The Documentary Podcast Folgen

Alan hears stories from people who’ve transformed their lives and are helping others to do the same against the backdrop of the pandemic. He speaks to Alhaji in Sierra Leone who’s building a house for his parents from the money he’s earned working in the United States. He hears from Tiffany in India who helps visually impaired people become more independent, after her own challenging childhood. Alan also connects with Al in the United States who aims to inspire young people in a tough area of Chicago. And he catches up with Ibrahim who, at the start of the pandemic, was homeless on the streets of Athens.

Two doctors in Nairobi tell host Nuala McGovern why conditions for health workers in Nairobi are leading to calls for a strike. They include rising death rates, unpaid salaries and lack of a comprehensive medical insurance. We’ll also hear from two members of US President-elect Joe Biden’s Covid task force about combatting vaccine hesitancy after the United States recorded the highest daily death toll in the world so far. And as vaccines make people think about a possible return to normality, we hear from those who have had to move in with their parents during the pandemic

The bitter war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Caucasian region of Nagorno Karabakh may have come to an end, but the business of fighting may continue for at least some of its combatants. There’s growing evidence that hundreds of soldiers in this war were mercenaries recruited from mostly rebel-held regions in northern Syria - even though that's strongly denied by Azerbaijan. In this week’s Assignment Ed Butler hears testimony from a number of young Syrians, who say they fought in a war which in most cases they didn't realise they were signing up for. Some speak of shame at having to work this way – a symptom of the increasing economic desperation that's affecting the embattled regions of northern Syria where they live. Produced and presented by Ed Butler.(Image: Men in the same fatigues as SNA fighters photographed in Azerbaijan stand in front of a border sign written in Armenian, Russian and English. Credit: Telegram channel of Jarablus News)