the headlines as the Bundibugyo strain spreads in the DRC. What have we learnt about science communication, pandemic preparedness and grief in the last decade, that can help us today?

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.

As Nepal deals with the aftermath of devastating floods, there have been renewed warnings about the impact of climate change on the Himalayas. As temperatures have risen, glaciers across the region have shrunk and the landscape has become more unstable. Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent reports from one remote Nepalese mountain community that faces an existential threat from a melting glacier. The ancient village of Halji, near the Tibetan border, is home to a thousand year-old Buddhist monastery, one of the oldest in Nepal. But high above the village, meltwater has created glacial lakes . In 2011, parts of the village were destroyed when a glacial lake burst and sent a torrent of water and rocks down the valley. Other communities in the area have abandoned their homes, yet here villagers remain. So why are they determined to stay?

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.