The Documentary Podcast

The rescuers who dodge drones and bombs to evacuate from frontline areas in Ukraine, known as the “kill zone”. More than four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, thousands of civilians still live dangerously close to active combat zones. Getting them to safety requires powers of persuasion, knowledge of warfare, and nerves of steel. The Global Jigsaw explores how volunteer evacuation efforts of civilians in eastern Ukraine have evolved throughout the war, and how rescuers continue to adapt to an increasingly hostile and unpredictable battlefield.
Find out more about BBC Monitoring on our website: https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk
Contributors: Vitaly Shevchenko
Producer: Kriszta Satori, Tim Bowler
Presenter: Krassi Ivanova Twigg
Music: Pete Cunningham

Survivors of the floods in Nepal share their experiences of escape from the torrent of water that swept through valleys in the Himalayas, killing at least 1.300 people. “For me that river valley was where I built my dreams,” Gaurav, who owned a café tells us. “Within a few minutes we lost everything, everything was swept away.” Gaurav is joined in conversation by his friend Sakil, who lost his family home in the floods. Extraordinary pictures of the first people to be rescued after nine days have been shared with the world. They were trapped in a hydro-electric power station tunnel with many others. But thousands, including foreign nationals from India, the UK, Australia and the US, are still missing. We bring together two families, hoping their loved ones will be found.

Fred Hammond is one of the biggest names in Gospel music, with 15 Grammy awards, and a career that spans over 40 years, from playing bass in The Winans to more recently his Tiny Desk Concert. His songs are loved by Christians around the world, and gospel fan and radio presenter Swarzy Shire wants to learn more about the man behind the music and how his faith has kept inspiring that music. Fred has faced ups and downs publicly from his divorce and the impact that has had on his family, to his physical suffering with multiple knee operations and a fall from stage just two years ago. He shares with Swarzy how his faith and music have helped him overcome the painful periods in his life.

Forty years ago, an iceberg broke away from the Antarctic ice shelf. But this was no ordinary iceberg. A colossal chunk of ice which covered an area twice the size of London, it was as deep as the Empire State building is high and it weighed a trillion tonnes. For nearly four decades A23a was the world’s largest iceberg. Glaciologist Dr. Catherine Walker tells the story of A23a from its origins, its ice being laid down deep in the Antarctic over millennia, through to its final chapter - shrinking, melting and feeding the ocean from which it came. Catherine talks to glaciologists who study the vast cracks which propagate across the Antarctic ice shelf and to scientists who have seen A23a up close and followed its journey and its impact as it released a trillion tonnes of fresh
water and nutrients into the marine environment.

Presenter Becky Green lost one of her twins to sepsis in 2018. It is a condition that, according to the World Health Organization, is implicated in one in five deaths worldwide - more than bowel, prostate and lung cancer combined. Sepsis can begin as a simple infection and escalate within hours, overwhelming the body and causing organ failure. It is a race against time that too often goes unrecognised until it is too late. But around the world, that is starting to change. Becky speaks to Dr Kissoon of the Global Sepsis Alliance about how our understanding of sepsis has changed. In Malawi and Uganda, she meets the team behind the APT Sepsis programme. By educating healthcare workers on hand hygiene, infection prevention and early detection they have cut maternal deaths and severe infections from sepsis by 32%. In Madrid, Dr Rosa Mendez explains how a hospital-wide "sepsis code" - mirroring fast-track protocols for heart attacks and strokes - has brought sepsis mortality down from 24% to 17%.
This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from People Fixing the World, looking at people and projects trying to make the world a better place.